30. Michiyo Honda “Paradise Lost” J-Pop remains an easy punching bag in 2011 because most of the criticism lobbed at Japanese mainstream music ring true. A large chunk of acts crowding the upper reaches of the Oricon chart are 90’s holdovers with appropriately bland tunes. Labels seem to be in an arms race to see…
[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iv4gUdn6Lcc”] The fact this didn’t go even more viral is a sign society needs to be reset and we should all start over. Amazing on at least four levels.
40. Nanba Shiho’s “Kodona No Kaidan” Because Sakanaction needed even more praise this year – that group’s lead singer Ichiro Yamaguchi helped produce this single, which explains why this sounds so exciting and different from most whizzing-and-whirring idol pap in 2011. The opening synths icicles bring to mind “Rookie,” and the dance-centric beat was all…
[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCcEbye6wuU”] Tokyo Girls’ Style – “Kodō no Himitsu” When I originally wrote about Tokyo Girls’ Style’s “Kodō no Himitsu,” that geographically-accurate idol group getting only the slightest attention as I instead decided to praise chiptune outfit YMCK. Their NES-tastic remix still sounds plenty good, but as the year draws to an end and I look…
Another year draws to a close, but 2011 wasn’t just another run-of-the-mill desk calendar for Japanese songs. The past 365 days saw an abundance of great tunes from Japan-based artists, ranging from shadowy electronic movers from Tokyo to dreamy pop numbers born in Osaka to space-tripped clackers via Kyoto. Just as exciting, though, were how…