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Category Archives: J-Pop

New Especia: “We Are Especia ~ Naki Nagara Dancing”

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Note: This will be the final regular update around these parts for a bit…starting tomorrow (hopefully!) we will share MBM’s top 20 Japanese albums of the year. And then we will go on a vacation where posts will be more infrequent. Fittingly, we end with Especia.

Osaka idol outfit Especia – who take cues from ’80s city pop and ’90s acid jazz sonically, and vaporwave visually – recently announced they signed a major-label deal with VERSIONMUSIC, under Victor, and will release their major-label-debut EP Primera this February. This is, immediately, good news – Especia have created some of the best J-pop of the last few years, capped off by this year’s Gusto. More exposure and opportunities…and budget…via a bigger label is an obvious plus.

Yet worries surface, as ridiculous as that seems (especially because we are talking about idols, built for mainstream attention). A bigger label means more micro management, and the first taste of Primera’s “We Are Especia ~ Naki Nagara Dancing” hints that this is already under way. Mainly, the video is only available through Yahoo! Japan’s Gyao! video service…only a major label in Japan would think “the best way to get this outfit over to a bigger audience is to limit them to one site.” The video, meanwhile, is a bit less wonky than what came before…instead of weather reports or glossy vegetables, we get faked live-show footage. The Parental-Advisory bit is good, but the rest of this is unremarkable.

If this sounds like goofy fan behavior…well, it probably is, as Especia is the only idol group going now where I’m willing to admit I start acting like your typical “stan” (ugh), give or take Perfume. But spirits remain upbeat…especially when I slap myself and remember “this is great for them! They probably get more dough! Good!”…after listening to the song. Which strikes a decent balance between major-label intro and Especia doing their thing. The first half is a slog – it is pure set up, introducing the group at the speed of a pre-credit info scroll – but then it opens up into an easy-going sway where the group do their thing over something that isn’t quite as brash as some of Gusto’s finer moments…but plenty good. And they introduce some central sonic ideas…the sax solo…and do throw in one exciting development with the rough-neck “what’s my *bleeeeeeep* name? section.

So yeah…who knows where this will go, but that’s part of the fun. And here’s Especia’s pitch for the mainstream listeners of Japan. Watch it here.

Movin’ On: Tentenko’s “Good Bye, Good Girl”

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Earlier this year, “anti-idol” idols BiS broke up, leaving behind a legacy containing a handful of extreme videos, a lot of nutty collaborations and a song catalog of mixed quality, albeit highlighted by an absolute beast of a single. Since disbanding in July, the members of the group have started making strides in various solo projects…but it’s former BiS member Tentenko who has delivered the first really good song to emerge from that outfit’s dissolution. It’s charm, though, comes from aping the past, not really pushing anything forward – “Good Bye, Good Girl” is a song steeped in ’80s sounds, piled up with sytnhesizer squiggles and big cheesy drum hits. I mean, the video tells you everything, as it is obvious footage of Japan in 2014 made to look like unearthed VHS footage. There’s no shortage of artists revisiting that decade in 2014…whether because they dream of those days of opulence, or just really like smooth electro-pop…but “Good Bye, Good Girl” at least hitches a catchy song to its retro look. Here’s a really solid pop song with a nice bounce to it. Listen above.

New Sakanaction: “Sayonara Wa Emotion”

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A little bit back, Sakanaction released the video for “Hasu No Hana,” a slow-burning number that made the most of repetition. Now comes the other side of their most recent single and…it is pretty different! “Sayonara Wa Emotion” skitters from the start, both via the beat and the drippy-droppy synths that pass over it. All of “Sayonara” shifts more than “Hasu No Hana,” changing tempo frequently and adding in more background details. Together, it makes for an overall solid release.

But “Sayonara Wa Emotion’s” biggest strengths also happen to be Sakanaction’s strengths. Like a lot of their finest songs, “Sayonara” is an emotionally charged cut delivered on a stadium-sized level…Sakanaction are a band capable of headlining any Japanese music festival today, so all of the melancholy wrapped up here is packaged in a way built for biggie-sized crowds (even the title is pretty obvious about its intention…you don’t even really need to know Japanese at all to figure out what’s going on there). Yet the opening verse here is detailing a late-night trip to a convenience store to buy canned coffee…before turning into an inner-thrashing about growing cold emotionally. And, like many of Sakanaction’s other highlights, it builds to a big climax, the sort of thing they have gotten incredibly good at. Listen above.

Carpainter Remixes Yun*Chi’s “Wonderful Wonder World

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Rising pop singer Yun*Chi is a fan of netlabels, and that fact comes through especially clear on her latest single “Wonderful Wonder World,” which features one song produced by Maltine act bo en (and hey, she’s had Avec Avec remix in the past so…). She’s probably happy Trekkie Trax wunderkind Carpainter remixed the aforementioned single into a more liquid affair, backed by his preferred, slippery beat pattern and synth work. It basically takes the wide-eyed sentiment of the original and turns it a bit more elastic. Listen above….AND read an English interview with Carpainter here, it is good!

New Sakanaction: “Hasu No Hana”

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Point one – Sakanaction, despite being a very “serious” sounding band, deserve credit for tending to make goofy-fun videos. Just look at how much of a ball Ichiro Yamaguchi is having at the end.

OK, the actual song – Sakanaction’s latest single is now out (and has a video), so let’s talk a little about “Hasu No Hana.” The band have been relatively quiet in 2014, having released only one single (featuring two songs) back at the start of the year. They’ve also been reflective – “Eureka” remains one of the year’s best songs, a shuffling electronic number that knows just when to burst apart (probably Sakanaction’s best attribute, timing) and knows how to make one feel conflicted about Tokyo. The other side was the totally forgettable “Goodbye,” which was one of those “Sakanaction is super popular now, guess they have to make songs for TV shows too.” Accept “Eureka” was for the TV and “Goodbye” just was so…huh.

“Hasu No Hana” rests somewhere between those two, an understated number that is at its best when guitars, drums, synths and vocals lock together at the chorus to create an aching bit of repetition that sounds just wobbly enough. The verses are…fine, though nothing remarkable when not put through lyrical scrutiny. But I’ll take the chorus…and the little pick-up in speed near the end…which dominates overall. Listen/watch above.