Make Believe Melodies For May 8, 2023
The Surreal Life
Cwondo — Tae
Taisei Kondo moves with nervous excitement. The vocalist and guitarist for rock group No Buses practically hop-scotched out on stage to join PAS TASTA at the latter’s album release show at Shibuya’s WWWX on May 3, bouncing along during “sunameri smoke” and going even harder on a new song made in conjunction with producer yuigot. At times it felt like he was making a case for having the best bars in all Tokyo, other times he seemed to want to shrink behind the decks. It all connected.
As Cwondo, Kondo explores the space between these two sides, offering something that often feels like a sonic journal of the everyday. Well, it also is literally at times — Cwondo recently shared a “music vlog” for the skittering daydream of “Enroharubaru” off of fourth album Tae. While walking alongside Kyoto’s most scenic route, Kondo reflects on how pretty it is, the tastiness of curry udon and ask viewers how “does it color your every day life” in reference to the new full-length release.
All of Cwondo’s work to date has sounded drawn from a sketchbook capturing scenes of the familiar, but none have done it as well as Tae. If an artist like Le Makeup captures small details in words, Cwondo does something similar with sound. Sonic nods to traditional Japanese music lend “Baby Kasutera” and give it an atmosphere similar to a summer matsuri, albeit a very surreal one as the sampled vocals bend as the song strolls along. Water droplets splash on “Humidii” and distant voices can be heard (skipping) on “Tettroni,” the familiar re-arranged and turned near dreamy. Cwondo embarks on flights of fancy, and doesn’t let the mundane stop them from playing around.
Tae is Cwondo both at their most private and most ambitious, showcasing highlights like “Gomenn” and “Minuma No Yujin” as if they are being captured from a bedroom (the prior even stalls for a split second after the sound of someone clicking a button…like on a recorder…before someone clears their throat and jumps back in). It sounds at times hesitant, with Kondo’s singing sometimes blending into the music around it, shy to truly step forward. Yet in this snug corner, Cwondo presents the world around them, with a surreal streak showing off their swagger1. Listen above.
Mom — “Sayonara, Science Fiction”
Even when called upon to write a song for an NHK puppet-centric show, Mom delivers a nervy pop song poking at established ideas of how culture and sound works. While balancing thoughts on promises of progress and the personal need to keep pushing forward to stay optimistic, Mom skips between cheery dance-pop accented by chimes to speedier electronic passages marked by sped-up vocal warbles, before a late song acoustic bridge leading to a disorienting final set. Listen above.
Black Dresses Featuring rirugiliyangugili — “gutz”
A perfect meeting of artistic minds. Toronto’s Black Dresses balance noise with gummy melodies, while Osaka’s rirugiliyangugili manages to create highly catchy songs out of vocal chaos and musical cacophony. On “gutz,” he steps in to like, quadruple the urgency all at once, which Black Dresses instantly match. Listen above.
nemuigril — “Sayonara On The Beat”
Electro-pop project nemuigirl leans into bleary territory for “Sayonara On The Beat,” a song utilizing a repeating keyboard melody that slowly deteriorates over the course of the song. That adds to the fading feel present throughout, as the vocals themselves go from clear to rapped to digitally distorted, and the music around it all similarly switches between locked-on funk to something more static. Here’s the feeling of farewell…and the distance building up once those goodbyes are made…captured in song. Listen above.
KASAI — “Utayo”
Modern electronic touches wrap around minyo rhythms and chanting on the first taste of KASAI’s forthcoming experiment in sonic time travel J/P/N. Seeing how both styles exist to get people dancing, it isn’t as big a leap as you’d think. Listen above.
Metome — “Blue Crayfish” And “Twofold Purpose”
Two approaches to spacious grooves. “Blue Crayfish” shuffles ahead with metallic toughness, disrupted only by some bird-like hoots overhead to add a dash of color to the monochrome march. “Twofold Purpose,” meanwhile, is classic Metome, stumbling forward on gleeful synths, funk bass and warped vocal samples. A little melancholy, but with more than enough warmth radiating throughout. Listen above.
BBBBBBB — OH SAWAGI
Part of what draws me to BBBBBBB’s music is its ability to deliver top-rope elbows in two very different ways. “OH SAWAGI” is there physical dimension on display, and listening to the fuzzed-out screaming and digital-hardcore stomp brings images of sweaty pits to mind, powered by their love of pummeling noise. Yet “IYA IYA KI” brings the same spirit to online spaces, rolling out an assortment of goofy-ass samples — many of which are staples of Japanese YouTuber’s audio arsenal — to create a media mishmash every bit as disorienting, if not a little more so. Get it here, or listen above.
Special Artist Insert — Caslean
Earlier this year, I worked with London-based artist Caslean on an artist biography and press release (so, obvious full disclosure) for the Quanzhou-born creator’s newest EP After Candy Melts. It’s good, and part of the reason I’ve kept revisiting it in the months since is how Caslean channels the bricolage of Shibuya-kei, nodding to peak Cornelius, Pizzicato Five and GREAT3 in how it borrows and re-contextualizes styles, while also drawing inspiration from artists like Faye Wong lyrically. It’s a release I think a lot of readers of this newsletter would enjoy, so check it out here or on your preferred streaming service.
Also, as noted, I am available to write artist press releases and bios, contact me at patrickstmichel@gmail.com
Oricon Trail For The Week Of April 24, 2023 To April 30, 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.
AKB48 — “Doushitemo Kimi Ga Sukida” (327,441 Copies Sold)
Whatever major label they sign to, or however they reconfigure the group system, it appears AKB48’s actual musical foundation remains unchanged. A heart-racing pace, all-together vocals come the chorus, a little guitar as a treat and lyrics amounting to “young love! eeeek!” with a very AKB love of small details (no one cares what color the car zooming between you and your crush is as you declare your feelings…but AKB tells us, “it’s blue”). Boilerplate, albeit with a great video, look at some of these shots.
YouTube served up a video of featured member Eri Chiba talking about the single, which is fun, but that lead me to a newer upload from a favorite Produce 48 participant, wherein she talks at length about why AKB48 is charming. This includes a bit where she gets mad at anybody who doesn’t respect their cuteness.
News And Views
Easily the biggest news of the week…J-pop performer Nami Tamaki launched a music channel on YouTube in late April where she’s uploading official videos from across her career. Blessed times we live in.
This lead me to the path of realizing Tamaki had actually launched a personal YouTube channel last year, but it had recently undergone a renewal which includes reaction videos to her own videos and…now this music outpost.
I have not seen it yet…nor have I seen the second installment in the series, and barely remember the first (there’s a snarky raccoon?)…but word on the street is Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 features a Vocaloid song. I mean, that’s actually not a huge twist, this has been public knowledge for a month now, and it just turns out my general laziness to movie news cost me.
“Cool, Japan!” theory wins again, this time courtesy a song about dogs.
Planck Stars leader Kan Nyan dealt with internal bleeding, but she’s set to return to her idol group on May 9.
Atarashi Gakko! still soaring, one of the bigger surprises of 2023 worth digging into at some point.
Pitchfork has a review / dig into the work of obscure duo (??) Tolerance.
Foodman curated a playlist for Shibuya Saunas, in what is one of the most on-brand collabs ever.
Male idol event-centric sales slap fight. Tune in next week to see who won!
ClariS covered Wink, nailing the vibe of a 1980s music show just right (stunt performances! Announcers in a box!).
If a celebrity expecting their first child announced “you know what, I’ve decided to give birth in the middle of the Amazon rain forest,” you’d probably be surprised by said comment. Now, when the personality sharing this news is former Suiyoubi No Campanella vocalist KOM_I, it is not nearly as shocking, at least for those who have followed her career up to this point. She said just that in a recent interview, sparking a lot of criticism online and prompting articles from Smart Flash about why this isn’t a good idea, complete with quotes from doctors.
THE FIRST TAKE has gotten more international in recent months, with a more prominent focus on Asian performers. Great to see, and I just love the criss-crossing of continental sounds. This week, two members of Hong Kong group MIRROR stopped by.
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Twitter — @mbmelodies
Follow the Best of 2023 Spotify Playlist Here!
This album really reminds me of Metoronori, another solo creator crafting pop in their own secret world, unafraid to let ideas ripple and tear apart familiar forms.
Cwondo's Tae is honestly so good, it is hard for me to explain it in words. His neo-psychedelic pop influences are amazing!
Thank you for sharing the Erii video it's honestly amazing