Alright, I'm newer to these guys than most that I review. I first encountered Rip Slyme in the opening of Gantz. No joke, I don't even think I was watching the anime, I just stumbled upon it and fell in love with the music, the anime for as much criticism as it gets chose a fantastic opening to sell the series. The music to Gantz is called Super Shooter, and its highg energy in the same way that MCAT is for Tenjhou Tenge, except its the "on crack" version as far as beats and rhythem goes.
So as for the actual band, their a small group of 4 guy, Ryo-Z, Ilmari, Pes & Su, and 1 DJ, Fumiya. Their pretty well balanced interms of sound and voicing, what I mean is that the range for each meshes well with thte others, you have a couple guys that can get intot he higher range for guys when needed, the beauty of it is thoguh, that becasue of the music they put out, they really only have to stay in their comfortable range and the pitch jsut adds pace to the music. That may sound confusing but if you listen to Super Shooter, or Nettaiya you'll understand that when Masatsugu Chiba comes on to rap his solo part, the intonation of his voice jsut naturally picks uup the pce of the muci, depsite the rythem staying the same. Watch the vid's and youll understand, hopefully.
The actual rythem and music is more on the techno and digital side than most Hip-Hop bands. Althgouh this is a giant depature from what we expect when we listen to american hip-hop, the japanese are much less inclined to have a song with a dinky music maker, with a drum and cymbal backing it up. This started to become evident when I listened to a lot of Orange Range, the closest I can get to finding an american or western band would be the Gorillaz, wher ethe music streches from rap to rock. Regardless both Orange Range and J-pop stars like M-Flo have serious electronic influences in all the music. Orange Range Review to come soon.
Anyways, the videos are generally fun to watch and some fo them you'd rather not be around people while watchign (take Nettaiya for example). As for the music in general, I'm a fan of their faster paced stuff, not sayign their jazz influence (Hot Chocolate) or slower songs aren't as good, but after Super Shooter I just adore their fast rap style. Enjoy.
Funtastic Links:
Fast and Furious (listen for the player 1-4 solos at the end)
Super Shooter
I really like this one a lot now
Blow
Jazzish
Hot Chocolate
Slower now
Dandelion
Probably the best visuals and nice relaxation ;)
Nettaiya
Vacation?
Rakuen Baby
Just for good measure
Speed King
