Make Believe Melodies For January 23, 2023
Always Give Yourself Options
AIR-CON BOOM BOOM ONESAN — AIR-CON BOOM BOOM ONESAN EP
The secret to comedy is timing. So I assume young comedian AIR-CON BOOM BOOM ONESAN (real name Nanami Hosaka) knows something the rest of us don’t in devoting half of her first music endeavor to…sounds inspired by James Chance.
Some important background — Hosaka’s AIR-CON BOOM BOOM ONESAN moniker has largely been her nickname when engaging in classic TV-ready comedy, an arena where the 22 year old has developed a bit of buzz but is a far way aways from the true fruits of yuck-yuck stardom (commercials and a variety show where you get to eat different foods). She’s in tune with modern times — she does best online — and seems like a big ol’ goofball.
Perhaps that makes her a perfect performer to release a debut EP split between the familiar nostalgia tones of synth-wave…and spike that with the more dissonant sounds of no-wave. I’m not going to speculate that their is anything deeper here than an interest in two well-worn sounds (though hey…accidentally spotlighting two very different sides of the same era), and that she’s linked up with a capable team in bringing them to life, including producer CMJK, who has one of the wildest “works” pages you’ll ever encounter (Ayumi Hamasaki and Migma Shelter). It feels pretty clear that the “no wave” side came first, because the synth-wave portion feels way too jagged (and, uhhhh her vocals give it away)…though that’s also pretty refreshing, seeing as how much modern “synth-wave” is content to soak in the waters of false memory.
Still, those “no wave” songs shine, and while this is definitely a comedian trying to be funny through music (wait for the censor beeps), AIR-CON BOOM BOOM ONESAN commits to the sound, howling and letting her voice shoot all over the place while sax and machine-beats move around her. It’s a real decision in the best possible way, and the way everyone involved treats it seriously (especially on the musical side) makes this one a real left-field treat, even if it’s ultimately just the equivalent of a sketch practiced a few times on a broadcast variety show. Listen above.
Kick A Show — “Konna Yoru Dakara”
Equal parts entranced and exhausted, “Konna Yoru Dakara” finds Kick A Show entering an all-nighter ready for whatever comes of it while also carrying heavy eyes over something lost. The real stunner is the production, a jittery beat bordering on the “lo-fi” matched by synth starbursts and party-starting touches capturing the whirlwind experience of skipping last train (while also being a reminder of other great entries in this style, most notably the sad-Slav pop of Ame To Kanmuri). Listen above.
Koshi Miura — “Sundaynight”
Meanwhile, a different kind of evening travelogue. A solo song from Koshi Miura of □□□ (or “Kuchiroro” if you just have to sound it out, “Sundaynight” documents a seemingly simple start to…well, Sunday night, including a trip to the convenience store and some walking over a gentle beat. Then everything picks up the pace and explodes into a string-assisted celebration of…well, Sunday night, in all its glory. Miura never lets go of that excitement, and finds new ways to harness it over the next three and a half minutes, creating a dizzying way to end any weekend. Listen above.
Helsinki Lambda Club — “New Heaven”
Savor the bands in the strange space between “indie” and “mainstream” unafraid to get a little weird. Tempalay tend to let loose, while cero might be the masters of this zone when they feel inclined to release new music instead of running their Chuo-line-adjacent bar. Helsinki Lambda Club have constantly hinted at having that odd in them, but save for some scattered moments they’ve always defaulted to a Mac DeMarco kinda goofy vibe. “New Heaven” find the band giving themselves the space to play around, letting grooves melt into silly samples and barely there funk punctuated by screams. Length alone does not make something interesting, but Helsinki Lambda Club make the most of all this room to craft something punctured by disorienting moments but always working to move forward. Listen above.
CHAI — “Love Jyan”
CHAI have developed a reputation for being a pretty upbeat and unpredictable group, what with songs about various food stuffs and a general love for stiffer synth-pop. Yet they’ve always had an emotional streak — “Sayonara Complex” remains a bittersweet highlight — and this new song leans into it. Over a rubbery but ultimately minimalist (especially for them) groove, they turn over the feeling of love, neither turning it into a celebration or lamenting it just kind of…working through it. Which proves to be far more effective. Listen above.
Shaka Bose — “MOO MOO”
The “moo” gets extended out significantly in the YouTube title, but I’ll spare you the onslaught of “Os.” Pivotal rapper / Japanese HyperPop papa Shaka Bose offers up a shapeshifting track going from ominous spitting to ethereal carry to voice freak out. Listen above.
Plankstars — “PiKA Pika”
Shitposter idol group Plankstars are making songs inspired by every country they’ll visit on an upcoming tour, and they shared the South Korea-indebted number over the weekend. And I can’t decide if it’s a masterful send up of K-pop’s exhausted “girl crush” concept or just an incredibly well done homage. The answer is probably a little of both. The lyrics constantly approach what I’ll unfairly describe as being “BLACKPINK pilled” as they celebrate a kind of vapid “yay being rich!” and straight up say “bling bling” at one point, with other parts kind of just hitting on myriad generic K-pop themes of the last few years.
And yet! This is well done, whether send up or celebration. Nails the changes in tempo associated with this style, sudden pivots to rap and a very aespa mid song departure to a whole different sonic realm. To do something like this, you definitely have to love what you are digging in to.
Then they go and up it with that stupid “HEADSHOT!” sample before the final plunge. Don’t think too hard about it — that’s how they get you, anyway — and just go along. Listen above.
Oricon Trail For The Week Of January 9, 2023 To January 15, 2023
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.
LIL LEAGUE From EXILE TRIBE — “Hunter” (82,577 Copies Sold)
First off, they gotta change the catchphrase “MID But FRONTIER” now that “mid” carries a much more negative interpretation to it.
Then again…man, LDH might be in the single most interesting position of any major entertainment company right now, albeit one where “interesting” gets used in the same way you might after seeing your friend’s ugly painting they put a lot of effort into. The arrival of South Korean players into J-pop coupled with emergent domestic agencies like BMSG were supposed to bite into Johnny & Associates’ market share, but that legacy company just…well, not grows stronger due to high profile exits from talent, but overall isn’t suffering financially and culturally.
Instead, they wrecked LDH, a company particularly rocked hard by peak pandemic years, as a huge part of their profit came from mega-sized EXILE TRIBE shows (they have ad-hoc DAYCARE CENTERS at these things, you can’t even get your kid into a real preschool in this country most times, but no problem at the GENERATIONS’ show!). Fresh faces like J01 and BE:FIRST have taken up the media spotlight, leaving new groups from LDH like Psychic Fever…who are good! and doing something interesting with a diverse lineup of members…to just kind of hang there. International ambitions seem muddled too…whatever spark a project like SG5 had last summer seems a little weaker as little info comes out about where they’re at to start 2023.
Yet maybe a savior has arrived! Or maybe the doldrums of January just gave them a boost, but LDH should take it anyway. LIL LEAGUE from EXILE TRIBE came together via a TV competition show geared towards Gen Z that I think only real LDH heads followed closely1. Latest single "Hunter" topped the Oricon singles chart with a respectable amount sold, and giving some momentum to the company.
Is it sustainable? Maybe, and I’m sure LIL LEAGUE will carve out a dedicated following. I’m personally…not feeling this song at all though, despite them leaning into their name and including what sounds like ballpark organ as a central element of the melody. We’re well out of the gloomy period of J-pop, so the forced enthusiasm of “Hunter” coupled with lazy songwriting touches (counting????) and too-dumb-to-even-be-transgressive lyrics (“c’mon lil friends!”) makes this grating. What’s the next generation called? Alpha? I assume they’ll loop this in the playplaces outside Kyocera Dome next time the parents want to enjoy EXILE and hope osmosis gets them into the TRIBE. Might be the best way forward.
News And Views
No bigger news this week than Virtual YouTuber Hoshimachi Suisei appearing on THE FIRST TAKE, the first time such a virtual performer has appeared on the popular channel and among the most prominent cases of a VTuber showcasing music in the industry to date.
Next most important story of the week, obviously — Foodman going deep on saunas with Time Out Tokyo.
Hayao Miyazaki’s animated music video for CHAGE & ASKA’s “On Your Mark” — shown before screenings of 1995’s Whisper Of The Heart — will return to theaters for a special engagement this February. You can find this on Daily Motion…not linking because I don’t want to see it removed, put a little effort in, you got this…and it’s one of the wilder artifacts of peak Heisei pop — a big ol’ power ballad soundtracking a Ghibli short about cults, environmental destruction and uhhhh spirituality? Which makes it perfect for the 2020s too.
SKY-HI once again flexing his acronym super skills with new TV show D.U.N.K. which stands for DANCE UNIVERSE NEVER KILLED. It aims to showcase Japanese artists vocal and (read the name!) dance skills to the world, which is a longstanding interest of his, though including DREAMS COME TRUE on the lineup feels more like some kind of label obligation.
Good review of the newest Ryuichi Sakamoto album by Rob Arcand over at Pitchfork.
James Hadfield with a lovely remembrance of Yukihiro Takahashi over at The Japan Times.
Angura returns with a great video about For Tracy Hyde.
Junko Yagami penned a piece for The Mainichi about her unease over subsciriton stremaing, and it’s really good. A seasoned look at what the loss of CDs and other physical media (hell, digital downloads too) does to artists. Most interesting tidbit comes from her revealing that her “Tasogare No Bay City” — a song enjoying newfound love from the city pop boom — hasn’t really netted her any more income.
Another James Hadfield gem from The Japan Times, about pianist Mao Fujita.
Chiitan staring down THE LAST ROCKSTARS with their own supergroup.
HANG IT IN A MUSEUM
Very much in the “views” category and more like “stuff I’ve heard” but — got reports that clubs in Shibuya were packed last weekend, with what was descrived to me as “an ageHa crowd.” I think with more tourists coming in again (definitely a large part of the “ageHa crowd”) you are going to start seeing a weird trickle of people who would normally schlep out to Shin Kiba for a night now hitting up unexpected spots in Shibuya and beyond.
Utada Hikaru held a special 40th birthday livestream last week, and capped it off by covering Bad Bunny’s “Me Porto Bonito.”
Koda Kumi took part in GQ Japan’s 10 Essentials video series, and let me tell you, wait until you see which “vintage t-shirts” she pulls out, one made me get up from my seat and holler.
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Twitter — @mbmelodies
Feels safe to say the days of the talent competition program as means of creating a new pop group boom has died in Japan, though with Boys Planet on the horizon, perhaps a new era starts.