Make Believe Melodies For April 15, 2024
Special "Help I'm Exhausted From Coachella" Edition
Yurufuwa Gang — “Do It Like Me”
The reason this week’s edition is compact because I’ve been at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival over the last three days (and am trying to catch up on…everything…today). Stay tuned for overall thoughts, which boil down to “what’s happening (positive)?” One of the more surreal moments of the weekend came at the 88Rising Futures performance on Sunday, which included an entire block of Japanese music back to back. At one point, Awich performed her “Bad Bitch Bigaku” remix and brought out nearly everyone from it…including Nene from Yurufuwa Gang. Japan’s weirdest getting shine…what a time to be alive.
Better still, the duo put out a new song. “Do It Like Me” sounds panicked, like a time bomb is ticking down with no time to catch one’s breath. Yurufuwa Gang, though, operate in their own universe, so the pressure the beat brings just presents a new kind of musical bounce house to tumble around in. It’s a chance for the duo to flex, break into talk-sing and go full. hypnotic come the chorus. Listen above.
KOTONOHOUSE, DC Mizey And e5 — “BAKU”
A shifty dancefloor trip courtesy of two producers linking up with a vocalist who can operate perfectly amidst this digital whirlwind. The production is a dizzier take on KOTONOHOUSE’s speedy garage, spiked by bass drops, but e5 keeps up with the pace while still finding a chance to highlight her playful linguistic approach to lyrics, with English and Japanese coming out in equal measures, the main focus being how it sounds melodically. It’s under a few more layers here, but still pokes through. Listen above.
Яu-a — “1nter2et Devel...?”
We are about four years out from 4s4ki’s big artistic breakthroughs, wherein the creator gathered cues from the then burgeoning/cool-to-talk-about “hyperpop” scene and melded it with the sentimentality of J-pop. She’s not solely responsible for everything that’s happened after…but she certainly looms large. Artists like e5, one entry above, seem like sonic daughters to her (she’s gone as far as to cover 4s4ki songs, a nod to influence), while younger creators like nyamura explore similar musical and emotional terrain.
Яu-a continues that tradition, albeit moving to darker and more online places. They’ve already scored a viral hit in Japan, and continue to plumb a claustrophobic electronic sound with “1nter2et Devel...?” The pounding song starts as a meditation on the evils of the web as we know it — they call on it to be abolished — but as it pulses forward our protagonist also sees the pull of the internet, ending in confusion rather than revelation. It’s another mutation on a corner of art — one propelled by young women exploring modern life over bedroom electronics — that remains vibrant. Listen above.
tofubeats — “I CAN FEEL IT (Single Mix)”
New tofubeats EP out soon! I’ll take all this energy right now (to stay alert and file these Coachella stories). Listen above.
Kana Hanazawa — “Time Machine”
Albums by voice actors tend to be very hit-or-miss affairs, as they find people who are great at speaking venturing into singing with…often mixed results. Kana Hanazawa’s Memories And Fingertips has a higher hit rate than most, though I’m still going to play favorites and point towards the song Milk Talk made for her as a particular standout. Perhaps as a nod to the anime crowd, this one moves a little more swiftly than anything the duo has put out, but with the funk groove and boogie energy that illuminates their own work keeping pace. Also…sick synth solo. Listen above.
Oricon Trail For The Week Of April 1, 2024 To April 7, 2024
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.
REAL IDOL PROJECT — “Tokimeki United” (81,972 Copies Sold)
Thank you, Oricon gods, for giving me this steaming hunk of idol trash during such a busy week. Even the details make it easy — 250 members??? A partially AI-generated video??? Terrible, next.
Consider Going Premium For Coachella Observations
I’ll have plenty of coverage of the event coming up, but premium subscribers can get even more later this week…want thoughts on The Dare? Oh, I have them.
News And Views
Throughout YOASOBI’s Friday set at Coachella, I’d find myself thinking…these people just attended a State Dinner between Japan and The United States. Has Lana Del Rey met a head of state??? Anyway, wacky times, which gave me an excuse to write about the history of J-pop artists meeting the President.
Reita, bassist for the GazettE, has died according to the band.
STARTO Future News: the group Ae! debuted with their first song and video. STARTO Past News: Arashi forms new company.
Billboard looks at the “growing trend” of Western songwriters getting involved with J-pop and K-pop. I’m only releasing a little bit of sarcasm because it’s absolutely not a “growing trend” (check those Johnny’s singles from back in the day!), but it’s still a well done look at where this industry is at right now.
I’ve been a bit critical of NHK’s Tiny Desk Concerts JAPAN programming. I mean…why not just push for Japanese artists to be on the regular Tiny Desk Concert? Well, I’ll eat a little crow because NPR’s official YouTube channel shared the first edition starring Fujii Kaze, which does help it get way more attention globally.
Rina Sawayama calls on Chanmina to appear on a remix of the prior’s “This Hell.”
Bandwagon has an interview with Utada about their new best-of collection (full disclosure: I work with the Utada English PR team, which is also why my thoughts on the best-of went up only for paid subscribers).
Talked about 4s4ki a bit above…well, she’s singing for a character from some kind of Genshin Impact music group? Go for it!
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Twitter — @mbmelodies