The band that would eventually become Nirgilis initially formed in 1993 while founding members Koki Ito and Moyo Satake were still university students. Together they worked through a few dozen auditions over several years before they found a stable five member line-up in 2001. It was only a year later that they were on the Oricon charts as part of a compilation, and only a few months after that with their own single for "Soprano." Their debut album "Tennis" was an indie hit in 2003 and they continued to make the charts with their subsequent singles. Founding member Satake left in 2004, just before the band signed to a major label. It was also during this time that the band took on a more dancy/poppy sound. Eventually Koki Ito would also leave the band, leaving Nirgilis a trio without either of its founding members.
Their early work is a bit rough and stripped down, as one would expect. The production is pretty basic, giving it an overall electro/DIY feel. Their new music is much more dance oriented and obviously melodic. While there is a lot of electronic stuff going on, they are not always as techno fueled and dancy. They have a lot of bit down-tempo, spacey songs, sounding a little like The Brilliant Green at times, with singer Iwata Acchu showing hints of Yuki (of Judy & Mary) and a bit of Chara from time to time. They tend to blend their electronics with more traditional acoustic elements in an organic way much like Supercar does on their Highvision album. Only instead of Supercar's dour melancholy, Nirgilis keeps things nice, twinkling and upbeat.
Nirgilis will be playing alongside Aural Vampire and Bespa Kumamero at Anime Matsuri March 21st through the 23rd.
Buy Nirgilis CDs here!
Brand New Day
Official Site
Members
Moyo Satake (left in 2004)
Koki Ito (also recently left the band)
Iwata Acchu - Vocal, Piano, Keyboards
Minoru Kurihara - Bass, Backing Vocal
Inadera Yuki - Drums, Backing Vocal
Major Releases
Girl (Remix album) - 2007/02/21
Boy - 2006/06/28
New Standard 2004/05
Tennis 2003/04
Snow Kiss
Sakura
24サーチライト
Update
Mayonaka no Schneider
King
Vuna
1 comment:
Thanks ZB for this post on Nirgilis! I've heard some of their stuff before like "Sakura", "Update" and "Snow Kiss" and I like their music a lot. They sound a little like AVEX groups Do As Infinity and Every Little Thing but thankfully don't sound too techno or pop oriented.
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