Make Believe Melodies For November 28, 2022
"I'm losing my edge / to the kids, with the Bocchi The Rock! avatars / and Anya parody accounts"
Ano — “Chu, Tayousei”
The omnipresent fear lurking within everyone — and especially creeping up on those with some kind of connection with pop culture — is becoming out of touch. “I’m losing my edge,” if you will. Everyone ages and everything changes, but even embracing this inevitability isn’t enough to make one feel good about suddenly feeling lost.
For me, those footsteps came from an unlikely place in 2022. This is the year where, to really understand where Japanese music is at, you also have to be following anime. Which is something I never really did. And now, I feel…a little lost about everything.
The biggest vortex has been Chainsaw Man, a show I have yet to find time to watch (an important part of this dread…the realization you truly lack available hours to do something). I believe it is, in part, about a man who boasts properties of a chainsaw. What I do know is, every episode’s ending theme is done by a different artist, and when said song releases, it becomes a huge development for both anime and music fans in the country. Already a symbiotic relationship, the two entertainment styles become even more melded together.
“Chu, Tayousei” jumped out to me the most because it’s a Soutaiseiriron song. Not just loosely — though also, yes — but literally, as former member Shuichi Mabe wrote the song with former You’ll Melt More! member Ano (providing a convincing Etsukuo Yakushimaru flow here), and as he told Natalie in an interview, peaked into his past to draw from his former unit’s sound. His memory banks remain strong, because “Chu” nails both the frantic retro-tinged rush of early Soutaiseiriron while working in a sense of irony to the lyrics…though, hey, here’s where the Chainsaw Man cuts me down, because maybe it’s nodding to a show I have only put into my Netflix to-watch list.
Yet here’s where I question my own anxiety about being aged out by anime — “Chu” reminds of how sonically and stylistically diverse “anime music” has become, or perhaps just offers a wake up call to a largely anime-agnostic individual like myself that, hey, anything actually fits that bill. That’s the accomplishment of the Chainsaw Man soundtrack to date, with Vaundy and Maximum The Hormone and now a song clearly aimed at people like me co-existing and benefiting from the connection. A little confusing, but “Chu” reminds it isn’t all that alien. Listen above.
Kindan No Tasuketsu — Kindan No Early Years 2
Part time capsule, part reminder of how no piece of art simply stands static. The second volume of early works never officially released from the ever-prolific project, this set finds those involved revisiting and even updating songs from the Kindan catalog. Not simply a chance to put out rarities into the world, but also for the project to offer new angles on them. Listen above.
Kabanagu — “Sozojo No Speed”
Producer Kabanagu shows how zipping ahead doesn’t mean words have to be left in the dust. Created for an…Amazon playlist, sure why not…Kabanagu matches electronic skitters and samples with his own singing, creating an off-kilter pop song that teeters ahead, but keeps it together (and offers enough disruptions to keep one on their toes). Besides being a great nod to netlabel sounds past being revisited for now, it’s a great entry in the still-burgeoning era of extremely online producers turning towards pop and pulverizing that idea into something new (this definitely helps fill the Hakushi Hasegawa-sized hole 2022 has boasted). Listen above.
yahyel — “Highway”
After four years of silence, yahyel emerge from the shadows every bit as unnerving as they were pre-2020. “Highway” uses vocal mutation and space — rattled by one of the swifter beats they’ve ever deployed, though that only emphasizes all the room around it — in much the same way they were on 2016’s Flesh and Blood, to create a song that feels in a rush to get away, ducking between objects to avoid some kind of gaze. Listen above.
Mount Sapo — “Marbled”
Woozy and melancholy in equal strokes. Nothing wrong with zoning out for a bit…especially when writing an email newsletter minutes before midnight. Listen above.
ayutthaya — “fog”
Hype can be a fickle thing. I remember a few years back ayutthaya being presented as a “next big band,” and rightfully so, with releases like Good Morning showing a group capable of slow-burning grooves making the most of loud/soft dynamics. Not sure what happened — clearly, some members left, as they are now a duo — but while the breakthrough never really came, they’ve gone and just released a debut full-length. I need to spend more time with the album, but lead-off number “fog” makes a strong first impression, largely by building up the tension and letting it slowly overfill. When the release comes, any worries about what was and what could have been vanish into the noise. Listen above.
For Tracy Hyde — “Subway Station Revelation”
For Tracy Hyde are capable of a lot of curveballs — a whole song on their last album revolving around an Obama 4th Of July speech, or how they have frequently dabbled in chill-vaporwave (Shortcake Collage Tape, never forget) — but when they just get into meat-and-potatoes1 indie-pop, few do it better. Listen above.
TEAM SHACHI — “Edome”
It would be a lot easier to dismiss Enon Kawatani if he wasn’t capable of batshit idol songs like this, featuring jazz interludes and sweaty guitar solos. Love him or (most likely) hate him, dude has a knack for being one step ahead of the game, which is why he clings to contemporary J-pop, like a barnacle. Speaking of…
Gesu No Kiwami Otomoe — Gesu Sped Up
…he can’t keep getting away with this. If American teens start talking about how E.L. Fudge cookies can cure herpes or whatever on TikTok over a pitched-up version of “Killer Ball,” just put Kawatani in charge of the Cool Japan Fund. Listen above.
Oricon Trail For The Week Of November 14, 2022 To November 20, 2022
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.
Naniwa Danshi — “Happy Surprise” (516,195 Copies Sold)
Definitely lives up to the first half of the title, but nowhere close to delivering on the second.
News And Views
I don’t know man…I just can’t get into any of this Nana Okada “scandal,” even as someone who generally loves ultimately inconsequential drama in the J-pop space. Okada graduating from AKB48 because of the lightest of dating revelations should be an “aghast!” moment, but it’s nothing but a win for her — she’s getting off a ship that has been sinking slowly for nearly a decade now. She’ll be in a position to do whatever she wants — TV personality, YouTuber, Fortnite streamer, truly go crazy kid — free of a group that needed her much more. There’s no moral or economic ramifications here — Okada, you’re free!
Personally, this whole affair feels like the laziest of nostalgia. AKB48 as it exists today just isn’t really relevant to where Japanese music, entertainment or culture at large is currently at2. Gendai Media featured a story about why these unwritten dating rules exist in the J-pop idol ecosystem and it’s just like…no shit, we’ve been through this for like decades now. For a lot of people, I think AKB48 is their entire exposure to J-pop (or at least the female side of it), and…while, I’m certainly being a little unfair here, but follow your heart etc etc…I don’t think they care about learning about anything else. This is just a chance to stare backwards and gawk at a thing they remember. That’s not very compelling.Ayumi Hamasaki has a new album on the horizon. First song from it — with Tetsuya Komuro! — is pretty solid, much better than the summer one from earlier in the year.
In order to curb ticket scalpers, the government wants to link tickets to concerts with the My Number card, a kind of confusing form of government ID that I always forget to put in my wallet. As the story mentions, this will require venues to install special scanners so…expect this to happen in two decades.
You should subscribe to Angura on YouTube, and check out latest video about the band Waater.
LE SSERAFIM, primed to appear at Kohaku this year, also announced plans to release their first Japanese single in January, which is…just “Fearless.” Which I think most people who care about this group already know. Anyway, “Sour Grapes,” is the only highlight from that first release from earlier in the year, just stream that, or listen to the latest one instead.
Kato David Hopkins passed away. He documented indie Japanese music — particularly from the Kansai region — for upwards of 40 years, and I’d recommend nabbing Dokkiri! Japanese Indies Music 1976-1989 A History and Guide in particular.
Cool Japan Fund bleeding money, probably doomed. I’m working on a piece somewhat related to all this (coincidental timing!), and none of it is surprising, but also quite the airball. I would argue, though, that the Asahi story linked inadvertently reveals just how lunkheaded government officials tied up in cultural pushes are. They quote an anonymous source as saying:
“Who talks about Cool Japan now? Korean culture took it over,” one senior government official said. “I heard that we are even struggling to sell Japanese anime overseas.”
Which…is just flat out wrong? I mean, this dude’s source is “I heard” so probably shouldn’t put too much trust into it…except Asahi did. Pretty sure anime is booming, and frankly, Japan is cool (see the deluge of “fans clean up stadium” stories this World Cup season). Even critics of Cool Japan reveal themselves to have no idea what they are talking about…turns out you need people who actually care about it involved.New venue from the folks behind Vision and Contact coming soon.
Seiji Ozawa back to conducting after some time out of the light.
One idol group getting old school when it comes to promotion in Shibuya.
Bruno Mars and SEVENTEEN nodding to Arashi at recent performances in Japan.
Bow before your god.
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Twitter — @mbmelodies
Follow the Best of 2022 Spotify Playlist Here!
Almost went with “meat and pout-tatoes” but was too cowardly to go through with it, putting down here to double down on being pathetic.
Though, as group that predicted where all global culture would go…still vital, baby!
If I subscribed to like the post, would it be enough to receive notifications for new write-ups? I'm totally down for more as soon as it's coming! Great work!