Every week in 2016, pajama-pop duo Lullatone shared a new song that fit in wonderfully in the group’s universe. Which is to say, they zoomed in on the everyday and seemingly tiny details of life, with song titles running from “How Frost Grows” to “Returning Overdue Library Books.” This has always been Lullatone’s focus, and as they have for over a decade now, this 52-week-long project resulted in many songs that could turn heartfelt really quickly (the delicate “A Photograph From The Day You Were Born,” the comforting chimes of “Forgotten Formats”). Matching the span of this project, Thinking About Thursdays collects 52 songs (!), so expect a lot of variety. And really just dive in — few groups anywhere capture the magic of the ordinary quite like Lullatone. Get it here, or listen below.
After giving “future bass x J-Pop” a whirl, Tokyo Girls’ Style slow things down a touch with “Predawn,” a “HIPHOP X EDM” number. Which might be code for “tropical house” meets R&B, as the verses on this song unfold at a pace similar to Bieber or Fifth Harmony. The hook, though, earns that EDM tag, a whirring little thing not far removed from, say, DJ Snake. Key to this, though, is Tokyo Girls’ Style not just letting that noise be the center, instead singing over it and upping the emotional intensity. Similar to what Morning Musume’s “Beyond The Time And Space” did, “Predawn” avoids settling in favor of upping the drama. Listen above.
I don’t have much time as I need to go to sleep, but…new Oomori Seiko! “Dogma Magma” is from her forthcoming new full-length, and it is a good bit of twisty-turvy pop, a song that knows how to keep things interesting but also never abandons the pop core that has been vital to her work. There are a lot of detours you could make while talking about this…like how few artists are as good as getting the most out of their voice as Seiko, how she kind of makes “alternative idol” music or whatever you want to call that musically superfluous, how previous point would probably get me punched by Oomori Seiko herself…but “Dogma Magma” reminds that Seiko is one of J-Pop’s most ambitious artists going, still. Listen above.
Yoshino Yoshikawa isn’t as interested in the cute side of Japanese music as he once was, but the producer does have a history of exploring the kawaii. The Cats EP collects songs centered around the titular, furry creature, which have been released primarily over SoundCloud over the last few years. And yeah…they all deal with cats, and on cuts such as “Les Chats” feature actual meow sounds. However, this set is also a set showcasing Yoshikawa’s sound, and how it has changed over the years….listening to “Dancing Cats” now reveals that the song, with its dramatic build and Vocaloid singing, hinted at where the producer would go with last year’s fantastic Event Horizon. It is far more than a cuddly curio collection. Get it here, or listen below.
In general, the critical move away from “guilty pleasures” has probably been a good thing. People who are generally not obsessed with decimal-point scores and the inner workings of music content still use it but, as they always have, ultimately don’t care. Yet for writers, it has probably lead to more free writing and less posturing, all good things. But sometimes, I think clinging to the idea of guilt in liking something had some positives, like forcing you to think about just why you felt some sort of connection to the music.
Yurufuwa Gang set off all sorts of inner alarm bells, starting with the fact that their song “Gra-Thef” is a song inspired by Grand Theft Auto, as the video above hints at. The duo of Ryugo Ishida and Sophiee — with the bulk of their music produced by beatmaker Automactic — are joined by Lunv Loyal, and “Gra-Thef” is a joyfully goofy song, every voice just dunked in Auto-tune, from the first utterance of “bitch” onward. Automatic conjures up a gleeful woodwind-guided beat that adds to the vibe, and the whole thing teeters pretty close to that dangerous “too close to rap stereotypes” zone…but kinda skips above it, because they embrace it so much (gun shot sounds, beating up stuffed cops in the video) and make it sound so fun. It helps that the whole thing reminds me of Sicko Mobb.
This whole atmosphere extends to all of their music, from the automobile-centric jam “Fuckin Car” to the slow-mo come-on of “Dippin’ Shake,” anchored by a clever-enough metaphor that Yurufuwa Gang instantly turns to simile by just stating what they are on to. They put out one album earlier this year — coming out properly via Space Shower Music later this Spring — and it opens with a song sampling Cults, which had me on board from the get go. I have been listening to this a lot lately.
And here’s where the guilt comes in…am I an idiot for liking something that can get really stupid, but sounds so great? I’ve wrestled with this for the last few days, and have come away convinced that, yeah, it is sorta goofy, but that goofiness is part of what makes it so great…because a lot of the sillier details really just enhance the sense of fun Yurufuwa Gang embrace. And, despite whatever Hypebeast writer types up between Yeezy Boost cleaning sessions, most contemporary Japanese rap that gets any sort of media attention is joyless stuff, guys who found out about Future and became so focused on sounding like him that they forgot to import over any of the really joyful parts of his music (or, worse still, the guys who refuse to let 1992 be). Yurufuwa Gang don’t care, and just take the best elements of U.S. hip-hop and play around with it, creating something charming from it. Listen above.
