Halloween! But before ya go load up on candy, you gotta listen to some J-Pop. Ai Featuring 加藤ミリヤ “Stronger” [youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCMzr81oCIw”] Ai attempts to split the difference between Mariah Carey girlfriend-empowerment pep pop and Ne-Yo’s futuristic R&B that sounds…well, catchy but kinda obvious. The hover-car side of this track seems less innovative and more paper-clipped on,…
Ever wanted to hear the pained cries of Kurt Cobain…set to some sweet electro beats? Today’s your lucky day, courtesy of Japanese dance music maker Re-kid, who has replaced the ingrained-in-pop-culture guitars of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” with a way-energetic electronic workout. Pure novelty? You bet. A bit jarring? Yep. Worth the 4:49 out of…
Damn, this extended preview of “Laser Beam” sounds pretty drat good. Pay special attention to the opening, which if you’ll excuse the buzz word, is totally swagged out. The single drops May 18. [youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWjl30uhMhM”]
CNN recently interviewed Yasushi Akimoto, the guy who came up with the AKB48 concept and basically ruined everything. They just put up a transcript of the interview in English, which is worth reading. The biggest reveal of this chat is that Akimoto loves cliche comparisons – AKB48 is like “cheerleading or lacrosse” (huh?) unless it…
English producer…and Maltine fixture…bo en was profiled on Pitchfork today, and of all the great details within also existed…his song for rising Japanese pop singer and Kyary-agency-mate Yun*Chi. The story of Yun*Chi’s music career thus far has been one of sounds being all over the place – she’s been backed by a bunch of producers,…
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 —…
