Make Believe Mailer #116: Make Believe Melodies' 100 Favorite Japanese Albums Of 2022
Better Late Than Never
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As someone unfortunately always thinking about lists and especially haunted by my failure to adequately craft them, I’ve thought constantly about 2022. I completely whiffed on making a year-end piece ranking my favorite 100 Japanese releases of the year. Usually, there’s an excuse I can fall back on when I airball something like this, like the 12 months themselves sucked on a personal and / or work level, or perhaps major life changes set up metaphorical roadblocks to this feature. “What was going on in 2022?”
I’ve thought about it a lot and have come to the conclusion…nothing, nothing I could use to justify not writing album titles next to numbers. I assumed it must have been a stressful year but when I actually map out the months I realize no, 2023 was a significantly more draining year emotionally and professionally. Was I really busy with work? I mean, the answer is always “yes” but if anything 2022 might have been kind of a lull — I made it my goal that year to write for more “new” publications, which I managed, but I had way more deadlines during the heart of the pandemic while the last year and a half saw me move more into the world of PR yet still somehow get more writing work? Alright, so it had to be family stuff. But nope…a three-year-old kid presents challenges, but four has been way more demanding.
I kind of think 2022 was pretty chill all things considered. Maybe that was the problem? Or maybe I need to zoom out and look at Japanese music at large.
I think the biggest reason for putting it all off was the inevitability of what would take the top spot. It’s BAD MODE, it was always going to be BAD MODE. Two years after its release, it’s only better — I think it’s Utada’s masterpiece, while being one of the best reflections of entering middle age and accepting everything without settling. It only becomes sweeter with every month passed and every life event marked down. It’s not about the youthful confusion of their earliest works, and it is not concerned with the emotional catharsis of the two albums preceding it. BAD MODE embraces transience, savoring the fleeting nature of everything while still understanding one has to have fun via a rendezvous vacay.
Yet as 2023 played out and 2024 takes a solid form, I think I can point to one other element of the year that was serving as a handy excuse for the real reason the 2022 list never came out (my laziness). Looking over my notes and the releases defining the year for me, I’m struck by how…chaotic the year was? That’s partially owing to sounds taking shape over these 12 months — this is BBBBBBB’s breakthrough year, for one — but also the state of music. The pandemic period is cooling off but not over, so a lot of scenes are bubbling up but not fully forming (Peterparker69 and other youngsters were finding their footing), while the mainstream is still catching up to the sudden paradigm shift brought about by the preceding two years. I think it’s telling that when I tried to make sense of J-pop at the end of that year, it was mostly about an industry navigating technology, whereas in the times after the direction was much more solidified. On every level, this is a year of transition…but within that space, a lot is happening.
A good way to visualize it — I could piece together the arc of 2023 (the longtail of netlabels colliding with a new era of J-pop and the hyperpop-born youth scene) and 2024 is coming together quite nicely (finding new, often bewildering, angles on familiar sounds, especially Vocaloid and rock). I can’t point to any through line for 2022…which might be the charm.
Maybe I never published this because my hesitation at the end of the year was “oh, am I really going to put a virtual idol group in my top ten?” Now I’m like…that’s top five, baby.
Weird year! Anyway, I’ve severely sprained my ankle TWICE now over the last two weeks, and literally am avoiding walking so…perfect time to actually do this.
Make Believe Melodies Favorite 100 Japanese Albums Of 2022
#100 MIZ Sundance Ranch
#99 Pianootoko FAKESAX
#98 Tokyo Girls’ Style Nocturnal
#97 Takashi Fujii Music Restaurant Royal Host
#96 betcover!! Tamago
#95 Various Artists brutshits compilation 2
#94 DONGURIZU 4EP3
#93 Various Artists Ashigakari Volume One
#92 DAOKO And Yohji Igarashi MAD
#91 YUKKYUN DIVA YOU
#90 Various Artists Version.
#89 Haruno 25
#88 salasa Inner Ocean
#87 Mime Bloom
#86 POP ART TOWN ART MUSEUM
#85 E.O.U estream
#84 lyrical school L.S.
#83 Jiyugaoka And Sangatsu Twilight
#82 NOMELON NOLEMON POP
#81 Templime And Hoshimiya Toto skycave
Note: Maybe the most prominent inclusion on this list that at the time would have been much higher…but now feels like a preview of something even better. So, this seems right.
#80 SERINA My Heart
#79 Rave Racers SPEED WAY 2 EP
#78 Tim Pepproni Cozy Life Tape Vol. 1 + DICE!
#77 RYUTist (en)
#76 Friday Night Plans In The Rearview + Come And Go
#75 chelmico gokigen
#74 Various Artists Chainsaw Man OP + Endings
OK, cheating a bit, sure. Yet there’s an argument to be made this (coupled with one other anime release, a little higher up) is the most important non-album album of the year, as it shows the power an anime soundtrack can have, complete with one of the biggest J-pop songs of the decade so far (“KICK BACK”). Yet that context removed…the highlights hare are staggering, and I kind of think it necessary to get ano’s contribution in here somehow, as it is one of 2022’s best.
#73 (((Sssurrounddd))) After Hours
#72 mizuirono_inu TOKYO VIRUS LOVE STORY
#71 Dayzero Subworld Communication
#70 Ko. Oyama Oriai
#69 Sakanaction Adapt
#68 Lucky Kilimanjaro TOUGH PLAY
#67 kZm Pure 1000%
#66 Otoboke Beaver SUPER CHAMPON
#65 in the blue shirt Park with a Pond
#64 valknee vs.
#63 Kumi Koda heart
I revisited this one to double check I wasn’t crazy…nope still a late career highlight from Kumi Koda, out of nowhere.
#62 Mikeneko Homeless And lulu Time to Love
Full disclosure, I helped with PR on this one…but holds up!
#61 Suzuiyubae Kurai Mizo
#60 @onefive 1518
#59 Miyuna Guidance
#58 Mao Nakatsu room
#57 levi SPEEEED
#56 master kohta sense EP
#55 Fuji Chao yay
#54 Tiger Bae Calm Like This Love
#53 hirihiri And lilbesh ramko 10 MICROPHONES AND DISTORTED WAVEFORMS!!
#52 lazydoll liquidation
#51 HAMELN Algorithm City
#50 Mondo Gross BIG WORLD
#49 Soshi Takeda Same Place, Another Time
#48 computer fight suburban blues
An album I completely missed at the time of its release! Probably should be higher, but hey top 50 seems fair.
#47 Ako ANTI BLUE
#46 LAUSBUB M.I.D. The First Annual Report Of LAUSBUB
#45 CAPSULE Metropolis
#44 Tohji broken ep + t-mix
#43 kinoue64 Kukan, Jijo, Jikan, Jisho.
#42 Mom ¥ No Sekai
#41 Eiko Ishibashi Drive My Car Original Soundtrack
#40 quoree 煤模型
The 2022 champion of “I swear I can’t figure out the write transliteration of this, just have some kanji” album titles.
#39 Tutorial Tips Music
#38 Tsudio Studio My Room
#37 Nagase Yuka a look front
#36 Koji Nakamura, Foodman And Takashi Numazawa Humanity
#35 ODETRASH Herocore
#34 Ado Kyogen + Uta No Uta ONE PIECE FILM RED
Full disclosure I often write English bios and PR for Ado (starting, funny enough, around the time of the soundtrack above), but that removed these are probably two of the most important J-pop releases of the decade so far, partially owing to the anime connection of the second, but also because of how they reveal the flexibility of Ado herself. Kyogen is a celebration of Vocaloid music culture in all its many shapes, while the One Piece soundtrack finds her stepping up to the major level. Held back only by modern J-pop’s Achilles heel…a love of electro-swing.
#33 BUBBLE-B Featuring Enjo-G Kimi Ni Kika Setai Techno Ga Arunda
#32 Tenka Hydration
#31 ZOMBIE-CHANG STRESS de STRESS
#30 Amane Uyama Mu Mu To
#29 Various Artists NC4K COLLECTION Vol. 4
#28 1797071 D1$4PP34R1NG
#27 iri neon
#26 Various Artists Poko
#25 MASS OF THE FERMENTING DREGS Awakening:Sleeping
#24 lil beamz LIL BEAMZ 3.0
#23 Kikagaku Moyo Kumoyo Island
#22 Mimichuka Warau Hikari
#21 butasaku forms
#21 BHS Svve ouroboros + MMO
#20 Perfume Plasma
While not approaching the upper echelon of Perfume releases (GAME and JPN), Plasma fits in nicely among the next rung down, especially considering it’s a late career highlight that finds the group tip-toeing into other styles. Just as importantly, it’s a triumph for Yasutaka Nakata, in a year where he had quite possibly his last creative groundswell (been a little rougher in the months after this), complete with melancholy city pop exploration.
#19 Gimgigam Summer Deja Vu
#18 Batten Girls Kyu Sai
Reminder that this idol outfit made one of the best songs of the decade, found on this album.
#17 Fellsius MONOEYE
#16 Anna Takeuchi Tickets
#15 Stones Taro Seed Man EP + Straight Walk
Tough to pinpoint a creative high for a producer like Stones Taro…who stays killing in 2024, now with more rap and pop productions in his toolkit…but these two collections might be peak Taro, helped by the mood of the year (we all wanted to shake off the last few years).
#14 4s4ki Here Or Hell + Killer In Neverland
#13 Awich Queendom
Full disclosure, at time of this album’s release, I was writing Awich’s English bio and PR materials. Not now though so I can also be free to say…statement album from one of the most important figures in Japanese hip-hop, and a moment wherein she gains full confidence in guiding the nation’s community forward.
#12 Soichi Terada Asakusa Light
#11 Rikon Nozaki We Are Alive
#10 Yurufuwa Gang GAMA
#9 tofubeats REFLECTION
#8 rirugiliyangugili DUMBBELL
#7 Perfect Young Lady PYL 2nd SEASON...
#6 Telematic Visions town without sky
#5 Photon Maiden 4 Phenomena + Showdown
I still listen to both of these, from D4DJ fictional electronic pop group Photon Maiden, a lot in 2024. The novelty of a cartoon project chasing big-fest dreams is fun, but the enduring charm of Photon Maiden is the utilization of seasoned producers — including netlabel legend fu_mou — who add a sharpness to these songs. The tracks sound great, but they also punch an emotional punch, ranging from charming-and-awkward lust (“24”) to heart-racing longing “Wonder Wonder Trip.”
#4 BBBBBBB Victory Hardcore
The beautiful chaos and sonic pranksterism starts here.
#3 Matcha Potato Salad Animation Tripping
Here’s the bold take from this whole list — if any album from 2022 will eventually knock off BAD MODE in some future reassessment (and more ambitious…become like, a defining discovery in some far off future, where the listeners of tomorrow ask “what the fuck was going on here!?”), it’s going to be Animation Tripping. Every time I revisit this one, a new layer reveals itself. Allegedly made during Matcha Potato Salad’s entire time in high school, this is basically Fantasma for a generation reared on Twitter or Endtroducing….. with no attention span. A dizzying tribute to creativity, a thorough poking-at of nostalgia, a sonic trip bridging old Japanese commercials with no wave and ‘80s idol pop. Held back only by memories of 2022…but ask me again in ten years.
#2 Guchon, Just Everything Guchon Released In 2022 (With Assist From Carpainter)
This was going to be the big “gotcha!” moment I envisioned all the way back in December of 2022. Except…completely serious, because my god Guchon was on an absolute heater. The Tokyo party caterer has always been as reliable as they come, but over 12 months he went absolutely insane places within his music without any trips. French touch! Resort disco! “Tokyo Funk!” That last one came out on Dec. 1, and might be the best of the bunch, with Carpainter adding extra oomph to the proceedings. Besides just being non-stop bangers, I do think Guchon and his output reflected 2022 perfectly. After the two years before it, people had a lot of pent up energy…and some released it through a flurry of releases, while others just soundtracked a new normal with them.
#1 Utada Hikaru BAD MODE
Still…this is the masterpiece of 2022. Sorry it took nearly two years to make it official.
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Twitter — @mbmelodies