Rare are the times when you stumble across a SoundCloud or Bandcamp page unironically tagging itself as J-Pop. Even rarer…finding an earnest stab at the outright poppy through these sites that isn’t terrible. There are certainly exceptions – everything on Maltine that goes by that, mostly – but try spending some time with that tag….
Now, I’m not a brave enough soul to say the mainstream J-pop scene has undergone a paradigm shift over the last two years — save for the ongoing band boom, the Johnny’s projects and middle-of-the-road idol groups of the country continue to soak up way too much space for music that is an afterthought —…
Sigh, another summer over…onwards into the fall and then the miserable, stupid winter. First though, some music! AKB48 “Gingham Check” WATCH HERE First, if you haven’t watched the video for “Gingham Check,” you really should because it is miles away the best thing AKB48 has ever done, and is also surprisingly smart considering the group…
[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPBOvJgeP44″] When Perfume City originally Tweeted “SNSD x Perfume on MJ! Dreams do come true!” followed by a YouTube link, I instantly got my hope stupid high that the two groups performed together on this show I had never heard of that probably wasn’t associated with a certain Chicago legend just like Perfume did with…
Social media czar Mark Zuckerberg got a new dog this week, pictured above. Yet he’s not the only one with new additions to their life! Music Station this week features a new Korean outfit amidst a bunch of established J-Pop types. But can they got more likes than Beast? EXILE “Each Other’s Way ~旅の途中~” [youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiuxZ_DYhQM”]…
[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLEMcgCMrZA”] Perfume appeared on (one of) Japanese-pop legends SMAP’s TV show Monday night, something the Internet tells me has actually happened before. Go figure. Anyway, the two groups engaged in a little small talk, surely promoting the various projects both outfits have coming out on the horizon before teaming up to perform a couple of…
