The boards were down last year for some time, and I never really got back to posting when they returned, so there's quite a lot I never got to share. I wasn't sure if I wanted to do a thread for this year, but I sort of like using these threads as my own archive of sorts, and I also like getting thoughts and recommendations from you guys, so here it is again. I might just dump what didn't get posted in the 2019 thread in a post or two here instead.

Their major label debut. It's only been out for a week, but I am pretty sure this is my favorite full album from them since THE. I've got quite a few thoughts about album and its tracks, as well as about the band's trajectory overall, but I'd like to hear what other people think first. The first track on here is so good, but I wish it were longer, however.

my thoughts are here: https://93millionmilesabove.blogspot.com/2020/04/tricot-makkuro-2020.html

but basically, I think this might be their best album to date, outside of the one weirdly basic extremely pop-ballad-ish track, everything here is either good or great. the first half in particular sounds like them pushing their sound to new heights to me. They still have not released any project that I don't enjoy. Extremely consistent band.

I actually liked the ballad track a bit. The slow buildup and cathartic climax reminds me a bit of タラッタラッタ (Tarattaratta)　from their debut. Although I like the title track on this album, I kind of wish it were a bit more interesting melodically given how good 真っ白 (Masshiro) leads into it. Some people don't seem to like the new version of なか (Naka) with Chon's guitar embellishments, but I like Chon's sound and think it's nice touch. AND remains my least favorite album from them and that I don't revisit as much, but these last two and their debut are just solid all around.

Posting the single here: https://youtu.be/kJHkiuenKEE
But I think the standout track is actually "sp813" on this EP/single.

Link: https://youtu.be/u-oDkzv_M6s
I think this is the best song she's put out in some time. Hoping she puts out more like this in the future.

I'm not getting my hopes up though about more stuff like this. She's burned me before unfortunately.

I never have much to contribute but I really enjoy seeing what you post.

Side question: how do you keep up on music in this area more generally? There are a few acts I try to follow or find "similar to..." recs for but I don't have the language skills to navigate native music sites, and haven't found a good English-based or translated site to use as a base.

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

>I never have much to contribute but I really enjoy seeing
>what you post.
>
>Side question: how do you keep up on music in this area more
>generally? There are a few acts I try to follow or find
>"similar to..." recs for but I don't have the language skills
>to navigate native music sites, and haven't found a good
>English-based or translated site to use as a base.
>
>-thebigfunk
>
>~ i could still snort you under the table ~

No problem. Nowadays I rely a lot on what Spotify recommends me in the Discover Weekly and New Releases Radar playlists. I do use the /r/japanesemusic and /r/kpop subreddits as well to see if there's anything that catches my eye. I don't follow blogs much anymore, and I usually just stumble into things randomly, so there isn't a central source that I use to keep up. If I find an artist or song I really like, I'll dive a bit deeper by checking out their similar artists tab on Spotify. YouTube also makes some surprisingly good recommendations as well based on my viewing habits.

One of the bands that has one of the more stereotypical J-Rock sounds in my playlist, but there's something about the vocals and the songwriting on a lot of their songs that keeps me coming back, and I've been listening to this album quite a bit since its release. There are a few singles on YouTube, but you'll most likely have to use Spotify, Apple Music, or whatever music service you may use to hear the rest of the album.

Singles:
https://youtu.be/KOErTi6qLB0
https://youtu.be/ub0cgQFrZDs
https://youtu.be/XgB6RiR3oac

Not a fan of their single, which just sounds like an attempt to jump on the current TeenCrush style that is currently the flavor of the month in K-Pop, but a couple of the b-sides on this EP are great.

Number 1: https://youtu.be/wqPhGHnS_UQ
Oh (Yes I Am): https://youtu.be/5GtEq6MlUZA
So What (single): https://youtu.be/8Vto_qUIjcA

Just a super catchy track.
https://youtu.be/UuV2BmJ1p_I

Clover Wish: https://youtu.be/GeECmtrY1Fw

I don't really care if I get judged on this one, but I am a huge sucker for anime songs like this. Some pretty piano or acoustic guitar, strings, and those distinct J-Pop melodies are a recipe that just works for me. I am also enjoying the show quite a bit, which is a pretty cute and funny take on Japanese idols with a female idol fan as the protagonist. The song reminds me a lot of the ending song for Little Witch Academia as well, which is one of my favorite anime songs ever (link: https://youtu.be/zDfltpO1620

Anime was my first exposure to Japanese music and I still love stuff like Bouken Desho Desho by Aya Hirano.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAvsEn8cty8

Crossroads: https://youtu.be/kx5TWKPE5sU

I only listened to the album once, so I don't have much of an opinion yet, but the single from this K-Pop group has a very distinct anime/J-Pop kind of sound. Nothing groundbreaking, but it's that formula that I personally enjoy. The strings and overall style remind me a lot of the Madoka opening: https://youtu.be/OrgpX-_bFqM

24-25: https://youtu.be/1neyBXrfKQo

Another very good song by iri. I've probably said it a few times already, but I really enjoy her voice, which is pretty distinct from a lot of Japanese female singers.

The album comes out in a few days (Feb. 7th), and the single is here:
https://youtu.be/p6uY5xG9nng

It's always interesting to hear how the band balances between their hardcore/screamo elements along with post rock, and we'll see how it goes on this record.

ukiyo: https://youtu.be/LIP0uf6Lpco

Last year I ran into and hung out with Steven Tanaka at an Akai Koen show in Osaka (really cool and generous guy). He's the anesthesiologist in Canada that created and has curated the Next Music From Tokyo tour series for the last decade. Anyways, after the show we were unable to meet up with Akai Koen (the band was part of his tour series back in 2013 before they were on a major label), but paranoid void were also playing the same night, so he got us a taxi to hit up their show that wasn't too far away. We missed their set, but he did introduce me to the members of paranoid void while the other band that night was playing. They're all very nice, and we did talk a little bit about their tour that they are currently wrapping up in the US (http://paranoidvoid.com/event/1st-usa-tour/). And of course the conversation about the US had to include the topics of guns, Mexican food, and the weather. Just wanted to share that random bit, and I might try to check out one of the shows for Next Music From Tokyo this year.

Really like this song but I had no idea that they were touring the US. And, of course, they came to my city and I missed it.

Tokyo Flash: https://youtu.be/SIuF37EWaLU

Instead of trying to dump everything from 2019 that I wasn't able to post at once, I'm just going to take my time and make it more manageable. This was one of my favorite singles last year I never got to share.

Definitely stuck in my head when I first heard it.

21世紀より愛をこめて (original title if that makes it easier for you to find).

Overall pretty solid album, and the standout track for me is Sonatine: https://youtu.be/Aa5onMizfco

The melody during the chorus melodically sounds so much like a couple of Hikaru Utada's songs, and it sounds beautiful.

This might have been my favorite Japanese release from 2019. Reminds me a bit of Gesu no Kiwami Otome with those occasionally jazzy touches of piano/keyboard and with the immediate catchiness of a band like Polkadot Stingray.

Links:
https://youtu.be/_JPWD0LkF5A
https://youtu.be/GAB26GgJ8V8
https://youtu.be/MJhiY9Crd94
https://youtu.be/GJI4Gv7NbmE

Thanks for doing this again this year by the way. I first listened to tricot, Polkadot Stingray and Suiyoubi no Campanella in these posts and they are among my favorite artists right now.

Regarding chelmico though I had no idea who they were or that Mamiko Suzuki was a member until a couple of weeks ago. I'm trying to listen to some more but I'm finding that I'm just not really into Rachel and it's probably made even more glaring by the fact that Mamiko is with her on every song.

>Thanks for doing this again this year by the way. I first
>listened to tricot, Polkadot Stingray and Suiyoubi no
>Campanella in these posts and they are among my favorite
>artists right now.
>
>Regarding chelmico though I had no idea who they were or that
>Mamiko Suzuki was a member until a couple of weeks ago. I'm
>trying to listen to some more but I'm finding that I'm just
>not really into Rachel and it's probably made even more
>glaring by the fact that Mamiko is with her on every song.

I'm really happy to know that some of your favorite artists came from checking out the threads. Sharing what I like and love and having other people enjoy the same thing is what makes music listening and discovery so fun.

As for chelmico, I like them for the most part, although stylistically their sound doesn't stick me me the same way my current favorite acts do. They're pretty fun, and they remind me a little bit of HALCALI from back in the day, although maybe a little less goofy. I had to skim through their last couple of albums to remember exactly what they sounded like overall, but I did like more tracks from each album than I what I had remembered. I like Rachel, and I think she works well with Mamiko. I would love for Mamiko to release another EP like Deep Green sometime, however.

https://youtu.be/Gia9cX6gReo

Random YouTube suggestion. Only song I've heard by this band so far but I like it.

https://youtu.be/kD0en6bbJPI

Another YouTube suggestion from an artist that I haven't heard anything else from. Gonna have to invest some time to take a dive on some of these people that are new to me eventually.

https://youtu.be/v96sokSHeT4

YouTube suggested this band a few months ago probably because of their "Plastic Love" cover and now they've released a few scattered songs since then. I've like each one that they've put out so I'm pretty eagerly waiting to see if there's a longer project coming out.

https://youtu.be/fzDp7L0PDNc

https://youtu.be/aPflbyfPEQc

As the kids say, "it's a bop."

>https://youtu.be/aPflbyfPEQc
>
>As the kids say, "it's a bop."

I was going to post this EP as well. I thought the various styles present on the EP were all done well, with "Susume" (https://youtu.be/zfOCfNx2C9c) being my favorite song. I had been listening to the EP while in Japan, and then I was surprised when I heard one of the songs from there (https://youtu.be/wOAz7xkukrY) as the ending theme song for a movie I watched on my flight back (the movie, Blind Witness, wasn't that great). I like that she has some kind of video available on YouTube for most, if not all, of the songs, an approach I've been wishing more Japanese artists would use.

https://youtu.be/J6kvEf2ZCqI

One of a few songs from MALIYA that came out last year that I really like.

One more from MALIYA. I think there are two versions of this video; I really like this one.

https://youtu.be/2v8iq3tI0gM

"Inori" (track 4) is my favorite from my first initial listens. I've also been playing "Ame" (track 1) from their 2017 album quite a bit recently; the vocals that start at around 2:00 into the song just work perfectly for me.

The Suiyoubi no Campanella replacement?

I believe Kenmochi produced her entire EP. I listened through it once and some stuff works better than others for me. This was the first song of hers that I heard and it might still be my favorite.

https://youtu.be/RaNiHfXCp8A

I've seen some other interesting stuff on this ONSTAGE channel that caught my attention. I've mentioned before that K-Pop usually isn't my thing but there's some great stuff (for me and hopefully others as well) on here.

I've had this on repeat quite a bit. I like Zion.T's release from last year, and it's great hearing him songs like this.

https://youtu.be/tXj_Viuvcrc

https://youtu.be/fQSJ5oe8Qf4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpN4bdyqHeI

This dude been on my ipod for a whole year now, he flips between genres like a pro

For fans of AKIRA soundtrack:
https://mindrecordsjapan.bandcamp.com/album/yaoyorozu-ep

His more lo-fi, chill house stuff:
https://cemeteryjpn.bandcamp.com/album/denial

A little late posting this song as it was used for a advertisement promotion for Valentines. The album that this is from is solid if you like this kind of rock/pop, and this was my favorite song from it. The video is cute and great too.
https://youtu.be/dJf4wCdLU18

These two have been around for forever, and they have two of the most distinct voices in jpop. They collaborated 20 years ago, and they put out an album last month together. Here's the single that was produced by TENDRE and mixed by MONDO GROSSO.
https://youtu.be/zn96ard6VLg

I don't think I've ever heard of either of them but I really like this song though.

Chara is...52? That can't be right, is it?

>I don't think I've ever heard of either of them but I really
>like this song though.
>
>Chara is...52? That can't be right, is it?

I don't follow Chara closely so I haven't seen what she's looked like in years, but yeah, she looks incredibly young. YUKI is 48, and I've always felt she looked really young for her age too. There's probably some makeup tricks and some digital stuff going on with the video, but they look really good.

Enon just consistently puts out solid songs despite being the guy behind multiple groups (Gesu no Kiwami, indigo la end, Genie High). indigo la End is his safest sounding project, but I can't help but like most of what comes out of it.
https://youtu.be/yqsrLT4fofI

Aside from her voice being slightly different, I would have believed it if someone told me this was a Suiyoubi no Campanella song. I'm interested to see how Kenmochi Hidefumi will balance the two projects. Anyways, the hook is insanely catchy. I'm not quite sure how to correctly translate the title (Pink-White in Seconds?).
https://youtu.be/T1Zo9yXzsLI

We've gotten two songs now after they got back together. I'm glad that they're back together, but to be honest both are pretty average to me when compared to the rest of their discography. Part of me also thinks they got back together given that they're probably one of the top candidates to be showcased during the Olympics this year, assuming Covid-19 doesn't manage to disrupt things.
https://youtu.be/gnaIJEW676Q
https://youtu.be/iWEXBciNzXk

m-flo is starting up their m-flo loves series again, and I'm curious to see what other artists they're going to tap into for the project. Sik-K is sort of like a Korean Travis Scott to me, and he's essentially rapping in 3 languages here (Korean, Japanese, English), and I think he sounds good here. I also like eill, and I can't help but think she sounds a bit like Eimi Hinouchi who used to work with m-flo quite a bit. I think Mukai Taichi sounds fine on here. My least favorite bits are probably m-flo themselves. Verbal sounds okay in short spurts, but his verse goes a little too long for my liking. I don't think I actually have a problem with Lisa's parts here, but the way she exaggerates her gestures in the video seems odd to me, which won't really affect me if I'm just listening to the song on Spotify or something. Not the best m-flo song ever but still enjoyable for what it is.
https://youtu.be/YIsHQg-qq_s

Got interested in checking her out from the m-flo song because she sounds a lot like Eimi Hinouchi. Some singles:
https://youtu.be/lNtaDHj5q8Q
https://youtu.be/T15hWuRrYG8
https://youtu.be/8NMRxSrUGmw

Her album isn't on Spotify, so I haven't given it a listen to yet aside from the previews I heard on Apple Music, and the album sounds all over the place and not in a good way. This single is quite enjoyable, however.
https://youtu.be/e4xyoYIfJTQ

...despite my usual aversion to things are kind of straight ahead pop music. I'll have to check out some more; shame it's "all over the place and not in a good way though."

>...despite my usual aversion to things are kind of straight
>ahead pop music. I'll have to check out some more; shame it's
>"all over the place and not in a good way though."

I've only heard the previews on Apple Music, so I can't give give a well-informed opinion, but what I heard reminded me of those early 2000s solo idol jpop albums that didn't have a cohesive sound and were just a mish mash of a bunch of different styles from a variety of producers and writers, and nothing sounded as promising as this particular song.

Just made a post for this but I thought I would link to it here also:

https://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=5&topic_id=3022686

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOVvxG1g28o&list=LLVNpBdh4kRwQDEJc5BNPQQw

I guess this is a promotion for something, whatever JOYFIT is. I haven't heard much chelmico but this actually might be my favorite out of the little that I've heard so far. Video is fun and worth a watch too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNsfNhpz_nI&list=LLVNpBdh4kRwQDEJc5BNPQQw

I was curious to see what her studio stuff would sound like after watching the live performance for ONSTAGE and I'm glad that it "translates" well. She doesn't have much on Spotify so I hope there's a new project coming.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuISLD-L2ic&list=LLVNpBdh4kRwQDEJc5BNPQQw

Classic case of too much music, too little time. I remember liking a song by EVISBEATS in one of these posts last year or the year before but I never dug any deeper. The song shouts out D'Angelo and De La Soul and you can tell what kind of music these guys are influenced by a few seconds into the track. This song reminds me a lot of stuff that I listened to in passing in the early 2000s when I first learned that Japanese rap was a big thing.

I should do a better job of posting right away when I discover new songs I like, because I forgot about this release from the end of January. It's not on Spotify either, so I couldn't refer to a personal playlist to jog my memory. For fans of Zutomayo or Polkadot Stingray if you like that kind of upbeat rock/pop style, although my main criticism is that maybe it sounds a little too much like them.
https://youtu.be/jv543Nk5s18

just made a full album mix/premiere of our latest album!

https://soundcloud.com/mettasonic/metta-muzik-vol-3-album-mix

the project drops for free on Thursday!

-----------------------------

my music: www.soundcloud.com/jessewarren
my mixes: www.mixcloud.com/jessewarren
my label: www.fb.com/mettamuzik

I'm really enjoying the instruments on this, especially the guitar and electric piano. When I put this on Spotify, I end up still listening to the instrumental version all the way through right after the main version plays.
https://youtu.be/phwvj0_XM4k

"Stand By Me" was one of my favorite j-rock/pop songs last year, so I'm sort of excited to hear how this EP sounds. Came out earlier in the month but has only recently been on my radar.

One of the singles here ("weekend"): https://youtu.be/ZRGeqFB2TUY

Giving it a first listen right now. The singles I've heard haven't blown me away, so I'm curious to see how the rest of the album fares.

No mistaking that it's Enon that wrote this song. Features a singer named Nazome.
https://youtu.be/ZC0fzg-PIkk

YouTube (blocked in the US) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Atvsg_zogxo
(alternative link) https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV19Q4y1N7P2

One of the girls from SCANDAL made a playlist and included this song, and it was the only song on it that I hadn't heard before. It's fairly new but a great one that definitely belongs on that playlist.
https://youtu.be/aRDURmIYBZ4

Her playlist can be found here and includes some of my favorite pop artists and songs:
https://jpurecords.com/blogs/news/rina-from-scandal-takes-over-the-jpu-records-playlist

Album was released earlier this week. Overall it's not really doing much for me aside from the standout single from last year, "Tokyo Flash," and "life hack" is a good song as well. The rest is a bit too poppy for me and not in the good way.

I think I just really hate "soranami," which is affecting my overall impression.

I was a little disappointed by this after hearing Tokyo Flash.

https://youtu.be/pbJR8ga75Lw
https://youtu.be/aTmPleDofuk

Subunit from two of the members of my favorite kpop group, Red Velvet. Heavily R&B-influenced EP. The title track has some dubstep elements that I don't love or hate, which is about as good as it gets to my feelings about the kind of dubstep used in pop music.

Diamond: https://youtu.be/L2fpHqGscA0
Jelly: https://youtu.be/asD77SjuPM0
Feel Good: https://youtu.be/ohRJYYGPNIM
Monster: https://youtu.be/yZsepTu48nw
Uncover (cover track): https://youtu.be/_g8NKyrc2I0

I think there may have been something posted from this album in a previous year's version of this thread because I had one song bookmarked in YouTube for over a year and I finally got around to listening to it. I actually really like this one. I don't think I'll ever completely get over the shift in their sound from their early releases but there's some beautiful stuff on here.

>I think there may have been something posted from this album
>in a previous year's version of this thread because I had one
>song bookmarked in YouTube for over a year and I finally got
>around to listening to it. I actually really like this one. I
>don't think I'll ever completely get over the shift in their
>sound from their early releases but there's some beautiful
>stuff on here.
>
>
The only song I really liked on that was "Thanatos," which I think was the song I mentioned in the previous thread. The single for the song is okay too but nothing amazing. I occasionally give the album a listen whenever I'm in the mood for the band.

currently region-blocked on YouTube but available here: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1sD4y1S7pw

That was a good movie. Was told recently that their music industry thinks about me many lots. Hello.

Also completely disconnected from American culture and social media at the moment. Feels nice. Just a heads up for the rappers etc that have been orbiting me since 2007 lols

this time region-free and available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/COll6PdtI5w

Woman At 23 Hour - Love-In

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huuT7W88B0g

background: a folk music buddy posted something random about Kim Carnes. I recalled that Kim Carnes was briefly in corny pop-folk big band New Christy Minstrels. Looked it up. Saw that her tenure in the band was concurrent with one Kiyoko Ito, whom I'd never heard of so looked up. Turns out this record is collectible and highly regarded with words like 'psych-folk masterpiece' being thrown around.

Listening now. Not picking up the psych-folk masterpiece aspect but there's a little weirdness, a little enka-kusai vibe, a little generic pop, a little bossa even. Song I'm on now sounds like it could have been an early theme song for Doraemon or something.

Kind of a pop-punkish track from them and not sure how I feel about it yet. Curious what the direction will be on this new album, which I wasn't expecting them to put out so soon considering they just released Makkuro earlier this year.

For all of you that aren't tired of city pop yet.
https://youtu.be/U-7TFSns9OM

trailer featuring the tracks: https://youtu.be/uFkZFUwrAKo

https://youtu.be/ouLndhBRL4w

https://youtu.be/3vhA8njtoQg

Another single from the artist/group that came out earlier this year. Definitely a bit derivative of Zutomayo, but a good song is a good song, so it's not that much of a criticism from me.

cover: https://youtu.be/eSn8ucXtuQc

original: https://youtu.be/PQjovLrnvVo

Really enjoying this right off the bat. Love the guitar melody and playing that starts about a minute in, as well as Kida and Hiromi's additional vocals.

on a Japanese kid's show.

Ikkyu vs. Motifour: https://youtu.be/7lwRT--pwMw?t=162

Thundercat vs. Kachou: https://youtu.be/HvblFMDw1LY?t=201

There are others, but I haven't had a chance to check them out yet.

Their last single, "Summer Night Town" has become one of my favorite songs from them ever, so I'm really excited to hear what the rest of this going to sound like.

https://tricot-official.jp/news/detail.php?id=1086081

1.おまえ
2.サマーナイトタウン
3.WARP
4.箱
5.炒飯
6.あげない
7.悪戯
8.幽霊船
9.Laststep
10.體

https://youtu.be/zReAAGD4ddo

I really like all the instrumentation on this. Summer Night Town really blew me away, and this track is really good as well and is keeping the hype up; I can't wait to hear the rest of the album later this month.

RIP. Been a fan since around 2012 and finally managed to see her and the band live last year in Osaka, which kind of feels like an eternity now given everything that's been happening in 2020. Really enjoyed her playing, and she wrote some incredible songs for the band. Sad end to her life and what will most likely be it for the band as well.

New project with Yuu from Chirinuruwowaka and GO!GO!7188.

A couple of my favorite songs from the EP:
https://youtu.be/jBWhtOuO5cw
https://youtu.be/NG-Q9yszTb0

https://youtu.be/3Yl_KNJGWN4

The new album will be available on October 21st (already the 21st in Japan).