Make Believe Melodies For September 19, 2022
Netlabel Epics
Telematic Visions — town without sky
Netlabels are everywhere, netlabels are nowhere. The concept enjoyed a heyday in what could safely now be called the awkward-teenager period of the internet, moving towards the cultural center but still being an “other” to most. Without being too interconnected, you could create a real alternative, and foster an environment offering something the mainstream couldn’t. Eventually, all music became “internet music” — something the primary players in the space note — and that “real alternative” feeling faded away. Not good or bad, just…how it is.
Yet there’s still space for netlabels to highlight thrilling music, and Maltine Records reminds of the importance of giving artists space…especially online…to go big. Their latest offering is town without sky, a near-45 minute electronic mutation courtesy of producer Telematic Visions. They’ve carried the pixelated torch for the “internet music” mantle for a few years now, dabbling in bleary-eyed house to digi-talk meditations. Last year’s bluespring came close to delivering a statement, but still felt like a series of interesting online sketches. It’s town without sky, a cohesive set both eager to twist familiar forms but also celebrate their dancefloor potency.
Echoes of netlabel sounds past lurk throughout — the acid tendencies of tofubeats and others pops up frequently, while ambient touches recall Pasocom Music Club and brighter synth bursts like on “magical stick” bring back Parkgolf / Kosmo Kat vibes — but all of them are just off, frequently pitched around so that songs suddenly blast into new tempos (the stutter-stepping “Overcast”) or offer pockets of space (“paradox”). Digital voices creep in occasionally, another texture for Telematic Visions to layer onto these tracks (special thumbs up to the Technicolor jungle of “without sky”).
What’s most remarkable is how Telematic Visions lets the songs develop and morph, unafraid of longer run times. This is long even by classic Maltine standards, yet Telematic Visions uses all of it to play around and let their sound flow out. That’s maybe the most touching tribute to netlabels possible — it’s an album giving a young creator space to find their breakthrough, and show it with the world. Get it here.
Tsudio Studio — “My Room”
Tsudio Studio figures out how to balance the free-wheelin’ digital touches with a real thought-out groove on “My Room,” the first peak into his newest album of the same name in early November. It’s a delicate guitar-driven indie-pop number carrying an electronic glow thanks to his vocals, run through filters and adding an out-of-mind thrill to sounds easy to tether down. The true excitement, hides in the sudden musical surprises popping out in the choruses, mostly via sudden synth melodies and xylophone chimes. There’s a newfound attention to detail and curiosity in where that tinkering can lead to. Most anticipated release of the Fall? Probably for me. Listen above.
qquq — “lover/hater”
A good reminder that part of the charm of “HyperPop” and similar sounds is the sensation of wondering if you’re headphones broke. “lover/hater” finds qquq playing around with noise, fidelity and feedback to create a dizzying dust storm of electronics. Listen above.
YUNG TRASH Featuring winston me — “negle”
Same as above, but with a little more angst moved into the center of all those moving pieces. Listen above.
Elaiza — “Meta”
A huge two-part breakthrough. The first comes on Elaiza’s artist front, with this marking the rising pop star’s best sounding single to date, matching a smooth flow with unnerving sonic details (vocal filters, digi-squaks off in the distance, string plucks). It also happens to be the first song I can point to specifically about the “metaverse” that isn’t an instant close, largely thanks to the dynamic way the song plays out and how Elaiza doesn’t make it too obvious…the video might be the part where this becomes less sustainable. Listen above.
adieu — “Wine”
Singer-songwriter adieu’s latest album adieu 3 can get a little too sleepy for my own tastes, feeling like a warm-afternoon nap rather than the beachside stroll I think she envisions. Yet it has some highlights, and this Nariaki Obukuro penned (and…his voice is providing harmony here, yeah?) inclusion uses the laid-back tempo to its advantage. Rather than retreat, the musical elements carve out space for adieu to deliver one of her sweetest vocal performances, all sandwiched between a tasteful deployment of modern trends (that smooth-ass guitar! the hand percussion!). It knows when to glide, and when to let her emotional cup overflow. Listen above.
CVN And BBBBBBB — “UTSUKUSHII”
I want to say something deep about the contrasts going on here, or maybe how this marks one of the wonkier mergers of Japan’s experimental underground to date. Yet honestly, I just can’t get over how funny it is hearing CVN’s reflective melody transform into one of those rooms where you pay like $20 to break old TV sets and plates. Listen above.
Mimi Chuka — Hikari No Omise
Seen a bunch of people in netlabel-adjacent communities share this 2021 album recently, and for good reason. Here’s an oddball electronic album using slices of modern life and quickly aging technology (the central instrument here…and surely the most divisive touch present…is the weird text-to-speech function common in Nico Nico Douga videos) to create a desktop tribute to pre-Reiwa shitposting and netlabel rabbit holes. Consider it a 2chan-damaged cousin to Telematic Visions latest — moments of beauty and online-age melancholy colliding with a track that is entirely the sound of gunshots followed by our central computer voice declaring “that hurts.” Dumb and deep in equal measures, it’s a reminder of the joy the web can produce (and also offers a hint at…what the early 2000s might be remembered for? Robot voices, Lil John and canned applause?). Listen above.
Oricon Trail For The Week Of September 05, 2022 To September 11, 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.
Sexy Zone — “Trust Me, Trust You” (212,527 Copies Sold)
I’m all aboard the Sexy Zone renaissance train, from the nervous 2-step to city pop fantasia. Can’t hit ‘em all though — this sounds like off-brand The-Dream, which might be passable if Johnny’s pockets weren’t probably deep enough to afford Terius Nash.
Deeper developments this week…well, Sexy Zone beat out Kep1er, who earned silver for Japanese debut “Wing Wing.” Besides sounding way too much like NiziU for its own good, it’s the latest reminder of how outdated the idea of a “Japanese debut” is when K-pop fans in the country follow their faves in real times across borderlines. Kep1er absolutely have momentum in the market and are probably more “zeitgeist-y” than Sexy Zone, but exercises in Japanese songs like this don’t actually underline that. K-pop can be quite stubborn.
News And Views
Anime…it’s important! The series Chainsaw Man returns to screens of all sorts in early October, featuring an opening song done by Kenshi Yonezu and ending songs…performed by 12 different artists, ranging from Vaundy to Eve to People 1 to never-not-controversial outfit Maximum The Hormone. Part of me pegs this decision to an awareness of the power a popular anime can have for minute…why limit yourself to two potential online hits when you can go up to a dozen? Trailer below.
Anime…it’s so important. SPY X FAMILY returns for the second half of its first season this October…you should watch it! The rare anime I’d recommend to general audiences, like Netflix easily could have made some weird Danish live-action series with the same premise and people would love it. Anyway, the new opening song comes courtesy of BUMP OF CHICKEN, below. Seeing as how Hoshino Gen and Official HIGE DANdism scaled global viral charts with their contributions to the show earlier this year, heaps of potential for this long-running J-rock group.
Ultra Japan returned to Tokyo this past weekend, and it looked wild! Ayumi Hamasaki was there, as were warnings about the typhoon approaching Japan. Zedd performed, but he got way more attention online thanks to a trip to Universal Studio Japan’s Super Nintendo World park1, wherein he…left a surprise selfie of himself on the smartphone of a woman who asked him to take a pic of her and a friend.
Talked to Miyachi about Konbini Confessions, the best Japan-related channel on YouTube right now, for The Japan Times.
Spotify is doing a bunch of live videos to promote the platform / the artists on it, but that’s just the excuse to get Utada in front of some sharks.
“Music and rhythm games are trending in Japan.” I mean, true!
Two STU48 members fall asleep on the Shinkansen, miss fan event. I assume that’s because they mostly move around via boat.
Sam Goldner reviews the latest from Meitei, recorded as Tenka, for Pitchfork. Stay tuned, because I chatted with him about this (very lovely!) album…
YOASOBI will perform at 88Rising’s Jakarta festival this December? Alright (smart move by them, hope they can show Joji how to throw a proper pity party).
A fascinating article about how McDonald’s Japan puts together their in-store background music. A lot of research goes into making you ~ feel ~ while chomping on those McNuggets.
One of the best music stories in Japan this year has been the sudden resurgence of “The Fox (What Does The Fox Say?).” Not because of any quality or reassessment reasons, but because it’s one of those rare moments of old-school virality. Baseball team uses song for funny dance, people love said dance, decade-old single shoots up charts and becomes ubiquitous in the pop landscape of 2022.
Ylvis, the Norwegian duo behind the BILLION VIEWS STRONG ON YOUTUBE WHAT number, have now arrived in Japan to soak in the surprise. They’ll appear on Music Station later this week, but over the weekend they went up to Hokkaido to link with the Nippon Ham Fighters professional baseball club, responsible for the “Kitsune Dance” and subsequent boom in the song’s popularity. The world has been given a performance video AND a behind-the-scenes special. Please watch until the players themselves give Ylvis a standing ovation, beautiful.
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Twitter — @mbmelodies
Follow the Best of 2022 Spotify Playlist Here!
also, great example to counter anyone claiming “tourists won’t want to come to Japan after the travel restrictions!” Dingus, they’re angry because they want to pretend to be Mario. Moment that’s open, they are going to pour in. Zedd is on the forefront.
The Ylvis performance was not on my to-do list, but golly was it entertaining. The overly serious background dancers added to the humor.