It’s tempting to excuse the relatively lukewarm “Mirai No Museum” because of its commercial obligations. This, maximalist-pop-trio Perfume’s newest single, serves as the theme song for the upcoming Doraemon film which seems to involve some sort of “future museum” (which is what you get when you translate the title). After a string of songs in 2012 that saw the group and producer Yasutaka Nakata continuing to flex their J-Pop brilliance (“Point” and “Hurly Burly” are about as strong a one-two punch I’ve heard in a while), “Mirai No Museum” sounds like a lazy stroll through a museum, bouncy but never really taking any risks save for an occasional Nakata touch lurking in the back. The chorus is something you’d expect from an idol-pop group, not a trio behind killer hooks. It SOUNDS like something made to play harmlessly behind the opening-credit sequence for a movie focused on a robot-cat. I guess we should forgive this single, just because it has commercial interests at heart.
Nope, that’s a cop out, because plenty of other J-Pop artists have taken commercial obligations and created great music out of it. It’s one of the unavoidable aspects of Japan’s pop scene, that many singles are commissioned with commercial use in mind…but that doesn’t mean the music has to be middling. Kaela Kimura’s “Wonder Volt” serves as the theme song for the Japanese version of Frankenweenie, but she used the prompt to create a song that manages to fit the Tim-Burton-made vibe of the film while still sounding daring. Yasutaka Nakata, especially, is good at working within limitations – Kyary Pamyu Pamyu’s “Fashion Monster” was greenlit for a clothing store, but that song stands as one of her best singles yet and her strongest lyrical display. Heck, Perfume have been the masters of delivering great music born out of marketing requests since they got big in 2007. So let’s not excuse “Mirai No Museum” – it’s just sorta lackluster.
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu turns 20 next week*, and to celebrate she has a new single called “Furisodeshon,” which you can hear above. Sonically, it sounds like Yasutaka Nakata is returning to his early-Capsule days, as the music sounds like something off of S.F. Sound Furniture or before. And yeah the video is pretty great, especially if you want to see Kyary Pamyu Pamyu act drunk (you do). Maybe expanded thoughts later?
*UPDATE: Nope, she doesn’t, that would be the 29th actually. Next week is just coming-of-age day here in Japan. D’oh!
I try to approach music in a way that avoids categorizing songs as “guilty pleasures” or as things to be self-conscious about. If you like the way something sounds, that should be more than enough. Letting ideas of what’s “cool” or “authentic” dictate what you like is ridiculous – like what you like. That said…one of the reasons Make Believe Melodies probably won’t publish a “best songs of 2012” list is because said countdown would be full of J-Pop songs if I was being honest with myself and a lot of folks just aren’t down with that. I get it, and that’s cool, but J-Pop was really adventerous this year and some of the most overexposed artists in Japan right now released some really great stuff. I just don’t want to engage with the eye rolls that would follow putting, say, AKB48 in a personal top ten (that’s what the Tumblr is for!).
Nami Tamaki’s “Paradise” would almost certainly be in my hypothetical top 20, and she’s a pretty good example of what J-Pop has been up to in 2012. She’s far from a marquee name at this point in her career – the clip for “Paradise” has about 1/100th the total number views of “Gangnam Style” – but that means she now exists in a weird area where her sound can be experimented with while still getting the backing of a label. “Paradise” imagines what a J-Pop song produced by Gold Panda might sound like – it’s all skittery electronics clashing with Tamaki’s bouncy voice. It remains a bit of a jarring listen even after dozens of spins – J-Pop can sound like this??? and still have a totally swoon-worthy chorus. Forget who this comes from and maybe you’ll just hear a well-produced song.
Kaela Kimura has a new single titled “Sun Shower” out October 24, and the video for the song is now online. Watch it above. The song moves away from the electronic, Sakanaction-inspired sounds of “Mamireru,” “Sun Shower” is built around strings and an appropriately skippy beat. It’s one of the more straightforward songs she’s recorded since last year’s still-excellent 8Eight8, and suffers from the lack of a really attention-grabbing chorus. Still, it is a pleasant stroll of a song, far from Kimura’s best but plenty pleasant.
A stricter law against illegal downloading of media went into affect this week in Japan, meaning harsh punishments for those caught uploading OR downloading music, movies, TV shows, whatever. It will be interesting to see what the first big punishment to come out of this will be – a lot of people I know are working under the premise of “I’m gonna keep doing what I do until I see that they are taking this seriously”- but until then who knows what this will do. Here’s some J-Pop that, in Japan, you probably shouldn’t cop illegally at the moment…and some of it shouldn’t be heard in any way, legal or illegal.
My day job happens to be one station away from the National Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, which hosted two Arashi concerts in September. On the day of the second show, I decided to investigate the area out of curiosity. The subway station was insanely crowded – people clad in the official orange t-shirts for these shows were slowly exiting the station, while a few people stood to the side holding hastly put-together signs asking for extra tickets. The line for the womens bathroom looked like it required a half-hour wait (mens room…empty), and the streets were even more packed. I wandered around for a bit, bought an energy drink and then went off wondering…”how are these guys so popular?”
Whatever the reason, they have a new album out at the end of the month, and it could end up the highest seller of 2012. This past August, AKB48’s latest full-length sold over a million copies making it the first to do so since…an Arashi album in 2010. That they might be able to do it again, all while releasing what sounds like the same song over and over again (“Your Eyes,” which I think I’ve written about, is by-the-numbers Arashi, down to the doofy guitar that pops up sometimes) is impressive and insane. Regardless of the quality of their music (and the people making it seem to not care), Arashi are easily the most popular male-centric group in Japan and maybe the number one overall. The only other one that could be bigger is…
AKB48 “Uza”
…this gaggle. As mentioned, they have the highest-selling album of the year so far, and new single “Uza” will probably keep their chart-topping streak going strong. At the moment, I can’t find a full version of this song, just the above preview so I won’t say much. But…this actually sounds a bit different for the Akihabara outfit. It’s only a preview so I won’t dwell on it much, but this sounds a touch darker than their usual brand of teeth-disintegrating hyperpop. That’s probably because this comes out the same month as Halloween (not the only song this week pulling that trick!), but this actually sound intriguing for AKB48.
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu “Fashion Monster”
“Fashion Monster” has become my favorite Kyary Pamyu Pamyu single of 2012 because it’s her first single to step away from the manic playroom sound Yasutaka Nakata has crafted for her since last year’s “PonPonPon.” That’s no knock against the other singles she has put out this year…and her debut Pamyu Pamyu Revolution features all sorts of sonic twists and turns…but “Fashion Monster” moves in a new direction for her, like AKB48 prompted by Halloween. Nakata makes heavy use of 8-bit bloops – this reminds me of an Adventure song at times – and a driving rock style, sounds he hasn’t leaned on in some time. Throw in a great chorus and you’ve got an especially strong track from one of the best young performers in the country.
Superfly “Kagayaku Tsuki No Yō Ni”
Superfly’s stabs at rock tend to be hit or miss, but they at least stand a chance unlike her dumb ballads like this one, which is just a chore from the get go. If you are going to indulge in cliche sounds, at least go with ones that sound good.
Sexy Zone “Sexy Summer Ni Yuki Ga Furu”
No.
Masaharu Fukuyama “Beautiful Life”
Some of the background noises…the quick guitar taps, mostly…are interesting, but otherwise we’ve clearly flown off a cliff for this week’s installment of the feature.
Porno Graffitti “Kageboushi”
Ahhhh Porno Graffitti, they are always good for a nice, rollicking rock son…gahhhhhhhhhh another ballad, this one wimpier than the rest! This has that stupid opening-of-a-Disney-VHS-tape-like twinkle sound, and from there is a total drag. Can we get a hiatus on over-dramatic ballads for a bit? A month, that’s all I ask.
