Make Believe Melodies For November 21, 2022
The Kids Love Their Synths
LAUSBUB — M.I.D. The First Annual Report Of LAUSBUB
Duo LAUSBUB is a study in how wonderful the internet can be to getting creative sparks going. One half of the group watched an old Yellow Magic Orchestra video on YouTube and had her mind blown by it. So…why not start your own techno-pop project from the comfort of an empty classroom? Early uploads to the internet featuring the uniform-clad creators went viral, earning them not just a lot of retweets but appearances on morning TV shows and, eventually, the chance to sit down with Haruomi Hosono himself.
All these criss-crossing developments — access to older music via online platform, space to share original creation, pop culture just being obsessed with virality in general — put the spotlight on LAUSBUB, but the true triumph is they haven’t faded away into “remember that quirky thing?” territory. Their first proper EP collects a handful of songs they released after their brush with social media attention, a sprightly cover of Hosono’s “Sports Men,” and — critically — two originals. As the name implies, M.I.D. The First Annual Report Of LAUSBUB serves as part progress check on how two artists now just adjusting to college have developed musically, while also being a firmer introduction to who they are and the artists inspiring them, with direct references to Hosono and Throbbing Gristle along with more sonic nods to Kraftwerk.
It’s original song “Wind City,” though, that shines brightest, both as LAUSBUB reorienting their techno-pop sound into something more discombobulating and sign of promise. Part of the reason they went viral was the chance for older music fans to gawk at kids liking the same music they did — akin to the pathetic “wow, I am cool!” reaction some have to seeing, like, 18-year-old YouTubers “react” to old Nirvana clips on YouTube — and there could have been a reality where they lean into that, becoming caught up in the hell of “content creation.” But “Wind City” is them poking at their synth-pop, seeing how it can be molded in different and sometimes dizzying ways, creating something not content to replicate but rather mutate in real time (also, their best vocal offering to date, which helps). Listen above.
Yoyou — “tutumu”
Half-dazed pop meditations concealing a lot of pathos. While moving at the same space as her recently released single “5wim!,” this one removes the Crayola-bright smudges giving it a sense of giddiness in favor of something more contemplative, but every bit as absorbing. Listen above.
Rung Hyang — ROMANTIA
A great example of how moving a little quicker can make modern funk hit all the better. ROMANTIA teases the sort of grooves apt for a .GIF of a cartoon car cruising down a freeway, but chucks that tempo off by suddenly picking up the pace (“CICADA”) or using machine rattles to stay loose (“Puzzle,” featuring a fun feature from Taichi Mukai, who can make whatever he takes part in sound effortless). Listen above.
Spool – “(image for) drawing on canvas”
The new Spool album hasn’t really hit with me yet, as the band’s songs sound a little too content on initial listens to just chug ahead instead of build towards anything. Here’s the one big exception so far, with Spool using soft passages to make the splatters of noise all the more effective, wringing emotion out all the way through. Listen above, or get it here.
Pop Art Town — Art Museum
Meanwhile, here’s an album I expected to turn off after five songs that totally caught me off guard. Pop Art Town always seems a little too focused on chilling out in the city for their own good EXCEPT for “Moonlight,” flickering funk-pop nodding to the past while being so lively as to only exist in the moment. Turns out Art Museum has enough of that to counter the slower strolls…though even those sound tighter here (“Summer Nude”). Still drags at times, but the highs really glisten. Listen above.
CVLTE — CHAPTER 1: MEMENTO MOLLY
Sorta like LAUSBUB, the latest from CVLTE is more of a progress report than anything else. The band officially signed a major label deal recently, with the excellently titled MEMENTO MOLLY serving as their first stagger into the spotlight, featuring a handful of songs that were already out earlier this year (sure I wrote about them, go dig through the archives). The title track reminds of one of the favorite touches they bring to their music personally — an openness to modulating their vocals and instrumentation, even over Warped Tour riffs. Listen above.
monomob — “Ikuate Wa Nai”
I’ve started going to sento (public baths) as a winter hobby recently, and it has been nothing but an emotional boost so far, especially as temperatures dip. Yesterday, I worked up the courage to go from one of the hot baths right into a cold pool, which is as terrifying / exhilarating as you would imagine. My heart didn’t explode, and the woozy rush I felt after was sublime.
This song kinda carries the same feeling you have after you get out of those chilly waters. Listen above.
Oricon Trail For The Week Of November 07, 2022 To November 13, 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.
King & Prince — “Tsukiyomi / Irodori” (791,799 Copies Sold)
If you want to understand why so many people were shocked by King & Prince’s lineup change scheduled for next year, it’s because of sales numbers like this. Nearly 800,000 physical copies sold…yeah, those numbers would make me wonder what the hell happened too.
Great use of guitar too, while we’re here, which makes sense since it was written by one of the dude’s who also worked on award-winning number “Citrus.”
News And Views
Trump’s back on Twitter, KARA is going strong, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and Katy Perry are hanging out, and the Japanese entertainment world is focused on AKB48’s dating policies…welcome to 2013, everyone. In a sign that everyone wants to take a break from 2022 and go back to simpler times, Shukan Bunshun’s scoop that AKB member Nana Okada might be dating actor Ino Hiroki — with the pair getting up to such salacious activities as “looking at apartments with her dad” — has sent many into a tizzy, presumably because of AKB’s “love ban” which stops members from being in relationships…except that doesn’t actually exist, as Okada herself mentioned in her post-reveal statement. Meanwhile, captain Mion Mukaichi issued her own statement about how the group and company will now reconsider the “dating ban,” before tweeting again at 5 a.m. that, actually, there isn’t a rule against that, but just a strong perception from fans that idols shouldn’t be dating, so I guess they’ll talk to management about…the images supporter’s have in their heads and how to deal with that. Which, frankly, sums up the tension of modern idol and global pop culture pretty well.
Anyway, some fans didn’t respond well to any of this.
The reason this is getting so much attention now is because this is the first interesting AKB48 “scandal” in years, featuring a member general people might actually be aware of while also being less dark than the last -48 scandal. I don’t even think the idea of idols being relationship move the needle all that much anymore unless they are in the bubble that is AKB — like, we are just a couple of weeks out from Reni Takagi getting hitched, and most people celebrated that. It also feels totally out of step with everything in modern pop culture, seeing as AKB48 haven’t been relevant to the mainstream for a while (unless being snubbed by Kohaku counts), but I think that makes it more interesting because…it feels rare. A decade ago, this would be a discourse starter. Now, it’s just nostalgia.
Meanwhile, Rino Sashihara thrives.
Two members of Snow Man will head to Thailand next year for Japan Expo Thailand 2023 (some AKB48 members also announced they would go over too).
In a sign of just how promising that nation’s market appears for Japanese acts, singer-songwriter Eito is bringing his TikTok smash / 2020 memory “Kosui” to Thailand, in Thai.
To promote Taylor Swift’s record-breaking Billboard performance for Midnights, her Japan team handed out “breaking news” editions of newspapers at various big stations in Tokyo. Who says print is dead????
“HOT LIMIT” ACTION FIGURE
The robots are coming for the traditional Japanese instrumentalists.
Oh boy, K-pop and J-pop “content” coming to “the metaverse,” very “excited” to “watch that.”
Wrote about Japanese music from the nation’s various islands for Tokyo Weekender.
I generally believe we’d be better as a society if we ignored awards shows of all types, but they carry enough sway where still gotta report on them, thanks a lot world. The Grammy nominees are out, and songwriter Masa Takumi earned a “Best Global Music Album” nod for a set made using traditional instruments. Gaze upon the whole lineup to be reminded of how insane this category is.
Meanwhile, in Japan, the 64th Japan Record Awards finalists are out, featuring some good songs and some real stinkers.
Important:
NHK Broadcasting mascot Domo-kun appeared on skates and in Hatsune Miku cosplay today at the figure skating in Sapporo.
Ichiro Yamaguchi has found himself stuck with a now-outdated title on Twitter thanks to Elon Musk’s new moves. Still hasn’t changed!
J-pop artists getting promotion in Times Square via Spotify isn’t anything new, but Kenshi Yonezu got actual extreme promo with his video for “KICK BACK” being played on 70 screens, coinciding with Anime NYC. Helps a lot that said video slaps, love the jacked arms.
Dreams Come True look like this:
Then they got animated, and looked like this:
They rolled out this look, and honestly, not bad!
Now, though, they’ve achieved their final form…below.
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Twitter — @mbmelodiesFollow the Best of 2022 Spotify Playlist Here!
(Maybe this week will be the movie post, Happy Thanksgiving)
