Make Believe Melodies For October 2, 2023

I was trying to take Monday off and keep this one shorter...but then huge news came out and I'm writing parts of this in an onsen center in Chiba

Ohzora Kimishima — no public sounds

One of the first great albums of 2023 came courtesy of Ohzora Kimishima, whose January offering merged sweet folk intimacy with electronic experimentation and just a touch of tape-deteriorating fuzziness to give it a warm glow. It would have been a highlight of the year regardless…but months later, Kimishima has returned with a follow-up full-length not only adding depth to what came before, but leapfrogging it entirely thanks to a little more looseness and a lot more openness to seeing what sounds can become.

On no public sounds, Kimishima focuses more on the inner potential of sound albeit without sacrificing its ability to work live. “Headphones recommended” goes the tweet announcing it, and the finest moments on the album get into the granular details of sound as a playground. “Arashi” stands as the highlight, guitar strums morphing into surreal soundscapes courtesy of electronic touches and digi-morphed vocals gliding overhead, while “Eiga” introduces skittering percussion and disorienting samples deeper in the mix to turn an otherwise reflective ballad unnerving. Yet even though those songs are more outright different than what this project has done before, Kimishima and company make sure similarly surprising moments appear on the more sturdy songs reminding why this artist and outfit have become a festival staple. “c r a z y” adds audio skipping to its guitar chug to distort the flow, while “14:28” ups the emotional stake of its slower unfolding with electronic touches and the occasional out-of-time melody lurking deeper in the song. It’s an effort to see how far traditional ideas can be stretched, an approach making Kimishima one of the defining acts of the year. Listen above.

KAMIYA Featuring cyber milk-chan, nyamura, HAKU And MANON — “GALFY4”

A moment where style is every bit as important as substance, though the latter still comes through. This song serves as a tie-up with a fashion line and, uh, Don Quijote variety stores, and in a savvy move from all involved, they’ve called on an all-star set of underground performers at some point linked to Japan’s hyperpop scene, but now probably going much further than that tag would imply. The video looks great, but more importantly the song allows every performers — from AVYSS-adjacent experimental pop sprite cyber milk-chan to Spotify Trending staple nyamura a chance to flex their vocal stylings over a dizzying piece of production from Masayoshi Iimori. MVP goes to MANON, though, who rips through “GALFY4” with the most cathartic verse, spiked by a delivery approaching screaming. Listen above.

PINKBLESS — “PINKVIBES”

“Produced by T.M.P.” all I needed to see. Listen above.

RAY — “Kaiyoubi No Ame”

I mean…just look at who they have involved in this.

This Japanese guitar-rock powerhouse helps to add a little muscle to RAY’s shoegaze base, with the playing here being a little more aggressive than on previous efforts from the rock-focused idol project. The swell still remains around the vocals, but now they’ve joined by a more physical drum beat and guitar kick-ups, which push the group itself to be a little more whip-smart with their vocals and adapt to the shifts around them. Listen above.

Tohji — “Aglio e olio”

It’s a little unfair to describe Tohji’s music as “a vibe” — there’s far too many moments of visceral feeling to dismiss it as such — but “Agliio e olio” reminds of the qualities of the rapper’s music making it feel so ~ emotional ~. Specifically, Tohji wraps up very nicely with the Euro-descended beat powering this one forward, blurring together into a combination that is very enjoyable to listen here, without the moments of eruption found on other cuts dwelling in similar territory. Listen above.

DE DE MOUSE And Such — “Ray Of Lie”

I’m not just here because one of my favorite Japanese electronic producers teamed up with a virtual singer…though yeah, that certainly helps. “Ray Of Lie” continues an especially strong year from DE DE MOUSE, one in which he’s dabbled in a variety of sounds ranging from French Touch (song of the year candidate) to lo-fi hip-hop beats made in conjunction with Shin-Ski (pleasant, though I will say on the lesser end of his 2023 output). Here, DE DE finds a perfect partner for his electronic hiccups in virtual singer Such, who delivers follow-the-bouncing-ball lyrics apt for the sounds behind her. Helping give the whole song a lighter edge is the flute-like touches in the hook, giving DE DE’s pogo a Club-Med touch. Listen above.

Sasuke Haraguchi — Screen II

I haven’t had as much time to sit with the second album this year from Sasuke Haraguchi yet, but based on how mind-wobbling the first was and a few initial listens to the sonic smorgasbord present here — samples of screams and train station announcements! Warped vocals turning a former pop kid’s voice into something menacing! Pop structures melted down into liquid metal and refashioned into new shapes! — make me feel convinced it’s going to be a highlight, so let’s get it on the ol’ radar now. Maybe it will be part of my vacation listening! Listen above.

Oricon Trail For The Week Of September 18, 2023 To September 24, 2023

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.

Sexy Zone — “Honne To Tatemae” (226,022 Copies Sold)

Oh c’mon! I was all ready to phone in this week’s Oricon Trail…but of course it’s the Sheena-Ringo-penned Sexy Zone song. Damn it, I’m trying to take a proper day off here.

Late-period Sheena Ringo gets a little too much hate, in my opinion. She’s far away from those turn-of-the-century masterpieces, but I respect her drive to add eccentric touches to her jazz inclinations — she would be much more boring (and she is so) when just cosplaying as a lounge singer. This number, made for Sexy Zone, highlights everything I like about this period of Ringo…specifically, how she has no respect for vocals and just slathers on effects. For some people, Auto-tune and its ilk are “no dice,” but as a man of taste, I love it and generally wish more vocalists sounded caught between the IRL and digital. It sounds great with the ho-hum delivery of this group, and works even better when contrasted with the jazzy background behind it, made all the better with the tempo disorientation surrounding it. The worst thing pop can be is bland, so thanks Ringo for at least trying to keep it a touch weird.

News And Views

• Johnny & Associates held a press conference Monday afternoon, confirming a few major developments rumored and reported over the weekend by a variety of publications in Japan. Nikkei learned the agency would spin off into two parts, one devoted to management and the other focused on compensating victims, a fact confirmed by the agency Monday, though all reporting on this in Japanese says it is “virtually dismantled.” The new company — which will focus on their bread and butter, talent management — also has a new name, SMILE-UP (EDITOR’S NOTE: Actually, this is the new name of the old company, while the new company [the management side] will get a new name later with help courtesy of fans. This was not made clear, because all of Japanese media initially ran with this being the new name but it was the new name for the old. But the key is…the name will change!). Watch the announcement here. That puts an end to the era of disgraced founder Johnny Kitagawa’s name being in the center, and I’m sure we will see more details of what this all means in the near future (are talent called…Smilies now? SMILE WEST? Junior Smiles?). This goes into effect later this month.
  
  The press conference also mentioned that 325 individuals requested compensation over Kitagawa’s abuse over the years. They said they will aim to compensate all of them.

  

  Via Oricon News Twitter
  

• Before all of this, here’s the other batch of Johnny’s news from the contiued Kitagawa fallout: former Kis-My-ft2 member Kyohei Iida told broadcaster TBS that he left the group in 2006 due to being sexually assaulted by Johnny Kitagawa, rather than pursuing his studies as was reported at the time; NHK announced they would not be putting in any new requests for Johnny’s talent for the time being, which impacts a whole bunch of programming including potentially sending waves through year-end spectacle Kohaku Uta Gassen…except, as has been the case with almost every advertiser also distancing themselves from the agency, they mention “until they address and fix the issues” which could be in like two weeks, theoretically, so don’t throw a parade for them yet (and like, given today’s news…they are already on their way); Johnny’s West decided with management that they will change their name. This in retrospect should have been seen as a hint that things were changing, despite initial waffling last month.
  

• Tokura Shunichi, Commissioner of the Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan, talked with the Yomiuri Shimbun last week to introduce a new idea — an awards show held in Kyoto aimed at offering the Grammy’s experience, but for Asian artists, with the added boost of promoting J-pop to a larger market. Wooo boy, where to start with this one. I’m most immediately ready to kick back against the waves of Korean publications using this as some cheap shot to be like “hmmmm, if only you had BTS and maybe NewJeans” and the slow-to-adjust fans on social media still harping about lack of accessibility towards J-pop which….gahhhhh I’ll stop typing, what I put here originally would probably get me in trouble, let’s just say it’s OK to actually expand your tastes sometimes!
  
  But let’s not pretend like this is a slam dunk idea, either. It’s a great reminder that Tokura is 75, which is an age where you should probably be far removed from anything relating to pop culture (note to readers: please pry the Substack password away from me when I turn…uhhhh let’s say 65, feel that’s a good age to step back at). I’m also personally eye-rolley about anything presenting itself as “the Grammys….but [other place]!” because I can’t stand the Grammy Awards as is, and think we should be working to eradicate that ceremony instead of trying to clone them. That’s, of course, a losing cause — just speaking for Asian music industries here, but people on this side of the world in the music industry obsess over them. The other problem is you’ll never be able to create an award offering an Asia-focused alternative to them that actually takes away from the Grammy Awards itself…we already have multiple ceremonies across the continent trying to do this (including South Korea’s MAMA Awards, which does exactly what Tokura is suggesting), but artists and labels still crave Grammy statues! Make the ceremony, sure, but you aren’t changing anything until people in the industry act like viewers and actually back away from this show.
  

• Wooooooo, I hated that story so much…let’s calm down with news that the Japanese music industry is going after “leech sites” allowing people access to Japanese music for free. Wait, that’s like 20 years too late!
  

• OK, let’s seriously reset with one of the most magical thumbnails of the year, courtesy of Hololive VTuber Nerissa Ravencroft.

  

  ONE OF US, ONE OF US (which is to say…old enough to have had a heavy Hot Topic phase)

• Olivia Rodrigo met Fuwa-chan, launched a gallery and appeared on morning TV. Now that’s how you work the Japanese market.
  

• Back in August at Summer Sonic’s Tokyo leg, a whole bunch of people developed heatstroke while waiting for NewJeans, in part because Zozo Marine Stadium ruled that punters couldn’t bring sports drinks into the main viewing area due to concerns of hurting the field that a pro baseball team played on. Now, the stadium is changing that rule, and will be taking the logical step of putting a tarp over the playing surface. Views: correct move, and a kind of sweet one after so many doofy fans of the Chiba Lotte Marines tweeted out how, actually, this was the right move because the health of hundreds of people wasn’t important as some grass.
  

• K-arena opened in Yokohama with two sold-out shows from the band Yuzu, with many complimenting the inside of the new venue. The outside…well, has some kinks to work out, as those in attendance reported huge logjams upon exiting. That’s largely because several pedestrian walkways haven’t been finished yet, leading to crowding around central exits.
  

• More Avantgardey.
  

  
  

• Great review of the latest CHAI album from Ryo Miyauchi over at Pitchfork!
  

• Speaking of…latest flipped edition of This Side Of Japan is a gem too.
  

• STARKIDS back, and they have a new label in tow.
  

• Are you in the Kansai region next weekend? You and I have a lot in common, as I will be too! I’m helping out with Kansai Music Conference, check it out if you are interested (and say hi!).
  

• I talked with BBBBBBB for The Japan Times. Readers will know I love these guys, so this was a thrill, and one of the best conversations I’ve had in quite some time. One of the biggest appeals of their music and performance is how funny it is…and that totally clicked into place learning their founder spent four years trying to be a comedian. He sent along this clip to help explain BBBBBBB’s influences…and it was like a mental skeleton key.
  

  Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
  Twitter — @mbmelodies

  Follow the Best of 2023 Spotify Playlist Here!