Make Believe Melodies For March 01, 2022
*whispering* I've had a rough schedule lately so it has been hard to keep up with...everything
Suiyoubi No Campanella (Wednesday Campanella) — “Maneki-Neko”
Here’s the best case scenario for Suiyoubi No Campanella 2.0. While it’s still a bit hard to personally embrace this reboot fully — just change the day of the week in the name and I’m onboard! — “Maneki-Neko” hints at the best route moving forward. As touched on before, it’s all about putting the focus on Utaha’s singing and not spending too much time on rap (where KOM_I was clearly better). “Manek-Neko” actually does something I didn’t think was possible…offer up a song where Utaha fits better than KOM_I probably would, with that swift hook built just right for her lighter, more controlled delivery. Producer Kenmochi Hidefumi fills out the rest of the song with all kinds of great breaks and details (the little breezy melody that floats in before the second chorus…fleeting prettiness). Alongside “Edison” — following a similar pattern but just a touch more boring to my ears — “Maneki-Neko” establishes a clearer sonic identity for the project. Listen above.
tofubeats Featuring Kaho Nakamura — “REFLECTION”
A speedy drun ‘n’ bass beat propels “REFLECTION” forward, and Kaho Nakamura matches the pace of tofubeat’s music with a vocal display that’s practically stream of consciousness. It’s a great meeting of minds — from two artists with new albums just around the corner — and a reminder of how well tofubeats can work when paired with the right counterpart. Listen above.
maeshima soshi and macico and A Natsume — “Chewing Gum”
Alongside Kan Sano and Shin Sakiura, maeshima soshi is emerging as one of the more prolific behind-the-scenes forces in modern Japanese music. His name is popping up a lot more in the credits for acts both established and burgeoning, thanks to an electronic approach leaving lots of room for sonic versatility. “Chewing Gum” puts the production right in the spotlight, with soshi supplying a skittery beat over which the gust vocalists can jump-rope over, though it’s the energy flowing out of the sounds that steals the show. Listen above.
Rei And Haruomi Hosono — “Gyu”
Haruomi Hosono…still chugging along, collaborating with younger Japanese artists to create surprisingly snug pop. On “Gyu,” he joins guitarist and throwback rocker Rei for a cozy duet featuring a horn breakdown and an explanation of what hugs are in English. Listen above.
STARKIDS Featuring Seri — “STARKIDS NO SEI”
e5 — “Vitamin”
A quick check in on two of Make Believe Melodies’ favorite artists from 2021. STARKIDS stay true to their freedom-in-chaos approach to music on “STARKIDS NO SEI,” further underlining their commitment to forging their own path while flexing about how ahead of the curve they are, too the point that even in a centuries time haters won’t get them. That’s all set against one of the prettier electronic backdrops they’ve offered, playing up the sweetness lurking underneath all that Strong Zero residue.
e5, meanwhile, slows down on “Vitamin.” Her usually frantic approach turns to syrup, an effect all the clearer thanks to the digi-glow around her voice. It’s built to just soak in, but as is the case with STARKIDS, also reminds of e5’s greater worldview, both touching on a melancholy longing for something better and a rejection of commerce-first creation (like, straight up stating that art made with money in mind is shit which is…refreshing?). Listen above.
winD — “Kawaii”
Buckle up, we’ve got a great example of the changing winds of pop music in Asia on our hands here.
winD’s “Kawaii” is enjoying massive TikTok success right now in Japan, currently sitting on top of Spotify’s Viral 50 chart. If it sounds familiar, that’s because it’s a Japanese cover of Chinese artist A Si’s viral hit from last year…which also became a TikTok phenomenon centered around water, you can poke around YouTube to learn more fellow old folks.
Yet winD’s “Kawaii” is actually a rebranded version of a Japanese cover of A Si’s song by a Chinese VTuber that went viral on its own across Asia late last year. Here I admit I’m not sure why exactly this has now been credited to winD…is that the new artist name for this VTuber in the Japanese market? Did someone claim jump this? Not finding many answers here, so let me know if I’m missing something.
Yet within winD’s current TikTok-powered hit exists a bunch of threads worth tugging at — the way music travels across Asia today, a very interesting case of a Chinese number finding a backdoor route into Japanese virality, and one of the best examples of the influence VTubers have online right now.
Oricon Trail For The Week Of February 14, 2022 To February 20, 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.
≠ME — “Chocolate Melancholy” (58,017 Copies Sold)
From a certain angle, this is exactly what idol music should sound and look like — kind of off, but also right on target. It’s a Halloween song disguised as a Valentine’s Day song, with all the over-the-top antics of a Halloween Junky Orchestra operating in off-peak times. As the post-Vocaloid world enters a PG era, here’s a set of pop idols diving into darker themes closer to “Yoru Ni Kakeru” than YOASOBI has come in the past year. Stupidly dramatic for a pop song, and god bless it for that.
Bonus video of this group’s producer, Rino Sashihara, playing with a YouTube-famous cat!
News And Views
Rock band CHAI is currently opening up shows for Mitski in the United States, and over the weekend the group’s trailer — containing costumes and merch — was stolen. The group is currently running a Gofundme to recoup costs, so feel free to throw a few bucks their way if you can (though also…lot happening in the world, with lots of other valid campaigns worthy of money!)
The latest entrant into Japan’s survival music boom? Superstar Project X on Nippon TV starring…Yoshiki, of X Japan. That one starts tomorrow. I think we’re reaching the peak of the audition-show era and can’t imagine how much longer this can be sustained, but I will say…Yoshiki at least in theory brings a different perspective to this genre, breaking up the K-pop-style spirit that has dominated the genre thus far.
A good rule of thumb in all media conversation — college newspapers should be looked at and dissected by the intended audience, students, rather than outsiders looking for narratives to apply more broadly. HAVING SAID THAT…absolutely chuffed to see The Daily Helmsamn, the paper at the University Of Memphis, running a story about Hikaru Utada’s Bad Mode and student reactions to it.
Kizuna AI, pioneering virtual YouTuber and aspiring pop star, officially went on hiatus following one final biggie-sized livestream this weekend. Never fear fans, as she will return in the form of an anime and an…AI-related spinoff project? I guess it’s kind of like Vocaloid? Talk about coming full circle. Anyway, I wrote about AI’s legacy for the Japan Times. I think it’s fair to say she’s one of the most important Japanese entertainment figures of the 21st century.
Pikotaro has chimed in on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Crazy times, huh! Beyond big geopolitical happenings, Japan saw a flurry of entertainment stories break late last week, from continued controversy surrounding a VTuber being released from her talent agency and one year anniversary plans surrounding Uma Musume. Lost in the shuffle…former KAT-TUN member Koki Tanaka arrested for drugs. Perhaps he’s happy he didn’t receive that much attention…or maybe that bummed him out.
Interesting development in Asian pop — The Wasabies, a Mongolian pop group, want to debut in Japan, and have launched a crowdfunding drive to do so.
Extremely important moment in “cool, Japan!” history.
And now…an update on the BTS Shrine in Shizuoka…
…it’s done, they killed it! After everyone got angry about it, the people behind BTS Shrine posted a big apology (including somewhat funny disclosure that barely anyone visited it, so it didn’t make much money, don’t worry Big Hit, you only missed out on beer money basically) and shared unintentionally hilarious photos of it post-outrage.
Just…I should have thrown responsibility to the wind and gone to the BTS Shrine the day after it went viral. I truly regret this missed opportunity, and the next time a pop-themed cash-in attempt appears, I’m hopping on the train, I swear.
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Twitter — @mbmelodies
Just discovered this site via AsianJunkie, I quite enjoy reading!