![]() If it sounds like this focus on inclusion vs. ![]() Mercer leaned into this collaboration, following Chiccarelli’s expert recommendations about equipment and offering praise for his engineering instincts specifically, preserving room for “a lot of air in the songs” and “knowing when enough is enough and when just hinting at something is more important than actually having it in there.” Mercer extended this observation and applied it to his own songwriting, concluding that “sometimes the exact reason you began writing a song is the thing that needs to be dropped.” Perhaps the only thing more taxing than making art is trimming it. Although the musicians remained the same, there was a key personnel change in the producer’s chair, with Joe Chiccarelli (Spoon, Morrissey, Minus the Bear) taking over for Phil Ek, who retained a more-than-tangential presence with producer credits on three of the tracks. This would be the last album on which James Mercer had the same core of bandmates behind him – Marty Crandall on keys and bass, Jesse Sandoval on drums and Dave Hernandez on guitar – and the three years that elapsed between Chutes Too Narrow and the release of Wincing the Night Away gave Mercer the space to explore, work and rework his raw material without jeopardizing the band’s forward momentum. Wincing the Night Away (2007) captures the Shins at their most actualized. Maybe the goal wasn’t to get famous - probably it wasn’t - but simply to remain viable and, given enough dollars, able to improve upon and advance their art. In their own ecosystem, the Shins had to navigate the same transitory space, capitalizing early on by prototyping the Internet Age phenomenon of “going viral.” Whether by managerial acumen, luck or their own volition, the Shins curated a pop culture placement (see their drops in Garden State, Gilmore Girls, and a less-exalted turn in a faux-emotive McDonald’s commercial, for example) that led to an alchemical reaction of broad recognition. We were straddling the divide between the analog and digital, picking up a copy of Rolling Stone at Borders while also browsing Pitchfork on our clunky laptops, paying whatever (!) for a download of Radiohead’s In Rainbows while clicking our Hail to the Thief CD back into its jewel case. Amazon, Facebook, YouTube, Sirius/XM, Spotify – all of these now-omnipresent services were just gaining traction in the ‘00s. The ascension of the Shins came in the developmental decade of the aughts: the pathway to success less often followed the formula of big label contract + radio airplay + MTV rotation, but it was too early yet to benefit from social media and streaming services. Kotoyama’s Dagashi Kashiis one of my favorite manga of the past ten years.There is some existential tension in being a famous indie band. Since then, I kept reading in Japanese while doubtful that it would get licensed in English, but that’s exactly what happened! So, when I saw a couple years ago that they started another manga, I jumped at the chance to give my early impressions of their new title: Yofukashi no Uta. Released by VIZ, Call of the Night (as it’s now called) is a laid-back yet moody story that’s subtly charming while defying expectations. The story revolves around Japanese boy named Yamori Kou, who wanders his town at night due to a general feeling of dissatisfaction, and Nanakusa Nazuna, an immortal vampire girl who’s not big on creating undead progeny and would rather have fun her own way. Kou decides that he wants to become a vampire, but it’s not just a matter of having his blood sucked-he also has to fall in love with Nazuna for it to work. Thus, in order to fulfill his goal, Kou must learn to understand his own feelings and to find what it would take for love to enter his heart. I think it’d be all too easy, and even unfair, to write off Call of the Night as just another vampire story. Personally, I’m not a big fan of the genre, but I think the way Kotoyama approaches the concept and builds his story to include it gives more than enough for those who just want an interesting manga regardless of its supernatural trappings. ![]() In addition to the basic vampire-oriented jokes (Kou’s blood is apparently super delicious), it’s just a really clever and poignant character study that touches on the balance of joy and malaise, as well as the burden of social expectations. ![]() One defining contrast between Kou and Nazuna is that the former is comfortable talking about romance but blushes at anything remotely dirty, while the latter is the exact opposite. Anytime a conversation veers towards sex, Kou quickly tries to change the subject, while Nazuna can’t stand thinking about love. ![]()
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