How to say this? Yuji Oniki sounds like the male version of Natalie Imbruglia. Now I realize that's a pretty strong thing to say about someone whom most people are unfamiliar with, and because I still have some feeling left for struggling artists, I thought twice about the comparison. Nevertheless, the only other reason I can see not to compare Oniki with the frail adult contemporary demon is that his production isn't quite as good. Also, he doesn't seem to have her knack of sounding tortured and generally malnourished-- so, hopefully he's got health on his side. Man, this is not starting well.

Oniki is based in Oakland, California; most of the record was recorded at his house, with a small band. He then sent the tracks all over the place, including to Japan, where Katsui Yuji of Rovo added a little violin, and Sakana's Nishiwaki added some guitar. Next stop for the tapes was Cleveland, where Guided by Voices' Doug Gillard tacked on a couple of guitar solos. Furthermore, Beulah's Bill Swan blew his horn (trumpet) to flesh out some of the arrangements. Initially, this seems to be a neat concept in making a "solo" record, because the resulting sound should reflect more than just the idiosyncratic vision of the writer. However, in practice, this is basically just Oniki roping in his favorite session players, which isn't that different from what, say, Donald Fagan does. And what's so great about that?

Other than the fact that I'm not terribly fond of the music Oniki brings to mind, the real issue is that I'm not all that fond of Oniki's music. I will say that, as a pop auteur (he wrote, produced and arranged all of the music on Tvi), he gets points for the understated (some might say simple) arrangements, and overwhelmingly straightforward, melodic tunes. We may have seen the last days of pop artists who have ProTools at their fingertips, and yet don't produce whacked-out electronic pieces or acid-damaged Beatles homages. Oniki certainly seems to be aiming for AOR heaven here, and I guess props are in order for him sticking to his guns. So, yeah.

Some of the tunes are nice: the opener "40 Seconds" is a good showcase for Yuji's sometimes nasal, rarely very expressive, but generally strong tenor. It takes a lazy groove, and adds a pinch of spacy reverb, distant violin, and some acoustic guitar, making for a pleasant, dreamy backdrop. "Skeleton Station" is a short, piano instrumental, and a very nice accompaniment to staring out the window into the rain. "Reminders" is something of a torch song, with a brooding chord progression and a relatively expansive arrangement (mellotron strings, soaring background vocals, shimmering electric guitar) that actually turns the tune into something like the younger cousin of Blur's "Universal."

However, the majority of music on Tvi isn't that distinct: the low-key drama of "One Bright Summer Day," with an energy level that stays constant (approaching comatose) for far too long; the upbeat "Transport," with its perky college beat and peppy "ba-da-bop" backing vocals, threatens to dethrone the Rembrandts as the kings of annoyingly passive pop; "Between Beds and Clocks" is almost as cute as Imbruglia, but then again, Oniki's not a hot ex-soap star, so there shouldn't be any way he gets away with being this twee. If light, faintly emotional pop is your thing, by all means check this record out. I could see it appealing to the over-stressed, no-time-for-noise crowd, but even then, I'd take something tougher-- I hear Kylie Minogue is back.

-Dominique Leone, March 26th, 2002