Make Believe Melodies For September 6, 2022
I Genuinely Am Floored By This Album
Toshiki Kadomatsu — Inherit The Life
Part of the reason Tatsuro Yamashita’s new albums become events — as has been the case with this year’s Softly — is because he seemingly takes his time in the workshop crafting his pop pieces. He’s present on the radio and via a trickle of singles, but even those take years to emerge. It took nearly a decade for his latest to come out, and by the time it landed on store shelves, the entire style he birthed became globally renowned.
Toshiki Kadomatsu, meanwhile, never goes away, and releases all kinds of CDs, including some with cover art like this.
(this is good, though)
Kadomatsu has certainly enjoyed love from the general re-evaluation of city pop in recent years both at home and abroad, but he also feels…a bit lost in it all too. He’s just as vital to telling the story of Japanese music in the Bubble era as Yamashita, but whereas the prior is a deity, the latter is a guy with a killer wardrobe who never chills. Yamashita appears to labor over his music. Kadomatsu has a new set of fusion jams or ballet cover with a backbeat every year, and that makes him seem a little less magical.
Here’s the thing though…Kadomatsu remains every bit as curious about what’s possible with music as Yamashita appears to be on his latest. Inherit The Life, Kadomatsu’s latest, is an hour-plus of a guy both fascinated by unlocking new dimensions to the sounds he came up on and venturing into territories new to him. Like Yamashita, he’s caught between sweet memories and glances forward.
Yet he expresses this by mashing up one of his finest boogie cuts with Chic’s “Good Times” but with a 2022 sheen…and turntable scratches.
Inherit The Life finds Kadomatsu playing the role of arena rocker (the boom-boom-clap of “THE TIME IS NOW”), Bubble revivalist (“DANCE IS MY LIFE”) and meandering instrumentalist (opener “THE DANCE OF LIFE”). He actually does assume the role of Equinox class instructor by adding modern touches to a passage from Giselle, and in a moment both familiar and alien, he lets rap flow into his world. Also, more record scratches.
This is both Kadomatsu at his worst — stretched-out song play times, a total lack of taste— and best — curiosity in overdrive, technical skills locked down, funkiness (no denying “I’m gonna dance to break out of loneliness”). It’s the perfect monument to what city pop — the living, mutating cells in constant flux well before Alphabet even created an algorithm telling you “huh, maybe seven-minute grooves about urban sadness will make you happy” — is like in the present tense. If Yamashita labors over details, Kadomatsu chases down every idea and disco memory coming to him, unafraid to get goofy but always staying interesting. That’s two different approaches, but also two legends at work. Listen above.
Pianootoko — FAKESAX
One of the charm points of “city pop” is how session musicians played a central role in constructing the glitzy funk that has come to define the 1980s in Japan, at least to Western minds. They were lifers capable of wringing out all kinds of magic from a single instrument.
So why can’t someone do the same with “fake saxophone,” for the irony-drenched 2020s? Enter Pianootoko, which appears to be an alias of RYOKO2000 built around that sweet digi brass, who has given us FAKESAX. Both insanely stupid and wildly catchy, this is an effort to construct rave, juke and more electronic sub-genres out of what sounds like synthesized sax, or possibly samples, but probably both. What seems like a silly detour actually features a lot of fantastic moments — the juke works! “Sax For Your Soul” is a mini-epic showing just how much you can pull off with space, a glitchy beat, and A LOT of sax! “Saxbird” is…outright beautiful? Like Sufjan Stevens could only express himself through a high school sax club. Dumb on paper, but absolutely a showcase of what a single, fake sound is capable of. Get it here, or listen above.
Shin Sakiura And brb. — “Wild Child”
Latest example of cross-continental collaboration. Singapore’s brb. have actually been in this orbit before — they teamed up with Shin-Sakiura-bud SIRUP earlier in the year for a rumbling tongue-in-cheek jam. “Wild Child” let’s Sakiura’s guitar insticts guide the way, gelling just right with brb. Listen above.
punipunidenki And Aoi 12 Sai — “Minami No Shima (Kakuu)”
A lovely end of summer stroll ideal for shrinking crowds and the slow removal of tropical flare. Both artists offer seaside ennui over a spacious guitar melody, with electronic ripples offering pangs of better days. Listen above.
STARKIDS — “POP”
At least SOMEBODY is buying all the booze.
Really, this is youthful fantasy of hedonism, of nights marked by molly and shots. STARKIDS are kind of in on it — even for a group previously powered entirely by Strong Zero, “Pop” goes over the top (and comes with the good-smart-wise note “all drugs and weapons in this video are props xD.” Also helping sell the hyperbole…the fact this channels “Like A G6” in all its late-Aughts fun. And good for them, even if it’s just a dream. Let the kids have some fun before becoming boring. Listen above.
v3geboy — “Hydro Pump”
The highlight of the young creator’s recent Airflow release juts up thanks to its busy beat and vocal layering. A lot of 2022 output in the “Japanese hyperpop” lane has imitated the punk-rock and SoundCloud rap variants of the internet world a little too much, with diminishing returns. “Hydro Pump,” though, lets the music itself develop in its own frantic way, less worried about imitation and more focused on creating something fun to bounce over. Bonus points for fantastic delivery of “Crash Bandicoot.” Listen above.
SATOH And Lovely Summer Chan — “On Air”
Though you certainly can do that hybrid rock sound well. Duo SATOH call on throwback hero Lovely Summer Chan to help make their rockstar ambitions closer to reality…or at least provide them some sturdy lines over which they can drop a stomp and electrified vocals over. Though she manages to steal the singing show too…a rare moment from me where the unfiltered human voice works much better than the digitally wrecked one. Listen above.
Guchon — CTX012
This would have been the latest Guchon release to lead off if the cover art was like, a sandwich dancing or something.
Look, I don’t know what else to say about Guchon’s current output. Nobody is flexing their floor range quite like the long-running creator, and their latest offers a rollicking set of house tunes, from the effervescent “Feel Like Spring” to the steelier darts of “Hot Rod” (interrupted by some well-timed moans and whistles). Just pure pleasure. Get it here, or listen above.
Oricon Trail For The Week Of August 22, 2022 To August 28, 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.
INI — “M (Password)” (495,178 Copies Sold)
The Japanese music industry is currently watching as it enters a truly digital age, one where access and granting control of what takes off to the listener / user themselves become the norm. With the end of 2022 looming (what), the biggest story to me feels like the emergence of viable paths for Japanese artists to connect with the world, and the opportunity it presents. This was a nation which made it so difficult to get to its music and entertainment at large…but that’s changing.
Groups like INI were supposed to be the catalyst for this change…yet they feel quite removed from the actual developments defining the year. South Korean companies (or the Japanese creators wanting to emulate what said companies did) were supposed to whip the industry into shape, bringing global know-how to Japan that would help artists truly “go international.” But…like, INI just feels built to top Oricon charts and appear on TV shows right now. I guess going to KCON is the big rub, but maybe going to Anime Expo would be better in the long run. They are well-choreographed “Japanese Versions” of K-pop hits, showing plenty of potential (and with good music at times), but their ambitions seem quite small at the moment, and out of step with other trends.
Perhaps part of the problem is a song like “Password,” which just feels like K-pop slop. It’s…like every other K-pop song from a boy group right now, with raps emerging predictably and a chorus built for an Ultra side stage circa 2014. That’s reflective of a bigger shift playing out in Korea, but for J-pop’s purposes, this just lacks any character, just another way to rack up data. INI have potential, but this is settling.
News And Views
Idol legend and all-around Japanese musical titan Akina Nakamori back! Not just returning, but doing so with a new independent agency and a spiffy new website / Twitter account. Fascinated to see what comes next, though for me personally her decision to go independent rather than stick with an established talent agency is the most intriguing development…this was sort of a trend in the first year of the pandemic, but slowed down in the two years after. A star like Nakamori doing it, though, sends a strong message.
The new Kabukicho Tower complex opening in Shinjuku next year keeps unveiling…aesthetic touches.
Avril Lavigne on THE FIRST TAKE!?!?! I got way more excited texts from people about this then Harry Styles, though that probably just dates me and my friend circle.
If the Oricon Trail this week didn’t make it clear, I’m currently out on pop groups put together through audition shows meant to “tackle the global stage” or whatever. So I’m not particularly jazzed about HYBE’s entry in this race &TEAM, but hey, prove me wrong fellows! Maybe I’ll even watch the show!
Interesting thread on how underground idols from Japan shape that world in Korea.
Pikotaro and Koda Kumi, together at last, hosting a show about TikTok! This is surprisingly Koda Kumi’s first ever hosting job, apparently?
A little “wow, times sure do change” rambling based off the above. It’s, one, crazy to remember Pikotaro achieved all of his success with “PPAP” before TikTok…imagine how massive that would be if he had more than 9Gag and Justin Bieber’s Twitter account to boost him. Second…it’s funny that Koda Kumi DOES have a TikTok hit.
Ayumi Hamasaki asking the important questions.
What doe Ylvis say? About their decade-old song becoming a viral hit in Japan via a baseball dance? Well, one local TV station found the answer.
I interviewed 4s4ki for Pitchfork! Favorite artist from the last few years, great person to chat with, and one of the only people I know who prefers virtual worlds to the real one. Bonus detail — she wore a very nice Code Geass shirt for a talk.
Lady Gaga performed in Japan this weekend, a big moment for the country’s live industry, and it sounds like it went well! Fans filled trains, and Gaga herself waved to them in the pouring rain (I think she did a song about that….).
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Twitter — @mbmelodies
Love your analysis on INI and J-Pop entering a digital age. Also, as a K-Pop fan, "with raps emerging predictably and a chorus built for an Ultra side stage circa 2014" is just a little too accurate...