Make Believe Melodies For March 14, 2022
*pop punk intensifies*
Yurufuwa Gang — “Unforgettable”
Yurufuwa Gang live in their own dimension. I’m not even necessarily being cute — when I talked to them nearly five years ago, right as they were emerging, they said they largely just stayed inside and binged Netflix, little interest in keeping up on hip-hop trends. I believe them fully on that. This is a duo that released a Goa trance album a couple years ago, for god’s sake.
“Unforgettable” finds them careening into the sonic moment, but I’m convinced it’s more like stumbling into the wrong karaoke room than anything planned out. It’s pop-punk colliding with rap, a common mix of flavors over the last few years, including in Japan where a corner of the experimental community has embraced it. Yurufuwa Gang, though, aren’t trying to be Machine Gun Kelly or LIL SOFT TENNIS, but rather just chasing their own brain waves. “Unforgettable” is more machine-like than garage band, with long-time producer Automatic handling production and giving it a feel — via the programmed beats, give or take a drum fill — that is still off from American radio circa early 2000s. The group themselves throw themselves into it, and don’t really have to change much about who they are, except maybe the speed they sing. Even the fact the hook is so catchy isn’t a shock — wherever they’re at, Yurufuwa Gang have always been good with letting everyone else in. Listen above.
Perfume — “Flow”
It’s SXSW week, which is the perfect time to reflect back on Perfume’s performance in Austin seven years ago. I can’t stress enough what a bizarre show this was, with Meishi Smile and Hitchhiker being among the names at the showcase before them. As the link above shows, the first song of their set was a technological showcase livestreamed all over the world — but only that single number, “Story,” leading to a lot of angry folks in Japan who took a day off to see one five-minute tech demo. The rest was just them hitting all their career highlights, but “Story” served as the defining snapshot of the evening.
It has come to mind a lot while listening to “Flow,” Perfume’s latest single. Mostly, I think Yasutaka Nakata and company have found the perfect balance between noise and melody. Perfume have always had tension — digital maximalism versus human emotion — but “Flow” does a particularly great job of tightroping the sort of sounds all over “Story” (here, bass burbles and a percussive lurch) and softer passages. Coupled with lyrics touching on the transience of everything — Nakata truly went through some heavy thinking the last two years — “Flow” offers a late-period highlight from the trio, and captures something they’ve been trying to share with the world for nearly a decade now just right. Listen above.
uami And aeoxve — “Yama”
Slight skitters give footing to uami, who is usually happy to just let her voice drift into the void. That little touch, along with aeoxve’s manipulated murmurs, gives “Yama” a little more grounding. Listen above.
YNO — Shoki
Never let anyone trick you into thinking experimental music has to be deadly serious or highfalutin. Producer YNO caps off Shoki with what sounds like the soundtrack to a cheesy noir film malfunctioning in real time, or someone who has never left their house trying to explain what a bar is like. These three songs are a blast, melted plastic turned into new, slightly pointy toys. Get it here, or listen above.
Otoboke Beaver — “I Am Not Maternal”
Somewhat related…Otoboke Beaver, just a blast! The quartet look at the world around them and all that society asks and go…nah, delivered in the form of an under-two-minute rock song. Here’s a particularly clever take on their all-gas approach, which isn’t interested in political statements as much as being like “dogs are great, I think I should own a dog instead of have a kid.” Listen above.
Seri Featuring BENXNI And Lil Roar — “HEARTBEAT”
It’s always interesting seeing how SoundCloud-first artists go about presenting themselves to the world when the moment calls for it. Seri has released a lot of originals online, but “HEARTBEAT” is just their second offering to get the “digital single” rollout treatment. That broadcasts extra importance. The difference comes down to emotional messiness. “HEARTBEAT” is pure energy and swagger, whereas a lot of the online-only uploads feel more like diary entries, leaning towards sadder and more melancholy topics whereas something like this new song is pure adrenaline. I think artists in this space shouldn’t be afraid of letting both sides out — sure, they are all accessible, but “HEARTBEAT” is more widely available than everything else here — because together it offers a far richer look into the creator. Listen above.
So Inagawa And Yuki Masda — Cababret Recordings for Ukraine
A great cause…complete with four dance tracks from some Japanese electronic heavyweights. Get it here.
Oricon Trail For The Week Of February 28, 2022 To March 6, 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.
SixTONES — “Kyomei” (400,138 Copies Sold)
Nearly two decades of J-pop trends coagulate in SixTONES latest, itself an anime theme song but also a miniature time capsule. “Kyomei” appropriately comes from a veteran behind-the-scenes hand, the sort of person who has the perspective on what’s now but how it also ties to the past. The jazzy spring propelling the song isn’t far removed from modern J-pop swiftness, and I’ll also take the plunge and say the look of the video — with lyrics flying across the screen while the members of the outfit make dramatic poses — is a live-action interpretation of Vocaloid and post-Vocaloid clips built around animation.
Yet all that also reminds of how this sound has flowed freely in J-pop during the 21st century, best captured by Tokyo Jihen and played around with over the years by the likes of Gesu No Kiwami Otome, among others. I don’t think “Kyomei” is directly nodding to this through line, but in its own accidental way, SixTONES offer a compact history lesson while placing themselves in that lineage. Sheena Ringo wrote for SMAP, remember.
In other SixTONES’ news, here they are engaging in good ol’ internet content by putting on bubble tops and running into one another.
News And Views
Months after the death of her daughter Sayaka Kanda, Seiko Matsuda plans on resuming activities in April.
Billboard Japan has a good look at how Vocaloid has shaped modern J-pop, told via a new group featuring two Vocaloid producers.
Sakura Miyawaki, formerly of HKT48 and IZ*ONE, has officially singed with HYBE sub-label Source Music, alongside IZ*ONE partner Kim Chae-won. They are slated to appear in a new girl group from the label.
Feeling like a pretty think week down here…uhhhh have some folks dancing to NMIXX’s Coke-Zero-repping debut single in Shinjuku (pro-tip, this space behind the Toho Cinemas in Kabukicho is a great spot to just chill…just avoid any viral-seeking dance troupes and you can recharge).
The Japanese government is planning to drop attendance limits for events, signaling a major change in how live concert and sports go about business during the pandemic. Could be the moment major music tours kick off once again with caps on attendance expected to go away.
Sakanaction offering in-store background music at McDonald’s chains across the country.
Merzbow ad spotted in Shibuya.
Pretty much every clip from Haru Nemuri’s current U.S. tour looks like a blast (and honestly, same with CHAI, great spring for Japanese rock abroad).
Genuinely surprised they haven’t somehow worked together before…tofubeats and chelmico collab coming in the near future.
This has nothing to do with music, but this clip from Poland of volunteers unloading aid for Ukrainian refugees features one of the wildest “cool, Japan!” cameos of all time, and I feel for the reporter now having to figure out why there’s so much anime in her replies.
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Twitter — @mbmelodies
I never though I would here of a J-Pop group doing Goa Trance, but here we are!