Make Believe Melodies For May 15, 2023

The Kids Are Alright [sound of metal scrapping together]

Sasuke Haraguchi — Acetone

I don’t begrudge you for not remembering anything about life pre-2020, but for a split second back in 2019, the trend on the horizon was a total celebration of J-pop. City pop was back…or, back for the first time in the ears of people all over the world! Arashi urged us to “turn it up with the J-pop!” And in the middle of it all, teenage whiz-kid Sasuke — who gained attention online for bopping away on an MPC — declared that J-pop would never die in a song that signaled the future…and the future was looking bright!

Since then, J-pop has gone through about five different emotional cycles, most of which would not have welcomed Sasuke’s chipperness as artists sang about leaping to your death from a roof or acid-spitting against society. But hey…J-pop never dies, and eventually all that glumness gave way to a return to the upbeat. Yet Sasuke is seemingly over that utopian vision. You turn up with whatever you want…he’ll be over here creating songs that are the equivalent of microwaving a ball of foil.

Look, part of what makes Acetone knock me over is not knowing about it until the past week…and not knowing that Sasuke Haraguchi is THAT Sasuke above. The surprise and context makes this experimental set of pop mutations all the better — though it’s important to stress that’s not why this set of fizzy and fidgety songs stands out. Here’s a continued mutation of J-pop, with Haraguchi playing in the same spaces as Hakushi Hasegawa, the members of PAS TASTA, the stripped-down experimentations of butasaku and all the other young upstarts playing around with the familiar. Critically, none of them are repulsed by pop — they love the stuff, so much so they want to carve it open and see what’s inside.

Acetone luxuriates in sounds — of steely percussion and distorted vocal samples and robo sing-speak and pitch-shifted synth gloop — but often weaves Haraguchi’s voice through the lab work to create a dissected version of J-pop. The charm of his first full-length under his birth name is the eagerness to experiment, but like highlights from peterparker69 and PAS TASTA this year, there’s a sweetness and connection lurking in even the moments where he transforms familiar electronic palettes into laser light shows. Kid was right…J-pop will never die, because creators like him are too busy warping it into something new all the time. Listen above.

Furui Riho — “Super Star”

The funniest coincidence within this song is Furui Riho singing not one but two XG song titles over the course of this mood booster.

Bound to be a “what could have been” kind of summer single, joining the likes of Shiggy Jr., SHE IS SUMMER and Anna Takeuchi among many more giving people perfect blast-this-out-of-a-rental-car vibes that are doomed to never really rise up to the mainstream. Prove me wrong, Japanese consumers! Well, if that comes to pass, their loss, because “Super Star” finds rising-name Riho providing late-afternoon disco energy — the sort where the drinks start hitting, and the groove picks up and you dare a tasteful rap. Pure warm-climate fun. Listen above.

Sweet William — Amat #2

Hip-hop beats to melt into a popsicle-colored puddle to. Producer Sweet William plays in the same jazzy instrumental space as folks crafting tracks optimal for completing algebra homework, but plays around with the sound of instruments and samples — especially voices — so that the music is always mutating and demanding attention rather than ceding. This set of unreleased beats (and “some stuff”) shows off Sweet William’s range. Get it here, or listen above.

Bleeker Chrome — Chrome Season 1.5

A buffed-out version of the duo’s Chrome Season EP from late last year, but one allowing Bleecker Chrome to really flex their chameleonic approach to modern pop. They approach sound like a sandbox, and aren’t afraid to give any idea a go here, even if some are real duds — my fears of AI music lessened a little hearing them try on a Weeknd cadence, turns out humans can be as bad as machines — but when they hit, they hit. The Jersey club fever dream of “one way” nails longing and energy, while the hyperpop flirtations of “2much” leave just enough distance from the inspiration to make for an interesting tension between traditional fare and wonky internet finds. Listen above.

MASS OF THE FERMENTING DREGS Featuring Keita Ebina — “Iranai”

I was just on a huge MASS OF THE FERMENTING DREGS kick over the past week — this still makes me feel like I could tip over a subway car — so bless them for coming through with a new rush of energy. Listen above.

Maika Loubté — “Ice Age”

An artist frequently pushing at the seams of what’s possible in electronic pop gives over to bliss on ice age. Maika Loubté’s voice blurs with the music around her, bending and multiplying into it’s own little choir, but it all builds towards a late song jettison upwards. Listen above.

Various Artists — Moto! Babi Fest!

One of the things I really appreciate about Japanese underground music communities is a commitment even to the stupidest ideas, and the desire to build around shared sonic interest. I frequently think back to the summer of seapunk, when Japanese artists tried to turn a very-much fake music genre — even by the loose definitions of the 21st century internet — into something fleshed out (I heard about a set from HNC where she like, blurred chillwave into dolphin sounds and New Age release…honestly, eons ahead).

I have no idea what is happening with “hyperpop” abroad — largely sounds like it has been consumed by general pop trends, I listened to that Frost Children album to try to understand what’s up but mostly felt empty (last few songs were OK) — but I do love that the sonic spirit of it continues to connect artists in Tokyo and beyond. This compilation, made to commemorate a party held in Shibuya during Golden Week, overflows with interesting wrinkles to the style and just sounds like a lot of fun. The highlight? Valknee and BAILEFUNK KAKEKO transforming “Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)” into a descent into chaos on “FAKE SUMMER.” Listen above.

Oricon Trail For The Week Of May 1, 2023 To May 7, 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.

Sexy Zone — “Cream” (214,629 Copies Sold)

See all that text above? The blurb I copy-paste weekly about how Oricon’s physical-only sales chart soldiers on despite being completely out of step with the times? Well, toss all those words in the trash this week, because we had an honest-to-goodness showdown between male pop groups this week, with the ultimate prize being…number-one on Oricon.

In this corner, a wrecking ball with pop pedigree, Johnny & Associates’ outfit Sexy Zone with the contemporary city-born pop of “Cream.” And hailing from Nakameguro by way of assorted Anytime Fitness outlets, representing the loves and dreams and happiness of LDH, it is THE RAMPAGE from EXILE TRIBE with the delirious EDM-pop of “16BOOSTERZ.”

This particular LDH project has never topped Oricon’s singles chart, and talk about bad timing, as “16BOOSTERZ” came out the same week as a Johnny’s song, which are usually locks for number one. And yet…over the first week of sales, THE RAMPAGE held tight, with tie-ins boosting sales and fans (who call themselves “RAVERS”) making a push to purchase more physical copies of “16BOOSTERZ” to pull off the upset. Which, in turn, prompted Sexy Zone fans to mobilize as well. More goodies were packaged with CDs, with one RAMPAGE fans documenting it all on Twitter. In the end, Sexy Zone won, but by a relatively slim margin — THE RAMPAGE moved 195,126 copies of “16BOOSTERZ,” not a photo finish but way closer than this tends to be. God help the fans needing to get rid of extra plastic.

The real winner, though, was Oricon…for at least one week, the chart got to feel relevant again. Largely a fandom-measuring service in modern times, the weekly happenings on their chart — especially the physical-only ranking central to this story — are usually a stan-only affair, having long become forgotten with the general Japanese populace while hardcore supporters breathlessly point to whatever ranking makes their favorite look best. That’s partially due to how predictable it tends to be. Yet in this rare instance — propelled forward by fandoms — Oricon suddenly became a battleground again.

More importantly, it was deemed important. Sexy Zone won this showdown, though both fan bases seem quite jovial towards one another in YouTube comments, while RAVERS (c’mon…) have dusted off their shoulders and gone full-idol in declaring this the first step to the true top. But here’s the rub…”16BOOSTERZ” is winning in every other metric out there. It’s higher on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, and since LDH actually uploads music to streaming, the single has been performing well on platforms like Spotify, where it has enjoyed a lot of time in the upper echelons of the Viral chart. Even in the one digital zone Johnny’s is committed to — YouTube — THE RAMPAGE have over five million more views than Sexy Zone. This should all be cause for celebration, not some goofy underdog narrative building, for their fans. But for the first time in what has felt like forever, Oricon’s top spot was up for grabs, and that made all the difference in perception¹.

News And Views

• Johnny & Associates’ president Julie Fujishima issued an official written and video statement Sunday night commenting on the ongoing sexual assault allegations surrounding company founder (and her uncle) Johnny Kitagawa. While she apologizes for all the trouble caused by this, the company isn’t saying Kitagawa definitely did any of the abuse he was accused of during his life. Yet Fujishima does adopt a very regretful tone throughout, revealing she’s talked to accuser Kauan Okamoto and also stating that the way the company used to be run…wherein Kitagawa and his sister / her mother Mary Kitagawa made all major decisions without any sort of oversight board…was a mistake. It’s ultimately a statement regarding corporate transparency and inside operations, pledging to do better moving forward. See the video statement below, courtesy of TBS News.
  

Here’s a cop out on my part for now but…I spent the entire morning writing about this for The Japan Times, so click that because I have far more detailed thoughts in that story. A summary , though — while this definitely avoids pinning guilt on Kitagawa and won’t resolve anything in relation to those long-running allegations, it’s still significant as it is the first time the talent agency has truly addressed them (plus, personally, I find stuff like Fujishima saying the way her mom and uncle ran the company to be wrong fascinating). Johnny’s has been making a lot of changes since Kitagawa died in 2019, but to truly become the new company they talk about being, they have to acknowledge the past, and make it a part of their own history moving forward to truly change.

• For one brief, beautiful moment, a Vocaloid song sat on top of the Global Viral 50 chart (still up there in the U.S.). Thank you, Marvel movies.
  

• Erii Chiba…born to suffer, born to star.
  

• WACK gonna WACK. Months after announcing their first boys group in the form of BOYSGROUP (their logo looked a dick), the outfit disbanded following a live show in Osaka. Excited to see what stunt the agency comes up with next!
  

• Music Business Worldwide talks with higher-ups at Warner Music Japan about a lot of familiar topics — the potential of J-pop, the challenges of breaking artists instead of songs, the country’s digital shift.
  

• The Korea Times explored recent interest in Japanese pop culture among young Koreans, while also looking at the continued embrace of Korean offerings from young Japanese, which is a sign of many changes in the region. This factored in to what I wrote about last week.
  

• YOASOBI’s “Idol,” the biggest J-pop hit of the year so far, has done so completely as a digital single so far. That will change, though, as a CD version of the song will come out on June 21, with special goodies within.
  

• One of the coolest livehouses in all of Japan is Namba Bears, a lovely and grungy space located in Osaka directly underneath the train tracks running out of nearby Namba Station. I used to live like seven minutes from it — my apartment was wedged between two warehouses, it was probably the worst six months of my life in retrospect, but hey at least I could see shows on the weekend! Love it, a great example of what a live venue in Japan can be, both physically and as metaphor for underground communities.
  

Two new venues set to open up in the Kansai city later this year provide a sorta Session IPA version of Bears. Meta Valley and Holy Mountain will begin operations under the Nankai train tracks this October. I’m generally happy for any new venue to open up, especially outside Tokyo, but I think it’s fair to be a little eye-roll-ey about this one. It has a lounge, restaurant and craft beer on tap! Again, fine fine, I like a good speciality brew myself, but it does reflect a change in what people (or companies) expect livehouses to be in the modern age…more than just music. I’ll reserve real judgement until I see what acts get to play there.

• Important “cool, Japan!” thread.
  

• According to his estate, Ryuichi Sakamoto created a playlist for his own funeral…and that is now available. Listen below.
  

Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Twitter — @mbmelodies

Follow the Best of 2023 Spotify Playlist Here!

1. Oh, uh, actual music? Well, THE RAMPAGE song is a pretty fun bit of himbo EDM, but “Cream” was written by iri and Yaffle, which in any other week would have been the hook. The pair’s respective sounds carry over to marquee J-pop well!