OLDCODEX
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| Left to right: Yorke, Ta_2, R・O・N |
Who are they?
OLDCODEX is a Japanese rock band formed in 2009. They band consists of Ta_2 (I think it’s
pronounced tattoo…) on vocals, R・O・N on the guitar and
Yorke, who is an artist.
Yup, you read that
right; there is an artist in the band. So,
how does that work out? While the band plays, Yorke actually whips out pieces
of artwork. He’ll just be on the side
and rock out to the music as he paints masterpieces.
A very talented painter, Yorke had previously collaborated with
other artists including Miyavi (He is an artist I mentioned in a previous post). Originally, he was only supposed
to be the artistic collaborator who designed the album art and website, but he
eventually joined the band. He also
helps out with the composing and writes lyrics for some of the band's songs.
There is also another member that has an interesting side
job. Ta_2, real name is Tatsuhisa
Suzuki, is a voice actor. Prior to
forming the band, and even now, Suzuki does voice acting for various animes. You might have heard of anime before. They are those Japanese cartons such as the
massively popular Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Yoh and Sailor Moon (oh the good ole’ days).
As well, Suzuki had already established a successful solo
career under his real name. However, the
music was quite different. He used to do
more idol pop music.
And last, but definitely not least, is R・O・N. An established musician in the indie scene,
he was previously the vocalist for his indie band, ROSARY HILL. He is the main composer and lyricist of
OLDCODEX. He has also composed songs for
many other artist and anime and game soundtracks. Unfortunately, there was not much information I could dig up on R・O・N, unless I had a fluent grasp of Japanese (Of which I do not).
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| R・O・N is the one on the left.* |
The Music
This first song by OLDCODEX is called Rainbow. It's a pretty upbeat rock song with heavy guitar rifts. The guitars are powerful, but there's a fine balance as they don't drown out the vocals. Also, the music video of the song really showcases Yorke's artistic talent up-close. Check it out for yourself:
This next song is Hidemind. In contrast, it's a pretty solemn song. The beginning of the song incorporates the use of strings which adds to the very somber atmosphere of the song. Ta_2 vocals really accentuate the song nicely. He does have an accent when he sings the English bits, but it does not detract from the song. I managed to find some English translations here if you want to check them out.
OLDCODEX is one of my personal favorite bands. Would you like them too?
Sources
http://hakanaiyume.wordpress.com/2012/11/07/regarding-oldcodex/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatsuhisa_Suzuki
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/OLDCODEX
http://www.oldcodex.com/top.php#ad
Interesting names for the band members. It is very interesting how Asian musicians seem to have very diverse styles as opposed to most North American musicians who seem to make every song sound the same.
ReplyDeleteAn artist in a band? Wow that has to be the most unique thing I have ever heard. I think that doing art work while a band was playing would be very inspirational. To see what someone visualizes to your music would also be really cool! I wonder how they decided to such a unique thing. Do you personally like the art that the artist creates?
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