Make Believe Melodies For July 3, 2023
Trying To Find The Joy Online
T.M.P — Vector
It’s easy to feel cynical about online today if you spend too much time in digital spaces. Maybe the key to feeling optimistic — or at least less bad regarding the jank-ification of platforms — is to recognize the continued ability for the internet to connect people and cultivate new ideas that can manifest themselves in real life.
Duo T.M.P consists of one member in Tokyo, the other in Osaka, connected via digital realities and touting themselves as a “virtual mosh pit band,” channeling online inspiration into something physical. Stop me if this sounds cliche — the pair are a manifestation of that very 21st-century idea of genre walls collapsing thanks to a seemingly infinite pool of music one can access. Within the songs on debut album Vector are traces of hip-hop, hyperpop, shoegaze, punk and so on.
I feel like that idea has started feeling more like tech-company pitch-deck copy in recent years, too online for its own good. T.M.P’s songs here, though, have heft and an actual presence — they draw from the internet sure, but channel them into music recorded with fierceness and shaped by being a live group.
Vector revels in guitar chugs wrapping around plinky-plonks, topped off by samples stretched out and vocals run through filters. It can certainly be ~ very online ~ as T.M.P might be the first band I’ve ever heard reference Superchats in song (“7th World In The Computer”), but always do so in a context that pounding and pulsing. The waves of digi-tized voices on “HyperDream” become all the more forceful when joined by guitar and four-on-the-floor beats, while the whirring electronic mess opening “Kisaragi Park” settles into follow-the-bouncing-ball dance pop. The Nico Nico-ish echoes ushering in “Ghost” seem like potential meme bait…but then it leads to one of the prettiest pop songs of the year, with the pair’s voices working in unison with MacBook-wrecked chirps come the chorus, bridging the digital and real.
Like the PAS TASTA album from earlier this year, Vector celebrates the possibility and history online communities in Japanese music, along with the importance of the IRL that has been at and continues to be right in the center of this world (T.M.P perform pretty regularly at Drift…legends). What makes Vector stand out on its own is its feeling of live energy coursing through the songs, closer to the emotional release of group_inou or the digital-age catharsis of Have A Nice Day! It’s online, but also most certainly off it, too. Listen above.
Yukichi Kasaku/men — “2.0.0.3”
Yukichi Kasaku/men has a new EP on the way this July, and here’s a tempo-surfing preview of what’s to come. Not to reiterate everything above…I see an accidental theme for the week!…but here’s a digital native open to mucking up familiar forms without losing the sweetness at their core. Listen above.
uku kasai — “trline”
Fresh off one of the wildest (and best) songs to appear in a Bandai Namco brand, producer uku kasai turns the disorienting into something structured on “trline.” Voices and synths and sudden keyboard melodies come in to create a sonic haze, but the skittering beat keeps everything focused, or at least moving forward. The sort of head trip they excel at. Listen above.
GOSHI Featuring Yurufuwa Gang And Ralph — “Cho Fast”
First off, another important entry in the “Japanese rappers returning to fast cars and drifting” genre. Salute Mall Boyz. More importantly…fun song, featuring a fittingly speedy bit of music from GOSHI that manages to nod to Teriyaki Boyz and avoid being meme bait. It’s also apt for both guests, with Ralph showing off the iciness that has made them a rising force in Japanese rap and Yurufuwa Gang getting the chance to be goofy and hectic (“I know how to drive / but they took away my license!”) in a way recent song “On The Ground” failed to do, settling for vague exoticism. Here they are doing what they do best — being wildcards. Listen above.
Yayoi Daimon — “STFU (Minna Urusai)”
Sometimes you just have to keep the message simple…and pair it with a pretty set of chimes. Listen above.
Juice=Juice — “FUNKY FLUSHIN’”
I’ll never raise an eyebrow at idols dabbling in city pop, because that corner of J-pop was embracing and experimenting with well-worn disco sounds from the Bubble era before kids on Tumblr were looping anime cars for .GIFs. Here’s Hello! Project outfit Juice=Juice tackling a Tatsuro Yamashita jammer, and kind of nailing it, both in terms of holding on to the shuffling qualities of the original and adding a little extra pep to this poppin’ time. Listen above.
Lil Uzi Vert Featuring BABYMETAL — “The End”
One of those songs I can’t believe exists, but also fully comprehend existing given everyone involved.
The beauty of it is the recognition of what makes BABYMETAL work — this is outrageous, their idol voices rising out of and clashing with the digi-punk mess Uzi Vert lays out around them. I mean, this is their whole thing right — cute idols, but then they blindside you. Hell, I think BABYMETAL lost track of this fact on their most recent album…but here, they work perfectly as outlandish cherry on top. Listen above.
Oricon Trail For The Week Of June 19, 2023 To June 25, 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.
King & Prince — “Nanimono” (543, 748 Copies Sold)
Looks like King & Prince functioning as a duo won’t slow down their sales numbers. Officially just two people after an exodus of members earlier this spring — leading to some mind-boggling sales stats all their own — their first single in this arrangement records solid-as-heck results too, and shows even with major changes to their structure, they can still be a chart topper. It helps that the music is meat-and-potatoes Johnny’s fair, with a jazzy-enough skip adding some dazzle to otherwise standard pop craft.
“Nanimono” also reminds of just how fragmented the charts are. It tops an Oricon ranking the same week as YOASOBI’s “Idol” received a physical release…which sold well, well less than King & Prince’s latest. Yet then again, “Nanimono” isn’t on streaming, and isn’t exactly taking off on YouTube. Both are hits…but you have to explore several roads to see just how they are.
News And Views
Live hall Nakano Sunplaza, opened in 1973 and one of the most historic live halls in Tokyo (odds are your favorites have performed here at some point), closed for good this past Sunday following one final show by mainstay Tatsuro Yamashita. That concluded an entire “Sayonara Sunplaza” run of programming, and now the venue…which also houses a hotel and a lowkey sick bowling alley in the basement…will be demolished for some of that good ol’ Tokyo redevelopment. Tease incoming…if you want more writing about Sunplaza, subscribe for paid tier, as this week’s bonus post will be me reflecting on a venue near and dear to my heart.
Tatsuro Yamashita also found himself in the news for less fun reasons over the weekend! Prolific music producer Kiyoshi Matsuo tweeted out that his Management Company Smile Company let him out of his contract unexpectedly, allegedly because he talked about the claims of sexual abuse surrounding Johnny Kitagawa to the media. He expressed how it was a shame that Yamashita — who invited him to the company, of which he is heavily involved with — seemingly agreed with this policy.
I talked with YOASOBI for The Japan Times, while also looking at how they’ve helped J-pop as a whole take a big step forward on the global stage thanks to “Idol.” That’s something they helped push forward but didn’t start — as noted in the story, similar anime-collabs from the likes of Ado and SiM set the stage, with “Idol” just proving to be the breakthrough moment. Very interesting duo to chat with…and was charmed by Ayase admitting he loves listening to trap music while drinking.
How big is “Idol?” Big enough to feature on the Thai version of The Masked Singer, performed by a member of 4EVE dressed as a dog.
“NIGHT DANCER” being covered by Thai pop groups…not just “Idol!”
BEYOOOOONDS and KFC, together at last to promote spicy chicken.
Hololive English held their first North American live show at a sold-out YouTube Theater in Los Angeles Sunday night. Full disclosure, I’ve been working on PR for this event and beyond since May blah blah blah…but watching the livestream of the show, what struck me the most is…how many elements of J-pop idol culture were embraced by an American crowd? Shouldn’t be shocking…K-pop showed that all of the details of idol-dom once bristled at by American media are actually loved by fans, and becoming the norm…but still seeing it in this context still caught me off guard.
Takashi Fujii on THE FIRST TAKE? I’ll take all of that you got!
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Twitter — @mbmelodies (though lolz how long is this going to last)
I think the TMP album would be a lot better the moment they let go of the heavy vocal filtering. I get why it's there, I just don't like it.