Make Believe Melodies For June 13th, 2023
The theme is euphoria, in all kinds of forms
bala — “Heavenly”
The latest from pop unit bala serves almost as an introduction. Whereas debut single “barla” established the sonic and visual foundation of the quartet, “Heavenly” provides more thematic details, featuring spoken-word, rapped and sung segments emphasizing the neo-gyaru mindset they embrace (made direct at the very end with a mention of “here we are / genius hyper gals / bala”). While their words showcase their full range of delivery — fanciful to forceful, nod to living-legend HNC for helping write it — the music, provided by electronic duo Bodysync, provides a piano-backed soundscape to blur into, at least until the beat drops in and transforms the song into a rollick. Listen above.
ONJUICY And nonmi — “Slide on life”
A melancholy turn-up, if there ever was one. The joy of a night out in the city gets undercut by ONJUICY rapping on the transience of even the most lit Friday, further constrained by both the solitude a metropolis often instills and the general ephemeral nature of life (I read the NFT line as a nod to trends coming and going as metaphor). Still, over a nonmi beat that offers one of the most effervescent takes on drill production I’ve heard out of Japan to date, ONJUICY finds plenty to celebrate, whether with friends or appreciated a break at Saizeriya before making the most of the night. Listen above, or get the EP here.
America Minyo Kenkyukai — “Tatta Hitotsu No Zutto Nakayoshi”
While I love to feel like I know what’s going on, sometimes it’s great to surrender to the feeling of having no idea what is going on with an artist. America Minyo Kenkyukai has been a staple of AVYSS playlists as of late, which is generally the only seal-of-approval I need. In particular, one song they put out this year has bounced around my head, thanks to its skittering structure and lyrics that feel like a Nico Nico Douga account trying to talk to you through the digital void. This is their latest song, and it fits in naturally with what has come before…spoken-word heavy, disorienting, very online, very human. And, very individualistic. Listen above.
i-fls — Unselected Works: Lost Tracks V.1
A must for the i-fls completist, this set of tracks are from before i-fls was i-fls. Thus, it’s an early look into the Garageband-born sound and feeling of what has become one of the most intriguing and ennui-dipped projects in 21st century Japan. Get it here.
74century — “Oe”
Stuttering vocal samples give way to string-driven beauty before the ripples come back on this, a highlight from producer 74century’s new EP. As pretty as the orchestra-adjacent stretches are, I’ll take the skipping and near tripping of voices closing out the track as the moment of true beauty, especially when they abandon the grace in favor of some guttural screams. Listen above.
Sukisha — “Choice”
Smooth enough for the city-pop revivalists, janky enough around the edges for folks who love more awkward touches in their Tokyo celebrations. It’s the roughness present that elevates this above so many smooth operators — I truly don’t mean this as a dig, but Sukisha’s voice is goofy enough to add character to this song. Listen above.
meme tokyo. — MEMETIC INFECTION
No reason to slow down when you are on a tear. Following up on their first full-length album from earlier this year — where they swirled hyperpop-signifiers up with idol classics and just enough wildness to keep those two sides on edge — meme tokyo. have released a new EP showing a more club-ready romp to their sound, while also putting individual members into the spotlight. While seeing each participant carry a different sound built for the dancefloor is impressive, meme tokyo. still work best when coming together to barrel ahead, as is the case on blistering highlight “GAV RICH.” Which makes sense — there’s power in numbers, and meme tokyo. work best as a gang refusing to take a breather. Listen above.
Kamome Sano Featuring POPY — “alternative”
Alongside all the hullabaloo about AI already stinking up feeds and sure to crowd up discussions for…at least a few more months…is what I would describe as dishonest advertising. A lot of “AI tools” on the market now are just software that already existed in some form, slapped with a buzzy term to get people excited. That’s sort of the case with this “AI singing synthesizer” tied to the Bang Dream! mixed-media pop project. It’s just Vocaloid, a technology on the market since the early Aughts and, really, not like the spooky-scary AI most people default to (press a button, a song comes out!) but rather software that allows you to put notes / syllables into a screen and generate a voice similar to that of a cartoon girl. It’s a different shade of Hatsune Miku, down to sounding distinctly not human.
And just like with Vocaloid, creators approach this all as a tool to enhance their own work and find new creative outlets. Producer Kamome Sano takes the POPY soundbank from this Bang Dream! product to create a disorienting rush of a song featuring digi-fried vocals and a rock chug disrupted by electronic skitters. It’s everything I love about Vocaloid and computer-centric music in the 21st century — in love with the digital roughness of the voice, and fascinated by what’s possible when dropping it into whatever. Nothing scary about that, as that’s been normal since like 2004. Listen above.
Oricon Trail For The Week Of May 29, 2023 To June 4, 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.
Hey! Say! JUMP — “DEAR MY LOVER / Uraomote” (242, 157 Copies Sold)
The continued focus and deeper digging into Johnny Kitagawa’s alleged sexual abuse coupled with more revelations of alleged abuse from others within the company (scroll down) is, obviously, a major issue for the agency, the entertainment industry at large and for various legal elements in the country. With the caveat that it’s silly to try to guess where any of this goes moving forward right now, one not-as-important but still kinda important details lingers in my mind…like, you can’t call the company “Johnny & Associates” now, and you absolutely can not call talent “Johnny’s" anymore. Like, I have to put “allegedly” all over these updates, but even with those present it’s pretty clear that having Kitagawa’s name so prominently is not good marketing. Seems near mandatory that the company change its name and branding if it hopes to actually learn and change from this…it’s something I think about whenever one of their groups tops a chart or sells well, like in this case.
I find all of that much more interesting to think about than the above song, which is milquetoast pop already vanishing into the ether (credit to the video, though, featuring a shot of one member holding a piece of pizza while another JUMP-er tries to cut it with knife and fork in air). The other side of the single is a touch more intriguing, in the way any Johnny’s song leaning into gutter EDM is. Still, it’s ultimately just interacting with those big-tent sounds as backdrop and not doing anything all that fresh with them.
News And Views
Alright, on to the grim allegations — Shukan Bunshun reported this week allegations that a different male manager in the company aside from Kitagawa sexually assaulted six people over the course of their time at the company. Seeing as all of the alleged wrongdoing from the agency has centered around Kitagawa up until now, this is a significant development, implying that all kinds of crime could allegedly have been committed within the organization. Sho Sakurai of Arashi also spoke on the ongoing allegations.
Elsewhere! Yoasobi1, what a year. They’ll take part in Coldplay’s Japanese tour later this year, a pretty big bump for the duo. I’ve seen a few voices wondering why they would do this, but that honestly surprises me from a commercial angle. Like…Coldplay’s clear desperation to be “with it” is nothing new (get in touch with your estranged ARMY friend for more on that), but that British outfit still has some kind of chart and critical-ish which absolutely can boost up a project with global ambitions.
What makes them think they can tackle the world? “Idol,” duh. That song has become the country’s biggest hit so far in 2023, and has morphed into the go-to cover tune for…everyone. Case in point…idol Airi Suzuki performed it on TV recently, and that’s going viral. Watch it below.
Rosalía — “cool, Japan!” ambassador.
Back to deeply un-fun news…Otoboke Beaver shared sexually aggressive / inappropriate comments they have been getting on social media ahead of a show.
Nariaki Obukuro…ditches the Obukuro.
Uh oh, Music Business Worldwide fucked up! Look, I get it, but the panic over “AI music” is causing a lot of people to not use their basic journalistic abilities, such as to ask “huh, should I double check news in a language I appear to not know before reporting? Nope, some tech bro tweeted that it’s cool, so I’ll go with that.”
Shibuya Lion…great music bar, with a wild-good sound system blasting classical, solid coffee and staff who will tell you to shut the hell up if you raise your voice above a whisper. Now…in danger of demolition due to greater Shibuya redevelopment! This is one I’m willing to call to be saved…take all those trees in Jingumae, just leave Lion.
Going off of our first installment of Make Believe Bonus…subscribe now!…Thai pop act 4EVE shared a video diary of performing at the 2023 Thai Festival in Yoyogi Park.
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Twitter — @mbmelodies
Follow the Best of 2023 Spotify Playlist Here!
Ominous foreshadowing…stay tuned for more on them… from me….