Ex-Midori lead singer gone solo Mariko Goto has had a somewhat troubled last few years- culminating in a series of recent tweets that indicate that she is indeed leaving music behind- and that her upcoming live show will be her last. Read more after the jump
The once darling of the indie rock scene Mariko Goto last night shocked with a series of tweets indicating that she had come to the end of her tether with the music scene and would be ceasing all activities. She also indicated that she would be continuing on with her final show on the 8th of July (according to her tweet- although she is scheduled from 7-10 July at Sugadairo 4 day event at Shinjuku Pit Inn), but begs to just ‘treat it like a normal show’ – and not to only come because it’s her final event.
Mariko had a lot of success with her now legendary jazz-punk band “Midori”, which disbanded in late 2010, and returned to solo work one year later, announcing her return to music at Shibuya O-East in December 2011. Her subsequent debut solo album “299792458” came out in July 2012, to moderate success. Quite a few people who loved the sound of Midori were somewhat let-down (however, a lot seemed to warm to it eventually) by the full on pop approach that Mariko had taken- which continued into her following two releases “m@u” and “Kowareta Hako ni Rinakkusu”. Both also saw moderate success, but not the kind that Mariko Goto was looking for.
After this, Mariko Goto then went onto writing songs for other artists, most notably idol groups such as Bellring Girls Heart, You’ll Melt More! and Guso Drop. While these songs did bring some more attention to her- it seems she was still not satisfied. She also dipped her foot in acting, appearing on TV drama “Taberu Dake”.
This is not the first time she’s had a breakdown such as this, in February of last year, she called a hiatus, with a long, personal blog entry to go along with it. (Read Ronald’s Arama article on the incident here). However, this time she is much more stable and seems far more serious about it. There are no hard emotions attached, she is just stating facts. It will be sad to see her leave the industry- and for the long term followers, it will be a hard thing to accept. Like the title of Midori’s last show,
Sayonara, Goto-san.
You can read all of her recent tweets (Japanese only) on her Twitter (while they last) here
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