Make Believe Melodies For September 28, 2021
Delayed a day by an honest-to-goodness vacation...no computer or anything!
Dos Monos — Larderello
Let’s just plunge right into the heat — Larderello is a jump up from breakthrough full-length Dos City, a very good offering but one that feels downright reasonable and reigned-in compared to this just-over-16-minute offering. Yet what they manage in less time than it takes to cook certain vegetables! For a group that doesn’t see themselves fitting into Tokyo’s hip-hop community whatsoever, they run circles around established names on songs like the frantic tag team of “Medieval” (above) or the tempo-wrecking darts found on “Y.” That one, though, seemingly references a group that maybe makes even more sense in trying to figure these three out — The Pop Group. Turns out the best way of finding a new way forward is melting down what came before.
The beats on this brief release stick the horn-centric sampling found on Dos City under a magnifying glass on a hot day. Background samples seemingly turn into steam as the group stays sturdy, while “Chika Netsu” warbles the whole time through, adding tension to every line. I don’t even know how to begin explaining the sounds of “21st Century Nostalgia” (above) beyond…loopy children’s music class in a fever dream? That Dos Monos just plow through all of this to rap about the mental state of the young Tokyoite is downright impressive. Biggest surprise leap forward of 2021, and a defining release for the year. Listen above.
rirugiliyangugili — Negative I Love You
If Dos Monos stands for a kind of thinking Millenials response to modernity, rirugiliyangugili represents pure Zoomer abandon. I’ve watched the video for “SNICKER” off of this year’s Negative I Love You upwards of 50 times in the past two times (on vacation, short beats long, ya know?), in awe of everything on screen. It reminds me of a few year backs when “baito terrorism” — a buzzword for young part-time workers at soul-draining chains goofing off for video — was a thing.
All of Negative I Love You exists in this muck, full of distorted screaming and hideous electronic beats between 100 gecs and Atari Teenage Riot. It’s confrontational and unafraid about offending, and maybe the best overall (though not best sounding, for better and for worse) snapshot of…whatever you want to call this youth-powered, genre-rejecting style. Also featuring…a song where he pretends to be a dog. Listen above.
Tomoth Featuring Minami Nakamura — “Spider’s Web”
I hesitate to use the word “HyperPop” to describe the above two artists — though you could absolutely make the case it fits for both — because I know how divisive it can be, especially when hurled around frisbee-like. It’s starting to feel a lot like the word “idol,” something someone personally decides is fitting or not. Say, Universal Music Japan.
“HYPERPOP for the Future Generation” might be the biggest — and, more importantly, obvious — swing taken by a major label yet in relation this niche genre. They are late to the party…Doja Cat has a HyperPop-ish song on her latest album, as does SEVENTEEN, going the extra step to reference cryptocurrency, and that’s not even touching more obvious offerings from Charli XCX and the like…but they proudly wave the style flag out in front of them, unafraid of any potential kickback.
As an entry number into a bigger series it’s…pretty good. Tomoth isn’t a particularly thrilling vocal presence here, leaving all of the heavy lifting to Trekkie Trax-associate Minami Nakamura. She delivers one of her best spots ever here, though, thanks in part to an embrace of digital fuzz that turns her voice into electronic fog, while also offering some darty verses too. Raises a few questions too…like “was Teng Gang Starr a few years premature?” and “why doesn’t Trekkie Trax get more credit for being so central to this sound?” Listen above.
CVLTE Featuring 4s4ki And Sacha Online — “kuromi.”
I won’t even try being elegant in keeping this loosely connected set of songs flowing…this just rules, however you want to classify it. Getting two of the best projects associated with this electronic-crashing-into-rock together again helps a lot on this front, while New York-based creator Sacha Online adds an extra sonic texture to the proceedings. Listen above.
Waater — “Spider”
We’ve reached a point where even straight-ahead indie-rock bands from the last few years have started smuggling elements associated with “HyperPop” into their music. Maybe it’s just a happy overlap between two styles, but I listen to this and hear a group wanting to find some new life adding a little extra machine kick and vocal skippiness to their sound. Listen above.
ikill — “Kyu” (HyperPop Mix)
Let’s not stray too far from where this sound is really popping off — SoundCloud remains central to allowing young voices to bubble up and play off one another. DJ and trackmaker ikill is heavily involved in the community, making multiple HyperPop mixes heavy on Japanese takes on the genre. Their latest hits on American sounds central to what’s happening across the archipelago (glaive), but mostly celebrates early foundations of this style (leading off with (sic)boy back when he was Sid The Lynch) and contemporary innovators. Listen above.
It’s…Showtime!
Major POD48 news! The show has finally arrived on an array of listening options, meaning now is the perfect time to dive in and experience Produce 48 all over again. Episode five also went up, leading to the first elimination…right before everything goes off the rails.
Oricon Trail For The Week Of September 13, 2021 To September 19, 2021
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 the 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.
Kis-My-Ft2 — “Fear / SO BLUE” (130,479 Copies Sold)
I don’t even have anything against these songs — “Fear” does a solid job weaving rock elements into a straight-ahead pop song, while “SO BLUE” functions as a serviceable weepy ballad for folks into that — but second place on this list is way more interesting. Silver medal goes to…Takanori Iwata, an LDH veteran.
Pulling from fan comments across YouTube and other internet outposts for EXILE heads, part of the charm of “korekara” comes from Iwata, primarily a dancer, getting to show off his voice. Like getting to see Ichiro pitch or something. That was good for 47,037 copies sold this week, solid but nothing overwhelming. Yet “korekara” has been a streaming smash, topping the Spotify Japan Viral 50 for a while and just being shared all over the internet. This year, Oricon’s all-around chart tends to break down like this:
Johnny’s and/or idol group with huge physical sales, but not too much (or no) online presence.
BTS’ “Butter”
A YOASOBI song (sometimes jumping ahead of BTS, depends)
Kis-My-Ft2 tops all-around this week via huge physical sales (none of their music is on subscription streaming, a reminder that Oricon weighs towards CDs more), but “korekara” crashes in at two, beating out “Butter.” That’s impressive for a song with solid but not earth-shattering physical sales — Iwata’s AOR-dabbed solo debut is being carried up past the year’s most omnipresent hit, at least for one week.
News And Views
The last two-ish months saw festivals come into the spotlight, with the media first trying to paint Fuji Rock as a national crisis before NAMIMONOGATARI bumbled right into their laps. That only shifted the panic towards the remaining specks of fests on the calendar, highlighted by Supersonic. I went, and saw an extremely efficient and safe event…along with TV news crews waiting outside the gates the whole day, ready to find some bad vibes. So far, all good…same with Fuji Rock, same with every non-NAMIMONOGATARI event.
And now…all those out of the way, a government official says events can up the number of people present to 50 percent, or 10,000 people. Once the State Of Emergency ends this month, venues serving alcohol will be able to stay open until 8 p.m. while “loud voices” will be allowed elsewhere until 9 p.m. I want the vague feeling of normality in Tokyo as anyone else…but man, all of this just really underlines how targeted music was this summer. Pure scapegoat shit, and I don’t think it will end even as life adjusts to the next phase of the pandemic.Reality talent competitions are enjoying huge attention in Japan, and the group’s emerging from them are performing quite well with the public — NiziU’s debut album comes out later this year with a lot of hype around it, JO1 continue to attract attention while their kohai INI debuted. Meanwhile, BE:FIRST’s “Shining One” currently tops Spotify Japan’s Viral 50.
Naturally, more shows are coming down. Say hello to Who Is Princess?, a new effort Nippon TV, Hulu Japan and FNC (SF9, N.Flying, heavyweights in Japan like F.T. Island and CNBLUE). Debuts Oct. 3, and aims to create a new girl group. Listen to a preview song below.Arashi goes on break, and suddenly members are getting married on the same day. One taste of freedom, I tell you!
This has been hinted at over the last year…another set of franchises halted rentals sometime in 2020…but reports indicate another franchisee for Tsutaya will stop renting CDs and DVDs in 2023.
Where will BTS fans be able to rent their best-of album though??? Guess they’ll have to join over one million other people who bought the release this year, making it one of 2021’s biggest smashes. Maybe more on this later…
The 20th anniversary of Cyber Trance Presents Ayu Trance is upon us, and Cyber Trance is celebrating with a massive “complete version” out in October.
Teased it last week, but my interview with Buffalo Daughter ran in The Japan Times last Friday. Fun fact — asked them which young Japanese bands had caught their attention recently and they answered…Ms. Machine, who I had interviewed like four days earlier.
One of the current top trending sets of videos on YouTube Japan…a Nijisanji VTuber rock festival. One example below.
Faye Webster’s collaboration with Mei Ehara recieved a video.
The soundtracks to Naruto received their first digital release internationally ever last Friday. I erroneously called this the biggest Japanese music news of the last six months (it’s Cornelius, lolz) but I do think it’s the biggest, like, subscription streaming arrival out of the country in 2021. Really, anything anime related not being easily accessible for global fans is way more mind boggling to me than, I don’t know, KAT-TUN songs not being on Spotify, seeing how the prior is a legitimate pop cultural force enjoying a boom period.
Speaking of Cornelius…wrote about his media-deflecting apology!
ONE OK ROCK to get the Netflix Documentary treatment. Uhhhh, maybe I’ll watch one now? (Probably not).
*holding envelope up to head* FAKY…TikTok dance challenges…and YouTube viral stunts. *opens envelope* What are three signs that Cosmopolitan Magazine is in free fall?
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Twitter — @mbmelodies