Ubu (album)

Ubu
Studio album by Illion
Released February 25, 2013 (2013-02-25)
(see release history)
Recorded 2012
Genre Alternative rock, pop rock, folk rock[1]
Length 49:24
Language English, Japanese
Label Warner
Producer Yojiro Noda
Singles from Ubu
  1. "Brain Drain"
    Released: January 16, 2013
  2. "Mahoroba"
    Released: February 6, 2013
  3. "Beehive"
    Released: April 12, 2013 (promotional single)

Ubu (stylised as UBU) is the debut album of Japanese musician Yojiro Noda, vocalist for the rock band Radwimps, under the solo name Illion. It was released on February 25, 2013, in the United Kingdom and Ireland, with releases in Japan and continental Europe following in March 2013.

Background

Noda had worked together with Radwimps for 12 years, releasing six albums. Their most recent album, Zettai Zetsumei, was released in 2011, and Radwimps had released their 14th single, "Sprechchor," on August 1, 2012.

Noda first announced his solo project in November 2012, and was interviewed at English interview with music website NME. Noda wanted to perform music globally, however decided a solo project was better to do it with, as performing outside Japan was not a goal of the band.[2][3]

One month after the album's release, Radwimps released a new single, "Dreamer's High."

Promotion

Noda released a live performance music video for "Brain Drain" on December 23, shot at Abbey Road Studios. It was first shown across 11 advertising screens in Shibuya, Tokyo, at 8:23pm, and a slightly different version was released to YouTube at the same time. It was released for a limited time of 48 hours, and was taken down on December 25, 2012.[4] The song was released to iTunes on January 16, 2013.

The second track released from the album was "Mahoroba," which received a music video directed by Tetsuya Nagato. It was uploaded to YouTube on February 6, 2013, and was also released to iTunes on the same day.[5] Illion was taught by artist Daito Manabe how to contort and twitch his face, and was first asked to collaborate with Noda in 2009.[6]

There were three planned live performances to promote the album. Noda first performed live as Illion at the O2 Shepherds Bush Empire in London on March 17, 2013. He also performed at the Indra Musikclub in Hamburg, Germany, on March 19.[7] Noda planned to perform at the Tokyo Rocks rock festival in Tokyo on May 12, however the festival was cancelled due to changes in the festival's administration.[8]

On April 12, 2013, a music video for the song "Beehive" was released. It features a live-action/animated sequence directed and drawn by Sojiro Kamatani.[9]

Conception and writing
"Brain Drain" (2013)
"Brain Drain" was the first song released from the album.
"Mahoroba" (2013)
The second single, "Mahoroba" was praised for its "literary lyrics" and "nostalic melody" by Tomoo Yamaguchi of Skream.[1]
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The album features 10 English songs, and four songs sung in Japanese: "Aiwaguma," "Gasshow," "Hiruno Hoshi" and "Mahoroba." Noda sung most of the songs on the album in English, because he feels that English is better to work with sonically.[3]

Mahoroba is a reference to a traditional Japanese far-off utopian land.

"Finger Print" features lyrics about Noda putting fingers down throat, which Noda describes as not based around an eating disorder, but something he does when he becomes scared of losing happiness.[3]

Critical reception

Skream magazine reviewer Sayako Oki gave the album a very positive review calling it "impressive" and "overflowing with musical genius."[10] Tomoo Yamaguchi of Skream in a track-by-track review praised many of the songs' dynamic melodies, as well as the alternative folk sound. He felt that many songs on the album had either a folk sound, such as "Aiwaguma," "Mahoroba," "Un & Do," "Gasshow" and "Inemuri," but noted each song sounded different, such as the traditional feel of "Aiwaguma," the English folk sound of "Un & Do," and the country/Irish sound of "Especially." He felt "Brain Drain" and "Lynch" were classically influenced, and that "Finger Print" was influenced by 1990s American alternative rock. Yamaguchi praised the rhythmic nature of many of the tracks, as well as the strong guitar sound of many songs. He described the songs with Japanese lyrics as literary, with an old Japanese feel.[1]

The album was chosen for an editor's choice review at OKMusic, where it was praised for its complex musical arrangements, the editor feeling they "expressed [Noda's] personality landscape three-dimensionally," and that the album physically moved them.[11]

Commercial reception

The album debuted at number 67 on Oricon's albums chart, due to 1,800 copies of the United Kingdom pre-release being sold in Japan.[12] During the official week of release, it peaked at number 7 with 17,900 copies sold.[13][12] The album spent one further week in the top 30.[12] The album underperformed compared with Radwimps 2011 album, Zettai Zetsumei, which sold eight times Ubu's sales.[12]

Two songs charted from the album on Billboard's Japan Hot 100 singles chart. "Brain Drain" reached number 30 during its pre-release in January 2013,[14] and "Mahoroba" reached number 27 during album promotions in mid March, 2013.[15]

As of April 2013, the album or its singles have not charted outside Japan.[16]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Yojiro Noda. 

No. Title Length
1. "Brain Drain"   4:27
2. "Aiwaguma"   3:46
3. "Planetarian"   4:02
4. "Mahoroba"   4:44
5. "Beehive"   3:56
6. "Dance"   4:14
7. "γ" (Gamma) 3:24
8. "Finger Print"   2:53
9. "Lynch"   3:55
10. "Un&Do"   3:19
11. "Gasshow" (Chorus) 3:04
12. "Inemuri" (Dozing Off) 1:07
13. "Especially"   2:43
14. "Birdie"   4:03
Total length:
 49:45
Japan bonus track
No. Title Length
15. "Hiruno Hoshi" (Daytime Star) 3:52
Total length:
 53:37

Personnel

Personnel details were sourced from Ubu's liner notes booklet.[17]

Managerial

  • Lachie Rutherford – executive director for Warner Music Japan
  • Junji Zenki – executive director for Voque Ting

Performance credits

  • Illion – all other instruments, all vocals
  • Seiji Kameda – bass (track 2)
  • Yukio Nagoshi – guitar (track 2)
  • Udai Shika – cello (track 1, 5, 11)
  • U-zhaan – tabla (track 2)

Visuals and imagery

  • Tetsuya Nagato – art direction, artwork, design, music video directing ("Mahoroba")
  • Masayuki Shioda – photography

Technical and production

  • Ted Jensen – mastering
  • Illion – songwriting, production
  • Dave Sardy – mixing (track 1, 6, 13)
  • Masayoshi Sugai – mixing (track 2-5, 7-12, 14), recording

Chart rankings

Charts
(2013)		 Peak
position
Oricon weekly albums[18] 7
Oricon monthly albums[19] 14

Reported sales

Chart Amount
Oricon physical sales[12] 36,000

Release history

Region Date Format Distributing Label
United Kingdom February 25, 2013[20] CD, digital download Warner Brothers Records UK
Ireland Warner Music Ireland
Japan March 6, 2013[21] Warner Music Japan
March 23, 2013[22] Rental CD
Austria March 29, 2013[20] CD, digital download Warner Music Central Europe
France Warner Music France
Germany Warner Music Germany
Poland Warner Music Central Europe
Switzerland
United Kingdom July 1, 2013[23] Vinyl Warner Brothers Records UK
Germany July 5, 2013[23] Warner Music Germany
Japan July 9, 2013[23] Warner Music Japan

References

  1. 1 2 3 "illion 1st Album "UBU" 全曲レビュー" [All song review]. Tomoo Yamaguchi (in Japanese). Skream. 2013. Archived from the original on March 23, 2013. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  2. ↑ "野田洋次郎ソロ始動、マイブラと「TOKYO ROCKS」出演へ" [Yojiro Noda solo work, performing at Tokyo Rock with My Bloody Valentine]. Natalie (in Japanese). November 8, 2012. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 "Meet Yojiro Noda - Tokyo's Answer To Thom Yorke". Mark Beaumont. NME. November 13, 2012. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
  4. ↑ "野田洋次郎ソロプロジェクトillion、PVを48時間限定公開" [Yojiro Noda solo project Illion, 48 hour limited release music video]. Natalie (in Japanese). December 23, 2012. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
  5. ↑ "illion、永戸鉄也＆真鍋大度参加の新曲ビデオクリップ完成" [Illion, Tetsuya Nagato and Daito Manabe-featuring new song's video clip completed]. Natalie (in Japanese). February 6, 2013. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
  6. ↑ "illion". Daito Manabe (in Japanese). March 22, 2013. Archived from the original on March 23, 2013. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  7. ↑ "野田洋次郎ソロ・illion初ライブでUKオーディエンス魅了" [Yojiro Noda solo project Illion, first live captivating Uk audience]. Natalie (in Japanese). March 19, 2013. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
  8. ↑ "マイブラ、BLURら出演フェス「TOKYO ROCKS」中止に" [My Bloody Valentine, Blur, etc featuring festival Tokyo Rocks cancellation]. Natalie (in Japanese). March 31, 2013. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
  9. ↑ "illion、ドローイングアニメーションの妙技炸裂PV完成" [Illion, skilled explosion drawing animation music video completed.]. Natalie (in Japanese). April 12, 2013. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
  10. ↑ "Disc Review illion / UBU". Sayoko Oki (in Japanese). Skream. 2013. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  11. ↑ "Vol.102 Editor’s Choice illion UBU" (in Japanese). OKMusic. 2013. Archived from the original on April 7, 2013. Retrieved April 7, 2013.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 "オリコンランキング情報サービス「you大樹」". Oricon. Retrieved May 16, 2013. (subscription only)
  13. ↑ 2013年03月第3週の邦楽アルバムランキング情報 [Japanese Album Ranking Information March 2013 Week 3]. Oricon (in Japanese). 2013. Retrieved April 7, 2013.
  14. ↑ "Japan Billboard Hot 100 2013/01/28付け". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). 2013. Retrieved April 7, 2013.
  15. ↑ "Japan Billboard Hot 100 2013/03/18付け". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). 2013. Retrieved April 7, 2013.
  16. ↑ "ILLION - UBU (ALBUM)". Hung Medien. 2013. Retrieved April 7, 2013.
  17. ↑ Ubu (Media notes) (in Japanese). Illion. Tokyo, Japan: Warner Music Japan. 2013.
  18. ↑ "UBU" (in Japanese). Oricon. March 13, 2013. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
  19. ↑ "2013年03月のCDアルバム月間ランキング（2013年03月度）" [March 2013 CD Album Monthly Rankings] (in Japanese). Oricon. April 10, 2013. Archived from the original on April 10, 2013. Retrieved April 10, 2013.
  20. 1 2 "illion、言葉や文化の違いをも超えてロンドンを魅了" [Illionm fascinating London with a difference in words and culture]. Barks (in Japanese). March 20, 2013. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
  21. ↑ "[CD] UBU / illion". Neowing (in Japanese). Retrieved March 22, 2013.
  22. ↑ "UBU/illion". Tsutaya. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  23. 1 2 3 "Discography". Illion Official Site. Retrieved July 4, 2013.
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