Make Believe Melodies For January 13, 2025
Out Of Body Experiences
neoneuron — Dead Wood Soundsystem
A visual representation of neoneuron’s approach to lyrics might be a good starting place to explaining the sensation of listening to Dead Wood Soundsystem:
It does not matter if you understand all of this, though being able to unravel the artist’s out-of-body musings adds depth to their second release for Siren For Charlotte. For right now, though, don’t dwell on that, and instead understand that the dizzying syntax above manages to come through musically too, made all the clearer / crazier by the strobing electronic sounds pulsing underneath the album’s second number.
Dead Wood Soundsystem uses rich details of everyday life to add depth to a feeling of despair and displacement. It’s a disorienting set, featuring neoneuron’s vocals tripping over themselves as they turn fried over sounds sometimes leaning towards dancefloor dizziness and elsewhere a modern take on bedroom rock with a sinister edge. The sound alone is enough to transport into the fractured world neoneuron creates, but it is the words that take it another step, whether in how they detail a feeling of isolation and pain, or simply how they tumble out of their mouth, sometimes with syllables smashing together to the point of unfamiliarity. Get it here, or listen above.
neoneuron — Kidasakunen ALL LOST
Oh right, neoneuron released a WHOLE OTHER ALBUM right after the above.
Something I didn’t realize about neoneuron when I first encountered their work last year was how prolific the solo project is. I focused on a single album…when they released like half a dozen more in the months after, something I didn’t pick up on until now. Yet the fact they share at such a clip explains what I find so intoxicating about their work. They operate in a way that feels almost like a stream of consciousness, with ideas needing to get out, and the messy nature of them being part of their charm (a thought in its most raw form is anything but polished). Whereas Dead Wood Soundsystem is more of a woozy trip powered by mutated vocals, Kidasakunen ALL LOST tries to use the same sonic experimentation in a more “pop” package, at least in comparison. It’s still squirmy and some songs feature voices nearing static, yet the songcraft is tighter. All just different sides of a creator on full display when they want. Listen above.
the bercedes menz — mutist beach
Frayed around the edges but with a great sense for hooks, the bercedes menz offer a barrage of rough-and-tumble rock on mutist beach. It’s the group’s urgency — not like, tempo, but the sense they have to get all of this out as quickly as possible, even if it means sounding frantic — that lifts them above the livehouse crowd, with the hurried pace of “only god discotheque” and “meltdowner” transforming potential dance-rock fare into something where you can feel the sweat coming off every detail. Listen above.
CH!KUB! & cyber milk chan — “Gyuuu”
I’ve been meditation on (and writing / talking about) the more blown-out side of Japanese youth music as of late, currently wowed by the acts once easily called hyperpop who continue to wow thanks to a love of dismembering the familiar. Yet let’s share some appreciation for the ethereal side, with this collab providing a welcome wash of synth and vocal fog to show plenty of kids value something a bit more vaporous. Listen above.
Ayu Okuda — “Procraaa”
I’m always happy to encounter the story of an idol going down the left-field path. Ayu Okuda performs in the Asobisystem idol outfit Sweet Steady, which leans more towards the sugary highs of the style. Yet for her latest solo tune, she links up with Stones Taro to enter the jungle via a club-ready banger nodding to the Kyoto sounds of NC4K. Honestly, that latter part — hearing the long-running collective’s ideas being embraced by the pop machine without being watered down — is just as neat. Listen above.
Nariaki And Aru-2 — “Borderline”
Nariaki Obukuro dropped three dance-leaning tracks recently, asking folks on X which one was their fave. I’m voting “Borderline,” because it’s the number of the trio finding the artist’s voice working wonders as sonic texture. Plus, great horn details. Listen above.
the sub account — the sub account EP 05
God damn, what a start to the year when you have the sub account coming through with a new compilation. The otaku-leaning bootleg specialists return with a set of reworked anime tunes, netlabel-adjacent jams, virtual-singer pop and more (including Aaliyah), all delivered at a slippery pace big on highs. One of the most fun units in the country, blessed to have this one to remind how much fun you can have with music. Get it here, or listen above.
Various Artists — J-BAILE MENTIONED
Turns out the sub account aren’t the only ones having fun with the possibilities of Japanese music reworks this week…
It’s far too early to start making predictions about songs that will define the 2020s — websites need content, but anything you’ve read so far is probably going to be stupid a decade on! — but I’m willing to bet “Himitsu Da Yo” ends up being part of my canon at least. It’s an amazing example of how musical culture intersects in the internet age, with two distinct musical communities blurring together into something wonderfully discombobulating.
So shout out the artists involved in J-BAILE MENTIONED, for taking it the other way. This set of Japan-based creators run various Japanese numbers through a Brazilian filter, or create originals in a Baile style with a Japanese flavor. A great concept…and one that works really well. Listen to a crossfade above, or get the whole thing here.
Consider Upgrading In 2025!
It’s a new year, so the perfect time to become a paid subscriber to Make Believe Melodies and get one extra post a week. Most recently, I dug into five more albums defining what 2024 was all about in Japanese music.
Oricon Trail For The Week Of December 23, 2024 To December 29, 2024
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.
GANG PARADE — “Sparkling Moon / Good Luck My Future”
There’s something novel about a group like GANG PARADE hanging around in 2025. The glory days of WACK are well over, yet projects like this still hang around the edges of the major label J-pop table. Whatever “edge” a GANG PARADE once had is well sanded off by now, and who can blame them? They’ve landed a cozy middle-class pop existence, with drama-tie-in songs and an album on the way.
The group’s sound, though, feels disjointed as a result. This two-side single offers two paths for its music moving forward, neither of which I really think match the energy of its early days. “Good Luck My Future” fits much better, being a dramatic number in the classic J-rock lane, with a little piano flare to match it to modern trends. Yet it also isn’t strong enough to stand out from all the other acts doing it…my first reaction was “oh the cartoon band did this way better.”
Still, much better than “Sparkling Moon,” which feels more like crying out for Sheena Ringo to notice them / put them on her next album than an enjoyable song. This is not the style for them, even as homage, and even if they aren’t sure what to be in the the second half of the 2020s…it’s not this. Listen above and below.
News And Views
The “troubles” surrounding former SMAP member Masahiro Nakai continue to fascinate the internet and tabloid space (I haven’t had a chance to watch TV since coming back, so no idea if it’s being reported on there), but the entertainer apologized for it, despite not getting into what “it” is. He says it wasn’t violent, which some alleged it was. This will undeniably not stop further conversation about it.
Spotify Japan revealed it’s Early Noise artists for 2025…and PAS TASTA made it, let’s go.
Watched these VTubers cover Yellow Magic Orchestra about a 100 times at time of writing.
I have a lot of thoughts on this interview with Cloud Nine CEO Takuya Chigira in Real Sound (largely translated in Anime Corner), which maybe I’ll explore in the future? Famous last words as deadlines sneak up further? The juicy hook here is how he worries about Japanese music being too tied to anime, which is definitely a concern I’ve heard shared by many, though I kind of think his point gets a bit thornier as it goes along (I also am sold that he actually understands how emerging pop scenes in Southeast Asia are taking shape, there’s a lot of Japanese influence there but also…they are finding their own unique voices, not just copying!)
Anyway, my biggest issue with this is while he worries about “anime music” subsuming J-pop as a whole, his biggest artist, Ado, is represented as an anime avatar, which pretty much makes everything he says super confusing? Like…dude, she’s basically anime, you’re doing it to yourself.Hoshimiya Toto and Telematic Visions made a theme song for the La Foret department store in Harajuku.
Ano stars in a Hong Kong McDonald’s ad promoting McGriddles…which are a limited-time item over there? Damn.
Last, in something I only learned about recently…there’s a Japanese woman named Harupii who debuted in the Thai pop scene singing in Thai, but her music embracing elements of Japanese traditional sounds (and working in some of her native language) with a video where she splits her image between Kyoto classical and Kyary Pamyu Pamyu.
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Twitter — @mbmelodies
Check out the Best Of 2025 Spotify Playlist here, launched today!