Make Believe Mailer #19: I swear this isn't an April Fool's gag [mic drop]
Last year, I -- like plenty of other people writing about music -- tried to create a pitch for the 33 1/3 book series. I remember writing maybe 30% of one before other things derailed my attention, as did that sense of ongoing dread that looms over you when you are just starting out as a freelancer. The week before the deadline, I went to the Tochigi countryside for a long weekend, and I thought "this, this is the time to finish it up." That most certainly didn't happen, and I moved the now-sad looking Google Drive file to the side.
Then, in December, I found a reason to wipe the digital dust off that folder. I received an email from professor Noriko Manabe regarding an interesting proposition -- Bloomsbury Publishing was planning on launching a 33 1/3 series focused on Japanese music. Did I have any album I wanted to pitch, in particular something from the recent world of J-pop. I certainly did!
So I'm excited to announce I'm officially contributing a book to this new series, which I'll be writing over the next few months. It will be about an album that was instrumental in guiding me to what I write about now, and one of my all-time favorite albums period -- Perfume's GAME.
Despite being a full-grown adult, I still believe that announcing things before they are 100% finished results in a jinx that eventually derails said thing. But I figured if you took the time to subscribe to a semi-weekly email newsletter devoted to Japanese music, you are probably a person who has helped keep me motivated at what I do. So I feel relatively safe in sharing this news here. Thanks for all the support, and if I don't get back to an email you send, I'm gonna blame it on this.
Japanese Music Highlights Of The Week
Lot of interconnected hip-hop music this week -- Zombie-Chang shared a new video and she also joined rapper Salu on a song produced by Yosa and she starred in a video for a song by Salu produced by Tofubeats. Here's the place to see them all. In unrelated sounds, here's another Japanese hip-hop track that jumped out at me this week.
LLLL showed off his piano skills on a stripped-down number released via Ryan Hemsworth's Secret Songs label.
I took last week off from the newsletter for....uhhhh general business, so a few highlights: Aira Mitsuki, Yullippe, Caro Kissa and Perfume.
One of my favorite songs from last year, Emerald Four's "Tameiki", got a video this week.
In which I finally really listen to rising Shinjuku Loft band Have A Nice Day! and come away impressed.
News And Views
AKB48 marches onward, announcing plans to open branches in Taipei, Manila and Bangkok. To keep with the nationalist angle, Korean netizens called the group "legendary right-wing idols" which is actually not far off base!
This person is not from AKB48, but is a wonderful Internet find all the same
Tonight marks the opening of new club Contact in Tokyo, marking the latest club to open in the city in a sort of kind of mini boom (like, realllllly mini boom). You have to register as a member to get in though which seems...lame.
G-Dragon appeared on the cover of the latest Nylon Japan magazine, capitalizing on the current rise in genderless-kei models.
Tatsuro Yamashita earned himself a Guinness World Record, now if only someone could give him a genius grant and induct him in a hall of fame of some sort.
Cheers to James Hadfield and his fantastic interview with Ryuichi Sakamoto in The Japan Times. Also cheers for Ryotaro Aoki for good articles on Shonen Knife and The Fin.
Oricon Trail For The Week Of March 21 - March 27
#1 Nogizaka46 "Harujion ga Sakukoro" (749,706 copies sold)
I have nothing against sakura season...it's so lovely out!...but man can the subsequent flurry of sakura songs be tiring. Nogizaka46's latest chart topper doesn't divert far from the model they...and "rival" group AKB48...have leaned on for a while now, but it gets an extra spike of sentimentality from the season where everyone graduates school or goes to a new job. It doesn't really add anything though -- this just sounds like another generic idol song.
Look At Me!
Reviewed Tokyo netlabel Trekkie Trax's latest compilation for Pitchfork. Get it here. Elsewhere, wrote about Kyoto's music and went to an anime convention.
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
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