Make Believe Melodies For November 25, 2024
Another Example Of Why I Can't Make Year-End Lists Until...Year End
uku kasai — Lula
Consider Lula a kind of inside-out hyperpop. That buzzy internet-centric style leaned towards the blown-out and frantic, but just as important as its sonic structure is the attitude artists in this space take to genre. Anything can be weaved into it, and the ability to slam disparate sounds together is key. Artist uku kasai subscribes to a similar idea. As they told writer namahoge in 2022, they don’t really see clear-cut lines between music, having come up in a way where Vocaloid, IDM and rap among others sort of blurred naturally. Their latest full-length album shows the power of this approach in all its wonder, and does so with delicate-bordering-on-fragile songs.
Lula is full of experimental twists, some of them adding sparks of beauty to the songs and other introducing a sense of unease. Voices pitch up into angelic texture and other times mutate into unnaturally deep bellows, while the music around them similarly transforms into unlikely textures. In one of the album’s wildest moments, uku kasai links up with personal hero tofubeats…in order to turn his familiar digitally manipulated voice into another instrument in their own world.
Yet uku kasai never lets pure curiosity about what a sound can become distract from the need to make a great song. All the tinkering on Lula plays out against bouncy beats, turning otherwise wispy cuts into physical affairs (the title track, “Clouds”) and makes other downright euphoric in how they build towards a release (“Seizu,” the tofubeats-featuring one). It makes for one of the year’s best electronic releases, and one showing how trends of the last few years can be inverted. Listen above.
STARKIDS — G-SPOT
All that said…the more familiar blown-out strain of “hyperpop” remains invigorating. STARKIDS new album G-SPOT (those kids, always on brand) finds the collective as amped up as usual, charging forward on a combination of confidence and Strong Zero. I’ve hit on a few of the highlights before (that Hatsune Miku-featuring song, still a banger and clever piece of pop eras colliding), but it’s the energy surging through this one that makes it a strong collection, with every track channeling uptempo dance sounds (“Speedrun” deserving extra props for its juiced-up Eurodance plunge) ideal for a group hell bent on a good time. Listen above.
Toto Hoshimiya And SOZEN OTSUBO — Beyond The Binary EP
I’m so used to Toto Hoshimiya in the context of TEMPLIME songs that hearing her singing be smudged and scrambled into a new element of electronic texture totally caught me off guard at first. Yet that’s also the element that makes Beyond The Binary such a revelation, as the way SOZEN OTSUBO uses her voice — both the regular delivery and their own twist on it — gives the songs a dizzying quality. The more warped it gets the better…it’s telling that the weakest moment is when a guest comes in and sings untouched (“Origami Angels” with N33T), because it lacks the headrush the rest of the EP provides. Get it here, or listen above.
Gomadare And nasaki — “Phantom”
A rollicking take on U.K. Garage sporting a sturdy pop center. The producers involved add enough novel touches to it without losing the spirit that makes the style so endearing. Listen above.
Wise Kitty — “Kitty”
The debut song from duo Wise Kitty enters as an introduction, and mission statement. Over a spacious beat, the pair let their voices tumble over one another as they rap about navigating modern Tokyo, both in terms of relationships with others and between the two of them. It’s a touch vulnerable, but most inviting as the sound of two artists getting on the same wave length as they head forward. Listen above.
alpha — “frost”
While not quite as sugary as the “kawaii bass” of yesteryear, producer alpha clearly enjoys playing in the same maximalist playroom as evidenced by creating three kawaii pop assortments. Latest song “frost” cuts back on the cuddly in favor of something a touch more sleek, especially when introducing a vocal sample midway through the rumbling number. Listen above.
Amayadori — “Hauynite”
Longing for better times doesn’t have to sound miserable, even if it feels so! Duo Amayadori demonstrate this wonderfully on the jaunty “Hauynite,” which sports lyrics about missing the past while trying to get through the present (and hoping the future brings the good times back), but bounces ahead like its head is held up. Listen above.
Oricon Trail For The Week Of November 11, 2024 To November 17, 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.
NEWS — “Atchi Muite Hoi” (132,713 Copies Sold)
I came in to this edition of Oricon Trail ready to focus on the third place track this week due to ~ greater context ~ but…this song kind of rules?
NEWS transform a song built around rock-paper-scissors into something jaunty and fun, with so many delightful swerves as to always keep the song on its toes. The foundation is upbeat rock-pop, though along the way we get a post first-hook dip into Technicolor rap. Critically though, that part does not throw the song out of its previously established tempo, instead everything still dashing forward all joyful like. This is a really delightful bit of J-pop, and one of the best out of STARTO this year.
We should still spend a little bit of time on the bronze medalist this week, which has been one of the year’s bigger viral smashes…and especially intriguing as it comes from a space that largely seems to be just outside of the zeitgeist.
When the Kohaku Uta Gassen lineup dropped last week (scroll down for more on that), netizens zeroed in on one group getting snubbed particularly badly — FRUITS ZIPPER, a cavity-causing idol outfit that boasts multiple viral hits to its name over the last two years AND one that viewed making the show as a huge goal. They did not! Yet I’m not interested in why they will stay home on New Year’s Eve, because observing how many online ached1 to see them perform on the NHK bonanza underlined that…Asobisystem is somehow excelling at the idol game?
Here’s fellow Asobisystem project CUTIE STREET delivering one of the year’s most viral idol songs, one that especially soared on TikTok and has been a streaming Viral 50 lock for a bit now. Even the physical edition did pretty well. Female idol music in Japan exists in a very weird place in 2024, and while I wouldn’t go as far as to say CUTIE STREET signal a revival for a very bubbly sort of strain of it (IS:SUE placed ahead of them after all), the group’s ongoing success in multiple mediums reminds there’s definitely room for this traditional sound…and somehow the company behind Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and Atarashii Gakko! can provide it.
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News And Views
NHK announced the lineup for this year’s Kohaku Uta Gassen. Besides covering it for The Japan Times, I also wrote a reaction to it for the weekend edition. The only thought I’ve had since then I’d add on to the Kohaku pile — I think NHK needs to be more willing to get wild with Kohaku participants. Bring Pikotaro up! Get more virtual acts! You should put one of the Vocaloid producers with a huge breakthrough up on stage, to freak out the shut-ins of the nation! And hey maybe that could happen…we will get more special guests in the weeks ahead, so here’s hoping some of them are pure spectacle.
Slate’s Decoder Ring podcast looked into Pink Lady And Jeff, the disastrous late ‘70s variety show starring the Japanese idol duo and, uh, Jeff (Altman). This would have been interesting enough…but they actually got interviews with the members of Pink Lady?!?! Honestly, I didn’t think that would be possible for any reason, let along the project’s darkest moment. Huge props to the team at Decoder Ring for managing that, and creating a fantastic podcast…and a must for anyone with an interest in Japanese pop music.
Coachella shared its 2025 lineup, and the only Japanese act scheduled to appear is XG. Honestly surprised how only one group from the country made the final roster of acts given how well received J-pop was last year…but who knows all the factors at play. Really, I feel relieved I have no incentive to travel out to the desert once again.
Guchon shared an incredible mix for Rinse France.
The ever-great Shy Thompson reviewed PAS TASTA’s GRAND POP at Pitchfork! If more people wake up to their greatness, all the better.
Oasis to perform at Tokyo Dome for two days in October 2025.
As someone who has been a bit hesitant at the “global group” posturing of outfits like this when they seem mostly focused on Japan…I have to eat crow, at least a snack-size portion, as JO1 is prepping a “world tour” for 2025 taking them to the rest of Asia, and two cities in the United States. Small…especially in the wake of Ado’s still-kind-of-ridiculous world tour…but a big step for a group that I kind of figured would be fine to cruise at home with the occasional Music Bank appearance.
Tamar Herman asked me to chat about “Everything Is AKB48” and I happily obliged.
NHK shared a news segment about how South Korea is embracing retro Japanese sounds.
The current version of Morning Musume appeared on THE FIRST TAKE.
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Twitter — @mbmelodies
Follow the Best Of 2024 Spotify Playlist here!
This also meant seeing ILLIT fans…who seem EXTREMELY insecure…attacking them, which was weird but hey, that’s K-pop in 2024.