Kimi Ga Suki

Kimi Ga Suki * Raifu
Studio album by
Matthew Sweet
ReleasedApril 22, 2003
RecordedJanuary 2002
GenreAlternative rock
LabelCutting Edge
Glass Modern[1]
ProducerMatthew Sweet
Matthew Sweet chronology
To Understand: The Early Recordings of Matthew Sweet
(2000) 		Kimi Ga Suki * Raifu
(2003) 		Living Things
(2004)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[3]
Pitchfork Media7.3/10[4]

Kimi Ga Suki * Raifu (Japanese: キミがスキ・ライフ, lit. "I Love You – Life") is an album by alternative rock musician Matthew Sweet.[5][6] It was released on Cutting Edge in 2003.[7]

Release

Released in April 2003 as a "thank you" to Japanese fans, it received a United States release the following year. Sweet stated in the liner notes of the album (which is translated in Japan as: キミがスキ・ライフ) that he wrote the album in the course of one week in January 2002. The album marked a reunion of most of Sweet's Girlfriend-era bandmates.[3] Sweet mixed, produced and engineered the album at his house. The album cover was designed by Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara. Also in the liner notes, Sweet described the album's title as an attempt at reverse Engrish: "If I did it correctly, the title should seem a little strange or wrong, but still meaningful! The true definition is supposed to be a 'love you' life, one devoted to loving someone or something, even life itself!"

Critical reception

The New Yorker wrote that "songs like 'Morning Song' and 'Wait' find Sweet revisiting the rootsier side of Girlfriend, particularly in the generous use of slide guitar, and 'Love Is Gone' distills his best instincts with a lovely melody and aching harmonies."[7] No Depression wrote that the album "churns with immediacy, from power-pop gems 'Dead Smile' and 'The Ocean In-Between' to the dark, Cheap Trick-like 'Spiral' and the acoustic twelve-string jangler "Love Is Gone'."[8] The Rough Guide to Rock called it "a little less polished, but certainly [not] lacking in the great tunes and hooks department."[9] New York wrote that "it’s good to hear [Sweet] loosen up to the point where his perfectionism no longer suffocates his songs."[10]

Track listing

All songs written by Matthew Sweet.

  1. "Dead Smile" - 3:00
  2. "Morning Song" - 2:37
  3. "The Ocean In-Between" - 2:48
  4. "I Love You" - 4:38
  5. "I Don't Want to Know" - 2:28
  6. "Warning" - 2:54
  7. "Spiral" - 1:50
  8. "Love is Gone" - 3:27
  9. "Hear This" - 3:22
  10. "Wait" - 2:38
  11. "Tonight We Ride" - 2:44
  12. "Through Your Eyes" - 7:13

Personnel

Production

  • Matthew Sweet – producer, recording, mixing, liner notes
  • Haruka Tsukamoto – design
  • Yoshitomo Nara – sleeve artwork
  • Jiro Oshima – Moji artwork

References

  1. ^ "Matthew Sweet – Kimi Ga Suki * Raifu (Glass Modern)". The Big Takeover.
  2. ^ Kimi Ga Suki at AllMusic
  3. ^ a b Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 7. MUZE. p. 879.
  4. ^ "Kimi Ga Suki | Pitchfork". February 24, 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-02-24.
  5. ^ "Matthew Sweet | Biography & History". AllMusic.
  6. ^ "Matthew Sweet: Living Things / Kimi Ga Suki". PopMatters. December 20, 2004.
  7. ^ a b "Simpler Pleasures". The New Yorker.
  8. ^ "Matthew Sweet – Living Things". No Depression.
  9. ^ The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. February 3, 2003. ISBN 9781858284576 – via Google Books.
  10. ^ "Living Things – Kimi Ga Suki – New York Magazine Pop Music Review – Nymag". New York Magazine.


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