Make Believe Melodies For November 4, 2024
Movement For The Moment
Soshi Takeda — Secret Communication
The dreamy deep house Tokyo Soshi Takeda isn’t an escape from the world but rather a mood running parallel to it. While it’s tempting to turn to the crystalline synth lines and ecstatic piano melodies powering the producer’s latest album Secret Communication as a brief reprise from everything around, they are anything but.
“Wars broke out. On the other hand, my child was born. There were sad and beautiful moments in my life,” Takeda writes of his newest release, establishing immediacy. There’s no getting away but rather just moving forward amongst it…ideally, with a shuffling beat propelling you forward.
Secret Communication continues Takeda’s exploration of using old hardware to craft new sounds, as first explored on 2021’s propulsive travelogue Floating Mountains. Instruments originating from the ‘80s and ‘90s remains his sonic foundation, and there’s many moments where the spirit of Takeda’s last release drifts into the bones of the song (opener “Can Imagination Transcend Distance?” offers an ennui-rich take on “Floating Mountains,” both utilizing woozy electronic to warp a floor-filling cut, but his latest sounding fragile while the prior aimed for something centered). Club retreat collides with elements of the natural world — of breath being exhaled, of the ocean coming into the coast — to create holistic dance tracks.
Most notably, Takeda gives himself space to let everything on Secret Communication stretch out and stir all the feelings within. Average length makes this is Takeda’s longest work, with all songs at least passing the six minute mark. Every second count though, whether laying down swift body movers (“Rainstorm”) or creating slow-burning, Pacific-State-grazed jubilation (the title track). He creates something that one can meld with while moving away, but at a speed ideal for soundtracking the state of things. Get it here, or listen above.
Oyubi — “lolol”
The Emoticons. label is one of the odder spaces releasing music in Japan today, at least from a presentation side of things. Initially, the imprint has always left releases up for a limited amount of time, before deleting them. That appears to have changed lately, with offerings staying up on Bandcamp, but all of them presented with distraction (nonsense titles, impossible to read script) and info pointing towards a Discord one can join if they buy releases (I have enough of those for work, thanks). Yet maybe making it all the more mysterious…the artists that release via Emoticons. tend to be pretty established. This isn’t Oyubi’s first time around these parts, and he’s back again to share a rattling track made unsettling from the presence of warped laughing lurking within. Mysterious…but also a delight, even more so given where it comes from. Get it here, or listen above.
CULT P — Morphine
Not to spoil December thoughts now but…the defining sound of 2024 in Japanese music is Vocaloid, particularly the sound of synthesized singing being twisted and tied into new forms. Here’s a late gem showcasing how the sound of Hatsune Miku and an UTAU can still be mutated into something thrilling and unlike anything else in the world today, whether set as sing-speak vocals over Jersey club beats and screams (“tea time”) or as blurry jazz-dance visions on the verge of breaking down (“Anomi Teki Seaside”). Listen above.
yama — “Origin”
Speaking of year-end thoughts creeping in…so much has happened that it is easy to forget yama released a really good album back in January that should be on any best-of J-pop list (and potentially beyond). The strength of awake&build lays in its tempos, which move faster than anything she’s done before, flirting with modern dance styles but never being as predictable as she could be. That carries over to new song “Origin,” a zippy electro-slice-and-dice from the very start, with yama keeping pace with the disorienting vocal snippets around her. Listen above.
uami — villages2024(5)
Artist uami has always seen how she could stretch her vocals out, but on latest EP she’s particularly interested in how her singing — of words, of syllables, of noises — can occupy space and convey feeling. In just under 10 minutes, she shows how the human voice can be used as an experimental tool. Listen above.
Yuzuha — frosted glass
Maximalist electro-pop courtesy of a virtual idol? Well, say no more! Though if you do…the first two songs come courtesy of producer Purukichi and DJ Wildparty, respectively, with both putting their mark on these songs (the latter actually…being pretty spacious all things considered, but still having a rush to it even as it approaches a dream-like state). Listen above.
Schuwa Schuwa — “Mint”
One of those songs that is just so well constructed — in the way it shimmers around the images and hits the hook — that you don’t even want to bother trying to unpack it even further (something about “neo city pop?"). Listen above.
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Last week, a vibe check on Halloween in Shibuya (and elsewhere).
Oricon Trail For The Week Of October 21, 2024 To October 27, 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.
Sakurazaka46 — “I want tomorrow to come” (487,957 Copies Sold)
The current mood of J-pop started with Keyakizaka46, with songs such as “Silent Majority” and “Kuroi Hitsuji” featuring a darker mood inspired by societal challenges and the general upheaval any young adult feels. That describes most J-pop in the 2020s, and while there’s been plenty of emotional variance within, a large part of it either nods to or is all about gloominess.
Despite feeling just off from the pop zeitgeist, the group now called Sakurazaka46 fits in perfectly with the general theme of modern J-pop…perhaps better than most. “I want tomorrow to come” focuses on anxiety, opening with a metaphor bordering on the heavy-handed of being afraid of the dark even as an adult, which gives the whole song a conceptual frame. After introducing this over a Beatles-esque fake out, Sakurazaka46 plunge into a tense number featuring chunky bass notes and a sing-speak delivery approaching emotional breakdown (see also: “Eccentric”). It’s unease conveyed through galloping idol sounds, topped off by a closing dash of sunshine with an uplifting outro. Listen above.
News And Views
Arashi, one of the most successful J-pop groups ever and arguably the last stand of Heisei-era pop cultural omnipresence before the internet-shattered Reiwa days, celebrated its 25th anniversary last week. To mark the occasion…71 one of the group’s music videos previously unavailable officially on YouTube were uploaded to the site. Like, just dive in, it’s basically all their now.
I almost feel like its silly to even mention this but sometimes you still see people twist the state of Japanese music so…yeah, we aren’t in the Heisei period anymore, and a move like this by a group whose agency made it famously difficult to access its work online underlines the new era of J-pop. where the digital has become vital.Milk Talk’s music featured in Pachinko? Give that music supervisor a raise.
YOASOBI getting special shoes made in collaboration with ASICS?
Grimes responded to a tweet asking her about Yoshiki from X JAPAN, with her revealing “he’s my idol since I was 14.” Yoshiki himself saw this and said “Let's collaborate sometime soon!” So prepare yourself for that possibility in the near future.
Nintendo launched “Nintendo Music,” a new platform accessible to those who are Nintendo Switch Online members. Think of it as Spotify with only Nintendo tunes on it, which I saw some people criticizing (“just put it on Spotify1,” they say) but which I swear every Japanese person I know instantly embraced. I haven’t had a chance to look at it…but if they have the Earthbound soundtrack, you better go listen to that, what a classic.
BABYMETAL live performance to be screened in select U.S. theaters.
A lawsuit between the members of rock group SIAM SHADE appears to have been resolved, leading many to speculate that they will be working together more in the future.
The first round of artists appearing at the South By Southwest Music Festival next spring have been announced, and a handful of Japanese acts will be heading out to Austin, Texas. They are o'summer vacation, Shiho Yabuki, tiger bae and XAMIYA.
The band Hitorie to release a song featuring the vocals of late singer (and Vocaloid whizzkid) wowaka at the end of this month.
I highlighted some recent Bandcamp favorites over at scrmbl.
Here’s a magical story about a DJ entertaining a bunch of toddlers and teaching them about the magic of having fun.
ANGURA’s latest is a dive into MASS OF THE FERMENTING DREGS.
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Twitter — @mbmelodies
Follow the Best Of 2024 Spotify Playlist here!
This prompted me to dig a little into Spotify and…there’s so many remixes of like, Splatoon songs? Culture always finds a way.