“This Year’s Girl” is the fifth studio album by Pizzicato Five, a Japanese pop band led by Yasuharu Konishi (bass, keyboards, vocals) and formed in 1984. It was released in 1991 from the Seven Gods label of Nippon Columbia.
Pizzicato Five had worked from 1984 to 2001. The band is known for their sophisticated hybrid music — called “Shibuya-kei” in the late 1990s — blending the elements of the 1960s orchestral pop, sunshine pop, French pop, soul, and lounge.
“This Year’s Girl” is their first album after Maki Nomiya (vocals) joined the band as the third lead vocalist, and a danceable and catchy pop album that fully incorporated sampling and the elements of alternative dance and house under the influence of De La Soul’s “3 Feet High and Rising” (1989).
“Twiggy Twiggy” is originally a song written and composed by singer-songwriter Nanako Satō for Nomiya’s debut album “Pink no Kokoro (Pink Heart)” (1981). The Pizzicato Five version was used in the film “Prêt-à-Porter” (1994) directed by Robert Altman and the film “Charlie’s Angels” (2000) directed by McG.
“Party” is a cover of the song in Haruomi Hosono’s debut solo album “Hosono House” (1973). Hosono also participated in this track on vocals.
