Make Believe Melodies For June 11, 2024
Netlabel On Netlabel
Various Artists — OMOIDE vs KAOMOZI
Various Artists — KAOMOZI vs OMOIDE
Who doesn’t love a good crossover event? Thought not quite as rare as say, Cartoon All-Stars To The Rescue, netlabels joining forces — or even staring one another down — can be a beautiful occurrence. And at the moment, coming together is in. A few weeks ago Maltine Records and brutshits presented “MALTINE vs BRUTSHITS ‘RAID’” out in Tsukuba, now comes two prominent web-centric operations releasing their own “vs” series. In one corner, you have long-running experimental dance operation OMOIDE LABEL. In the other, newer and more wispy digital provocateurs under the KAOMOZI umbrella.
It isn’t really a sonic throw down, but more of a trading-places situation. Each compilation finds artists from one side being released via the Bandcamp page for the other, meaning OMOIDE fans can listen to the woozy productions of the KAOMOZI family (see the rippling electronics of ykpythemind, or for something a little speedier Kyozo Sasaki’s 8-bit-kissed contribution), while those familiar with KAOMOZI get the rumbling (Yurei Landscape’s glitching track) and downright dizzying (DRUGPAPA’s “VPN Elsagate”). No need to pick one or the other — just take them both in and be reminded of how rich this corner of Japanese electronic music remains. Listen above and below, and click the links above to buy.
Guchon, andrew, Carpainter And Seimei — Dream Team EP
In terms of being absolute dynamite at getting a club moving — a dream team indeed. Three of Trekkie Trax’s pillars join together with the capital’s best funmeister for this EP, which is as ecstatic as you can expect. I can feel the sweat drip down listening to “Mountain Chicken.” Yet there’s also historical appreciation lurking beneath the surface, with each song nodding to a different period in Japanese club sounds, each of which had an impact on the creators. A nice touch, though the best homage of all is making them sound so damn enthusiastic. Get it here, or listen above.
cyber milk Chan — “sunkissed”
A good summer song has longing somewhere lurking within, whether it moves swiftly or at the pace of dry ice left out in the sun. On “sunkissed,” cyber milk chan pines for a person, a “slow life” and melon soda among other wants, all played out against a dance-pop beat in a haze. It’s a bedroom-born “Heartbeats,” but with the emotion beating through clearly. Listen above.
Suiyoubi No Campanella (WEDNESDAY CAMPANELLA) — POP DELIVERY
Not to attribute too much power to Twitter…but I’ve been seeing a little bit of exhaustion around Suiyoubi No Campanella recently. To each their own, but I don’t get it. I imagine part of it is how prevalent Kenmochi Hidfeumi’s production has become across all of J-pop, so a whole mini-albums worth of it could be a lot if you tire of hiccuping vocal samples and a generally driving pace. I do not, however, so I’m all in to see how Hidefumi continues to stitch together the project’s sound, whether via woodwind-accented hooks or experiments in mutant ska. Then there’s the other attribute of this era of Suiyoubi No Campanella that has only gotten stronger with each release — the lyrics are so good, and so funny. Not to be all “you just don’t get it, she’s singing about peppers!” but a song like the drill-glazed “Carolina” becomes much more enjoyable when it’s a meditation on Scoville units. That’s just a food example — dig deeper, and you find clever twists on Japanese history and mythology, told from a Gen Z perspective. Listen above.
YNO — “ATA”
This is like ASMR for me. Listen above.
the bercedes menz — “SMAP”
This would have made it in for the audacity alone of naming a song “SMAP,” especially one with at least one side of its lyrical focus being on the futility of being. Yet the bercedes menz aren’t totally raspberrying the legacy of ‘90s J-pop here, as the song unfolds at a SMAP-friendly funk tempo with the other half of the lyrics embracing the freedom letting loose can bring (which…could definitely be a SMAP song).
Various Artists — Watashi No Machi LP
Twelve Vocaloid producers from across the nation come together to share songs about…their hometowns. A sweet concept that allows these creators — some using singing synthesizer software, others seemingly going for it themselves — to create sketches of the places that shaped them, with splashes of tropical sunshine when we arrive in Okinawa or busker spirit once we get off at Shimokitazawa Station in Tokyo (I’m partial to GoBS tribute to Tsu city in Mie Prefecture — a place I know well — which captures the sleepy nature of its street perfectly). Listen above.
Oricon Trail For The Week Of May 27, 2024 To June 2, 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.
JO1 — HITCHHIKER (Love Seeker) (505,623 Copies Sold)
1. Another example of what probably should count as an album but somehow…doesn’t? Rival male pop outfit Number_i’s No. O -Ring - counts as an album despite having only one more song than HITCHHIKER. Is putting the actual single in parentheses enough to skirt Oricon rules? Are there Oricon rules anymore?
2. On the topic of Number_i…@mja004 pointed out last week on Twitter the weird situation that trio finds themselves in between Oricon and Billboard, and how it warrants investigation on Oricon Trail. After seeing this week’s results…I think it deserves a whole post, because it is baffling. The group’s new album easily tops Oricon’s combined metric…but is totally absent from the physical-only chart, despite this release existing as a tangible good. A very odd group, but increasingly important one.
3. I was in Shibuya two weekends ago, and walked by a large physical promotion for this JO1 not-an-EP running alongside Miyashita Park. They set up like fake road signs and other highway markers, leaning into the idea of a HITCHHIKER proper. I failed to get a photo because you try telling a four year old they need have to wait to go to the arcade because daddy needs a photo of boy band advertising. Anyway…tons of people out for it, JO1 can flex that they made it.
4. For all of the industry disruption and aesthetic variation groups like JO1 provide, “Love Seeker” reminds that the actual sound of modern male J-pop is…pretty unchanged. This sounds like something STARTO could release, when there was a point you could notice sonic differences. Yet that has evened out…except for, once again, Number_i, who sorta blacked out and took the lead as most interesting group in this space with “BON.” More on that one later.
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One of the big benefits of upgrading…you get my pettier / meaner thoughts. This week…first-half 2024 hot takes.
News And Views
This year’s summer music festival lineup is shaping up…oddly! Really though it’s a reflection of an industry in flux (not just in Japan). For The Japan Times Longform this past weekend, I looked at the state of the industry and the challenges it faces. They include weak headliners, an even weaker yen and the looming threat of climate change (talked to an expert who basically said “yeah, this isn’t sustainable, move it to the fall”). Read it here!
We are nearly halfway through 2024…what the hell, how did that happen? Anyway, that means it is time for midway reports, and Billboard Japan offered up its first, which is not revealing anything too surprising (Creepy Nuts have song of the year so far, Mrs. Green Apple is artist of the year).
Who says f5ve aren’t getting media attention?
THE FIRST TAKE embraces Bocchi
Nikkei Asia has a good story about the return of Japanese acts to China for tours and festivals. Lots of nice details throughout, and helps add an update to a situation that was blossoming a few years ago.
New arena now open in the greater Tokyo area…primarily for basketball right now, but I’m sure concerts will work their way to it soon enough.
lilbesh ramko and Pikotaro collab, please.
Was tipped off about this in the DMs…but Charli XCX’s new album brat carries some serious Yasutaka Nakata energy, whether via Perfume’s more chugging electro cuts (“Apple”) or the intricate side of CAPSULE (“Mean Girls,” especially when the piano enters). Makes sense…there’s a clear through line present!
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Twitter — @mbmelodies