The DVD seems in large measure comprised of 'behind the scenes' looks at the making of various Love Psy videos (I would have rather seen the videos themselves...). Some concert scenes in Japan and America are also included, but, for my taste, they feature too much backstage chatter and tour bus antics and not enough of the actual concert performances.
In addition, the DVD seems to focus a bit too much on Kumi and not enough on Naoki (who is in my opinion the 'brains' behind Love Psy) and the other band members. A trip to Kumi's old home in San Francisco (where she apparently lived until the age of seven), was illuminating since it shows where she got her natural-sounding Californian accent. I had to laugh when someone in the video claimed she was the greatest living pop vocalist, in fact the greatest since (wait for it...) Karen Carpenter. Please.. To give Kumi her due, I would put her up alongside someone serious like Grace Slick.
Where are the videos???おすすめ度
★★★☆☆
First, I want to say that I am a huge Love Psychedelico fan. Their music is powerful and catchy, and Kumi's unique voice singing that difficult mix of Japanese and English only makes the music even better.
And I think that's the problem- I love this band, and after the delays, my expectations were high. First, I read that it was going to be a DVD of their tour in America. But after watching it, it seems to be a collection of highlights from their career up to now.
That's cool. I do like the stuff on here. It's entertaining, and pretty interesting. The video quality looks great and sounds even better. Now, the problems:
1) here are only two (maybe three) complete songs on this DVD. Everything else is only a short clip. For example, we see them starting a song at a concert, and ten seconds later it's over. Or we see them finishing a song and talking to the audience. I don't need to see them say "Thanks for coming" to the audience. I want to see them play the songs!
2) There a lot of clips on this DVD that are interesting to watch once, but it's hard to imagine watching them again. I'm sorry, but I'm not really interested in what an audience member at a concert says. Seeing them sign a poster and put it in a locker at a concert for a surprised fan is nice, and seeing Kumi visit her old school in San Francisco is cool, and seeing Naoki buy a guitar in Texas is cool too, but how many times will I pull out the DVD to watch that stuff? The video should also have things that can be watched repeatedly. Which is the last problem I had...
3) This is really interesting. They showing the making of some of the videos, which is great. They even show the CD covers. BUT THEY DON'T HAVE THE VIDEOS! Why?? This is what I wanted the most. They show ten-second clips of them, and it's frustrating, because they look and sound so good. I guess I have to keep the poor quality videos I got off the internet.
Again, I love this band, and this is a good DVD. My problem is that I was expecting something different, so I was disappointed. I want to see all of their videos, so I really hope a DVD video collection is coming eventually. And I was originally under the impression this was going to be a concert DVD. So instead of showing bits and pieces of them playing live, why not show entire songs? For example, the first song they played at their first show in Shibuya in 2000, and a song from them playing at Tower Records in 2001, and a song from the SXSW show in Texas, a song from each city they played in America, songs from the different summer events in 2001, songs from the "Circle of Mind" tour, the recent "Grapefruit" tour, etc. I saw them live in Fukuoka in February of 2002 and it was amazing. This is a fantastic live band and I want a DVD of it!
Sorry for the long review. To sum up, this is a good DVD, but I was disappointed because there is so much missing. At the very least this band should have a DVD of all their videos, and a DVD of them playing live. If you like this band, you should definitely get this DVD. I'm just waiting for more...
Where are the videos???
おすすめ度 ★★★☆☆
First, I want to say that I am a huge Love Psychedelico fan. Their music is powerful and catchy, and Kumi's unique voice singing that difficult mix of Japanese and English only makes the music even better.
And I think that's the problem- I love this band, and after the delays, my expectations were high. First, I read that it was going to be a DVD of their tour in America. But after watching it, it seems to be a collection of highlights from their career up to now.
That's cool. I do like the stuff on here. It's entertaining, and pretty interesting. The video quality looks great and sounds even better. Now, the problems:
1) There are only two (maybe three) complete songs on this DVD. Everything else is only a short clip. For example, we see them starting a song at a concert, and ten seconds later it's over. Or we see them finishing a song and talking to the audience. I don't need to see them say "Thanks for coming" to the audience. I want to see them play the songs!
2) There a lot of clips on this DVD that are interesting to watch once, but it's hard to imagine watching them again. I'm sorry, but I'm not really interested in what an audience member at a concert says. Seeing them sign a poster and put it in a locker at a concert for a surprised fan is nice, and seeing Kumi visit her old school in San Francisco is cool, and seeing Naoki buy a guitar in Texas is cool too, but how many times will I pull out the DVD to watch that stuff? The video should also have things that can be watched repeatedly. Which is the last problem I had...
3) This is really interesting. They showing the making of some of the videos, which is great. They even show the CD covers. BUT THEY DON'T HAVE THE VIDEOS! Why?? This is what I wanted the most. They show ten-second clips of them, and it's frustrating, because they look and sound so good. I guess I have to keep the poor quality videos I got off the internet.
Again, I love this band, and this is a good DVD. My problem is that I was expecting something different, so I was disappointed. I want to see all of their videos, so I really hope a DVD video collection is coming eventually. And I was originally under the impression this was going to be a concert DVD. So instead of showing bits and pieces of them playing live, why not show entire songs? For example, the first song they played at their first show in Shibuya in 2000, and a song from them playing at Tower Records in 2001, and a song from the SXSW show in Texas, a song from each city they played in America, songs from the different summer events in 2001, songs from the "Circle of Mind" tour, the recent "Grapefruit" tour, etc. I saw them live in Fukuoka in February of 2002 and it was amazing. This is a fantastic live band and I want a DVD of it!
Sorry for the long review. To sum up, this is a good DVD, but I was disappointed because there is so much missing. At the very least this band should have a DVD of all their videos, and a DVD of them playing live. If you like this band, you should definitely get this DVD. I'm just waiting for more...
概要
ラブサイケデリコのデビュー前から2002年5月まで、約2年半の足跡を追ったドキュメンタリー。プロモーション・ヴィデオのメイキング映像やライヴ映像、レコーディング風景、オフ・ショット、インタビューなどを年代順にまとめている。演奏シーンよりもオフ映像の方が多く、彼らのありのままの素顔をハンド・カメラで捉えていくラフな映像がメインで、手作り感覚にあふれたハートウォームな作品だ。特に見どころなのが01年3月のアメリカ～テキサス・ツアー。オースティンでの路上ライヴ、KUMIが幼少時代を過ごしたサンフランシスコの家への訪問、それに最終日のライヴ終了後に2人が感極まって抱き合うシーンなど、貴重な映像の連続で引き込まれる。画面の切り替えのテンポが良く、スピーディーな編集も秀逸で、70年代のロック・ドキュメンタリーを思わせるような傑作。（小山 守）
