Make Believe Melodies Favorite Japanese Albums 2021: #100 - #51

The Wild, The Innocent, And The Problematic Entries

“Why would you do an albums list this year?” That thought rattled around my brain a bunch during the back half of 2021, when the bulk of my listening time was spent with SoundCloud loosies and Spotify strays. For me, it was defined by singles from across the J-pop spectrum and uploads from younger creators in the nation embracing the sonic freedom of “HyperPop” (or simply reflecting their digital upbringing). It’s a dilemma not exclusive to Japan — in a streaming, YouTube-centric music ecosystem, the album doesn’t feel like the go-to format for music anymore. Yet plenty of people — writers, fans, industry folks, etc etc — still hold it up as the standard.

Then I made the initial shortlist for Make Believe Melodies’ annual favorite albums list and was shocked when it tipped over 200 entries. Well, uhhhh, not a problem of scarcity.

Turns out artists also still find plenty of value in — or pressure to — putting out albums and EPs like it’s the early 1990s. What was surprising in putting together this year’s list, which I halved to a top 100, was how well it reflected the major musical trends playing out across Japan’s many corners. J-pop was static in 2021, but enough full-lengths arrived to offer snapshots of the last two pandemic-clouded years and how it changed the vibe of mainstream music in the country. Rap, idol, “HyperPop” and other sonic nooks that felt fueled by individual songs actually worked quite well within the confines of an album. Rock…well, hey somethings don’t change, and that’s great.

Besides, this exercise has always been about gently nudging readers towards music they possibly missed out of Japan over the last year…the more the merrier, I think. So welcome to Make Believe Melodies’ new normal, as I present my Favorite 100 Japanese Albums (Or Releases, If That Works Better For You) Of 2021. Like 2020, the first half (below) will be a quick breeze through, complete with appropriate links and embeds, with a few blurbs sprinkled in for the more interesting inclusions (or when we have to talk about Enon Kawatani or other…complicated individuals, gulp).

Which brings us back to what I say every year…follow along, listen and see if you find something you love that normally wouldn’t hit your radar.

(Special note: Honorable mention to Night Tempo’s Ladies In The City, an album finding the South Korean city-pop curator teaming up female vocalists to craft a set of songs more indebted to Shibuya-kei than the twinkling funk of the Bubble years. Night Tempo is always ahead of the internet curve, so I think there’s a lot to learn from where the world’s “cool, Japan!” tendencies will go next…plus, great songs! But I also did the PR / official interview for it, so I’ll remove it from contention here…but go listen!)

#100 Subway Daydream BORN

No better place to start a list high on youth with an Osaka rock band chugging ahead on riffs and 20-something energy. It would be unfair to celebrate BORN as a preview of potential, because this EP delivers right away, between sweeter indie-pop dashes like “Teddy Bear” and pure blasts like “Freeway,” with some deadpan humor Reddi Wip-ped on top (naming the one ballad here “Ballad”). The excitement of what could come next still goes a long way…listening to this, even in my not-young-at-all state brings back memories of the first Homecomings EP, and how giddy initial plays made me…but BORN is a great spot to begin, like getting a sports drink in the morning before zooming off to.

#99 GIVE ME OW NOW

#98 v.o.c Okinawa YORU JUKE EP 02

#97 Uchu Nekoko Hino Ataru Basyo Ni Kiteyo

#96 Seimei A Diary From The Crossing

#95 The Vegetablets The Vegetablets 4

#94 Various Artists P-VINE & PRKS9 Presents The Nexxxt

#93 Plastic Restaurant Menu

#92 Toiret Status brue + liquid house

#91 Asako Toki Twilight

#90 PARKGOLF Totem

#89 Sound Of Shizuka Hikari No Mae Ni

#88 RIA 2021

#87 Ryu Hanakami SOREKARA

#86 Halfby Loco

A trend observed maybe a little too late…disorienting sample-pop collage music had a great year in Japan. Towa Tei’s latest slice-and-dice oddity just missed the cut, and a few other releases ahead touch on this too. The most interesting might be Halfby’s Loco, which could easily serve as the foundation for multiple academic papers on Japan’s Hawaii obsession. The Kyoto producer imagines the islands via 1950s era educational tapes, blunted vocals and samples of birds squawking. It’s far more off kilter than the majority of resort dreams circa 20201, and that’s vital to it being as engrossing as it is. Plus, when the dreamy waves recede and the pop paradise shines through…via collabs with Mei Ehara and Ginger Root…are some of the sunniest musical moments of the past year.

Loco would be way higher if it didn’t happen to have the single worst song featured on any album on this list in “Beach Baby Be Mine,” which combines gift-shop romance with turgid sax. Though maybe those reminders of the ugly help make the imagined beauty all the better.

#85 UNKNOWN ME BISHINTAI

#84 siki Kumo To Shower

#83 koeosaeme Annulus

#82 lyrical school Wonderland

#81 Perfume Polygon Wave EP

Moment of honesty…I’m holding myself back, the part of my brain that releases serotonin when I see Perfume wearing Santa hats hushed by whatever logical node reminds “this is three songs, my man.” But god damn, what a three songs! Real reason I’m putting it down here…I have, hmmm, an educated hunch that Perfume will probably put out a new album in 2022, and all signs point to it being a triumph. So let’s stay low key, and appreciate “Mugen Loop” and “Android &” as top-tier Perfume b-sides.

#80 quoree Namariiro No Machi

#79 THIS IS NATS What Is HYPERPOP?

#78 PEKOS I Promised Myself Will Never Go Outside...

#77 Crystal Reflection Overdrive

#76 HEAVEN AiR

#75 Emerald Four Tengoku Kara Hanarete

Despite transforming into a full-blown band, Emerald Four’s music still overflows with a sense of longing and loneliness. The new set-up signals a shift towards the memory bliss of “New Music” Mei Ehara has made in recent years, but that easy-breezy acoustic pace isn’t what Emerald Four do best. The bulk of Tengoku Kara Hanarete, though, subverts that structure into something where the project continuing to explore the surreal (“Kiri No Koen”) and sad (“Sayonara,” among the most devastating songs a group I’ve frequently likened to “floating in space, alone, with only your thoughts”). Their identity perseveres, and allows for the familiar to become fantastical.

#74 machìna Compass Point

#73 Seiho CAMP

#72 E.O.U E21

#71 betcover!! Jikan

#70 Bojou Tracks Minami No Shima

#69 Carpainter Yamanote Disko Club + SUPER DANCE TOOLS Vol. 2

#68 Yuta Orisaka Shinri

This is the Japanese critical pick for top album of 2021 I’m seeing the most and…I get it. Yuta Orisaka is a rare talent, and Heisei has some spellbinding moments and ambition to spare. I’m not quite there with Shinri yet, and I’m fully aware that in a few years it could be way higher up here. Right now, it sounds like Orisaka really seeing how far he can push his voice, over sparse arrangement dabbling in “jazz club” vibes and folksy singer-songwriter territory. It feels very transitory to me…an artist heaped with accolades working out what comes next. Yet his best abilities, man, they leave a mark — there’s that familiar feel, nodding to Hosono and “New Music” (love James Hadfield’s line, “the first time I listened to State of Mind, many of its songs already felt like old friends”), and that voice, which often resembles Kermit The Frog but also can wring out earnest emotion like…Kermit The Frog. Awarding this one the “Mei Ehara Ampersands Award Of 2022,” for work I’m sure will stick around in my brain a lot over the following 12 months.

#67 Aya Gloomy Tokyo Hakai

#66 Phew New Decade

#65 Handsomeboy Technique Technique

#64 HALLCA Paradise Gate

Did…did we secretly get an amazing Especia album this year? Former member of that eons-ahead-of-the-curve idol outfit HALLCA had a huge 2021…she’s coming back in the top 50, don’t worry…and this solo full-length hit on a very specific pleasure center, at least for the cult followers still obsessing over a group merging city pop with vaporwave with great music nearly ten years ago. Paradise Gate stands out for how celebratory it sounds, weaving in synth squiggles and brass bursts around HALLCA’s voice, with the highlights being absolute masterclasses in modern city pop (the title track, “Pink Medicine,” which admittedly borrows a bit from “Boogie Aroma” but more artists should be borrowing from “Boogie Aroma”). Great even if this is all new to you…but Especia fans, this is as wonderful a return to the past (ironic!) as you could expect).

#63 Satomoka Wooly

#62 Yoshino Yoshikawa Ideal World

#61 SATOH A + Skyrocket EP

#60 Genie High Genie Star

Fucking Enon Kawatani. He’s one of the most loathsome people in Japanese music today, but the freedom allowed by falling through the cracks has resulted in plants sprouting out…regardless of how gross that growth is. Genie High is his dumbest project…an island of misfit toys featuring comedians and semi-disgraced pianists, also the vocalist of tricot…but also his wonkiest undertaking yet, with Genie Star being the project’s idiotic masterpiece. Tempo changes galore, piano solos, spoken-word jazz featuring TV personalities, rap, a Christmas song, Chanmina sneaking in sounding nothing like Chanmina…this is a gimmick developing legs, learning to walk, and then somehow making the best Tokyo Jihen album of 2021.

#59 Sirup cure

#58 uku kasai SIINA + aslightfever

#57 WRACK Narimasu EP + Brass Alert

#56 Little Dead Girl Separate Life

#55 Oomori Seiko Persona #1

Wooooo boy…not the greatest year for Oomori Seiko, what with the whole “abusive boss” scandal towering over everything. I will not attempt to excuse anything or even dive into the murky muddy waters of “separating the art from the artist.” I’ll just say…Persona #1, very fun album from a person who is probably not like that at all when given a position of power. Yet I don’t think a list…a list on a niche Substack…is going to be an ethical flashpoint so, let’s enjoy the freewheeling energy of Oomori’s collaboration with Noko from Shinsei Kamattechan, the self-covers of personal bests, and blissful Auto-tune-glazed dance-pop experiments. Ignore it because of who is behind it, and be justified. Yet for the curious…still plenty of enjoyment to wring out of it, though maybe urge Avex to not leave her in charge of fledgling idols.

#54 Greeen Linez Secrets Of Dawn

#53 Noah Étoile

#52 Prettybwoy Tayutau

#51 tricot Jodeki

Released right at the end of the year, it’s too early to really come down on a final verdict for tricot’s latest. Which is why it makes for a good finale for part one…this album finds the band balancing mainstream ambitions with their continued interest in warping tempo and letting vocals cut across even the most controlled guitar line. It’s a group knowing what they do best and how to make it hit, but which still wants to push itself in new directions.

Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Twitter — @mbmelodies

See the Best of 2021 Spotify Playlist Here!