Make Believe Melodies For November 12, 2024
Excitement from the far end of the archipelago
Liminal Mafia — liminaltape vol1
The internet-fried songs of liminaltape vol1 would sound exciting coming from any part of Japan, as it’s another great example of a younger generation of artists shaped by “hyperpop” and musical developments of the 2020s finding a way to harness restlessness into excitement. Yet there’s something extra fun about Liminal Mafia — a sort of nebulous collective, with participants seemingly all over but starting in one place — being from Okinawa, the chain of islands to the southwest of Kyushu. It warms to heart to know this style of sonic expression has found its way out there, and that young creators have embraced it. Better still…they have warped it even further to fit what they need.
Every track on liminal burbles around the edges, adding a sense of constant mutation to everything from the mid-tempo electro-pop of “nerunoda” and the head-spinning dance of “ido.” As busy as it gets, the giddiness and longing of everyone involved breaks through the digital fuzz. It glitches out and nearly goes out as it plunges ahead, but central to “i wanna be a super star” is the ambition of trying to go further, and bring this sound to a greater audience. It’s an energy boosting Liminal Mafia forward, and one making this a highlight to come out of Japan’s digital corners in 2024. Listen above.
HOME — “Tell Me”
Sticking with projects born in Okinawa…HOME released a solid EP last month, with “Tell Me” being the highlight of the set. The band is at their best when racing ahead, letting electronic touches add to the melancholy at the heart of its guitar rock and helping make the big moments hit all the harder. Listen above.
Frankie Paris And LEF!!! CREW!!! — “STARLIGHT”
OK just one more from Okinawa to complete this mini theme…Frankie Paris and producer LEF!!! CREW!!! already have created some of the most sweltering cuts to come out of the islands in recent times (see “Hot Gyal”) and they continue it with the skippy “STARLIGHT.” It’s a little less rough around the edges, swapping in something a little more sentimental, but the energy still pulses through. Listen above.
yuri — Lunula (exit full screen)
Producer yuri creates barely-there electronic wisps of songs over the course of Lunula (exit full screen), like a slight breeze experienced on the edge of the suburbs. Melodies emerge from the minimalism, and at times a hushed voice comes in to speak alongside it, offering a dash of humanity in the style of a Metoronori or Fuji Chao. Listen above.
XTAL — “BCF”
Producer XTAL reminds that even the seemingly calm can transform into something frantic at a second’s notice. “BCF” builds around loops of piano dust, the kind of melody that feels relaxing, or at least optimal background sounds. Yet XTAL finds a way to make this tranquility ripple and then break apart, transforming into a skittering electronic cut where the echoes of the easy going transform into something kinetic. Listen above.
punipunidenki — The Secret Of An Interlude
punipunidenki loves a good concept, and on latest EP The Secret Of An Interlude they turn their attention to the big top. The three songs here explore characters performing in a circus — dancer, trapeze artist, a lion (!?) — grappling with their own forlorn thoughts and desires in the middle of the show. Even without the overarching stories, punipunidenki’s latest is a trio of lovely character sketches exploring the tougher emotions everyone hides as they go about the day, set to their jazzier pop sound. Get it here or listen above.
TEMPLIME Featuring Neko Hasegawa — “Gomenne”
Perhaps I’m just letting my multiple fandoms criss-cross a little too much after listening to “Gomenne,” but the first taste of duo TEMPLIME’s forthcoming album reminds me of early Perfume / Yasutaka Nakata. While not quite as blog-housed-out as the producer could get, it does carry the swift tempo and constant glow of mid-Aughts Capsule and other projects, all tethered to a sweet but secretly melancholy vocal. Listen above.
Yunovation — Me, Expanding
What better way to close out this week than with a set of melodica-centric feel-good numbers from Osaka’s Yunovation? It isn’t just easy-breezy instrumentals — though they are very peppy — as she sings on two songs here, including the hopscotching title track. Listen above.
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Oricon Trail For The Week Of October 28, 2024 To November 03, 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.
INI — “THE VIEW (WMDA (Where My Drums At))” (630,622 Copies Sold)
I don’t know if there’s some Oricon rule where you need to state the signature song on the EP you’re selling as a single or maybe it just gets you bonus points towards the “combined” ranking…but as a result the title of this one is a editor’s nightmare.
Anyway, for a song asking “where my drums at” I find it pretty surprising how…underwhelming the beat is? “Where my generic K-pop male pop structure at” more like it.
News And Views
The Grammy nominations are out…ok! The late Ryuichi Sakamoto was nominated for Best New Age, Ambient, or Chant Album for Opus, while former Global Grammy getting guy Masa Takumi is back up in the Best Global Music Performance category for the below, featuring a bunch of other folks. Can he defeat Jacob Collier???
ELLY of J SOUL BROTHERS offered up a congratulatory tweet to U.S. president-elect Donald Trump, featuring the line “the future is bright.” Someone at LDH (Love Donald Happiness) surely urged him to delete it, but not before it was saved for posterity.
Remember The Last Rockstars? The Japanese rock supergroup that was going to save rock, even though contemporary J-pop is already doing a pretty good job of it? Well, Miyavi is leaving the project…though that is partially to work on something else with Yoshiki, who is also in The Last Rockstars.
The nominees for “Buzzword Of The Year” are out, and we get two prominent music-related ones — “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” and “Hai Yorokonde.” “Team Tomodachi” undeniably robbed here.
I’ve never been to Countdown Japan, the multi-day festival held over the last four days of the year, because I’m either back in the States seeing family or out in the Tochigi countryside with family on this side of the world. Yet it’s always a blockbuster lineup…and this year’s roster is no different. The headline to me is the inclusion of NewJeans on the final day, which speaks to a lot (mainly…the group’s focus on Japan, easily their most important market especially after a year where they felt invisible in the States) though owing to my own weird fascinations makes me wonder if they are more or less likely to appear on NHK’s Kohaku Uta Gassen because of it. We will have our answer soon, as many expect the artists at this year’s event to be announced this week (and I have my own sources telling me to be ready…).
Girls Band Cry now out on Crunchyroll. Reminder that it is an absolute delight.
KAF (full disclosure: a PR client) and other artists at Kamitsubaki Studios to link up with Keio Railways.
I reviewed the latest album from PAS TASTA over at scrmbl. No shocker here…I love it.
NPR shared NHK’s Tiny Desk Japan performance from B’z’ member Koshi Inaba. Good excuse to revisit the article I wrote about it…including watching this performance in person.
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Twitter — @mbmelodies