Make Believe Melodies Logo

Category Archives: J-Pop

New Passepied: “Tokyo City Underground”

Posted on by

It wasn’t always like this. Passepied, a band with a whole lot of potential, spent the first few years of their existence wandering the wilderness sonically. They flashed a lot of good ideas across their releases, but they never formed into an album or EP to call “solid.” They were a group whose influences were easy enough to spot, and who were holding back on really figuring themselves out.

And then came “Toryinase,” a breakthrough for them. The next single, “Matatabistep,” further found them identifying themselves…and after seeing them play live, I figured they were basically a more outgoing Soutaiseiriron, one built for the spotlight. “Tokyo Underground City” is the latest preview of the group’s third album, which all signals point to being a big step up in quality, and maybe the most intriguing. Whereas the prior two tracks highlighted the outfit’s ability to make a song worthy of pop radio, this one highlights a new-found knottiness. It opens with bits of scratchy guitar and a stomp, almost teasing math rock, until a lush synth flourishes over. Then everything condenses into a driving rush to the chorus. The whole song toys with the little details – the way another voice joins the main vocals in the second verse, but only for a bit. Or the singing, which goes on its own little journey. Listen above.

New Shiina Ringo: “Seishyun No Mabataki”

Posted on by

The other day, Shiina Ringo unveiled a new song for Japan’s Wolrd Cup team (well, for NHK’s coverage of Japan’s World Cup team) and…it is pretty straightforward, which is to be expected for a song soundtracking a music video of dramatic penalty kicks. Much better is just-released “Seishyun No Mabataki,” a prickly ballad featuring a malfunctioning beat. Listen above.

New Especia: “No1 Sweeper”

Posted on by

Let’s take a moment to appreciate that, in 2014, there is a pop group built around the visual/sometimes sonic aesthetics of Internet micro-genre Vaporwave, and that everyone behind them nails it. Especia have been running with the Vaporwave tag for a while now…one of the biggest thrills of the past six months was seeing them live, and witnessing the group’s hypeman scream about “vaporwave idol music”…and new song “No1 Sweeper” highlights everything they do well with the style, while also bucking it. The video itself is pretty spot on, but let’s focus on the music. “No1 Sweeper” doesn’t sound like Vaporwave, at least most Vaporwave (like this), yet it exists on the same plane as the style – from the luxurious sax to the drippy synths, Schtein&Longer’s production is indebted to ’80s City Pop. Which is a common source for samples for Vaporwave artists (Tatsuro Yamashita, tagged under “Vaporwave” frequently!). Especia embrace the imagery of Vaporwave, but the music…as crystalline and sax-y as it it…is really just an updated version of ’80s J-pop, except done better than similar acts aiming for the City Pop vibe. Listen above.

New Kyary Pamyu Pamyu: “Family Party”

Posted on by

Look, the song here is just OK…for a phoned-in movie tie-in, its better than most but that’s a lousy standard to aspire to. It glitches and pops like a possessed SNES, and dares to be fizzier than, say, Perfume’s “Mirai No Museum.”

The video, though, is great as ever. It’s some strange sports match between Kyary and a robot (controlled by an…octopus?…version of Kyary) featuring a language I think nobody can understand. Talk about shooting for universal appeal…leave everyone in the dark. Anyway, it’s great, watch it above.

(Should take a moment to mention the B-sides to both her singles this year are really great pieces of music!)

Vampillia Teams Up With Idol Outfit BiS For “Mirror Mirror”

Posted on by

BiS are an idol outfit who have done wonders in making whatever they do seem not particularly shocking. A primer: they are sorta an “anti-idol” group within the world of J-Pop idol groups, although they still partake in plenty of idol activities. Though many times, they blow those actions up to an absurd degree, so that (if you give them the best interpretation) it’s like they are reflecting all of idol culture’s worst behaviors from a cracked mirror. Fans can practically grope them at meet-n-greets (they are “idols you can touch”), you can rent them out to clean your house and they made this video, which is like Fiona Apple’s “Criminal” but maybe actually criminal. For the most parts, their actions have been more interesting than the music – across their first two full-length albums exist some solid songs, but plenty of dreck too. Though this year, they went and released my favorite song thus far, the borderline-gabber terrorpop of “STUPiG.” Sonically, it pushes what one expects idol pop to be to the fringes…while, critically, still managing the most catchy hook I’ve heard in 2014 so far…and might be the most subversive thing they’ve managed yet. Thanks to them exploiting an idol culture where fans buy multiple copies of singles, they managed to sneak an Atari-Teenage-Riot-esque song that has no business in the same music ranking list as Arashi to number seven.

One of BiS’ other tricks are unexpected team ups, most notably with the group Kaidan. That’s the one that got international coverage for its bizarreness. Welp, they are at it again – they’ve hooked up with Osaka theatric metal group Vampillia for two songs on Vampillia’s forthcoming album, which has some sort of concept about “bombing” the music industry or something. It also has Jun Togawa on it! Anywho, the first taste of that album can be heard above, BiS sliding into the outfit’s typically dramatic music. This one goes from soft and pretty to…well screaming…complete with spoken-word sections and dramatic background voices. It might be the best constructed song BiS have ever been part of – Vampillia are very serious about the structure of their own black parade, and they aren’t changing just because idols are involved – and its various stages are quite compelling. Watch the video above.