Make Believe Mailer Vol. 58: Time Tells
The best moments of Hikaru Utada's final stop on her "Laughing In The Dark" came in the moments between songs. That's not to slight the actual music, but the weight of this night out at Chiba's Makuhari Messe became clearest when she dealt with the silence between runs of songs. I'm sure every stop on this nationwide tour -- her first in 12 years -- featured the same heaviness. of performer and audience in communication. But on Dec. 9, it became especially poignant, as this was the exact day marking the 20th anniversary of her proper debut single "Automatic."
She announced this fact early on in the show, but revisited the topic frequently over the course of the night, offering plenty of room to reflect on the last two decades of her musical career. The specialness of this occasion appeared to really get to Utada, as her between-song banter featured awkward pauses and stretches of silence where she just...took it in. Other times, she got choked up, even when not talking, but simply soaking in the cheers.
It's always tempting to be cynical about pop stars crying at these moments, but this felt far more real. Partially, that's because the "Laughter In The Dark" tour wasn't the live equivalent of a museum tour. The set list leaned heavily on songs from her last two albums, making this more of a two-in-one release jaunt rather than an exercise in pure nostalgia. Utada got to the early career smash hits too of course -- including "Automatic" come the encore -- but recent material got the spotlight. And for the most part, it held its own with the "Traveling" and "Sakura Drops" of yesteryear.
This was the first time I've ever seen Utada live, so I only had second-hand reports from others and various Twitter chit-chat heading in. The consensus -- she's alright, but nothing incredible live. "Laughter In The Dark" avoided spectacle, opting instead for a backing band, a string section, some nifty visuals backing her and Utada alone. Simple and clean, if you will. She avoids choreography and she's not the kind of singer who belts the roof down...but that was fine for me at least, as she's an artist I personally don't look for super vocal performances from (I would probably be fine if she didn't do any ballads!). The only flourishes came via an interpretive dancer coming out for two songs ("Tomodachi" and "Too Proud," the latter which also featured Utada herself spitting fire in place of album guest Jevon. Why did she bother to include Kohh on that one song when she has plenty of bars herself?!) and a mid-show intermission video that started out as typical A-list fluff but provided the genuinely most surprising twist I've seen from filler...ever? A twist that actually scared me in how suddenly it came out of nowhere? It ruled.
Just...imagine I knew how to flip this photo in TinyLetter, OK? It has been a long week!
Funny videos aside, the other element shining brightest in Chiba was the pacing of the whole show. Utada just came out the gate firing, highlighted by a rollicking "Michi" into "Traveling" which was an up-tempo lovers dream combo. The requisite ballad portion of the show fell in the middle, and saw Utada appear on a special stage in the middle of the crowd (which turned out to be...really close to where I was) to make it all feel more intimate. She played "First Love," then moved right into "Hatsukoi," a clever detail.
And all of it felt bigger thanks to the anniversary surrounding the whole show, one clearly on Utada's mind and communicated -- directly and indirectly -- to the fans who also had the chance to think about how her music has slotted into their lives for 20 years. And that's why the silence resonated so much -- that was the time for crowd and performer alike to turn it all over, and figure out what it meant.
News And Views
HKT48 member and super-popular AKB performer Rino Sashihara announced her plans to graduate from the group next April. Expect plenty more on her in the next few months, as I'm sure plenty (me included) will look at the legacy of one of this decade's most interesting idols.
Well, this is the weirdest development in music and reality TV this year. Masao Wada, the bass player in Gesu No Kiwami Otome. and Dadaray has joined the cast of Terrace House, after some nudging from Enon Kawatani to do it after not having a girlfriend for a long stretch of time. I will cop to having not watched the episode where he joins yet, so expect updates later but...this is unexpected. Get Enon Kawatani on Ainori, let's do this!
In other music-television crossover, Haruomi Hosono will appear on a variety show tomorrow.
Boku No Lyric No Bouyomi is now Boku No Lyric No Bye-Bye.
Speaking of Utada -- a snippet of her collaboration with Skrillex for the new Kingdom Hearts arrived this week. I feel like I'm in the minority in that I like the obvious Skrillex part more than the obvious Utada part. Also, I never played any of the other video games in this series, so seeing Donald Duck and Goofy jump in front of magic blasts is still kind of jarring for me.
I think 2018 is going to be a big year for Japanese artists at international festivals. Primavera Sound 2019's line-up features a bunch of Japanese acts, including Haru Nemuri, Chai and Suiyoubi No Campanella. This won't be the last bill featuring Japanese performers.
Sony Music is launching its own hi-definition music streaming service. Rolling Stone has an article on it, with the idea being that Japanese consumers already have a familiarity with hi-def sound that will carry over. I have some reservations on this argument -- I feel the fact YouTube is the go-to service for music now reminds that convenience trumps great sound. There's also the whole, well, fact streaming hasn't really clicked quite yet in the market. Maybe another name in a crowded field will turn that around!
The high school dance club that went viral is back...with "HOT LIMIT." Great job imitating the original's wardrobe choices.
Oricon Trail For The Week Of December 3, 2018 To December 9, 2018
Sexy Zone goes number one on the singles chart -- no surprise. Far more of a twist, though, happens over on the album side. Rock outfit Kobukuro's latest best-of set beat out a new release from Johnny's West. While the latter's sales aren't anything to scoff at, it's always noteworthy when anyone beats out a Johnny's act on their home turf (Oricon).
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
Look At Me!
Wrote about IZ*ONE and the benefits they provide for Japan and Korea for The Japan Times. Following atomic-bomb-shirt-gate 2018, I think projects like this remind how strong the pop connections between the two countries actually are.
Japanese website Newspicks asked me to write about the growing popularity of city pop outside Japan, which you can read...in Japanese. I feel if you have subscribed to this newsletter for a while you probably know the major beats...nostalgia, micro-genre, YouTube, again nostalgia for times that will probably never be experienced by young people today...and I think it ties into an interesting thing that Sean Miyashiro of 88Rising told Newspicks earlier in the week. Basically, he thinks that if a Japanese artist is going to crossover outside of the country, it will be by someone channeling city pop, which he sees as the most popular Japanese musical export going. Putting aside my mile-long list of issues with the "media brand" he runs, I think he's right about this when viewed through an online lens at least.
For Pulse, wrote about SoftBank's no-good-very-bad week...or was it there incredible, highly celebrated week? One of the weirder seven days by a brand online in 2018.
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
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