Make Believe Melodies For March 18, 2024
We Got BBBBBBB And Later On ZZZZZZZ
BBBBBBB — SHINPI
~ RECOMMENDED STATES TO LISTEN TO BBBBBBB’s NEW RELEASE SHINPI ~
Slightly Exhausted At 1:30 a.m. (ideally hearing for the first time)
The best music surprises, and sometimes the listener can enhance the feeling of being caught off-guard by reducing their brain to a pile of gloop. SHINPI excels as a late-night listen, because the already chaotic nature of BBBBBBB’s songs become downright unhinged when paired with after-midnight mind. Of course you know these guys are going to fuck around…but SHINPI becomes transcendent when played at like 1:30 in the morning, the rapid-fire vocal samples and fart barrages taking on new life.Stressed Out / Angry During The Day
BBBBBBB’s last album featured a title perfectly summing up the project’s whole energy, better than any metaphor I could — it’s “positive violence,” from creators who aren’t looking to spar but instead open up the pit. “SHIN GOD 2” and especially the uber-goofy “Shinwatoshiteuchunisononawokizami,Eienwoikirukakugonoarumonotachi” batter ahead, but do so with glee and excitement at what’s possible rather than pointless aggression (the latter, specifically, transforms from Cartman-in-a-blender attack to…demented carnival music). The energy — and humor! — within make for a great way to blow off some steam.After Watching The Following Video
When I interviewed Ryuseigun Saionji of BBBBBBB last year for The Japan Times, he gave me the skeleton key to understanding their music — a link to the above video of comedian Hollywood Zakoshisyoh going fucking bonkers at a TV station. This unlocked everything I loved about the band, and made it all click. Watch the above, and then listen to SHINPI, and you’ll understand why BBBBBBB is what would have happened if Yamantaka Eye got really into manzai instead of drum circles. Get it here.
Tim Pepperoni — “Saitei Dakedo Saiko”
Never doubt Mr. Pepperoni. The Sound’s Deli member returns with a jittery number acting as half boast and half anxiety attack, assisted by a hell of a beat courtesy of producer Puckafall…and that’s before the horns come in and turn this one triumphant. Listen above.
ǢǪ — “isomers”
A miniature Vocaloid epic, complete with the necessary video to make such a topsy-turvy number work. I appreciate it also as a kind of mini-history of the community, working in elements of rock, dance and chiptune among others, all of which have played a large part in the shaping of what is now a vital scene. Listen above.
Mega Shinnosuke Featuring Skaai — “iPhone”
No artist should be dismissed chasing trends alone — the real problem is when they latch on to the ones deeply ill-fitting to them. Mega Shinnosuke came up as a kind of neo-city-pop kid, albeit with a little more venom lurking within. He’s largely dabbled in rock, but none of it — glossy or rough — has done much for me. He’s been slowly pivoting towards becoming too-online in recent years though — “Plastic Love” teen becomes “Money Machine” 20-something — even pulling a mini Sasuke Haraguchi in letting his Vocaloid flag fly high, albeit with Bubble-sheen. “iPhone” is him finally embracing the chaos to create a claustrophobic electronic song featuring smears of Hatsune Miku, rapper Skaai, and chiptune on the fritz. Part of the attraction is that rather than flex his skills, Mega Shinnosuke sounds like he’s getting lost in the music around him. Listen above.
Violent Magic Orchestra — DEATH RAVE
I profiled Violent Magic Orchestra for Bandcamp Daily, and that ran last week. Great chat offering both insight into how this slow-gestating work came to be…and also dragons, as member Darkthrone loves them and educated me and other members of the group about the many varieties present in the fantasy world. I like DEATH RAVE much more personally than the project’s debut, largely because I think they embrace the electronic elements with full heart this time around, using gabber and techno as guidelines on how to pummel listeners. Get it here.
iri — “Run”
A nocturnal escape with a jazzy edge and modern foundation. There was a time when I thought iri eyed ascending the pop-woman-of-the-moment throne in Japan…but the years have revealed that she’s taken a much more rewarding path, in forging her own sound and exploring it for all its worth, creating a rich songbook all her own. “Run” offers this wonderfully, unfolding at a swift speed while retaining her sonic palette and giving iri room to show off her vocal abilities. Listen above.
ZZZN — ZZZN EP Vol. 1
You think I’m writing about an album exploring the intersection of music and sleeping because I’m in desperate need of the latter. Well jokes on you, that isn’t what caught my attention (plus it’s 1:47 a.m. so I gave up on it a long time ago)! It’s that the two artists featured on ZZZN’s debut release are Chara and Le Makeup which…is a hell of a combo. Both operate in slower, more spacious ways seeing as the end result is to help you snooze, though also have to give it up to the folks behind this, because they correctly identified that both boast very ASMR-friendly voices. Chara is more like a lullaby, and Le Makeup is more like a longer bedtime story (frankly, it’s a little too lively given the mission here).
Beyond that though, the ZZZN project is interesting because of how it came to be. This is a whole to-do sponsored primarily by telecommunications company NTT. This EP, then, actually resembles kankyo ongaku — environmental music — from the ‘80s as it is a major company telling artists to make functional sounds for a purpose. The “sleep theme” and instrumental version of Chara’s song especially make this clear, with a focus on the texture of sound that…quality aside, nothing here is approaching his finest moments…resembles the works of someone like Hiroshi Yoshimura. Listen above.
Oricon Trail For The Week Of March 4, 2024 To March 10, 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.
Sexy Zone — “Puzzle” (277,608 Copies Sold)
Most noteworthy for being (I presume) the final single Sexy Zone is releasing as “Sexy Zone,” as they are set to change its group name on April 1. A ho-hum farewell to its moniker that ultimately feels like easy-breezy fan service — the video is just close up shots of them hanging out, dancing, holding flowers and (best part) eating vegetables.
News And Views
Shigeichi Negishi, the inventor of the technology that would power karaoke, died this week at the age of 100. Matt Alt has a lovely obituary for him in the Wall Street Journal, which Pitchfork sums up in the linked news piece. It’s probably pretty obvious what Negishi’s overall legacy is — karaoke has become a global past time, and something I’m willing to wager every reader of this newsletter has engaged with in some way. As a cultural force…undeniable.
In terms of Japanese music / J-pop specifically, it can’t be understated how influential the activity became to shaping the structure and sound of pop music in the country, particularly starting from the 1990s. J-pop as we know it, for the most part, owes a huge debt to the popularity of karaoke, which both influenced how songs sounded and helped push singles to new heights once the weekend crowd got around to crooning them on their own.Make Believe Bonus: Karaoke
·Ae! to debut as the latest major STARTO Entertainment group this April. Something I find interesting about news like this is the continued tradition and pageantry of a “proper” debut in an ecosystem where such a concept should feel archaic…but still holds a lot of power (see also: K-pop, though that’s at least built around development rather than something approaching…indie wrestling? Working on similes here.).
The Japan Gold Disc Awards happened…if you care, here ya go.
CHAI officially wrapped up its time of a band last Tuesday with a show at Ex Theater Roppongi here in Tokyo. I was fortunate enough to see it live, and wrote about it — and the band’s legacy — for The Japan Times.
Ahead of the release of their new best-of collection1, all of Utada Hikaru’s previous videos are being re-upped into higher quality and being re-released.
Rave idols Migma Shelter calling it quits later this year. Member Brazil has a pretty heavy statement that you don’t always get from idols!
Ado honoring her history by partnering up with Nico Nico.
J-pop’s premier court jesters Golden Bomber will release a collection of music that online streamers can use.
tiny desk concerts JAPAN debuted on NHK this past weekend featuring Fujii Kaze and…I write a lot about how much the Japanese entertainment industry has changed in recent years, but here’s a massive step back, at least in one corner of the industry. You can watch a 30-second preview of it on YouTube…and otherwise have to tune in to NHK (or I assume its [quite good, actually] streaming service) to see it. This…just seems backwards for a music show built on virality.
You can’t even watch the preview here!
NOTE: Since I sent this out, NHK has shared the performance on YouTube, so I’ll eat a little crow on this front though it’s still not ideal but hey, here ya go (though you still have to click through)Yes yes, full disclosure I help the Ado team with English PR…but not sure I’ve seen a funnier line in a tweet than “If we have anyone uncooperative, Ado Box will be deactivated” in regards to people in Europe not following rules such as “no photos” and “no binoculars.” While silly, it actually does get at one of the concerns I have with the way J-pop is moving in the world, which is…I’m still not sure companies are that good at adjusting to audiences not used to such strict rules like you find in Asia. Not to say fans should run amok — based on reports from all kinds of shows across the States alone, lot of people sound like assholes — but there is a line between being obnoxious and just doing what is allowed at nearly every show.
On the topic of Ado, Daniel Robson interviewed her for The Guardian!
TOBE forms developmental group with what appears to be elementary-school-aged children.
TREND ALERT: Ski Mask The Slump God released a new song called “Shibuya2,” featuring a video where he drives around Tokyo in souped-up cars. This comes not long after Yeat released the video for a song that found him…also driving around Tokyo in souped-up cars. Whose gonna be the third to truly solidify this?!?!?!
Note: This is one of the most garbage songs I’ve heard in a bit. “They say I’m on fire / like a nineteenth century witch” oh the clunkiness!
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Twitter — @mbmelodiesFollow the Best Of 2024 Spotify Playlist here!
Full disclosure, I am helping to work on the PR side of this project.
In said song, he raps “we out in Shibuya.” When he reaches this line in the video, Ski Mask The Slump God is clearly in Shinjuku.