Make Believe Melodies For July 19, 2022
Worlds In Motion
Perfume — “Spinning World”
The pandemic really did a number on Yasutaka Nakata. His work for Perfume over the last year has focused on confusion in the digital age and the fear of being caught in a loop. At long last, he gets some emotional and sonic escape. “Spinning World” seeks pleasure through motion, describing constant movement through the city and above it. It’s also a chance for the dude to loosen up when it comes to the music. This one adds some funk and hip-hop touches to Perfume’s sound, the closest equivalent I can think of being the sample-heavy “Naturnal Ni Koishite,” which burst open and offered a sense of unbalance around the edges. But geez can this get funky…see that breakdown late in the song for Nakata at his most relaxed, just letting everything hang out. Coupled with Perfume’s vocal delivery — there are, after all, different levels of monotone, and here they find one perfect for the fritz-out around them — it offers a flight of fancy ahead of Plasma. Listen above.
Sleet Mage Featuring lazydoll — “Only One For Me”
I went to Tokio Shaman at Contact in Shibuya this weekend, and witnessed Sleet Mage transform into cult hero firsthand. The whole room surged forward when they emerged, really hyped to see an artist vital to a current wave of sound in Japan but who themselves have largely been quiet over the last two years when it became truly viable. Doesn’t matter, because Sleet Mage has disciples en masse. Songs like the just released “Only One For Me” remind why, merging melancholy sounds and a uniquely frosty delivery with a swagger that remains upright even when the words slouch forward. Listen above.
e5 — “Pilgrim”
Peek behind the Substack..I write the news first and do songs last, so while I should mention the news item featuring e5 here, you can find it down below, because I don’t want to scroll back down (would rather right this long-ass sentence).
Anyway…e5, another Tokio Shaman highlight personally, albeit one that might not actually be a great fit for the event itself, which is way more about letting loose, which isn’t her selling point. It’s an attention to detail and ability to offer up surprises, like on new song “Pilgrim.” It’s all distorted synths dripping away and e5 offering up observations on modern life, including some sick wordplay riffing on “Usseewa.” Listen above.
iScream — “Catwalk”
Let’s step out of the dankness of Shibuya haunts for the sunny streets. An effortlessly breezy song built for the season with assistance from Taku Takahashi, one showing off a more easygoing side of LDH’s most intriguing group going (until that Sailor Moon-inspired outfit starts releasing songs). Listen above.
AAAMYYY — Echo Chamber
AAAMYYY gazes further inwards and comes up with her best release to date. Echo Chamber offers dizzier electronic songs and more warped vocals, but out of this blur comes some of the strongest pop moments she’s penned to date, highlighted by the tipsy elegance of “Ikitemiruwa” and the speedier tempo of “Hail,” featuring one of the finest (sic)boy appearances to date. Even when it gets a little sharper-edged and clangy, she finds a gooey center (“Ignition”). Listen above.
nyamura — “Shichigatsu, Tenshi To No Kaigo To Sono Kiroku”
Space used perfectly, complete with full stops. Also a great example of how a slight digital touch to vocals can pull out even more emotion than just letting someone sing — nyamura is glowing here. Listen above.
NiziU — “CLAP CLAP”
Yeah, it’s another TikTok instruction booklet, but at least it’s fun, unlike the plodding PE time filler of “Chopstick.” “CLAP CLAP” just zooms ahead, with even the more spacious pre-chorus bit breaking a sweat. NiziU’s existence as “the one that exists to generate dance trends” certainly has its limits and really forces you to weigh “industry brain” against “artistic heart,” but if they are going to be the pop embodiment of a hashtag, at least keep it speedy. Listen above.
Oricon Trail For The Week Of July 04, 2022 To July 10, 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.
Kanjani8 — “Kassai” (150,840 Copies Sold)
Honestly, this is better than 99 percent of Kanjani8’s music I’ve heard before. They should do “rock music for junior high school lunch time” more, really.
More intriguing is this week’s silver medalist, the not-AKB-whatsoever Team48 (or “Forty-eight 48”). This is a gaggle of content creators operating on YouTube and TikTok primarily doing…exactly what people making a living from those platforms do. Challenges, dances, slice-of-life vlogs. They also release music.
The above isn’t as interesting as recent upload “Tonight,” which is both a great example of J-pop’s summer of positivity and a kind of wacky number constantly referencing TikTok and other influencer-adjacent stuff. Still, their Oricon runner-up tune does feature production from DECO*27, a prominent Vocaloid maker who has shifted to pop just as the nation’s industry embraced that world fully. That might actually be the most intriguing detail, rather than seeing TikTokers try to become the new AAA.
News And Views
AKB48’s international expansion tends to be overlooked in the history of the group / narratives about J-pop’s spread abroad. Shouldn’t be, because they’ve successfully brought the “idol’s you can meet” formula to the greater Asia region, with Jakarta’s JKT48 celebrating 10 years with a hella-rich number and BNK48 sending members out to space camp. K-pop played towards populism…but turns out going the other way can work too.
They all can’t be winners though, as India’s DEL48 and MUB48 announced their end this week, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. Both groups arrived just before everything went wacky, and the situation never became stable for them to give it a go. A great “what if” in pan-Asian pop history.Meanwhile, in a very different type of crossover…Johnny’s group Travis Japan appeared on America’s Got Talent, and impressed the folks turning in (and got my mom to send me a message about them over LINE). It’s probably less significant in the grand scheme of Travis Japan (though still a noteworthy step forward) and more a sign of one of the more reclusive talent agencies appearing a bit more ready for the world. If they’re ready for them…and what that means…remains to be seen. Arama also snagged an interview with them!
Supergroup METAFIVE had a whole album release planned for last summer…until member Keigo Oyamada (i.e. Cornelius) found himself at the center of an Olympic controversy. Said album was shelved. Now, though, it’s coming out in September, though it’s billed as their “last album,” meaning everyone appears ready to just move on from this.
In other Cornelius news, NHK plans to bring back the delightful Design A children’s show, which charmed many but also featured an Oyamada-made soundtrack, so it got pulled during Tokyo 2020 plus one mayhem. Now, it’s back as Design A Neo for at least a couple episodes, with music from…Shuta Hasunuma and Ichiko Aoba, among others.
Move over City Pop Sushi, Trap Sushi has entered the conversation.
e5 (who I learned pronounces it as “e go” — get it — over the weekend) left the group Dr.Anon, with the remaining two members planning something new in the process.
Watch members of K-pop group Billie cover Kenshi Yonezu’s “Lemon” below.
I talked with radio legend and city pop fixture Kamasami Kong for The Japan Times. We chatted for nearly four and a half hours, so only a handful of stories could get in…but lord are they all good, I might need to do a newsletter just on them…but I’m happy with how it came out. And just…insane experiences.
Pitchfork with some great Japanese coverage lately, via Joshua Minsoo Kim’s review of Tatsuro Yamashita’s Softly and Ryo Miyauchi’s review of Valknee’s “YAY.”
Fred Durst…layers upon layers.
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Twitter — @mbmelodies
"there are, after all, different levels of monotone." TIL