Color Bars (カラーバー) is an EP by Japanese rock band

Tokyo Jihen , also known as Tokyo Incidents, is a Japanese rock band formed by Ringo Sheena, after leaving her solo career. The band's debut single " Gunjō Biyori" was released in September 2004, and they ended activities in February 2012. The band sold 2 ...

, released on January 18, 2012, in Japan through EMI Music Japan and Virgin Music. The album was produced by the band and Japanese

recording engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproducti ...

Uni Inoue. The first press edition is a cardboard sleeve.

Background

The album's cover art is a combination of many "color bars", which is a representation of

SMPTE color bars SMPTE color bars are a television test pattern used where the NTSC video standard is utilized, including countries in North America. The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) refers to the pattern as Engineering Guidelin ...

. They suggested the end of the band by it, since color bars fill the telescreen after all the TV programs for the day finish in Japan. This

mini album A mini-LP or mini-album is a short vinyl record album or LP, usually retailing at a lower price than an album that would be considered full-length. It is distinct from an EP due to containing more tracks and a slightly longer running length. A ...

, intended to be the band's final studio release, includes one song written by each band member, including Toshiki Hata's first composition for the band and the first time

Seiji Kameda is a Japanese music producer, arranger and bass guitarist. He has worked extensively with Ringo Shiina, serving as her producer and touring bassist for many years, including his tenure with their band Tokyo Jihen from 2005 to 2012. Biograph ...

wrote lyrics for his own song. In addition, the lead vocals on "Kai Horror Dust" and "Honto no Tokoro" were provided by the songs' respective composers, while

Ringo Shiina , known by her stage name , is a Japanese singer, songwriter and musician. She is also the founder and lead vocalist of the band Tokyo Jihen. She describes herself as "". She was ranked number 36 in a list of Japan's top 100 musicians compiled ...

played drums on the latter track. As in '' Dai Hakken'', each song title is made up of seven characters.

Track listing

All the official European language titles according to

's website.

Charts and certifications

Charts

Sales and certifications

Notes and references

External links

Tokyo Jihen Discography
Tokyo Jihen albums 2012 albums EMI Records EPs Virgin Records EPs {{japan-album-stub