Nanba Shiho’s back in good form with her new single “Music.” It pretty much had nowhere to go but up following Shiho’s last single, a song about getting your hair cut set over some snore-inducing piano. “Music” returns to the more energetic pace of her earlier singles, this new number anchored by the forceful beat that switches up into different patters throughout the song but always remains attention grabbing. Unlike the still-excellent “Shoujo, Futatabi” from the start of 2012, the electronics aren’t as commanding, hanging out in the back of the mix to add a cushion to a song that is otherwise quite pounding. Shiho herself moves with the beat well, her chirpy voice adding a touch of sweetness to the whole number. Coupled with a good video…one not featuring Shiho at all…this is a nice return to form for a promising J-Pop personality.
Category Archives: J-Pop
New Kyary Pamyu Pamyu: “Fashion Monster”
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu has a new single out in October, called “Fashion Monster,” but the full song and video came out late tonight (at a good time for Western audiences HMMMMMMMMM). The clip, above, merges The Adam’s Family with Visual Kei…and a bunch of other great imagery one expects from Kyary with each new video. As for the song…well, hopefully I can write more later, but first few plays through this sounds really nice. The 8-bit bloops Yasutaka Nakata works in are great. For now, enjoy a man dressed as a rabbit rocking out on a turntable-equipped keytar.
Station To Station: Music Station For September 14, 2012 Featuring Carly Rae Jepsen, JUJU And SCANDAL
After missing Music Station last week (gasp!), I’m sad to announce this week’s edition will be rapid fire as I need to pack for a brief vacation. Sorry! But most of these songs speak for themselves.
Carly Rae Jepsen “Call Me Maybe”
At long long long last, one of 2012’s best pop songs is going to get a push in Japan. Trying to explain why “Call Me Maybe” sounds so great is like trying to breakdown why sunlight feels good or water is refreshing – it just…is. Yeah, a critical cop out, but “Call Me Maybe” is just insanely upbeat, a great beat that blows up come the chorus, as do the vocals and those keyboard-generated strings. Or how about how the guitar slides in during the second half of the chorus? That’s a great moment. “Call Me Maybe” is simplicity turned revelatory at its finest. One of the best songs of the year, and I hope Japan can embrace it too.
KAT-TUN “Fumetsu No Scrum”
A shame that the above preview is all I can find – I’d love to spend more time reminding the world of how grating the Johnny’s music formula has become. Well, you can see KAT-TUN bowl above, that’s fun.
Kishidan Special Medley
I don’t know much about Kishidan beyond the fact they boast a big retro image…and they performed with Momoiro Clover Z. That makes them cool in my book.
Kazuyoshi Saito “Himari No Yume”
I like chocolate ice cream, but I don’t like this song. Weird how that happens. Negative points for having a goofy dumb video.
JUJU “Arigatou”
This format might suck…you see how I phoned in those last few posts?…but it does allow me an easy out when I run into a song like this. I can just go “lol ballad” and move on.
Sorta related – I feel since Perfume and Sakanaction’s last singles, nothing of interest has happened in the world of J-Pop. Anyone else feel like everything is moving super slow?
SCANDAL “Pin Heel Surfer”
Once upon a time, SCANDAL was a really good band. Despite being a collection of high-school girls wearing their uniforms while playing guitar, the music this Osaka group released was really catchy, pop with a surprisingly sharp edge to it all. You should get your hands on the group’s first “best of” album SCANDAL BEST, as it is the one release from this group that approaches vital, gathering all of their best material in one place (especially the laid-back groove of “Koi Moyou“).
Soon the major labels came calling, though, and the story takes a bad turn. They became pop stars and…OK, hold on, let me qualify that. I don’t dislike SCANDAL now because they went from a group playing rock to a pop group who just hold guitars sometimes. That would be silly, authenticity is a bunk concept when it comes to the music business. I dislike this shift because their new songs suck. “Pin Heel Surfer” is rather joyless stuff…compare the string section here to the one in “Call Me Maybe,” and note how joyous one sounds and how the other is just there, hanging above the song like dollar-store tinsel. The chorus feels like an afterthought. Good for the members of SCANDAL for making it big, but gah what a waste of music.
Winner Of The Week – Carly Rae big, man.
Station To Station: Music Station For August 31, 2012 Featuring AKB48, Sakanaction And Yoshii Kazuya
Sigh, another summer over…onwards into the fall and then the miserable, stupid winter. First though, some music!
AKB48 “Gingham Check”
First, if you haven’t watched the video for “Gingham Check,” you really should because it is miles away the best thing AKB48 has ever done, and is also surprisingly smart considering the group in question. I’m not joking – here are my thoughts on the clip.
Today, though, let’s concern ourselves with just the song which…well, I’m conflicted. AKB48 has been topping the charts for nearly three years now, and, save for a few exceptions, every single they release sounds the same. “Gingham Check” is no different, relentlessly chipper with arcade-worthy electronics and a typical all-together-now chorus from a group who only speaks in them. It’s not terribly memorable…unlike the surprisingly good “Manatsu No Sounds Good!”…but at the same time the constant barrage of AKB music has rendered “Gingham Check” as sounding very…tolerable…to my ears.
Which is to say “Gingham Check” is neither particularly good nor is it particularly bad (though it IS better than a lot of other AKB songs). It shouldn’t be praised but it also shouldn’t be held up as yet another excuse for critics to huddle together and let out a collective “these guys? FUCK THEM” which has become the common level of criticism reserved for AKB48. Which is ridiculous, considering that they are one of the most important aspects of contemporary Japanese pop culture going right now, and if anything they should be examined closer. Unremarkable song (but amazing video) from a group deserving of deeper critique.
Sakanaction “Yoru No Odoriko”
This song ends up being a bit trickier than an initial listen might hint at. Sakanaction’s latest single seemingly follows the same songwriting pattern they’ve been toying with for the majority of their careers – dancefloor-ready verses erupting into a big, cathartic chorus. “Yoru No Odoriko” definitely features those two hallmarks of Sakanaction’s songwriting, but with a few twists. The big, cathartic chorus actually doesn’t come until about two minutes and 30 seconds into the track…before that, the band teases with a similarly dramatic build-up, complete with some well-placed keyboard notes, but holds off on the actual pay dirt for a bit. When they get to it, though, it’s great, especially the repeated guitar note that sort of just echoes off over and over again. Factor in the lovely female backing vocals – the best new touch here – and you have a great overall tune.
Tackey & Tsubasa “Koakuma Juliet”
Oh rejoice I can’t find this anywhere. Just listen to the Sakanaction song again…or watch the AKB video and take note on the great action-movie names.
Naoto Nana “Naitetate”
“Hello, and welcome aboard your cruise, I’ll be your director of good times Naoto Nana! C’mon, put on this lei and these oversized sunglasses. Look at that, someone better tell the captain we have good times off the starboard bow! OK, anyways, I’ll make sure you are having fun during the duration of your stay on this vessel, and with my unrelenting upbeat-ness and forced smile you will have no choice but to have a good time! Or strangle me, one or the other, because I’ve been told this gets old fast. But what do they know! See ya for ping-pong at 7, bring your biggest grins!”
Funky Monkey Babys “Life Is A Party”
To Funky Monkey Babys’ credit, they added some new tricks to their sonic warehouse. Unfortunately, they picked up lazy Auto-tune and club beats that expired in 2009.
Yoshii Kazuya “Tenbyou No Skikumi”
The beat hints at this being interesting, and when the guitar slides in at the very worst, ya think, this will just be ho-hum rock. And that’s pretty much what this ends up being, except Yoshii Kazuya’s voice is pretty annoying, especially on the verses where he sounds very nasally.
Winner Of The Week: Sakanaction
New Sakanaction: “Yoru No Odoriko”
Sakanaction, who made this site’s second favorite album of 2011, have a new single and video (above) out now called “Yoru No Odoriko.” The song finds the group continuing to play around with the dance-friendly-verse-explosive-chorus structure they’ve been exploring for a while now, although the addition of female backing vocals is a great sounding touch. The video…which takes forever to load…finds the band clad in traditional Japanese clothes standing near Mt. Fuji.