Saturday, November 5, 2011

My Puffy 15

This was originally a top ten list that we had punted around in comments... then someone suggested doing a top fifteen. Thanks for the extra work! But the benefit here was I had a few songs that I wanted to put into a top ten but for whatever reason they were pushed off it it.

In this whole process I got delayed for a variety of reasons. First reviewing a bunch of songs I had listed... Then boiling that down... Then going through my library to see if I had missed anything (and I had). Then I sat down and tried to quantify my song list, that too turned out to be a struggle as a bunch of songs I like for different reasons. End result is this list of songs which are not in any particular order in regards to my preferences.




Toku Suru Karada: Touching back on something Jeff said a long time back (I think circa Splurge or honeycreeper) is that this is a unique song that Puffy never has replicated. It is also one of my favorite concert songs as I think it can only be played one way. First track off their first album, it made an impression upon me.

Jet Keisatsu: Arguably "the Puffy song." I say that as it encompasses what a makes Puffy songs great. Great vocals, well produced, plenty of space for a variety of support musicians.

Mother: A sweet song about life not being so sweet. I love the nuances Mother has, but what I really like is the fact that Yumi gets to sings what I think are the more interesting parts of the song.

Mogura-like: Straight up rock and roll in the form of Puffy, a song I like in studio more than live. I will always be thrown off that it feels like a marriage of two songs, but sometimes that works... that and the wah-wah guitar sounds which I am a sucker for.

Beginnings: A song I think plays well live or in studio. It is another one of those songs that define Puffy.

Jet-Love: I really like the fusion of various pop/rock forms in Jet-Love and it is a very distinctive song.

Otomemoriaru: A song I have always liked as Puffy's vocals are dominating from the front and center. Again I always dig when Ami and Yumi vocalize on so many layers that a wall of Puffy is formed and falls upon me. This choice may surprise some of you as I tilt towards Puffy's more rock oriented songs...

Stray Cats Fever: Hands down my favorite song on one of my favorite albums. But like Fever*Fever Stray Cats Fever gets lost... which I do not understand.

Yokai Puffy: I love the craziness of Yokai Puffy (and generally I am no big fan of self referencing songs...). This song has a great set up and the piles on a rocking crazy like gasoline on a fire.

Oriental Diamond: I think Ami summed it up best (and I paraphrase) "uh oh here comes Puffy."

Sakura Saku: I have always like this song, it is well off the beaten path for a Puffy song... and I really like that. Japanese pop meets a country beat and something better than I thought possible is the effect.

My Country Road: Another Tamio-Puffy combination winds up on this list... I really like how the song is layered and Ami and Yumi's vocals are deep, rich and mature. Ami and Yumi harmonize differently which is something that took me a long time to figure out how their individual parts were being emphasized..

My Story: One of those songs that probably should not make it on the list, but all the moving fit together and the end result is one of those Puffy songs I wind up liking quite a bit.

UREI: A song I almost forgot about as it appears on the US release of Nice and the Sunrise single. Has a weird slow start and then bridges into one rocking song that reminds me of The Donnas.

Asia no Junshin: Honestly much as I love this song in its various iterations, it almost did not make the list. But then I recall like many of us, Asia no Junshin was the first Puffy song I heard... and a decade later I still am a fan. So maybe it it does deserve to be on this list after all.

Now it is your turn!

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