Overview
“Vitamin” is the fourth album by Japanese techno band Denki Groove.
Background of the Production
Denki Groove (“Denki” means “electricity” in Japanese) was formed in Tokyo in 1989 around the ex-members of Shizuoka-based new wave/synth-pop band Zin-Säy! (1985–1989): Takkyu Ishino (vocals, sampling), Pierre Taki (vocals, sampling) and others.
Denki Groove released their debut album “662 BPM BY DG” on indie label SSE Communications in 1990.
After releasing their major debut album “Flash Papa” on Sony Music Entertainment’s Trefort label in 1991, they became known for their dance music influenced by acid house, hip-hop such as Public Enemy, and alternative rock such as Pop Will Eat Itself.
In their early days, Denki Groove was characterized by Ishino and Taki’s rap-style vocals with comical Japanese lyrics, including social satire and self-deprecating humor, and eccentric performances.
Yoshinori Sunahara joined the band as a programmer/keyboardist in 1991, and Denki Groove became a trio of Ishino, Taki and Sunahara. Since then their music got closer to purer techno/electronic music.
Commentary
The album “Vitamin” was released on Sony Music Entertainment’s Ki/oon label in 1993. It reached number 5 on the Oricon chart.
It became a turning point for the group to develop their music into a more authentic techno style.
It is an album in the acid techno style. It includes many instrumental-based tracks.
The whole album was made by using Roland TB-303. It shows an influence of acid house revival Ishino experienced during his trip to London in 1993.
“Happy Birthday” is an acid techno track featuring female vocalist Jacky’s chorus. In the bridge, there is a sample with the pitch increased of a phrase from hip-hop group Scha Dara Parr’s single “Trio The Caps” (1992).
“Disco Union” is a song in the disco house style featuring Jacky’s soulful vocals.
“Fuji-San (Mt. Fuji)”, composed by Taki, is a comical song that combained surf music with techno.
“Stingray”, composed by Sunahara, is a track in the ambient techno style.
“Popcorn” is an acid techno-style cover of the synth-pop classic “Pop Corn” (1969) by Gershon Kingsley.
“Shinkansen” is a track featuring singer Yoshiko Goshima’s voice.
“Snow and Dove” is a chill-out track in the ambient style.
“N.O.” is a remake of “Munō no Hito (Less Than Zero)” (“Munō no Hito” means ”The Man Without Talent”), a song included in their debut album “662 BPM BY DG”. It is a lyrical synth-pop song written and composed by Ishino.
This song was released as a single in 1994 and reached number 21 on the Oricon Weekly Chart.
The voice “We like the music, we like the disco sound, hey!!” in this song was sampled from the single “Can U Dig It?” (1989) by Pop Will Eat Itself. PWEI sampled this phrase from the single “Black Is Black” (1977) by Belle Epoque, which was a disco cover of the debut single (1966) by Spanish rock band Los Bravos.
Track Listing
“Hiking” and “Stingray” were composed by Sunahara. “Fuji-San” was composed by Taki. “Popcorn” was composed by Gershon Kingsley. Other tracks were composed by Ishino.
- Happy Birthday – 5:46
- Disco Union – 6:38
- Hiking – 5:41
- Fake Hooligan – 5:25
- Fuji-San – 4:37
- Stingray – 4:37
- Popcorn – 4:37
- Shinkansen – 9:58
- Snow and Dove – 5:41
- N.O. – 4:20