I find it a rather daunting task to try and define Shiina Ringo. She began her career in 1998 as a solo artist, though with a full band backing her. Her music ran from noisy, trashy rock to soft ballads, often with full string sections or electro backing tracks. She worked with different bands, eventually forming Tokyo Jihen in 2004. She is now back to working solo. The most obvious trademark (at least now that she got rid of the mole) is her high, reedy, screechy voice. It's like a cat in heat. Overall her style is rather Bjork-esque, meaning it's all a bit on the strange and arty side, though also fragile and calming at times. Lately she's stuck more to the lush, organic ballads than the rock fueled jams. Visually, she often adopts a classic style, either traditional Japanese or in a sort of '30-50s Western vein, but that doesn't mean she won't occasionally pull out all the stops and roll around with another woman in a nurse uniform. Basically, expect the unexpected, and expect it to be amazing.
