Category: jpop
Song Of The Week March 1 2024
Pa-Pa – Liminal Pop Up Shop
Ticking all my boxes of Jpop, Synthwave, Vapourwave, Raregroove; Liminal Pop Up Shop is just a joy to listen to. There are nods to early 80’s City Pop like Sadao Watanabe and The ABs or even modern acts like FM84 or The Midnight, with with it’s infectious synth lines and that oh-so-Japanese chordal arrangement. I’m also reminded strongly of the work Vaughn Oliver of Oliver fame is up to from time to time.
A really strong track this one and I hope to hear more from Pa-Pa very soon with their album due March 2024.
Songs I Found Recently And Liked
I’m back from a most excellent trip to Taiwan so have had not too much time to blog. But! I did find some pretty cool music on my travels which I shall regale you with now…
PARIS x Keepa – Only You
A class production here and as a struggling electronic producer myself I greatly appreciate the talent. This is progressive house with a twist of the deep house. It’s the chordal modulations around the 2:50 mark that raise this track to a darned high level.
湯ノ山かがり – 自意識過剰撤廃委員会のテーマ
Theme of the Committee to Eliminate Excessive Self-Consciousness is what the Google translate tells me the song means; a maxim for us all! This is pure Jrock silliness but still catchy nonetheless.
Tuudi – Just Like Before
I’m not a big fan of the song per se but the reason I’m including it is for Tuudi’s voice which is magnificent – think a slightly innocent Lana Del Rey. I have my eye on Tuudi for some good things in the future.
Subway Rat – Corner Cafe
This is a very acquired taste this one but I do write a food blog where I ate cat food so there is that. David Polanco AKA Subway Rat is an autistic rocker from Queens, New York City and judging by the 11 submissions they sent, quite prolific!
Furami – Villian
To round off our list it’s Furami who says on Submithub “Hi, it’s FURAMI here! I make J-Core music!”. You go girl! This song makes the list not least because of solid production but a neat key change in the chorus which keeps things ticking along nicely.
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If you have any music you’d like me to hear send your tracks here.
Songs I Heard Recently And Liked
Urban Hane – Natter Utan Drommar
Nattan Utan Drommer translates to ‘nights without dreams’ and I can’t really segue neatly into anything logical at this point apart from the fact this track is relentlessly 80’s and mixes together The Damned, The Scorpions and some uber obscure Polish banned called Kombi which I shall post here because I fricking love this song:
Jake Huffman – Highs and Lows
Highs and Lows is the first single of an upcoming EP and has very British sensibilities: The Verve and Razorlight spring to mind immediately. A really solid track that bodes well for what I’m sure will be a good EP next year.
darkDARK – Ghost Complex
This one does take a while to get going but by the time the vocals kick in at 30 seconds you’ll be hooked. A lovely pared back production really lets the track breath and flow as every good production should and I am reminded very much of Feist or Imogen Heap – surely a good thing.
Guggenheim Bilbao / Koki Nakano – MONUMENTAL: Ep. 2
A real adventure this one. Starting off as slightly circular piano piece and then evolving into performance art courtesy of Tess Voelker’s intimate dancing, this is a highly unusual and involving body of work.
Tiger Del Flor – Living In The 90s
All I can remember from the 90s is being miserable and hating pop music and listening to nothing but heavy metal. Pop music in the 90s was terrible. Change my mind. However, Tiger Del Flor makes good pop music and this is like a very laid back Lana Del Rey or – oft quoted in these blog pages – Miranda Lee Richards. This is some great Americana.
Christian Loffler – Roused (Ft Malou)
When reviewing songs for the blog often times you’re struck by the occasional production that is utterly flawless and our Christian delivers a huge but very understated track. If M83 were a bit more grown up it might sound a bit like this.
Dual Aeon – Tokimeki Christmas
And what better to round of this selection with a very silly Xmas song by Dual Aeon. Don’t know what else to say – it’s gloriously happy and Santa San will be sure to add this band onto the Nice List this year!
Songs I Heard This Week And Liked
ウィアグリーバー – Singer
It’s nice to get some more Jrock through to the blog as a lot of folks seem to think I like listening to RnB and hip hop, which is fine n all, but that kind of music isn’t why I started Najinsan.
ウィアグリーバーcomments “how luxurious is the freedom we have taken for granted? I wrote this song while thinking about that.” It’s a fairly predictable pop song but a really nice listen, nonetheless.
Turbo Knight x Sonic Shades Of Blue x Castles Made Of Sky x Waves_On_Waves – Healing Hands
Wave on Wave are collaborators from Finland, Sweden, and the US and this is a track from their up-and-coming album Miami Arcade Vice Parade. This is a great slice of Synthwave with rolling basslines and big drums but the excellent vocals are what really stood out for me.
Salad – Too Good To Be True
I like a good salad, given my other blog is a food one. What’s your favourite salad? This song could be a salad with leaves by Neil Young, Dressing by Miranda Lee Richards, sprouts and beans by Joanna Newsome (did you see what I did there?). The last time I’ll use salad references to review tracks. Maybe.
Femke – Love Somebody Else
This reminds me a lot of Shawn Colvin and has it’s roots firmly in late 1990s Americana. Femke has a lovely voice and has used her musical talents to win a Latin Grammy with her contribution on the Transformacion album of Beto Cuevas. I expect to hear more from her in the coming months on the back of her new EP.
Louie Rubio – Find Your Light
Louie is a multi instrumentalist and when I asked him what the song was about he told me “Thematically the song follows a disenchanted protagonist escaping the Escher-like labyrinth of workaholic careerism and the status quo” then he went to great pains to lovingly describe the various instruments and musical themes running through the track, which I won’t go into here, but which tell me he’s really passionate about what he does. Great song.
5 Songs I Heard This Week and Liked
Seeing as I’m now a curator on Submithub I get sent loads of cool things. This week I’m distilling down five of the best. Enjoy!
NAMESAKE – In Different Cities ft Jewel Owusu
A fairly harmless slice of feel good bubblegum pop to play as you drive down to your local cinema to watch Barbie, which like the film, “explore[s] the delicate balance of seizing opportunities and embracing the transient nature of relationships”. I’ve not seen Barbie yet but I’m 100% sure this is what it’s about.
Sumer Nights – John Fox
When John sent this over I was probably going to pass because of the somewhat abrasive rhythm guitar during the introduction, but the more I listened the more I began to like it. John’s voice seems to have been transported – hot tub style – from 1986. Loads of Journey, Boston, Rainbow in this one folks (yes, I know they’re from the late 70s but I don’t really care).
Autodidactic Studios x pftq x Waterflame x Diana Garnet – Genshindou
Always great to get some Jrock submissions through to the blog and this features some very solid vocals from Diana Garnet. It kinda reminds me of a darker version of Doll$box although Tom over at JPU Records may have better comparisons.
Hoax – Into The Blackhole
ZUSO – Aurora
I’m not sure what the story behind this is; I did reach out to the singer, but like the Aurora Borealis, they were somewhat elusive. It reminds me of something you may hear on the Sunshine soundtrack by Underworld: transient, ephemeral, atmospheric, yet more uptempo. A nice deep house song for cocktails under the, er, sunshine.
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So there we are folks, a diverse selection of songs for you to enjoy. And if you have a song, why not send it over and I’ll have a listen? Pro tip: if you do, include a short bio about the track so I have some background; you wouldn’t believe how many folks just don’t bother.
FEMM Have a New Song!
Here we go! Very synthwave it is too but that seems to be the vogue these days and something I’m happy about because my band Corserine are synthwave. Heh.
The folks at JPU have this to say about it…
New Tokyo’s electronic pop duo FEMM have released another technologically impressive music video ahead of their EU and UK tour this July. The pair also announce that laser artist YAMACHANG, responsible for the music video’s impressive visuals, will be joining the sentient mannequins for the London performances at Boston Music Room and Hyper Japan. Plus, FEMM will add a further date to the tour with an appearance at Japan Expo in Paris, the largest celebration of Japanese pop culture outside of Japan. FEMM’s tour merch designs have also been revealed.
Brand-new video ‘Falling For A Lullaby’ has just been released. The song is produced by Jenna Andrews, the songwriter responsible for k-pop mega hit “Butter” by BTS. Featuring a pounding, cyberpunk synth bassline and super-sweet pop vocals, it has become one of FEMM’s most defining tracks and is one of the duo’s most streamed songs.
FEMM 2022 EU & UK Tour Dates:
14th July – Düsseldorf, Ratinger Hof
16th July – Paris, JAPAN EXPO: YUZU Stage
16th July – Paris, Badaboum
19th July – Manchester, Night & Day Cafe
20th July – Huddersfield, The Parish
21st July – London, Boston Music Room
22nd July – London, HYPER JAPAN Party
FEMM Have a New Song
If you don’t know FEMM, they had a catchy wee song a few years ago called FXXX Boys Get Money which was loads of fun and featured the band in full-on mannequin mode. New Single ‘Level Up’ sees them ditch this ridiculous shtick (yo!) in favour of something much more normal. Thank god.
Level Up is from FEMM’s EP 404 Not Found, which you can order from our old friends at JPU Records.
Ps when you get to that page ^^^ it’s not a really a 404. Ahahahaha.
Yoshiki feat. Hyde’s “Attack on Titan” theme scores two awards in Hong Kong’s 30th International Pop Poll
YOSHIKI feat. Hyde’s single “Red Swan” – the first Season 3 theme song from the hit anime Attack on Titan – was voted “Top Japanese Gold Song” at the event hosted by the major Hong Kong radio station RTHK Radio 2.
The awards were sponsored by RTHK (Radio Television Hong Kong), the public broadcasting network founded in 1928, and the Top Gold Songs Awards are the oldest major music awards in Hong Kong. This year, YOSHIKI feat. Hyde was also named the “Top Artist from Japan”, ranking above fellow superstars Namie Amuro and Hikaru Utada. YOSHIKI is the leader, drummer, and pianist of the band X JAPAN, and Hyde is the lead singer of the band L’Arc-en-Ciel.
Complete List of Winners: https://app4.rthk.hk/special/poppoll30/
Released in October 2018, “Red Swan” debuted at #1 on iTunes Rock Charts in 10 countries. The single also reached the Top 10 on mainstream iTunes Charts in 16 countries and climbed the iTunes Rock Charts in the U.S. (#6) and the UK (#8), becoming the first Japanese anime song in history to rank this high on iTunes Rock charts.
YOSHIKI feat. Hyde – “Red Swan” Official Lyric Video
https://youtu.be/r1XE8ON8fos
Listen to YOSHIKI feat. Hyde – “Red Swan”:
http://smarturl.it/1mdn8r
YOSHIKI Official Website: https://www.yoshiki.net/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yoshikiofficial/
LOVEBITES Announce First European Tour: November 2018
Japan’s power metal heroines LOVEBITES have announced that their debut European headline tour will take place this November. The all-female five-piece, who recently won the Best New Band Award at the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards, have joined British agency X-Ray Touring and will return to the UK and Germany for the tour, and perform in the Netherlands and France for the first time. Continue reading
LOVEBITES Named Best New Band at The Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards 2018
Japan’s heavy metal heroines LOVEBITES have won the title “Best New Band” at the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards 2018. The finalists were nominated by the staff of Metal Hammer and the winner voted for by its readers. LOVEBITES were crowned Best New Band during the ceremony tonight at Indigo at the London O2 and saw the band’s by bass player miho and guitarist miyako flew in from Tokyo to accept the award. Continue reading
Najinsan!!!!!!!!! 