Make Believe Melodies For December 19, 2022
The Last Round-Up Post Of 2022 Before Year-End Bonanza Starts!
For Tracy Hyde — Hotel Insomnia
It’s tough to be spontaneous, with various factors of getting older conspiring to make a sudden night out much tougher than it was even five years ago. Yet when I saw that For Tracy Hyde would be playing a live show the week of the release of latest album Hotel Insomnia in support of Subsonic Eye, I thought throwing existing plans to the side to check them out would be worth it. Especially as the venue was not far from where I live.1
Part of the draw would be getting a taste of what Hotel Insomnia would sound like live. Whereas previous For Tracy Hyde albums played out as feature-length films (to the point of often starting with imagined studio intros or Twin Peaks-inspired themes), their latest is more a collection of short vignettes, united not by overreaching concept (Tokyo, America) but rather mood. As the text on the CD case hints at, that’s largely unease, whether bubbling up under guitar churn (the escape-fantasizing “Undulate,” the search-for-sweetness in “Milkshake”) or the band’s experiments, a common fixture of any For Tracy Hyde album (ranging from sweet retro strolling on “Natalie” to…boldest of all…rapping on “House Of Mirrors”). Linking them all is an exploration of modern life and, often times, the desire to transcend it, whether detailing one’s thoughts alone in a room or longing for simpler times with friends in the face of adult demands.
Part of what makes For Tracy Hyde stand out in the indie-rock sphere of Japan is an openness to drifting out of their lane — this is a group always open to trying something new, whose founder used to dabble in vaporwave. That’s what makes albums like Hotel Insomnia so rewarding — and, frankly, worth spending time with — but in West Tokyo Saturday the band mostly dipped into their Sarah-Records-indebted collection along with heavier…dare I say “shoegazey”…works for the live crowd. And it’s that core ability to meld sound and melody that always shines through, live or otherwise. The new material in this sonic area worked wonders…including “Undulate,” played live for the first time ever.
Standing in the livehouse watching them play, For Tracy Hyde are a band ready to dive into noisier, pedal-powered stretches without losing the sweetness underneath. Worth the trip, and a reminder of breaking out of the routine to check in on the creators you love. Listen above.
uku kasai — coldsmokestar
Sticking with live memories — catching uku kasai play a spellbinding set at Tokio Shaman earlier this year was a 2022 highlight. They played an enveloping and slightly off-kilter show standing out from the hyperpop chaos around it. First album coldsmokestar builds on this intimate electronic sound, flexing more melody without sacrificing the disorienting touches (“yoursmoke”) while also venturing into speedier tempos (“Rise”). Left-field touches, but with the same pop prettiness of a Cuushe. Listen above.
STARKIDS — “HORIZION”
Now this is drifting!
Great heart-skipping song, but I’d be lying if I was mostly blown away by the video, which finds STARKIDS turning their Strong-Zero-charged energy into Initial D madness. Some truly amazing shots in this, and the rare video where I frequently thought “is someone gonna die filming this???” Listen above.
MANON — “strong zero gravity”
A fitting pounding sound to this one, all while MANON’s voice bubbles up above it. Listen above.
bathhouse — “defender”
The familiar being flipped over into something much more exciting. I expected cit-pop-revivalisms at first, but then that flute snakes its way into “defender” and adds an airiness to the strut. The lead vocalist graduated from the Enon Kawatani School Of Sing-Talking, and he does it well, making the come-together moment at the hook all the sweeter. And then…just when you think you’re going to get another flute interlude, bathhouse ratchet up the energy with a great keyboard breakdown. Still plenty of juice in this sound. Listen above.
Kaela Kimura — “Taiwai Monai”
The newest Kaela Kimura album is alright, featuring a handful of sweet moments mixed with genuine “she did that???” moves (at long last, the woman who did “Butterfly” working with the guy from Gezan), with a lot of ho-hum in between. This is the runaway highlight though, and also a moment to see iri’s writing and arrangement side in action for…not just somebody else, but an established name. It’s rumbling and a touch unsettling, leaning into sharp-edged electronics to construct the pointiest song on the album. A great reminder that iri can be a pop star if she wants, but is also at home working on the edges too. Listen above.
Oricon Trail For The Week Of December 05, 2022 To December 11, 2022
Back in the day, the Oricon Music Charts were the go-to path to music stardom in Japan. Acts of all sorts traversed these lands, trying to sell as many CDs as possible in order to land a good ranking on a chart choosing to only count physical sales, even as the Internet came to be and the number of versions offered for sale got ridiculous. Today, with the country finally in on digital, these roads are more barren and only looked at by the most fanatic of supporters needing something to celebrate. Yet every week, a new song sells enough plastic to take the top spot. So let’s take a trip down…the Oricon Trail.
Nogizaki46 — “Koko Ni Wa Nai Mono” (653, 998 Copies Sold)
Nogizaka46’s latest single ran away with the physical-only chart. Pleasant enough ballad! I’m more interested in what came in number six…
Watching “First Love” (the song”) shoot up charts both physical and streaming thanks to First Love (the Netflix series) has been both really interesting and really predictable. Who doesn’t love nostalgia!? Definitely not those opening up their Netflix homepage. Still, I gotta know…does this 2022 physical single come with any true incentive to buy it? Besides an “A Capella mix?” Wonderful to see nearly 7000 people shell out for it all the same, though.
News And Views
Virtual YouTubing and music have intersected for years…Kizuna AI and De De Mouse, always remember…but those realms have only criss-crossed more recently, with creators in the prior filed getting more involved in the latter. Goofy problems were bound to pop up, and boy did we get one this weekend. Popular VTuber Mori Calliope released her first major-label album, SINDERELLA. It’s not good, if we are to dip into the “views” of this all. But it’s also among the most prominent VTuber music releases to date, and definitely an important development in the English-language side of this world.
A bunch of producers helped craft this album, including PC Music associate umru, for the song “Death Sentence.” It gets murky here as someone coming to the story late, as the original tweet was deleted but…based on VTuber-centric YouTube uploads, umru tweeted out promo for the song, leading to angry replies related to Calliope’s history, primarily accusations of racism aimed at her for past musical releases (including ones released from her actual human artist form [how the fuck do you word that] Demondice). umru apologizes for working with her, which then angers fans of Calliope, leading to umru locking account and waaaa waaaa waaaaa my brain is slush now.
Sourced from a pro-Calliope user, though I just want the screenshot
It’s a big ol’ mess on Twitter! Which also means…it probably won’t have that much fallout beyond, besides widening already existing friction between…these communities? Maybe hyperpop people will think twice about making music for VTubers? Despite what Calliope fans think, this is hardly a “death sentence” for umru’s career, but it’s also not going to impede Calliope’s current status as being a star in a very lucrative niche. If she ever made more pronounced mainstream moves, all these issues would have already been there.
Messy, but I think we can all agree on one thing…this “Death Sentence” song stinks, both can do better on the musical front.In other news…Mori Calliope collaborted with Zutomayo for a Spotify holiday commercial song. It’s actually pretty good, and I think Calliope works significantly better in smaller doses (and in contexts that don’t force her to prove her rap credentials, which I think bogs down all of her solo work), and I’m a sucker for Zutomayo’s gallop.
This Side Of Japan Top 100 Japanese Songs of 2022! Always a must click.
Everyone is Googling what the hell a Sekai No Owari is, I guess.
NiziU appeared on The First Take this week, and I think delivered the widest shot in the show’s history.
It has been heartening to see just how strongly touring and festivals have returned to Japan, especially given how they seem like a nightmare in other parts of the world right now. Next year is shaping up nicely, with festivals Knotfest Japan and Punkspring announcing initial lineups.
Hitomitoi working with a Thai artist from the band Polycat, continuing a bunch of trends I hope to dig into in 2023.
Related, rock supergroup The Last Rockstars will perform at this year’s Kohaku, ahead of a 2023 schedule that sees the quartet (of Yoshiki, Sugizo, Hyde and Miyavi). It’s another piece of evidence in favor of the argument that Kohaku is becoming more of a platform to introduce music rather than a chance to gather around and revisit the biggest hits that brought us all together (somewhat impossible in a fragmented entertainment landscape, give or take some movies). That, and the fact all of the interesting counter-programming on New Year’s Eve has vanished.
And last bit on that group…I helped with a scoop over at Billboard about that group signing with Ingrooves for global distribution. This largely entailed me calling up Yoshiki to chat…a very sudden but fun way to spend a Thursday!
YOASOBI and Atarashi Gako No Leaders performed in Indonesia as part of 88Rising’s festival there.
Japan loves Tahiti 80…and this long-standing affection carries over to my local gelato store (too cold to try it).
Programming Note: This is the last weekly round-up for a bit! I have a few loose posts / year-end specials coming down the pipeline, and sometime in January the best albums list will arrive! Thanks so much again for reading, sharing and supporting Make Believe Mailer!
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Twitter — @mbmelodies
Full disclosure: Also, thanks to guitarist Azusa Suga for kindly putting me on the guest list after I messaged him about the timetable. I made up the difference in drinks…gotta support livehouses!