Rio de Janeiro, October 2016
Hello,
folks. Out of nowhere, I decided to write about some of the songs I discovered
recently. There’s no particular theme or order in this list, so it’s nothing
more than a collection of random J-Pop songs, old or new, that I’ve been
listening to in the past couple of months.
CHAGE and ASKA -- Boku wa Kono Me de Uso wo Tsuku (僕はこの瞳で嘘をつく)
First,
a hit from famous duo CHAGE and ASKA: “Boku wa Kono Me de Uso wo Tsuku”, which
was released back in November 1991. Even though I’m not a fan of the duo
(sorry, Noelle), I couldn’t resist ASKA’s powerful vocals coupled with this
funky rock arrangement. Also, I can see how the duo became a hit in the
Japanese early 90s landscape, when artistry was becoming more valued rather
than all the overproduced aidoru of the 80s. I still prefer the glossy 80s, but
this particular song by CHAGE and ASKA caught me off guard. It’s really good!
Fairies
-- BLING BLING MY LOVE
Generally
speaking, I don’t really care for Avex’s groups, with the exception of TOKYO
GIRLS’ STYLE (東京女子流), but Fairies’ (フェアリーズ)
“BLING BLING MY LOVE”, from September 2014, is a super catchy and modern dance
tune that makes me want to sing and dance (THAT CHORUS IS AMAZING!!!). Other
than that, I’m aware it shares some similarities with Ke$ha’s hit “Tik Tok”,
but both songs are fine… and I’d rather listen to Fairies than Ke$ha because
I’m a J-Pop supporter (funny thing is that I saw Ke$ha live at Rock in Rio
2011, because Jamiroquai was going to enter the stage right after her show. I
remember how my friends were not very receptive towards her songs, so I ended
up dancing and jumping with some 13, 14 years old girls who were next to me. I
was 21 years old back then, by the way).
Seiko
Matsuda -- Seychelles no Yuuhi (セイシェルの夕陽)
Seiko
Matsuda’s (松田聖子) 80s singles are hyper famous aidoru-pop classics, but some of
her album cuts are great as well. That’s basically why I decided to dive
through her enormous discography a little bit to discover some gems… and “Utopia’s”
(ユートピア)
“Seychelles no Yuuhi” is one song that could have been a single alongside
“Komugi Iro no Mermaid” (小麦色のマーメイド), for example. In an interesting
side note, Seiko-chan stated “Seychelles no Yuuhi” is a song she truly loves
from the “Utopia” album (which, by the way, was released in June 1983), and
that’s why she includes it in several concerts. As for the song itself, I could
listen to it in a relaxed beach coast (I can even imagine some water sounds
mixed in the arrangement). It’s that sort of Japanese 80s song that makes the
listener feel this way.
Fuyumi
Sakamoto -- Asia no Kaizoku (アジアの海賊)
Released
in January 2009, this song is truly at home in Fuyumi Sakamoto’s (坂本冬美)
discography. It reminds me of the risks she took trying to mix enka with other
music genres when her “magnum opus” hit “Yozakura Oshichi” (夜桜お七) was
released back in 1994. In fact, even though nothing could come out as
epic-sounding as the aforementioned hit, I think “Asia no Kaizoku” is strong
enough to cause a good impression. The hook is simple and very straightforward,
but the gorgeous Japanese-styled arrangement and Sakamoto’s vocal delivery are
enough to make me pay attention.
Monari
Wakita -- Boy Friend
From
enka straight to cheesy synthpop that could have come out of PWL in the late
80s: that’s the essence of this list. Ex-Especia member Monari Wakita (脇田もなり)
debuted with a safe City Pop song last year, but now it’s time for some sugary
pop with “Boy Friend”, which was aptly released back in February 2017. In the
end, aside from the over-the-top 80s synths and simple structure, there’s a
very bright chorus and an even brighter Monari Wakita acting extremely cute and
adorable while trying to make every life form on Earth forget that the video is
as cheap as possible. It works for me, so it's fine!
PASSPO
-- PlayGround
PASSPO☆ is an aidoru
group focused in recording pop-rock songs while maintaining a strange flight
attendant gimmick. I’m not a fan of their music, aside from a couple of singles
released back in 2012, but new promotional song “PlayGround”, which was
released in February 2017, is a very good piece of funk-rock that doesn’t make
me ashamed of headbanging a little bit while on the bus. As for the video, the
zombie theme is warned out these days, so I don’t know why they’ve chosen to do
it, but the music makes up for all the crappy acting.
Yumeko Kitaoka -- Mou Ichido Aetara (もういちど逢えたら)
And
here we are with “Mou Ichido Aetara”, a very tender song from the late 80s in
the voice of Yumeko Kitaoka (北岡夢子). That’s another song that makes me feel nostalgic…
probably because it sounds a little bit sad, especially in the chorus. Released
in June 1989, it also represents a period when aidoru music’s popularity was
decling. So, at the time, mostly strong names were able to sell, and new aidoru
had a hard time maintaining a career. It’s a pity, since “Mou ichido Aetara” is
a pretty solid forgotten gem.
Yuki Maeda -- Tokyo Kirigirisu (東京きりぎりす)
Just like Sanae Jonouchi (城之内早苗) back in the Onyanko Club (おニャン子クラブ) days, and even Misaki Iwasa (岩佐美咲) in AKB48’s recent boom, Yuki Maeda (前田有紀) was one of Hello! Project’s
solo enka singers during the agency’s heydays (First Generation member Yuko
Nakazawa [中澤裕子] was
H!P’s prime enka singer, but I like Yuki Maeda more). A talented and beautiful young
woman in the early 00s, she initially recorded light enka songs, which I
appreciate a lot since I’m not the biggest fan of the more over the top vocals
in enka. Released in July 2003, the catchy “Tokyo Kirigirisu”, for example,
just shows how restrained her music was back then, even if the melody and arrangement
are evocative of Showa Era pop music. Instead of going deep in the enka style
after some years in the industry, maybe she could have established herself as a
mature ballad singer. Unfortunately, she probably decided to stick with her initial
plans and success never arrived.
Golbies (from TPD) -- JUST LIKE MAGIC (ジャスト・ライク・マジック)
Ok,
“JUST LIKE MAGIC” is that type of straightforward, repetitive and mechanic
Eurobeat song that was being mass-produced during the late 80s/early 90s in
Japan, but I like the epic main synth hook, the raw aidoru vocals, and also the
catchy chorus (which is a must in Eurobeat songs, since they don’t have much to
offer anyway). It was released in May 1990 by Golbies (ゴルビーズ), a
subunit from the aidoru group Tokyo Performance Doll (東京パフォーマンスドール).
Apparently, Ryoko Shinohara (篠原涼子) was a member of this subunit during her stay in TPD.
Arisa Mizuki -- Kimi ga Suki Dakara (君が好きだから)
To finish, we have “Kimi ga Suki Dakara”, a song composed by songstress
Yumi Matsutoya (松任谷由実) for
early 90s aidoru Arisa Mizuki (観月ありさ),
which was released as a single back in August 1993. Even though it wasn’t a big
hit like “Densetsu no Shoujo” (伝説の少女),
“TOO SHY SHY BOY” or “Happy wake up!”, and is often overshadowed by them, this
song offers some simple yet beautiful piano hook right from the beginning. Other
than that, I agree it’s a grower, and maybe not an instant favorite, but
there’s a melancholy in the song that makes me want to listen to it several
times.
