J-Pop

Hi. There's a new release out there called Space Ninjas From Hell by Victorius. It's cheesy power metal, but it seems Naruto inspired. Since I heard this I couldn't help but think that a lot of anime OPs are inspired by metal anyway, and that I'd rather listen to those.
I randomly recall Saint Seiya's OP today, so here it is:


and also what I think is the plagiarized version from the band Onmyo-Za (Soukoku #7 off Kongo Kyuubi)


(that's for the random japanese+metal related thoughts of today)

New REOL, new TK





both decent but forgettable

New Tricot. I don't know about the music but the clip is great!

This one is banger



quadruple post btw

Written by Ansercanagicus on 22.10.2020 at 09:26

This one is banger

Two new Tricot albums is one of the best things about 2020. (Also forthcoming Ichiko Aoba LP after the fantastic live album.)

I guess Yukika fits here, too. Japanese living in South Korea, it's a fantastic city pop throwback album:

Just discovered 五五七ニ三ニ〇. It's a pretty interesting math/prog jpop thing:

Kyary is back!

KKB

Oh yeah, KKB is back to pop instead of their generic rock phase. This single kinda sounds like Yakushimaru Etsuko. I could do with a bit more silly bubblegum bops like in the first albums tho

Written by Karlabos on 24.02.2021 at 21:56

Oh yeah, KKB is back to pop instead of their generic rock phase. This single kinda sounds like Yakushimaru Etsuko. I could do with a bit more silly bubblegum bops like in the first albums tho

generic rock phase? The last album was great too wasn't it?

Written by Ansercanagicus on 24.02.2021 at 22:04

Written by Karlabos on 24.02.2021 at 21:56

Oh yeah, KKB is back to pop instead of their generic rock phase. This single kinda sounds like Yakushimaru Etsuko. I could do with a bit more silly bubblegum bops like in the first albums tho

generic rock phase? The last album was great too wasn't it?

Not as great as bubblegum bass

Nice retro J-pop

The production is surprisingly good for 1987.

Written by Karlabos on 05.03.2021 at 16:14

The production is surprisingly good for 1987.

Well actually the production is one of the main appeal of Japanese music for me. Most of 80s or 70s sound incredibly fresh. All instruments have their shining part, everything is efficient and well round, it's vibing, grooving, still sounds light in a good way.
That's why I'm often trashing the modern prod, we clearly lost something important since.

New Perfume sounding very city poppish. Nothing less than expected


One song only is too short, tho. Perfume is one of those bands that listening to the whole album is a far superior experience.

New Yunomi song: (new album when?)

Her voice makes my ears bleed. And I absolutely love it.

This band is too good:

Omg, Capsule is remastering Fruits Clipper. And Yasutaka Nakata (Perfume, Kyary pamyu pamyu, Coltemonikha etc) is the producer. Apparently there is gonna be a debut stream in 15 hours. Whatever that is.

From the single tracks, I guess it sounds pretty much like old Perfume, which is really good:

New Kyary Pamyu Pamyu song:

I like that heavy piano all over the mix. Bassy piano It's the kind of stuff I've been into lately

Damn. Listening to Kyary beatboxing over a hard bass track really took me off guard. I was grinning silly for the entire thing.

Highly experimental jpop underground band. A full tripfest of jpop blending together with breakcore, trip hop, jazz, bossa nova and whatnot

Brand new Suiyoubi No Campanella songs:



The previous vocalist got replaced by Utaha
When I heard about it I got scared, because in my mind Suiyoubi No Campanella was about KOMI singing and rapping skills. But the new vocalist does a great job and the songs sound as exotic and ethereal as always. The rapping on the 2nd song doesn't even sound japanese, kinda feels like thai or something somehow. It turns out this project is much more than a single person after all

Dafuq did I just listen to...?

New Nanahira album streaming

New Kero Kero Bonito!

Yay, they're back to jpoppy bubblegum bass:

Written by Karlabos on 16.11.2021 at 21:30

New Kero Kero Bonito!

Yay, they're back to jpoppy bubblegum bass

There's something deeply disturbing about this, and I'm on the fence about whether it's a good thing. Reminds me of that SNL sketch, J-Pop America Fun Time Now! (which I imagine is deliberate).

Recently I discovered this great artist called Shachi.
It's sort of a blend of jpop and chillstep

3776 was nice

Ling Toshite Sigure but more extreme


and some old OP with suave vocals

I dunno if I'm just a victim of trends, but I can't get over how soothing 70s and 80s Japanese pop and folk is. Songwriting can be a bit patchy, but there seems to be another perfect-sounding album around every corner. Taeko Ohnuki and Yumi Arai are probably my favorites.





Although Konomi Sasaki's 1983 album has this ridiculously good opener: