[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…
Our favorite songs of 2011 list comes out in less than a week, and one of the rules we instituted on it is that no one band can have more than two songs appear. The main reason for this addendum is so we can showcase a wide variety of Japanese music to people who might…
[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY3d-vViQAk”] Halfby’s The Island Of Curiosity was one of 2010’s most pleasant surprises, the Kyoto producer releasing an album with a beach theme in a year when it seemed like everyone was making a beeline to the coast. Halfby, though, wasn’t just retweeting musical themes, but rather finding a proper home for his sound. After…
Perfume’s “Chocolate Disco” describes Valentine’s Day through the eyes of a high school student, the narrator observing how her classroom turns into a dance floor on the 14th. The music, appropriately, is a confectionery bop capped by a adorable chorus. Zana Caroline takes the chorus of “Chocolate Disco” and transforms it into “Schokoladige Disko,” a…