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Category Archives: J-Pop

2NE1 Tease new Japanese Single “Scream”

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Usually, I try to avoid writing about K-Pop artists crossing over to Japan on this blog so much anymore, moving that stuff over to the Tumblr. Yet Korea’s 2NE1 hold a special place in this site’s digital heart, so I am not all that hesitant to post a brief teaser of their new Japanese single “Scream.” Based on this glance at “Scream” it sounds like 2NE1 weren’t J-Pop-ified like KARA, this quartet’s bass-heavy, rap-pop sound still intact. “Scream” doesn’t seem like quite the aural chair shot that last year’s “I Am The Best” was, but sounds promising all the same. Listen below.

[youtube=”http://youtu.be/2Cg7XNbNt_c”]

New Vanilla Beans: “Choco Mint Flavor Time”

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Oh Vanilla Beans, how you perplex me. As this idol duo do every time they put out a new single or album, I am left staring at my computer screen like I’m trying to decipher CIA code, trying to figure out whether they are J-Pop prankster geniuses or just so far down the rabbit hole they seem like a joke. Just like previous efforts, the music itself isn’t the riddle – “Choco Mint Flavor Time” sounds like upbeat, fun pop music, another sonic reminder that Vanilla Beans respect the legions of idols that came before them. It has some nifty piano, guitar and bells too. No “Nicola,” but nothing objectionable either.

No, I fuzz out about the group’s image. My theory is that Vanilla Beans realize how ridiculous the concept of a pop idol is, and they are subverting it while pretending to be just that. That’s why they appear stone faced in so many of their videos and just generally pack all sorts of strange imagery into their visual side. Like, did you know the duo’s backstory is that they hail from the Nordic, a point driven home by shots of various Nordic flags and some text serving as very brief character building? Singing into ice cream cones? Ehhhhh a little more reasonable. Stacking blocks just to knock them down? Or how about the shot of them eating ice cream with their hands? I might be going a little too Dale Gribble here, but I swear Vanilla Beans know what’s up. Watch below.

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpnt-nA0V54″]

Station To Station: Music Station For March 2 Featuring Ikimono-gakari, TVXQ And Mayu Watanabe (Of AKB48)

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[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCVxh_BaX08″]

That’s some guy dressed up as Jesus running in the Tokyo Marathon. You gotta feel for the dude dressed up as Pac-Man and Minnie Mouse who jog by early in the clip – they were probably thinking “man, I am gonna get so much attention, running in this silly outfit!” Then out comes the son of God running with a cross strapped to his back and suddenly that fifteen-dollar costume felt lame as heck.

Ikimono-gakari “会いにいくよ”

I can’t find a video or stream online…but I did listen to this song, and you aren’t missing much. It has a little more swing than the typical Ikimono-gakari slow burner, but otherwise it’s all twinkles and overly dramatic singing. This also feels like the third or fourth week in a row Ikimono-gakari has appeared in this feature, all because they have a new album out that sounds like everything else the group has released before. They sorta illustrate the malaise I feel about J-Pop…Ikimono-gakari aren’t close to being hateable, but sound so complacent it gets boring fast. Lots of other groups in Japan do this too – heck, at least AKB48’s sound is kinda confrontational.

TVXQ “Still”

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97LkPOtowJs”]

Certain J-Pop fans hoist TVXQ as the Korean group “that did it the right way,” unlike those cads in KARA or Girls’ Generation who had the audacity to release older Korean songs first or, gasp, aren’t perfect at speaking Japanese. No, TVXQ “earned it” according to the comments section of sites like Seoulbeats and Tokyo Hive.

I think what these comment spewers mean is “decided to sound exactly like all the male J-Pop groups in Japan already.” Whereas Girls’ Generation, 2NE1 and even freakin’ Super Junior add clever little twists to their brand of pop that sound like holy revelation here in Japan, TVXQ pretty much just embraced the sleep-inducing style that guarantees high spots in the Oricon Charts. “Still” could have been a ballad written for any gaggle of young men hoping to star in a gum commercial, and the song does nothing to distinguish TVXQ from the pack. Which is exactly what they want. If this is doing it the right way, fuck the right way.

TOKIO “羽田空港の奇跡”

WATCH HERE

So how about that TOKIO song with a title I don’t feel like translating at the moment? It is bad, and sounds like the dumbest butt rock.

Know what isn’t butt rock? Madegg, the super-productive producer from Kyoto! He releases so much new music I mere mortal like myself can’t write about each new SoundCloud upload. His newest offering is the bell-filled “How Far Can This Boat Go Out To Sea In Miles” which imitates the very best parts of Gold Panda and adds Madegg’s personal touches. Great song, listen below.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/38090592″ iframe=”true” /]

Masaharu Fukuyama “Ikiteru Ikiteku”

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0m8iQsRS2mg”]

Based on the little intro before the song, I think this song will appear in the forthcoming Doraemon movie, in which Asia’s favorite robotic feline travels to some time in the past like he does in every Doraemon movie (and it’s unironically great, I like Doraemon). Given this context, it’s tough to hate Masaharu Fukuyama’s bouncy, silly song “Ikiteru Ikiteku.” Even the title sounds like the punchline to some joke, and that’s before it gets surrounded by horn burps and the cheese-covered guitar. This sounds like the sort of animated-parade music you would expect to appear in a movie aimed at kids. It does its job well.

Even then – compared to the above, non-Madegg songs, this is still miles better because it at least sounds fun! Sure, Wiggles-approved fun, but better than break-n-bake ballads or Johnny’s rock. Sometimes, kids know what’s up.

Mayu Watanabe “Synchro Tokimeki”

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iILdAyGb-uw&ob=av3e”]

Do a YouTube search for “Mayu Watanabe” and the very first video that pops up is a photo tribute to the AKB48 member soundtracked by Massive Attack’s “Teardrop.” The Internet, everybody.

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TRSX2W7R-w”]

So her actual song is basically just an AKB48 song with one critical difference – it is only her singing instead of an army of voices storming my ears. Surprisingly, this actually makes a huge difference in quality – this single still isn’t anything to really celebrate in anyway and still features all the musical touches that make me try to avoid Akihabara, but at least I’m not being barraged by voices. This is less annoying than musk AKB songs, and for that I salute you Ms. Watanabe.

Winner Of The Week – The Doraemon song.

The Perfume Department: Perfume Star In New Ad, Tease New Single “Spring Of Life,” Sign To Universal Music Japan, Launch Global Web Site, Plan To Go International, Cause Really Long Blog Headline

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Usually, I stay up late on weekdays doing all sorts of work (read: watching YouTube), but last night I decided to read a few chapters of a Joan Didion book and go to bed at a reasonable hour for once. Turned out I missed a deluge of Perfume news – guess who won’t be sleeping in the near future – like a bunch of important stuff. So, let us break this down one item at a time:

News: Perfume stars in new Kirin ad – Watch a making-of video below, which also features the ad 25 seconds in.

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcDkAvFN3DE”]

Views: I drank that new flavor yesterday, it was alright. Lemon is better, and really why isn’t there a permanent lime flavor?

News: New Kirin ad features 10-second snippet of new Perfume single “Spring Of Life.” – Did you watch the video above?

Views: It’s tough to pass any sort of judgement on a tiny sample of music, so I’ll reserve judgement/gushing until the full thing comes out. From what is available, though, this sounds…like a springy (har har) Perfume. This isn’t immediately bad like “Kasuka Na Kaori” though, so that’s good.

News: Perfume transfer from Tokuma Shoten to Universal Music Japan. – The trio switched from Tokuma, where they have been releasing music since 2005, to Universal.

Views: OK, now we are hitting the big stories. This is a huge step up for Perfume, as working under the Universal name gives them all sorts of new opportunities…and resources. They probably didn’t need it in Japan, but by now being in the Universal stable they will probably get an extra boost in promotion for future releases. More importantly, being backed by Universal makes the next news item possible.

News: Perfume launch new global site and YouTube channel – Visit the trio’s just-launched global site (which is just a fancy countdown right now, but has a pretty social-network design) here, or Perfume’s new YouTube channel.

Views: So Universal will try to push Perfume internationally. At the start, they are at least approaching this push the right way. Whereas some Japanese labels work overtime to remove YouTube videos featuring their artists, Universal at least has established a YouTube channel gathering the group’s music videos in one place and a global website that could serve as a hub for international Perfume fans. The next step…

News: Perfume to release last year’s JPN on the iTunes store in over 50 countries, including America, on March 6.

Views: …is to release the music internationally.

OK, lets drop the glorified bullet points for a second and focus on why Perfume might be pushed internationally now and if they have any chance to succeed. The timing makes sense – thanks to an appearance in Cars 2, some year-end list love and just an increase in people writing about the group online, Perfume has a decent fan base in place in America. Not huge, but definitely high for a group from Japan that is mostly unknown. Universal probably also sees the current wave of K-Pop groups trying to make inroads overseas and see a chance to sort of hook themselves to that scene – considering no J-Pop acts are actively courting American audiences outside of anime expos, Perfume would be smart to sort of hover around the Korean artists gunning for foreign success. Not to mention that the American charts are dominated by maximalist dance-pop songs, the sort Perfume have been releasing for half a decade now.

Now, do they have a chance of doing well? Well…how do you define success? Like Wonder Girls and Girls’ Generation, I don’t imagine Perfume reaching Lady Gaga-like levels of popularity. Yet I think all of those groups could attract niche audiences, the sort of fan base that no Asian pop act has managed to draw in the States to date. Paired with the potential of becoming the sort of hyper-pop embraced by critics (writers love Max Tundra, and Perfume aren’t that different than him) and the eternal “if it’s from Japan, people will be interested” clause, I could see Perfume having moderate success. All hinges on how they are promoted internationally, though.

It’s also nice to any Japanese pop act shooting for foreign success, instead of playing it safe with domestic sales. This should be fun to watch.

Controlled Karaoke: AKB48 Take Part In Anti-Suicide Campaign

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Most of the time, when I write about AKB48 I’m preparing to sling hate gunk at them over something or other. My history with the group has been overwhelmingly negative, and I would be a liar if I said that sometimes I got excited to write something about the latest messed-up trend they’ve taken part in.

I think it’s only fair I take the time to point out AKB48 doing something really good. The group has started to appear in public service announcements for a campaign against suicide. This comes after a big to-do early this month about the same campaign using the catchphrase “Declare yourself part of GKB47!” As you can expect, this has resulted in a lot of obvious jokes – along the lines of “why would they use AKB48, their music makes me want to kill myself” – but I really do applaud the group (or whoever coerced them into it) for taking part in this. Suicide is a massive problem in Japan – personally, it makes me very uncomfortable that so many here are suffering and it seems like they have to bear this alone – and any measure to stop people from hurting themselves in anyway is more than honorable. It’s especially good that AKB decided to take part in this because they might even reach kids in junior high and high school…a demographic where they do have many fans.

Good work AKB48 and/or the group’s management, this is a very admirable decision.