Let’s just lay this one out in text first — combining Avex artists FAKY, Yup’in and FEMM into one special unit should result in something totally average given the pedigree of the individual acts involved. FAKY and Yup’in have had their moments, but overall neither artist is the sort you get worked up about in…
Sharing a “short version” of anything feels like cheating…why not just wait a week until the full video hits YouTube…but we’ve bent the rules for Perfume before so why deviate from that path. “Flash” is the first non-single to emerge in the run-up to Cosmic Explorer, out worldwide in about two weeks, and finds the…
Now, I’m not a brave enough soul to say the mainstream J-pop scene has undergone a paradigm shift over the last two years — save for the ongoing band boom, the Johnny’s projects and middle-of-the-road idol groups of the country continue to soak up way too much space for music that is an afterthought —…
Hoshino Gen had a breakout year in 2015, his single “Sun” racking up millions of YouTube views and exposing the singer (and leader of the band Sakerock) to a huge audience, culminating in him earning a spot on NHK’s Kohaku music show (Hoshino, don’t look at the ratings!). I’ve always thought his music touches on…
E-girls don’t make particularly daring music. They are a double-digit unit hanging off the EXILE family tree who make high-energy pop songs. The group resembles a traditional idol outfit such as Morning Musume — lots of members capable of being put into smaller groups (or, uh, coming from pre-existing outfits) and of being ushered onto…