Luminous Orange is an

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band formed 1992 in

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

, Japan. The band has evolved from an all female group to a solo project headed by composer, singer & guitarist Rie Takeuchi.

History

Luminous Orange was originally conceived as a four-piece girl band by Rie Takeuchi in 1992 after being inspired by a

Pale Saints Pale Saints were an English alternative rock and shoegaze band formed in 1987 in Leeds by singer-bassist Ian Masters, guitarist Graeme Naysmith and drummer Chris Cooper.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 9 ...

concert. The group has often been categorized as alternative,

dream pop Dream pop (also typeset as dreampop) is a subgenre of alternative rock and neo-psychedelia that emphasizes atmosphere and sonic texture as much as pop melody. Common characteristics include breathy vocals, dense productions, and effects such ...

, and

shoegaze Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with dream pop) is a subgenre of indie rock, indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion (music), distortion and effects, a ...

. Because of their appearance on Cornelius' label they are also considered as

Shibuya-kei is a microgenre of pop music or a general aesthetic that flourished in Japan in the mid-to-late 1990s. The music genre is distinguished by a "cut-and-paste" approach that was inspired by the kitsch, fusion, and artifice from certain music styl ...

. In 1998, the band released the ''Puppy Dog Mail EP'' on former Pale Saints member Ian Masters' label Friendly Science Enregisterments. The title track from the EP subsequently appeared on a compilation released by Trattoria. That same year, Takeuchi made an appearance on Friendly Science Orchestra's ''Miniature Album'', which was awarded Single of the Week by

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

. The following year, Luminous Orange released the

mini album A mini-LP or mini-album is a short 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 mini- ...

''Luminousorangesuperplastic'', which drew praise from of

Number Girl was a Japanese rock band from Fukuoka Prefecture, formed in August 1995 by vocalist and guitarist Shutoku Mukai. They first disbanded in 2002 following bassist Kentaro Nakao's departure from the band. Number Girl played fast, guitar-driven ro ...

. The band went on to release a

maxi single A maxi single, maxi-single, or maxi CD (sometimes abbreviated to MCD or CDM) is a music single release with more than the usual two tracks of an A-side song and a B-side song. Maxi singles are often mistaken for extended plays (EPs), especial ...

in 2000 under the similar title of ''Luminousorangesugarplastic.'' By 2002, the band had become Takeuchi's solo project with guest musicians. That same year brought the release of the band's album ''Drop You Vivid Colours'' on the Tone Vendor label. The album was described as being "far more richly produced, with multiple layers of sound giving it a texture and depth that previous albums lacked." Hiroko Kawakami of the band Caucus cited the album as one of the records which influenced her. In 2004, Luminous Orange played at the

CMJ Music Marathon CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events, online media company and a distributor of up and coming music CDs, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music ...

in New York. The band returned to America in 2006, playing at

SXSW South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

in Austin, Texas. They performed again at the festival the following year. Luminous Orange's next album, ''Sakura Swirl'', was released in 2007. In addition to being released in Japan, it also had distribution in America, Europe and Australia. The album featured contributions from , Hiroyuki Tateyama, Noritoshi Esaki and M. Fujii. Ian Masters provided lyrics as well as vocals and

musical saw A musical saw, also called a singing saw, is a hand saw used as a musical instrument. Capable of continuous glissando (portamento), the sound creates an ethereal tone, very similar to the theremin. The musical saw is classified as a plaque frict ...

to the track "Silver Kiss". Masters joined Luminous Orange at two of their concerts that same year. That July, the band played two concerts in Taiwan, including an appearance at the Formoz Festival. In 2009, Luminous Orange released the compilation album ''Best of Luminous Orange'' on . Takeuchi explained that the label had asked about recording a new album but as Inazawa was busy with

Vola and the Oriental Machine Vola and the Oriental Machine (also known as Vola) is a four-member Japanese rock band formed by Number Girl and ex-Zazen Boys drummer Ahito Inazawa in 2005. The group is named after the soccer team Vola F.C., which was also the name of the short ...

, they weren't in a position to do so. She thus saw an opportunity to re-release earlier tracks that had become more difficult to obtain. The following year saw the release of ''Songs of Innocence'', Luminous Orange's first original album in about two years. Guest musicians on the record included Takehito Kono of , , Ahito Inazawa, Christopher McGuire and Katsuya Yanagawa. The songs on the album were noted as combining "the overwhelming feeling of feedback and thunderous roaring, the persuasive and cool rhythms with beautiful melodies" as well as having odd time signatures and "mysterious melody lines with unexpected developments." Luminous Orange released the

digital single In music, a single is a type of release of a song recording of fewer tracks than an album ( LP), typically one or two tracks. A single can be released for sale to the public in a variety of physical or digital formats. Singles may be standa ...

"Tigerlily Mixolydian" in 2013. The next year, the band released their seventh studio album, ''Soar, Kiss The Moon'', on Parallelogram. The album was described as incorporating jazz and samba rhythms as well as numerous guitar overdubs. Some of the instruments were noted as being recorded in live houses and old storehouses. Among the guests the album were members of the Yoshida Yohei Group, who contributed wind instrument parts.

Members

* Rie Takeuchi (composer, singer, guitarist, etc.)

Current supporting musicians

* Takehito Kouno (B) – Mahiruno * Katsuya Yanagawa (G) –

Caucus A caucus is a group or meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to ...

* Kensuke Nishiura (Dr) – Sōtaiseiriron * HIroko Kawakami (Cho) –

Past members

* Kazuko Sakamoto (B) * Mieko Okazaki (Dr) * Kaname Banba (Dr) * Tarow Nisawa (B)

Discography

Albums

*''Vivid Short Trip'' (1996) *''Waiting for the Summer'' (1997) *''Sugarcoated'' (1998) *''Drop You Vivid Colours'' (2002) *''Vivid Short Trip 7 Stops Farther'' (Reissue) (2004) *''Sakura Swirl'' (2007) *''Songs of Innocence'' (2010) *''Soar, Kiss The Moon'' (2014)

EPs

*''Puppy Dog Mail EP'' (1998) *''luminousorangesuperplastic'' (1999) *''luminousorangesugarplastic'' (2000)

Compilation(s)

*''Best of Luminous Orange'' (2009)

References

External links

Luminous Orange Official Website

Luminous Orange Myspace

Institute of Spoons(Friendly Science Enregisterments)
{{Authority control Japanese alternative rock groups Musical groups from Kanagawa Prefecture Japanese all-female bands