Watch it here. Over-analysis later.
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 —…
For some reason, I’ve never written about Frontier Backyard before despite the fact I’ve seen their name all over the place during my time in Japan. FB can easily be compared to Cubismo Grafico Five, but a bit more reeled in. Basically, Frontier Backyard come off as more focused, a group capable of writing really…
Update: Turns out this addition of Music Station doesn’t run until October 1, meaning I was a whole week early. Well…I guess you can get really comfortable with the songs now. This week’s Music Station seems packed with a lot of big names. I guess they want to start fall off right. Let’s get into…
Not content with one of the best J-Pop tracks of the year, Kansai idol unit Especia have another new single out before the calendar turns over. “Our Sp!ce” is released in cahoots with the music retailer HMV, yet the group don’t settle for anything here. Production unit Schtein&Longer keep Especia honest, crafting a whirling song…
So let’s cover the obvious angle on this first…“Bach No Senritsu Wo Yoru Ni Kiita Sei Desu” serves as the latest testament to Sakanaction’s continual mastery of dance-music elements. They’ve been sneaking in things on singles and songs well before 2010, but last year’s “Identity” seemed like a bit of a breakthrough, the band’s best…
Nippon No Arashi, the new textbook about the members of Arashi going around Japan and teaching students about Japanese cultures, made it to school libraries this week. And only school libraries, because Arashi fans seem to be going absolutely bonkers that they can’t get a copy of this book for themselves. Unlike all of those…