My Late Year Idol Discoveries

Again this year my good friend Ryo has invited me to share my top 10 Japanese songs (in my case, idol songs) for their newsletter This Side of Japan. It is always a very nice exercise and I find myself thinking all year "this song is probably going to make it into my top 10." After I submitted my choices, I ended up listening to a few more great songs that could have made the cut, so I decided to dedicate an entire post to these very honorable mentions.

SKE48 - Jikan ga Nai (時間がない)

I have been a long-time enthusiast of AKB48 and its related groups, but I confess that SKE48 was never a group that standed out for me. That has changed last year when they announced they would be collaborating with none other than Tetsuya Komuro. I have yet to listen to all of those songs, but in the meantime they announced another partnership with city pop extraordinaire Night Tempo, releasing an EP with 4 songs. This EP is probably one of the greatest releases of the year to me.

Blueberry Soda (ブルーベリーソーダ) - Tenshi ga Tooru (天使が通る)

Blueberry Soda is a collaboration between actor agency Tanabe Agency and Yasushi Akimoto. Therefore, it is no surprise that this song sounds a bit like some releases from AKB48 and company. I put it in a category of "waltzy" songs like Yurina Hirate's "Yamanotesen" and AKB48 "Negaigoto no Mochigusare," however it feels like "Tenshi ga Tooru" is taking it one step further, refining this delicate feeling.

Yufu Terashima (寺嶋由芙) - Koi no Atoaji (恋の後味)

"Yuffie" has been going strong on the retro sounds for a few years now, but "Koi no Atoaji" sounds like a very authentic 80's ballad to me. Not much else to say, in a positive way... Just a warm, cozy love song perfect for this season.

Nogizaka46 (乃木坂46) - Ato no Matsuri (アトノマツリ)

One of my favorite idol groups, lyrical school, is going through a lineup revamp, which means no new release for a while. I feel like this piece by Nogizaka46 has been a good substitute for the time being. Even the music video reminds me of some of lyrical school's videos such as "Tokonatsu Return." A very solid approach to rap by some of the group's best voices with a self-made video that is a very nice change from the high production of what is probably the biggest female idol group in Japan today.

Ringwanderung - Pulse (パルス)

Ringwanderung is a group with a very distinctive sound and looks, always choosing a dark blue and red palette for their costumes. My partner usually describes this sound as "my cat is strolling on the keyboard" and I think it is a good way to describe it. Every release from this group is a personal highlight, an expected sound but always very pleasing, and I hope this group gets some more traction in the coming year.

I finish this post by wishing Happy Holidays from Portugal to the world, wherever you are reading this from. Here's to another year of great Japanese music from the past and the present.