Laputa (band)
Encyclopedia
Laputa was a Nagoya kei
rock band from Nagoya, Japan
. The band chose its name from the flying island in Gulliver's Travels
and tried to portray a similar unrealistic view of the world with their performance. Musically the essence of the band sound was extracted from the three pilliars of "Dark, Hard, and Melodious". Their sound is characterized by Kouichi's unique chord processions and aki's transparent high-pitched vocals. The band is considered to be under the sub-categories of black suit kei and nagoya kei. Even though not extremely commercially successful, they were influential on developing bands. Laputa's early sound was influenced by Kuroyume
, since both aki and Tomoi were roadies for them.
. They met some success in 1995 in the visual indie scene with their first indie album Memai, and shot a music video for Vertigo. They released a mini-album (Kurumeku Haijin) in 1996, and also released a live video (Hakoniwa) featuring performances from the concert at SHIBUYA ON AIR WEST from the Paradoxical Reality TOUR IV.
in August 1996. Laputa released their first major single GARASU NO SHOUZOU in September 1996, which peaked at #34 on the Oricon singles chart. In October Laputa's first major album KAGEROU was released. Laputa released 4 more albums and several videos in the following 4 years.
In 2000, Laputa released a collection of their B-sides (c/w songs) "Coupling Collection + xxxk [1996-1999 singles]". They also released a three-disc best-of album "3DISC BEST ~1995-1999 except Coupling Collection~", which featured 32 songs in all including Laputa's eight major singles and 24 other songs. After these releases, Laputa left Toshiba-EMI and signed to a smaller major label Nippon-Crown.
Laputa's lead songwriter Kouichi was reportedly in a hospital or clinic for much of 2002. Because of this, he wrote only two songs on the New Temptation album, and Laputa's tour for the album consisted of less than ten concert dates. Junji wrote more of the songs on 誘～New Temptation～惑 than any other member, and would remain Laputa's lead songwriter for the rest of their career. Tomoi also began to contribute more in writing songs and lyrics.
In May 2004 Laputa announced through their fanclub that they were disbanding, citing a desire for each of them to evolve. They released a best-of CD+DVD of their material from their years on the Nippon-Crown label titled "BEST AL+CLIPS 2000~2004" on July 28, 2004, toured from August to September, and played their last live on September 5, 2004 at Shibuya Koukaido. A DVD of the last live titled "ALL BURST" was released on December 15, 2004.
in 2008, together with Junji, JILS' guitarist Shunsuke and singer Toki, formerly of 90s' visual kei band Kill=slayd.
Nagoya Kei
Nagoya kei is a subgenre of visual kei, with its roots in the early-1990s music scene of Nagoya, Japan. Often considered darker and gloomier than normal visual kei, nagoya kei takes its musical influences more so from western punk rock bands...
rock band from Nagoya, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. The band chose its name from the flying island in Gulliver's Travels
Gulliver's Travels
Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships, better known simply as Gulliver's Travels , is a novel by Anglo-Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan Swift that is both a satire on human nature and a parody of...
and tried to portray a similar unrealistic view of the world with their performance. Musically the essence of the band sound was extracted from the three pilliars of "Dark, Hard, and Melodious". Their sound is characterized by Kouichi's unique chord processions and aki's transparent high-pitched vocals. The band is considered to be under the sub-categories of black suit kei and nagoya kei. Even though not extremely commercially successful, they were influential on developing bands. Laputa's early sound was influenced by Kuroyume
Kuroyume
Kuroyume is a rock group that formed in Nagoya, Japan during May 1991, currently consisting of vocalist Kiyoharu and bassist Hitoki. They began as a visual kei group and carried similar looks throughout their career...
, since both aki and Tomoi were roadies for them.
Indies Period
Laputa was formed in July 1993 by Aki and Tomoi, high school friends who were previously in the band AI SICK FACE together, and were also Roadies for KuroyumeKuroyume
Kuroyume is a rock group that formed in Nagoya, Japan during May 1991, currently consisting of vocalist Kiyoharu and bassist Hitoki. They began as a visual kei group and carried similar looks throughout their career...
. They met some success in 1995 in the visual indie scene with their first indie album Memai, and shot a music video for Vertigo. They released a mini-album (Kurumeku Haijin) in 1996, and also released a live video (Hakoniwa) featuring performances from the concert at SHIBUYA ON AIR WEST from the Paradoxical Reality TOUR IV.
Toshiba-EMI
With their increasing popularity in the visual indie scene, Laputa caught the attention of big record companies and signed to the major label Toshiba-EMIToshiba-EMI
(formerly , is one of Japan's leading music companies. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of British music company EMI Group Ltd. in June 30, 2007 after Toshiba sold off its previous 45% stake. The current CEO and president is San-e Ichii. When EMI Music Japan was trading as Toshiba-EMI, it was...
in August 1996. Laputa released their first major single GARASU NO SHOUZOU in September 1996, which peaked at #34 on the Oricon singles chart. In October Laputa's first major album KAGEROU was released. Laputa released 4 more albums and several videos in the following 4 years.
In 2000, Laputa released a collection of their B-sides (c/w songs) "Coupling Collection + xxxk [1996-1999 singles]". They also released a three-disc best-of album "3DISC BEST ~1995-1999 except Coupling Collection~", which featured 32 songs in all including Laputa's eight major singles and 24 other songs. After these releases, Laputa left Toshiba-EMI and signed to a smaller major label Nippon-Crown.
Nippon-Crown
While on Nippon Crown Laputa released 4 albums/mini-albums and 3 singles which made it on to the top 50 of the Oriocon charts. Glitter, a mini-album which was released in 2002, had a more electronic-oriented direction.Laputa's lead songwriter Kouichi was reportedly in a hospital or clinic for much of 2002. Because of this, he wrote only two songs on the New Temptation album, and Laputa's tour for the album consisted of less than ten concert dates. Junji wrote more of the songs on 誘～New Temptation～惑 than any other member, and would remain Laputa's lead songwriter for the rest of their career. Tomoi also began to contribute more in writing songs and lyrics.
In May 2004 Laputa announced through their fanclub that they were disbanding, citing a desire for each of them to evolve. They released a best-of CD+DVD of their material from their years on the Nippon-Crown label titled "BEST AL+CLIPS 2000~2004" on July 28, 2004, toured from August to September, and played their last live on September 5, 2004 at Shibuya Koukaido. A DVD of the last live titled "ALL BURST" was released on December 15, 2004.
Solo careers
After Laputa's disbanding all four musicians stayed in the music business and three of them started solo projects. Aki began to release material under his own name, while Kouichi started Everlasting-K and Junji started HALATION. On the other hand, Tomoi first joined MILK FUDGE, and then played support for JILS. After JILS disbanded, he formed a new band, called C4C4 (band)
C4 was an American heavy metal band that formed in 2000. Comprising vocalist Dan Lenegar, guitarist and keyboardist Michael Angelo Batio, bassist William Kopecky and drummer John Mrozek, the band released one album – Call to Arms in 2001.-History:...
in 2008, together with Junji, JILS' guitarist Shunsuke and singer Toki, formerly of 90s' visual kei band Kill=slayd.
Singles
| Date | Title | Album | Oricon Singles Chart |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 1994 | 私が消える (Watashi ga Kieru) | – | – |
| Sep 9, 1996 | ガラスの肖像 (Glass no Shouzou) | 蜉～かげろう～蝣 (Kagerō) | 34 |
| May 28, 1997 | eve～Last night for you～ | 絵～エマダラ～斑 (Emadara) | 33 |
| Nov 12, 1997 | Meet Again | 麝～ジャコウ～香 (Jakō) | 20 |
| Feb 4, 1998 | 揺れながら… (Yurenagara...) | 麝～ジャコウ～香 (Jakō) | 25 |
| Sep 23, 1998 | Feelin' the sky | 翔～カケラ～裸 (Kakera) | 15 |
| Jan 1, 1999 | Breath | 翔～カケラ～裸 (Kakera) | 29 |
| Mar 17, 1999 | Chimes | 翔～カケラ～裸 (Kakera) | 25 |
| May 19, 1999 | Virgin Cry | 翔～カケラ～裸 (Kakera) | 23 |
| Oct 25, 2000 | Shape～in the shape of wing～ | 楽～ヘブン～園 (Heaven) | 26 |
| Feb 21, 2001 | Silent on-looker | 楽～ヘブン～園 (Heaven) | 43 |
| June 21, 2002 | 深海/Brand-new color (Shinkai/Brand new color) | – | 58 |
Albums
| Date | Album | Label | Oriocon Albums Chart |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 24, 1995 | 眩～めまい～暈 (Memai) | – | – |
| Feb 25, 1996 | 眩めく廃人 (Kurumeku Haizin) | – | – |
| Oct 23, 1996 | 蜉～かげろう～蝣 (Kagerō) | Toshiba-EMI | 24 |
| Jun 25, 1997 | 絵～エマダラ～斑 (Emadara) | Toshiba-EMI | 24 |
| Feb 4, 1998 | 麝～ジャコウ～香 (Jakō) | Toshiba-EMI | 10 |
| Jun 9, 1999 | 翔～カケラ～裸 (Kakera) | Toshiba-EMI | 10 |
| Feb 23, 2000 | Laputa Coupling Collection+×××k | Toshiba-EMI | 43 |
| Oct 25, 2000 | Laputa 3DISC BEST～1995-1999 except Coupling Collection～ | Toshiba-EMI | 41 |
| Mar 16, 2001 | 楽～ヘブン～園 (Heaven) | Nippon-Crown | 50 |
| Mar 21,2002 | glitter | Nippon-Crown | 66 |
| Jul 24, 2002 | 誘～New Temptation～惑 | Nippon-Crown | 50 |
| Apr 23, 2003 | Sparks Monkey | Nippon-Crown | 75 |
| Mar 17, 2004 | Material Pleasures | Nippon-Crown | 89 |
| Jul 28,2004 | Best AL+CLIPS 2000～2004 | Nippon-Crown | – |