Make Believe Mailer Vol. 42: Sweet Memories
Apologies for no newsletter last week...Fuji Rock consumed all my time!
Idol duo Vanilla Beans announced their intention to disband this October. The pair of Risa and Rena has been together in its current incarnation since 2008 — the group debuted in 2007 with one different member, but they left soon after to give a go with the reality-show-turned-idol-group Idoling!!! — and developed a solid following over that decade, although they never breached the mainstream during a time when idols enjoyed a renaissance in popularity...and then saw slightly subversive groups gain ground as well.
They leave behind a tidy legacy — one perfect song, a handful of interesting albums and some of the best merch around. Yet what makes them really interesting is how they arrived at a weird point in time, both capturing a time where idol music wasn't a viable promotional strategy and predicting where things would go.
Vanilla Beans initially released music via Tokuma Japan Communications, the same label electro-pop trio Perfume put out there groundbreaking album GAME (and much more) on. The two groups share a lot in common, all dictated by timing. Perfume and Vanilla Beans both joined the label at a time when idol music was out of favor with mainstream listeners, well after the heyday of Morning Musume but just before (literally, a year prior to them going to #1 on the Oricon Charts for the first time) AKB48 rose up. For Perfume, a group that flirted with idol life, the move was to distance themselves from idol signifiers despite also touching on most of the activities that are tied to that particular sub-genre. They were electro-pop, or techno-pop, and since 2008 they've always given themselves room between traditional idols and something else.
Vanilla Beans went the other way. They embraced classical idol imagery at a time when it wasn't cool with listeners. Today, nods to the Golden Age of Japanese idols is common if not in surplus, to the point where K-pop artists are tapping into the same well. But Vanilla Beans first few years approached this period as kitsch to play around with, their early songs loaded up with references to idols from days gone by. Early clips for the previously linked "Nicola" (the perfect song) or the now-not-online "U & Me" leaned in on the monotone style of Wink, with the pair (in whatever lineup) delivering emotionless dance moves that didn't match the giddy music or fantastic, Shibuya-kei-ish videos. It reached a peak with 2010's video for "D & D," which played out like a Bubble era TV music performance. Countless idols have straight-up replicated '80s idol songs this decade, but in 2010, this was just not cool in J-pop. Vanilla Beans were the only outfit trying to resurrect a bygone era of pop, tongue-in-cheek or otherwise.
But Vanilla Beans came just a bit too early — had they debuted in 2010, a year after "River" signaled the start of AKB48's decade, they probably would have resembled Tokyo Girls' Style and been a bit more earnest in their idol aspirations. Had they debuted in 2012...they would have been a niche group, either appealing to lapsed Shibuya-kei fans (so...they could have been future labelmates Negicco) or going all in on the irony that was always present in their music and visuals. Watch "Nicola" again, or check out the Daiso-quality-graphics of the "Love & Hate" clip. There's something off about both (even more with "U & Me," a video that found the duo simply pulling off lazy choreography in a half-built house), and future creations were just as off. Then take into account an early Vanilla Beans' promo campaign that involved the pair going around in Tokyo in a see-through van...doing nothing of much interest. They were subversive idols before the idea of subversive idols was really a thing, poking fun at a soon-to-be inescapable style at a time when it was very avoidable.
Vanilla Beans most interesting period coincided with a low tide for idol music. When idols found themselves back in the spotlight, the duo never really found a way to adjust, always stuck between traditionalism and near parody. But no group has done what they did — "subversive" idols leaned on hard rock and shock, not playful parody, while they were one of the first out in front on the nostalgia wave J-pop in the 2010s would become. It was fleeting, but those initial years from Vanilla Beans stand as some of the strangest from a group in the 21st century. Here's hoping they get remembered for that, and the top-notch music they made.
News And Views
Jurina Matsui won't take part in the upcoming AKB48 single, despite winning the annual election wherein she earned the right to be the center for said song.
Here's a collab I didn't see coming -- Chvrches worked with Suiyoubi No Campanella for a new song.
Fuji Rock Festival 2018 went down last week, and I like James Hadfield's write-up for The Japan Times. My own observation -- lots of vapes, lots of kids, too many Australians wearing Space Jam basketball jerseys.
Look, I don't know where to start with Produce 48, but I do advise trying to catch up on what's happening, because it is everything that I could have ever hoped for from this show (a geopolitical MESS).
There is so much bad writing about Japanese music from Western media in 2018 that I just generally avoid it rather than scream at it (also, I am trying to make better use of my time now). But this video explaining what "Plastic Love" is (spoiler: a song) actually caught my attention because it actually does the contextual stuff OK...it's basically Wikipedia, but have you seen some of the articles out there???...but loses me when trying to make a bigger picture argument about the internet helping "obscure" music find new life. Ignoring the fact "Plastic Love" isn't actually a "hit" by any measure...the internet mostly just allows existing powers to do well. The fact the video maker uses BTS as an additional example says it all -- that's the only K-pop group that gets attention in Western media, and they only get more thanks to online developments! Anyway, here's Winnie the Pooh in the style of Mariya Takeuchi, which has been on my desktop for three months now.
OK, deep breath, this is maybe my worst take (but I believe it! And this is going out on my birthday so this is my present to myself)...imagine someone went into a restaurant, and complained about the music playing while they ate. Imagine they asked to have control of the playlist, and forced everyone to listen to Nicolas Jaar. In most cases, the internet would come together and scream about how obnoxious this customer is (we are living in peak the-customer-is-always-wrong times online, especially), especially because of their seemingly pretentious music taste. But when the customer is Ryuichi Sakamoto, everyone loves it! I'm not baffled by the response to this now-two-weeks-old story from the New York Times -- turns out the line between "privileged baby boomer" and "cool grandpa" is Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence -- but I'm surprised how easily everyone was just like "this rules!" when a guy whined about in-store music and probably bullied a younger chef over it. This meshes with no other trend on social media! Sakamoto rules (obviously...this isn't about his music), but this is a case where he seems kind of...like a privileged Japanese old guy? Let them play their shitty playlist!
Oricon Trail For The Week Of July 23, 2018 To July 29, 2018
Arashi puts out singles and they go straight to the top -- that's just a fact of life at this point. At least Sakamoto didn't make a playlist of Johnny's cuts.
Perfume's GAME (33 1/3)
My entry in the 33 1/3 Japan series is out now! Get a copy at Bloomsbury or Amazon. Or at Kinokuniya bookstores in the US. It really can not be stressed how important it was to Perfume's success that they released GAME when they did -- I explore it in the book, but like a year or two later they would basically be Cupitron rather than the group Cupitron lifted from.
Look At Me!
Talked to Sally Amaki for The Japan Times, and she's every bit as charismatic in person as on the internet. Behind the senes tidbit -- when 22 / 7 went to Anime Expo, Amaki really wanted to eat all her favorite fast food (Five Guys, In N Out) but the other member just ate hotel pancakes the whole time, much to her chagrin.
Wrote about the internet's reaction to tourism -- inspired by that angry monk -- for The Japan Times. Talib Kweli makes a guest appearance.
The week before, wrote about how netizens reacted to the heat.
Wrote about my favorite Fuji Rock acts for the official English-language Fuji Rock blog. I hope you can experience the thrill of Skrillex waving a flag while Hot-Topic-grade EDM pop plays over the speakers.
Blog highlights: Le Makeup, Tenma Tenma, tofubeats.
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Make Believe Melodies / Twitter / Facebook