Make Believe Melodies For September 11, 2023
I Refuse...To Stop Listening To These Songs!
Haru Nemuri — “I Refuse”
Haru Nemuri can only speak her truth. What has made her one of the most exciting artists in the world today — Japan and beyond — is a refusal to bottle in feelings. To speak broadly and somewhat unfairly, that’s something Japanese rock artists don’t do well. Some of the most commercially and critically successful bands in this country rely on convoluted metaphor to hide something resembling humanity, winning praise for what amounts to elementary school homework. Not so with Nemuri, who expresses frustration, awe, optimism, disgust and outright anger clearly in her music, happy to break into screams and frantic spoken word to get the point across. No need to bury it under unnecessary flair…humanity hits hardest when raw.
“I Refuse” is less a broadside and more of a boil. Lurching forward, Nemuri spends the verses nearly in a sigh as guitars wail around her. She’s using observation as a way to easily reflect her feelings rather than as literary showing off, brushing off the smell of warm asphalt because it will eventually solidify into something seemingly undeniable. She sees herself as an outsider that will never settle, and as “I Refuse” goes along her intensity at rejecting conformity grows, from a shout to a snarl to outright growling. There’s nothing to decode, because she’s putting it all out there. Listen above, or watch a live version below.
NTsKi — “Leila”
First off, can’t shake the “Mr. Brightside flow” tweet Jos shared, god damn dead on. That aside…here’s one of the sturdiest songs from NTsKi, ahead of her second album in November, which still manages to pack in a woozy vibe courtesy of the vocals and, yes, those rap interludes. Listen above.
Perfume — “Love Cloud”
“Moon” is very good, but b-side wins the day this time around. Yasutaka Nakata turns a renewed love of club-born ecstasy into a delirious house-leaning fever dream finding our protagonist not wanting to get caught up in the lift that attraction brings (leading to…these really fun near-spoken word interjections from the group lurking beneath the chorus, like you need your sqauad behind you to tell you “get off the dancefloor!”). The rare Perfume song about rejecting a feeling instead of embracing it, it also highlights one of Nakata’s current fancies…saxophone, which popped up unexpectedly on CAPSULE’s 2022 return but has now become a seeming staple of his sonic arsenal. Listen above.
KAF And MONDO GROSSO — “My Voice”
Easily the biggest “full disclosure” I’ve ever disclosed on this newsletter…full disclosure, me and friends / partners have started working with KAF’s team for English-language promotion, to the point where my name appears in the YouTube description for this video as “International PR.” Turn back if you want, but I am sincere in saying I love this song, for all the same reasons I love creations like “Labyrinth” or “IN THIS WORLD.” It’s a blurred-time production, a little out of step but forceful enough to shoot forward, and critically leaving enough space for KAF to let her humanity pour over the song. That’s what I find so interesting about her in the first place…I’ll try to keep PR-speak to a minimum, let me know if you want on that mailing list…which is how despite the avatar appearance, she’s a human wrestling with her own sources of inspiration and connection to art over the course of “My Voice,” the music reflecting the push-pull playing out inside her. That tension adds a heightened energy to the song, and makes it a thrill. Listen above.
Gassyoh — semi ep. 2
One of the longest-tenured contributors to Maltine Records returns with a set of pounding techno…or at least semi-techno going off the title and vibe…for the pioneering netlabel. Honestly, given how diverse the sound of netlabel music becmae in the…15 years-plus of Maltine, hearing a return to something so simple yet satisfying as this is very welcome. Listen above, or get it here.
pool$ide — “CHING PANG SWING”
Give in to the goofiness. Listen above.
e5 Featuring fox4G — “Neverland”
Not to imply that emotional confusion is the source of great art — be happy, be content, it’s great! — but I do find the thorniness of something like “Neverland” to be particularly exciting. Here’s a blurry number finding e5 shedding the hyperpop trappings of earlier works for something delirious and confused, trying to figure out what a relationship is or isn’t with any signs of clarity shrouded in smoke. Listen above.
cyber milk chan — “✩⋆*॰⋆˚marshmallow butt⋆。˚✩。⋆”
On the flip side, sometimes giving into the thrill can go a long way. Fellow hyperpop / digicore / insert preferred term breakout act cyber milk chan provides a sillier side to the emotional roller coaster of e5 on this CVN-produced song, which borrows from the rhythms of reggaeton to create an ode to lust. “I am a swallow / let me see your butt / like a marshmallow” is how it starts, and the come-ons only become stronger and sweeter as the song shakes ahead. It’s not pure eros — despite the a longing for assess and nudes on both sides, the core of this song is one of longing, wanting that object of desire all for yourself. New-age sweetness on full display. Listen above.
punipunidenki Featuring Emi Nishino — “Hekireki”
To round out this emotional trilogy…here’s the moment of ending captured in all its messy detail, via an artist who can make any emotion feel slick even when it’s wrecking you. Listen above.
Braxton Knight And levi — “BOCCHI THE ROCK!”
Hootin’ like a doofus to this one. Hey, I like that anime!
Beyond pure pandering to my cartoon tastes, I’m still charmed by this blown out electronic sound, and levi of STARKIDS’ verse is catchy, while also not being quite as otaku-ish as Braxton Knight’s (though I’m not complaining). Listen above.
Oricon Trail For The Week Of August 28, 2023 To September 3, 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.
SixTONES — “CREAK” (475,397 Copies Sold)
I mean, honestly, let’s just allow this section to bleed into…
News And Views
Johnny & Associates’ Julie Keiko Fujishima stepped down as the company’s president while also acknowledging that agency founder Johnny Kitagawa sexually assaulted young boys during a four-hour-plus press conference last Thursday. Noriyuki Higashiyama, a performer in the group Shonentai and long-term internal presence in the company, took her place. To say this was a spectacle would be an understatement, and it’s a development that will carry long-term ripples in the Japanese music industry and beyond.
I sounded off about it for The Japan Times, looking at both the importance and absurdity of the press conference (somehow, both Japanese journalism getting a rare look behind the curtain and going for it…and at times wildly amateurish). Yet for all the different angles and potential paths forward from here, it’s an obviously massive moment…I talked with multiple friends who have followed this story for decade who were floored the company itself would ever agreet that Kitagawa’s decades-long abuse was true in public. What comes next, who knows — compensation for the victims, a reckoning with the media that was also hush-hush about this, a name change (which is what I spend my column talking about…like, you CAN’T keep the name now, even if the talent “take pride” in it or whatever) — but it will certainly shape a lot.
One area to keep an eye on…but to not embrace as a total pivot, at least not yet…is how sponsors and music shows approach the agency and its act in the wake of all this. Initially, there have been reports of prominent brands ending their relationships with talent signed to the agency, which I think would be expected from a PR angle…but I’m not ready to call this a sea change yet, because I think a far better indicator of how much this stick will come a year from now. Or, at the very least…let’s wait until Kohaku, the first true “so how real is any of this sudden aversion to Johnny’s talent1” event. That will be the first true bellwether of the new Johnny’s reality.
Which wraps back to an uncomfortable truth present on the Oricon Trail all year…Johnny’s groups are still selling tons of singles and albums. This week, we have a vaguely gothic SixTONES single running away with it2…and next week, we have a Snow Man single doing even better, creeping towards best-of-the-year figures. Here’s the dilemma moving forward — will sponsors and big-name music shows really reject the biggest names in domestic pop over the now-confirmed Kitagawa assaults? They could, and that would be worthy of salute…but will they, with such a hardcore fandom clearly able to separate the art from the agency? That’s the question, along with “how long will they avoid facing it.”Though a moment of appreciation…for the YouTubers who could swiftly imitate a sobbing Fujishima.
OK, uhhhhh, totally different…hey, LE SSERAFIM and Ado’s version of “Unforgiven” got a sped-up version! And I like it! There’s a reason nightcore persists, and that’s because some songs are too cowardly to go fast. Thank you to the brave souls / label executives who recognize this. Related…LE SSERAFIM will appear on Ado’s radio show!
On the same topic…Yoshiki has a looooooong interview with Natalie out, one I’ve yet to parse through but which I’m sure has gold scattered throughout.
King Gnu have a new album out in January, their first in four years.
ONE OK ROCK, aespa and Beyblade…together at last. A “view” on this is it really underlines the global power of anime that a group like aespa would do a theme for the anime about spinning tops.
NME Asia featured YOASOBI as a cover artist and wrote a great feature about them, though just as intriguing is a playlist the duo made for the publication. Shout-out LANA for landing a spot.
Take me out to the ballgame…for “PRODUCE 101 JAPAN THE GIRLS.” Related, their might be a writer out their dumb enough to watch all of the participants intro videos and do a power ranking for a future installment of this newsletter…perhaps you’d like to support them as they kill their remaining brain cells?
Halloween…starting earlier and earlier in Japan. As part of the festivities, Universal Studios Japan in Osaka has a big ol’ spook-tacular event, detailed in the video below. Get past the TeRriFfyinG ZoMBieS at the start of this news report, though, and you can see the important cultural development that is DJ Pikachu and DJ Gengar. Also includes mention of a special song made by Ado for the event, so all my worlds colliding.
I want to hug Pikachu : (
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Twitter — @mbmelodies
Like, it’s great all of this has happened but let’s be real…these allegations have been out there for decades, companies could have stopped linking up with Johnny’s talent at any point. Don’t give flowers to any company suddenly allergic to Kanjani 8’s presence, they are just playing the PR game…which is better than ignoring it, but doesn’t warrant applause.
Breakdown after the chorus…pretty good!
i do like that you note that you were paid for PR on artists, it doesn't really bother me personally - like would the alternative be not talking about music you're excited about or simply not mentioning it? KAF seems like an insanely big deal btw, a friend of mine tried to translate for her like years ago, that lore seems pretty deep?