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Category Archives: J-Pop

Perfume Prep New Single That Will Feature “Glitter,” A New Album And Have A Dance Contest For You

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Perfume City tweets that the techno-pop trio will release a new single on November 2nd featuring the Kirin-approved “Glitter” with one other song still to be announced. Exciting! But not as much as the second tidbit, which reveals the group will have a new album out on November 30th. The thing appears to be titled JPN and no official tracklist has surfaced. A country-wide tour will follow in January.

Speaking of that tour…would you like to dance on it? Well, Perfume also has a dance contest for “Glitter” where if you can finish the choreography in the video below you can dance on stage with the group. Should have not played so much Rogue Squadron and taken dancing lessons. Actually, no. But this is yours for the taking.

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHidO3BmI5U”]

Station To Station: Music Station For September 2nd Featuring 2NE1, Meisa Kuroki And Masaharu Fukuyama

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Great news gang! College and pro football is back! Which means there is a very real chance I get distracted away from J-Pop at times. Just leave a snappy comment about how I missed the new AKB48 single or something and I’ll pry myself away from directional college versus directional college.

Meisa Kuroki “Wired Life”

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6HLpNb2wxI”]

I made the big mistake of reading the YouTube comments for this video, and unsurprisingly I was assaulted by the seemingly-mandatory dopiness of…whoever writes comments on YouTube. They aren’t that bad, nothing racist that I can see (another YouTube-comment requirement, least feels like it), but just a stream of “WOW SHES HOT” and something about anime. Yeah, sorta harmless but the thinking-train that goes “singer A is attractive, thus singer A’s music must be good” sorta makes me shudder. Pointing this out because I’ve had similar conversations a bit in the past few months and they always seem weird and this reminded me of that, though last time it was about CSS who certainly don’t make much good music!

ANYWAY “Wired Life’s” a strange beast because it manages to do a lot of interesting stuff and a fair amount of annoying junk as well. The opening’s an instant attention grabber, foggy electronics featuring some gurgling static noises underneath that transforms into…a bouncy-but-chilly pop song. Meisa Kuroki’s vocals get run through some vocal manipulation…Auto-tune? She sounds like Kanye minus the Heartbreak…which isn’t that annoying. Some of the stuff she sings, though, can be, like the repeated utterances of what sounds like “catalog.” The production is exciting for J-Pop, but “Wired Life” ultimately doesn’t go far enough to make this more than a clever-but-only-above-average single.

ゴールデンボンバ “女々しくて”

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loU6qOZOxG8″]

Man, Visual kei, I just don’t get you one bit. This song…translated, the title mean “Effeminate” and part of me thinks this could be a joke…seems like a more mainstream-appropriate take on the eternally goofy genre. For all the TV-scripted drama dude’s voice conjures up, this track still boasts a really prominent J-Pop skip, a fact mirrored by the silly up-down dance these potential male hosts do come the chorus. Speaking of the video…that’s probably the best part of this tune, especially the amateur-feeling segments that feature the band in on some sort of gag dancing outside of a bar. The whole track feels like it’s poking fun at…something…and considering how serious some Visual kei takes itself, this TV-friendly version deserves point for not being afraid to laugh at itself. At the same time, though, the song itself blows and divorced from the video ends up a real chore. Which, isn’t good.

Tackey & Tsubasa “Journey Journey～ボクラノミライ”

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1eeGou27EE”]

Can’t find a full version of this long-titled joint, and part of me is thankful for that after sitting through the 30-second preview above. It’s not aggressively offensive to the senses…but it sounds very much like Johnny’s which, even at its best, isn’t something worthy of trumpeting up to much. Going out on a limb and saying the world isn’t missing much if they don’t listen to this.

2NE1 “I’m The Best”

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7_lSP8Vc3o”]

I’ve droned on…and almost certainly will again…about how K-Pop’s bear-hugging of Western music trends puts it leaps ahead of stodgy old J-Pop, so content to do the same stuff on repeat. So yeah, if you didn’t know, now you do.

That said, not sure how much longer I can draw out that talking point after 2NE1’s latest. “I’m The Best” is the neutron bomb of this cultural mash-up, a K-Pop song that buffets-out on Western trends without any remorse. Opening with a wonky Diplo-esque electro-house bit, 2NE1 slither through straight pop, hip-hop and some weird Orientalist-baiting breakdown bit. This is hedonism at it’s finest, a group gorging on the sonic treats to the extreme. I have no idea what anyone in this group is saying besides “billion dollar baby” yet 2NE1 make it clear this is a conjoined diss/hype-up track where everyone sucks in the presence of them. This is some dream-team Survivor Series shit where 2NE1 tag-team it up and clear the ring in record time. And just like pro wrestling, this seems really over the top, but also entertaining.

It will be interesting to see how Japanese audiences react to a song so balls-to-wall egotastic, though at this point I should mention the official Japanese version of the song. It’s pretty much the same minus two big edits…two verses actually get delivered in complete English, and it’s pretty entertaining. The first one is typical “in the club” bluster, but the second one (replacing “billion dollar baby”) finds 2NE1 member hating on some flirty dude and it’s pretty entertaining, though the line “throw it like a Frisbee” is doomed to go over the Japanese audience’s heads (the game doesn’t really exist here). Also, hope they keep the same insane video for the Japanese single, guns and all!

Ayumi Hamasaki “Special Medley”

Yeah, after 2NE1 powerbombing everyone through tables, I’m not gonna listen to an Ayumi Hamasaki medley.

Masaharu Fukuyama “家族になろうよ”

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK64gzdv5Gg”]

Uggggggggggggggh, boring acoustic-guitar-heavy balladry. This is better than the Jason Mraz-ish ditties that sometimes pop up in Japan, but not by much.

Winner Of The Week – Meisa Kuroki gave it a good try, and that one band had a funny video…but just look at which song got the most words devoted to it and you can guess who won.

Controlled Karaoke: Idol Group Dressed As School Girls Deliver Anti-Nuclear-Energy Song Of Our Times

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[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iv4gUdn6Lcc”]

Well, this is…something.

I don’t know much about Seihuku Kojyo Iinkai and Google ain’t helping…but this needs to go viral NOW. A goofy teenage idol group delivering an anti-nuclear-power song that does a lot at once. Let’s break it down:

1. The actual music sounds like “Walking On Sunshine” and/or that generic upbeat song you hear in every romantic-comedy trailer. Obviously, something so giddy is the perfect backdrop to sing about radioactive suffering.

2. The dance they do at the 1:31 mark, about the “words we never learned about,” is really really good, especially for “meltdown.”

3. “Aren’t you ashamed?”

4. OK, now the political side of this song. This might actually be the best anti-nuclear song in the wake of March 11…no, seriously. It helps that very few songs going beyond “recorded straight to YouTube” really emerged, but this peppy bunch actually make some decent points! The points about the government response aren’t farfetched and I think anyone deeply disenfranchised with politics in general can get behind the “politicians just do it for money and fame” idea.

5. Talking about nuclear power in the wake of the disasters is a sensitive issue, but to this group’s credit they are very open-minded about nuclear energy! You can live near a plant if you want, they won’t stop you but they think somethings amiss about it all. And, they actually touch on something that I feel was sorta lost in the entire radiation panic, expressed via the clunky line “the migratory birds in the nature don’t know about this danger.”

6. Seriously this needs to go viral, or at least be turned into an inspiring teen comedy.

Station To Station: Music Station For August 26 Featuring AKB48, 2PM And NICO Touches The Walls

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Le sigh…summer is almost over, meaning no more trips to the beach and having to actually work on a regular basis again. Hope you enjoyed it while it lasted. Now, for some J-Pop…

AKB48 “スペシャルメドレー”

A medley, screw that, let’s talk about…

AKB48 “Flying Get”

Watch here

Where to start…besides signalling a continued disregard for proper English by the Japanese mainstream crowd, “Flying Get” reminds the world AKB48 can’t be touched as Twitter sources tell me this single moved like pancakes at IHOP free pancake day. It’s also a gentle tap on the shoulder to show us AKB48’s music remains EXACTLY THE SAME HERE, the pop military doing the same grating dinner show revue to slightly different music and yet another dimwitted guitar solo. So yeah…not much has changed with “Flying Get.”

The one new wrinkle, though, seems to have been removed by vigilant Internet cops…there is an 18-minute-long video accompanying this song that was up earlier this week that tries to be like Lady Gaga except with all the interesting parts scalpeled out. If you missed it, let me share my experiences. The first ten minutes jump between AKB dressed as Chinese royalty (?) eating food and these presumably bad dudes moving a big wooden rotating-thing around for…some reason. That’s it for the first half…AKB bites into stuff and the crunches are super audible and it’s bizarre. Then the bad guys invade AKB’s culinary kingdom, the song starts and a fight scene plays interspliced with a dance number. It makes no sense, and two AKBers duel each other and whatever I’d tell you to watch it if 1. I could find it and 2. I hated you a lot. Can’t wait for the half-hour sequel.

2PM “I’m Your Man”

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGlJia9H9d8″]

K-Pop might be the sultry new neighbor on the block seducing us away from the unchanging and progressively more uninteresting J-Pop missus, but let’s not get so drunk on a new thing to forget it has plenty of flaws hiding under those tight jeans. Regardless of what Elite Gymnastics say, a lot of Korean pop actually sucks even if it can initially sound like wonderful, wonderful new air in our sails after putting up with AKB for months. So yeah, 2PM break out the “interesting” production on the kinda desperate sounding “I’m Your Man,” mimicking the Euro-leaning tendencies of American pop while also adding some original touches. Yet step away from the behind-the-scenes nerdery and listen to 2PM themselves…this is basically N’Sync with more, really bad rapping thrown in. Revisionist history isn’t tricking me…those late 90’s days of boy band dominance blew, and anything reminding me of that needs to get away.

NICO Touches The Walls “手をたたけ”

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVUmdVpN4kE”]

Cute video!

I walked by NICO Touches The Walls’ set at Summer Sonic this year and they sounded way more aggressive than they do on this single, but maybe I just shimmied by during the “hard” number. This sounds like pretty safe J-Rock, some classical touches glazed on to not scare away the kids in the brass band club, the whole song sounding like a McDonald’s take on Riddim Saunter. The lead singer sounds a lot like the guy from Tally Hall…not a bad thing!…but overall this is a pretty unremarkable dose of modern J-Rock.

V6 “Sexy.Honey.Bunny!”

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkpQ7mrwmbY”]

Wha….wait…whaaaaaa….huhhhhh? What is this? I joke a lot about shitty J-Pop, but I’m dead serious when I say this V6 song might be the worst thing I’ve ever listened to while doing this little feature. Like…Koda Kumi makes me laugh, and AKB48 are just dull at this point, and even Funky Monkey Babys just draw a big “meh” from me. But this…I literally couldn’t finish this, I was in such disbelief over what was happening. Remember that metaphor, about K-Pop seducing you in your neighborhood? This single is the equivalent of your J-Pop spouse taking pole-dance lessons in an effort to win you back, but backfiring big time. Just…wow.

Related, perhaps it might be cleansing to listen to Girls’ “Honey Bunny?” A lot more tolerable, I tell you what.

YUKI “鳴いてる怪獣”

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ka0HOrqCIdc”]

Last time we checked in with YUKI, she was taking inspiration from all the right sources for her single “Hello!” Even the video felt vaguely Feist-ey, cutesey simplicity (albeit clearly filmed on a green screen). She’s not quite as obvious on latest release “鳴いてる怪獣,” opening up with “dramatic” guitars reminiscent of either U2 or that one The Mirraz song, but settles into a nice bouncy gallop with a pleasant enough chorus. The above is only a clip, but pretty much lays it out. Pleasantly enjoyable!

Winner Of The Week – YUKI, for being the least painful.

Station To Station: Music Station For August 19, 2011 Featuring SMAP, YUKI And Koda Kumi Somehow Topping Herself

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A calm image before we embark on the terror below.

Kanjani8 “ツブサニコイ”

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ltV–Mkzr0″]

Earlier this week, the founder of Johnny’s Johnny Kitagawa was attacked at his home, where he barricaded himself from his assailant until help could arrive. Now, we don’t condone violence around here even against people responsible for some of the worst music on the planet…Make Believe Melodies isn’t THAT sadistic!…but arson is sometimes justified in our books and after hearing this string-heavy dribble from Kanjani8 we wish someone would burn down the pop factory responsible for all of these deplorable tracks (as long as no one was hurt!). This is the typical “emotional” Johnny’s ballad that somehow manages to be less soulless than the “fun” Johnny’s pop songs, with the added wrinkle of Kanjani8’s lead singer not sounding all that good here. Something sounds off to my ears. Whatever, another turd from Kanjani8. All those warehouses housing indie records were burnt down in London, yet the Johnny’s distribution center remains intact. I don’t know what to believe in.

Keisuke Kuwata “明日へのマーチ”

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1Esye5p0tU”]

Dude has been on Music Station for, like, three weeks now. I’m OK with this, because Keisuke Kuwata is like the cool, non-creepy uncle of J-Pop who can be a little corny at times but is still pretty cool to hang with. This is a pretty inoffensive acoustic ditty, peppered with some whimsical touches. Nothing spectacular, but some nice mid-morning coffee-drinking music, I’m sure.

Koda Kumi “Poppin’ Love Cocktail”

Watch here

I originally saw this clip…the exact one in the above link…late Saturday night. Like, two in the morning. Immediately after that program, there was a show focusing exclusively on new “idol DVDs” (read: videos of Japanese women walking around in not much clothing). I figured this abomination of a song had to be by some nobody, what with the infomercial-appropriate time slot and all. Then it was revealed this was the work of Koda Kumi and everything actually made much more sense.

Where to start with this? Well, for once Kumi doesn’t fire off the stupidest line here…that honor belongs to Jersey Shore-aping goon TEEDA who declares early on “Damn girl! You looks like horny.” That may be the worst line I’ve ever heard in a J-Pop song for oh-so-many reasons. She does drop some clunkers (“better watch it, I’ma scratch you” being the latest in Kumi’s history of trying to be sexy but ultimately begging for a restraining order), and I’m not even going to ask what is in a “Poppin’ Love Cocktail.” Sonically, portions of this sounds like The Offspring’s “Pretty Fly (For A White Guy).” Somehow, she’s done it again…she has managed to make something even worse than “Lollipop” or countless other misguided sleazy club numbers. She almost deserves an award for this.

Cocco “強く儚い者たち”

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yiqu8944MEo”]

Reggae-tinged take-it-easy music made for a mom’s midday drive to Albertsons. Normally, I’d dislike this…but after “Poppin’ Love Cocktail” my world has been flipped upside down. Plus, this has a pleasant chorus.

SMAP “夜空ノムコウ” And “オリジナル スマイル”

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWjR10jD3Do”]

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kj4jx-Tl2ZQ”]

Both of these songs came out over a decade ago (in 1998 and 1994, respectively) so I don’t know why SMAP were dragged off their cooking show set to perform them. It does help to highlight the lameness of Johnny’s further, as either of these songs could be released tomorrow and I wouldn’t blink an eye. I do have to give credit to “夜空ノムコウ” for at least incorporating a few interesting electronic elements into the background, while the other song has bongos which is kinda different. Otherwise, this is confirmation Johnny’s have been using the same song molds since 1994. Again, burn it to the ground.

YUKI “Hello!”

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uO9vhsU6SDI”]

An enthusiastic “hi!” back.

YUKI seems to be channeling Maia Hirasawa (albeit a very J-Pop-ified version of her) on this single, with the bubbly horns and shiny twinkles abounding. Which is pretty great to hear…if mainstream J-Pop wants to take cues from less-mainstream sources, Hirasawa’s easy-breezy-ready-for-NPR sound is a good choice as I could actually see it having some success. It’s also a bit better than the new Feist song, but I think that might say more about the new Fesit song to be honest.

Winner Of The Week – YUKI, for taking inspiration from the right sources.