Make Believe Melodies Logo

Category Archives: J-Pop

New Nanba Shiho: “Shoujo, Futatabi”

Posted on by

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

The cynic in me said last week that J-Pop in 2012 looked to be a gloomy affair, another 12 months of AKB48 roundabouts and Johnny’s drippings and whatever EXILE does. Three weeks into the year and I was ready to toss it out of the window. Then, with excellent timing, this past week has helped me snap out of my doom-speaking, suddenly remembering the term “J-Pop doesn’t just refer to the schoolgirl mannequins clogging up the Oricon charts but “Japanese pop” which includes a lot of stuff you don’t hear all the time. First, Sugar’s Campaign dropped a new song oozing pop goodness – The groove! The giddy chorus! The pure sonic taffy that is the song’s climax! – that band members (and experimental electronic makers outside of the group) Avec Avec and Seiho want to get attention from major labels with this. What a wonderful world that would be. Now, Nanba Shiho – who popped out of nowhere last year to record one of the more charming pop singles of 2011 – has released a song that in a just world would hang with the YUI’s and Yuki’s of the Japanese mainstream world. It’s her best work to date, and an irresistibly catchy song that shows how good the stuff we label “J-Pop” really can be.

Blooping to life, “Shoujo, Futatabi” wastes little time establishing itself as a bouncy pop number seemingly powered by sunbeams breaking through a window in the morning. The track’s spine…and strongest musical component…is the beat, a relentless smack bringing to mind other recent greats like MiChi’s “Change The World” and even the retro-thump of Perfume’s “Love The World.” Also like that pair of songs, Shiho’s latest gets beefed up by all sorts of electronic flourishes, from the big glowing synth shines in the verse to the stardust trail right before the chorus to the burbling video game noises. Sonically, “Shoujo, Futatabi” keeps everything relatively simple (beat, a few synths, some special noises popping up every once in awhile), but makes each one count.

Yet the biggest surprise here…and what gives “Shoujo, Futatabi” it’s beautiful beating heart…is Nanba Shiho herself. On last year’s “Kodona No Kaidan,” it was the production of that single that made it such a treat to listen to, Shiho herself more of a necessary feature, a face to sell music that really spoke for itself. Here she is absolutely vital, her voice moving lightly along with the beat and adding a touch of sweetness to a track that’s otherwise all about movement. The pacing of her vocals at the chorus reveals that “Shoujo, Futatabi” is basically a sped-up ballad graced with better production. The title translates to something like “Young Girl, Again,” and Shiho flips the time-tested ballad theme of youth gone into something hopeful and in the moment – Shiho makes it seem like youth isn’t something meant to be reminisced about sadly while a Disney-worthy orchestra plays, but rather a feeling one can slip into if they want at any age. Here’s hoping more people get that message.

Shout out to Neaux for posting this first.

Station To Station: Music Station For January 20, 2012 Featuring Tokyo Jihen, BIGBANG And Jun Sky Walker(s)

Posted on by

First Station To Station of 2012, rejoice rejoice! Been a long time since we have journeyed into this sketchy sonic territory, but Music Station doesn’t disappoint this week, giving us a surprisingly wide variety of J-Pop (and K-Pop!) to sample and eventually stick our tongues out at. Let’s get the rust off.

Ikimono-gakari “いつだって僕らは”

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGttchG98RI&ob=av3e”]

Moment of honesty – I am not remotely pumped for mainstream Japanese music in 2012. Blame this on a budding obsession with K-Pop which, though littered with duds, even sounds interesting in total flaming wreckage mode. Oh, and the Japanese “indie” (used sorta loosely here) scene, which seems poised to be really exciting this year. J-Pop, though…not exactly filling me with much hope, just more images of people shoveling coal into a furnace on loop. Funny, because last year actually saw some really good mainstream stuff in the form of Kaela Kimura, Perfume and Sakanaction just to name a few. Nothing -and, yeah, only being January plays a part, who knows what will come out – gets me giddy the way even a dumb looking Wonder Girls movie does.

This new single from Ikimono-gakari does nothing but making me feel gloomier about J-Pop in 2012. The opening knocks off the same intro used in at least eight Arashi songs – not the best inspirational jumping off point in the first place – before diving into an inoffensive but also uninteresting bit of chirpy pop that confirms Ikimono-gakari only exist in two modes – happy-bouncy version and sad-but-accepting-of-it version. This wouldn’t be so disheartening if it weren’t for the group behind it – Ikimono-gakari have morphed into a sales juggernaut, their last 16 singles all peaking somewhere in the top ten of the Oricon charts, meaning this one will probably perform similarly and the album it comes off of will most likely debut at the top spot. Which means more groups trying to sound like this which means more bland bland bland pop. This isn’t remotely surprising, but still pretty weak.

Jun Sky Walker(s) “Start”

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lE3nFC9IqkE”]

Why does the “s” have to be in parenthesis? Were they not sure how many people were in the band?

Jun Sky Walker(s) are a rock band that formed in 1986 and saw relative success up until their breakup in 1997. Now, they are back! The music of “Start” is pretty harmless, just some safe guitar playing that at least has a little bite to it, even if it comes via baby teeth. But oh man the lead singer’s voice, ruins everything. He has this weird warble that comes out when he’s trying to sound dramatic – which, turns out, is a lot – and just in general sounds like he’s forcing himself a bit. Maybe you had to be around the first time?

Sexy Zone Special Medley

If that isn’t one of the worst combination of words in any language, I don’t want to be on this planet anymore.

Tokyo Jihen Medley

The big news in the Japanese music world this week was the announcement that Tokyo Jihen would be calling it a day following the release of one more album and a small farewell tour in February. This development has been met with sadness (but acceptance) from fans and snark from others, Ringo Shiina’s band clearly hitting a lot of emotions over their nine-year career. I have to cop, though, that I actually am not as well versed in Tokyo Jihen as I probably should be. I really liked 2010’s Sports and the singles leading up to and following that album have all sounded, at worst, “good” to me, but I haven’t dug into their back catalog all that much, checking out singles here and there but nothing extensive. Which blows now, seeing as they are going away. So, instead of writing a big sappy tribute in this spot now, I’m probably going to start working my way through their history and probably write something later. Consider this a rain check.

BIGBANG “Tonight”

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AZ72VOQQW8″]

One of the more persistent shots fired at K-Pop is that it’s just an imitation of Western pop, the Korean music industry doing nothing originally and just borrowing ideas from America for their artists. This is a very dumb argument – nothing on American radio sounds like “Bubble Pop!” or “Be My Baby” or “Gee.” Even something like 2NE1’s “I Am The Best,” which does take cues from maximalist Western pop, blows everything up to a level nobody in America is doing. It’s a dumb claim most of the time, but not in the case of BIGBANG’s “Tonight,” which bites from the club-inspired European sound that has been a staple of the American charts for the last two years. Think Black Eyed Peas, or maybe “We Found Love,” and you will have an idea of how “Tonight” sounds.

Which isn’t a bad thing either, regardless of what some dipsticks think! BIGBANG get a slightly unfair push as “Tonight” sounds miles better than any of the Japanese music above – which, I admit, was two songs and the memory of Sexy Zone – but the club-oriented sound hasn’t pummeled Japanese pop into submission like it has in other places, so this feels like fresh breath to me.

Winner Of The Week – BIGBANG

Controlled Karaoke: CNN Interviews Yasushi Akimoto, Who You Might Know Better As The Dude Who Invented AKB48

Posted on by
This 50-something year old knows what teenage girls are going through today
This 50-something year old knows what teenage girls are going through today

CNN recently interviewed Yasushi Akimoto, the guy who came up with the AKB48 concept and basically ruined everything. They just put up a transcript of the interview in English, which is worth reading. The biggest reveal of this chat is that Akimoto loves cliche comparisons – AKB48 is like “cheerleading or lacrosse” (huh?) unless it is like managing a “baseball or football team.” Also – food comparisons!

Yet beyond that, the interview features a few memorable bits. CNN asks him about the group’s lyrics which are sometimes sexually suggestive, but Akimoto claims this is just being realistic about what teenagers go through nowadays. When asked about whether the AKB formula could work in the West, he says it could although in the next sentence he says “It might turn out to be totally different” which actually implies it would only work because it was SO different from what actually happens in the West it…would work? Also, I’m just going to lift the final question and answer wholesale because it is just insane all around.

“COREN: This is a major business for you, but for Japan, it means so much more. Your girls have become ambassadors for the country. And when the earthquake/tsunami hit, they went on to become representatives for the relief organization, whether it be for the Red Cross or raising money with MTV. What is your vision for AKB48 moving forward?

AKIMOTO (through translator): Japan is in pain, and AKB48 wants to spread energy to everyone, first and foremost. And, of course, we would like to continue our support activities. Among other things, I would like to send a message with AKB, that you can make your dreams come true. I would like to deliver this message, and not only to Japan, but also to people all over the world. Dreams do come true. But how it is realized might be more or less than what you had expected.”

CNN, great journalism with the slobbering! Akimoto, glad you want to save the world by making heaps of cash!

Go read it, interesting and horrible all at once.

Best Song On The Worst Album Award 2011: KARA’s “Only For You”

Posted on by

Man, Super Girl really did end up being the worst-case scenario for KARA. Whether because they wanted to spike sales even more or just because they have absolutely no idea how to embrace something that doesn’t sound like the year 1993, the J-Pop powers-that-be pigeonholed one of Korea’s hottest exports into the bland box of a “typical J-Pop album.” Bunch of sappy ballads that’s basically audio Nyquil? Check. Songs you would only expect to hear in an Akihabara arcade, full of people too focused on trying to win Hatsune Miku pillows to care? Check. Stuff that might as well have been written for Koda Kumi? Check check check. It’s a train wreck of an album, one consumers naturally lapped up, making it a record breaker. Congrats old label dudes, you win again.

Yeah sitting smack-dab in the middle of this otherwise recycle-bin worthy album is “Only For You,” a legitimate jam and maybe the best KARA song I’ve ever heard. The greatness of “Only For You” originates from its influences – it borrows heavily from the sort of woman-helmed R&B that saw a boom somewhere between the peak popularity of disco and New Jack, unafraid to knick elements from both genres. That style saw a bit of a resurgence in 2011, highlighted by Toro Y Moi’s cover of Cherrelle’s “Saturday Love,” but “Only For You” might be the best homage of all. The drums hit in the same Reagan-era way Capsule is always trying to get, while the vocals skip over them stylishly, leading up to the surprisingly sexy chorus. The producers of this track even skipped KARA’s vocals up at points, a trick you see in Cherrelle tracks and other artists from that time. Most importantly, unlike anything else on Super Girl, “Only For You” is fun, a dance-pop song one might actually want to dance to. That song – along with Korean single “Steppin’” – show that Super Girl might just be a bump in the road, but even a pothole can have a quarter resting at the bottom of it.

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LN_30oNlCA”]

Controlled Karaoke: Mayor Of Aso City Sings AKB48’s “Flying Get,” Foolishly Lets Someone Record It

Posted on by

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

You know how sometimes you go to a party or some other laid-back social gathering and there is some dude/dudette who makes a funny joke or maybe talks in a silly voice for a second and it kills? Like, everyone burst out laughing and loves it. Then said person decides “hey, I like this attention!” and decides to repeat the joke/schtick for the rest of the night. And soon enough, the laughter has been replaced with silent annoyance because that person really should stop talking like that, geez. Know how that happens?

Here is the mayor of Aso City singing AKB48’s “Flying Get” to a bunch of folk at a Coming Of Age Day event. Watch as what could have been a nice little gag (haha a person with serious responsibilities is singing a song made for 12-year-old girls) turns into a bizarre grab at attention via a man who either secretly has the AKB baby-making app or went overboard studying for a joke.

I’d call for impeachment, but that’s just me.

(Thanks to Neojaponisme for posting this on their Twitter)