Make Believe Melodies For September 4, 2023
Gee wonder if anything happened in J-pop news this week
Various Artists — kaomozi compilations vol.2
This year has been particularly thrilling for Japanese underground electronic music. Give me time to actually pinpoint the exact reasons why — my guess would be a bunch of people cooped up during the pandemic developed their voice, and instead of dropping it like sourdough break baking once going outside became OK again, they stuck with it — but there’s been both a rise in netlabels and internet-leaning parties such as Kyun in 2023. Sure, “vibes,” but the ecosystem just feels great right now, with so much excitement in connecting disparate sounds and sharing them IRL.
A personal highlight from this world, the label KAOMOZI, recently turned one, and to celebrate, they’ve put out a compilation designed to make my brain pinball around inside my head. Here, we get a perfect snapshot of what has made this year such a thrill — Vocaloid-powered pop bleeds into unsettling sample-centric experiments lead to glassy footwork experiments before eventually careening into big bright electronic light shows. What unites KAOMOZI isn’t so much a single sound or even genre, but rather a sort of do-what-you-want attitude long underlining the best netlabels in the country, allowing someone like H B to indulge in Earthbound-sampling dance rushes steps away from ∩Ο∪Ο!’s barely-there atmospherics. Great songs, but an even better ethos that feels resurgent. Get it here, or listen above.
lilbesh ramko — Shumatsu Collection
“HyperPop” also absolutely fits in with the above, though I think that actual terminology became something most artists wanted to not be attached to per se a few years back. Still, the general signifiers of that style remain, with lilbesh ramko’s fidgety blown-out pop barrage being a great snapshot of where this is at. They do it well, though I’d say they shine best here when deviating a little from the path, such as an embrace of sample whiplash and metal on “Everything (Everywhere) All At Once” (great string touches) or getting surprisingly sweet on the springy “Dreampop.” Listen above.
valknee — “BREEEEZE”
Clutch production courtesy of Bailefunk Kakeko, giving valknee the perfect backdrop to shape the sort of off-kilter “summer song” apt for her. Listen above.
e5 — “Farewell”
One of the newer developments with this era of internet-centric creators is a wider range of emotions on display in their work. Aughts-era netlabel creators got sad too, but the general mood of something like Maltine Records leaned towards the upbeat and ready to party. Not so much with the younger set! They get “emo” in every definition of the word. Here’s a good example from blog-favorite e5, showcasing a sparser and more melancholy side to her. Listen above.
T.M.P — “Summer End Supernova”
The duo behind one of my favorite albums of the summer ends the season with a fireworks display. T.M.P’s ability to add a real emotional punch to their digi-dipped rock is what sets them apart from so many, and here that comes both through the lyrics and the music itself, present in both the electronic stabs and (especially) the guitar solo ripping this one in half. Listen above.
Various Artists — JYU — Orange
There’s an entire element to this compilation being tied up with contemporary artist group GILLOCHINDOX☆GILLOCHINDAE, which merges “contemporary art exhibitions with live performances,” but I’ll cop to not being sold what the story is here. I’m here for the music, offering another angle on the new frontier of Japanese electronic experimentalists, many of which pop up here. Largely built around samples (takes guts to sample “A Day In The Life” on the opening number), the best moments of this comp come when individual artists get a chance to show off their flair, such as tamanaramen’s “rain” instrumental, or an always welcome bit of sonic journaling from Le Makeup and Dove. No need to worry about greater conceptual aims when just enjoying artists working best in their style. Listen above.
Oricon Trail For The Week Of August 21, 2023 To August 27, 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.
Nogizaka46 — “Ohitorisama Tengoku” (566,060 Copies Sold)
I can’t think of anything more “J-pop idol group ending in a number” then a song cribbing from Avicii in 2023. Yet that’s also what makes it truly tick.
This is a song part rejection of norms, part LDP nightmare, and when it comes to the video a whole bunch of “One Room Disco.” Backed by some obvious “Wake Me Up” EDM flourishes, Nogizaka46 celebrate the solitary life, going as far as to sing “it’s the single life!” where the drop would go. Never recommended to read too much into what idols get up to into their songs — I remember you, “Einstein Yori Dianna Agron” — but I do respect the decision to lean into “being alone rules” angle at a time when geeks are freaking out about population numbers…and present it as a big-tent rave. Listen above.
News And Views
woooooo boy what a week.
Last Tuesday, an external group tasked with investigating Johnny & Associates’ founder Johnny Kitagawa’s alleged history of sexual assault and abuse revealed their findings via very long document and press conference (above), which mostly boiled down to telling the press to turn to various pages to read what they had written. The headline coming out of it based on what the document said and its presentation on the official agency website was that Johnny’s admitted that their founder Kitagawa had assaulted “many” underage boys, from the ‘60s onwards. Now, I’ve seen counters stating that this isn’t an admission of anything from the entertainment company…though good luck telling that to Japanese media, who have run with that angle (which, as someone trying to be as objective with this stuff as possible, I get…like, posting as is and sharing as the company did does make it sound like they are onboard with the declarations within, though I guess you also can’t say “and by the way, we don’t totally agree with this”). There’s a ton within to sort through…I almost wrote a special newsletter about that, but decided to save it until, well, jump to the next bullet point…but that this exists at all is a huge development.
One of the biggest recommendations the external group made in their report was that Julie Keiko Fujishima, current head of Johnny’s and nice of Kitagawa, step down from her position as a way for the company to be rid of all family ties (which, as they stressed, is one of the reasons Kitagawa’s unchecked rape and harassment could last for decades) in major positions of power and also send a real message of resetting. Shukan Bunshun reports that is exactly what will happen on Sept. 7, when Johnny’s hold their own press conference on the findings. Stay tuned….
Somehow, even more J-pop news broke amidst what might very well end up being the biggest development of the year. Honda Hitomi announced plans to graduate AKB48, a group in which she is easily the biggest name, later this year.
In further examples of the rise of “experiences” and physical landmarks for music, Universal Music will be opening a Universal Music Store Harajuku later this fall, similar to what Fender did in the same neighborhood. You better believe visiting this will be a paid post, so you know what to do…
Moscow Club — a great indie outfit from the early 2010s, one of the richest times in Tokyo’s underground scene — will reissue their two albums later this fall on vinyl! Full disclosure, I was hired to help write PR about this…which was an honor, as I love this group and these releases.
YOASOBI’s “Idol” topped the Billboard Japan Hot 100 for the 20th straight week. Over on Spotify, though, it finally fell from the number one place on that service’s Japan Top 50 ranking, falling slightly behind “Seven.”
Miyavi to open for Keanu Reeves’ band Dogstar on upcoming Japan tour.
Rockers PassCode will be touring North America soon, and they talked with Asia Pacific Arts ahead of it.
The Japan Times talks with Peter Barakan about his upcoming festival.
I burned out on survival shows a while back…just too many of them, with way too many groups debuting after…but gotta say that the forthcoming PRODUCE 101 JAPAN THE GIRLS looks promising. As the clip below reveals, Kaela Kimura serves as a judge / central figure, which instantly makes it compelling in my book. It’s also digging into the weeds of J-pop idoldom, featuring a lot of familiar names, and presenting the most interesting backdrop for this sort of contest since…probably Girl’s Planet. Plus, the song sorta goes.
Speaking of…I totally forgot about Out Of 48. Well, a winning group has been formed, and they are called…UNLAME. The name doesn’t inspire confidence…but the song kinda rules?!?! Maybe it will get a blurb next week.
Galileo Galilei and Porter Robinson worked on a song together.
Pokemon and Hatsune Miku colliding, with fantastic art to go with it.
Atarashii Gakko! will be one of the defining groups of 2023 in J-pop…and you can really tell they’ve made it because in the past two weeks Japanese tabloids have swooped in on the group. This started with the absurd, after member Rin had to come out to deny rumors that she was the daughter of a member of SPEED…going as far as to share the name of her mom. Now comes what I think is their first Shukan Bunshun scooping, with member Kanon being spotted with (gasp!) a guy. Frankly, I think the more interesting tidbit thrown into this article is that they are being considered for Kohaku…the season draws near.
Sally Amaki stopped by Trash Taste this week, and I’m always going to be pro her being given a platform to just go for it (oh memories…).
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Twitter — @mbmelodies
The only thing that shocks me on the JE controversy is that consequences are finally coming to a few who let Johnny do his horrible acts. It isn't a lot, but at least folks outside the J-Pop idol sphere know what they did.