punipunidenki x Kan Sano x Shin Sakiura -- Gakugeidai-mae（学芸大前）

 

In the late 2000s, I was teaching a couple of students privately in the western end of Tokyo so I took the Toyoko Line to the tony Den'en-Chofu district, and each time I headed out there, the train passed through Gakugei Daigaku Station which had been built about a century ago right by Tokyo Gakugei University. The university itself though was uprooted and moved off a fair bit away in 1964 so that the station isn't anywhere near the campus anymore but the name of the station remained...maybe just to confuse newbies. While researching about the song here, I learned that the area around the station has become one of the trendier neighbourhoods west of Shibuya along the lines of Jiyugaoka and Shimo-Kitazawa. I never got to stop off at Gakugei Daigaku Station but we can all travel there vicariously through the video above.

And speaking about that song, I'm talking about "Gakugeidai-mae" (In Front of Gakugei Daigaku Station), a collaboration among those Neo-City Pop hipsters punipunidenki（ぷにぷに電機）, Kan Sano and guitarist/music producer Shin Sakiura. Released a few months ago, I'm now pretty confident that the title is referring to the Toyoko Line station rather than the actual university itself. From what I've read of the explanation underneath the music video at YouTube, it all revolves around the lyric "I wanna meet you, darling, at Gakugeidai at 9 tonight" and has other enticing phrases such as "the lights of a small bar," "that song from the 80s," and "magical clichés". Melodically, there are some nostalgic chord progressions that personally take me back a bit to the original City Pop days. Meanwhile, punipunidenki and Sano trade vocals in a give-and-take between the one who is courting and the one who is being courted (and who's playing somewhat hard-to-get).

To finish off, here's a video on the actual Tokyo Gakugei University, just so that it doesn't feel left out. As well, there is a 2024 KKP article focusing on punipunidenki and Kan Sano and an earlier collaboration.

Dirty Androids & punipunidenki -- On The West Coastline

 

I have never really hidden the fact that for a guy who isn't really into art, I've been a fan of Seizo Watase（わたせせいぞう） (as you can see above) and Hiroshi Nagai（永井博）, basically two artists who have been depicting the idealized City Pop lifestyle onto canvas. Up to now, I've been investing in my annual Watase calendars but I really ought to give Nagai a chance as well next time.

Good golly! I swear that the above video is a real-life depiction of the Watase/Nagai lifestyle! And to boot, the video is for a single titled "On The West Coastline" by the collaboration between music producers and performers Dirty Androids & punipunidenki（ぷにぷに電機）which came out in August 2021 (an April 2020 compilation album titled "SPD GAR 003" contained the song, mind you). I can only imagine how people were feeling watching this video during COVID times. Having said that, interspersing those scenes of the good time and beautiful people are excerpts of women looking quite isolated and lonely with only a common Walkman to keep them company. But in the end, the balance between the two looks quite solid so perhaps the message is that life is a coin consisting of those two sides and one's constantly flipping it.

It's a combination of strings (including an emotional cello in the intro), groovy rhythms, haunting synths and punipunidenki's whispery vocals for some of that Neo-City Pop vibe. Maybe the video is showing something darker, but the actual song seems to keep up the happy happy joy joy in modern-day Japan. I only posted something about Dirty Androids at the beginning of this month, and I also noted another collaboration between the two a few years ago.

punipunidenki -- Kimi wa Queen（君はQueen）

 

Some bright lights from the neighbourhood of Ameyoko in Tokyo just to let readers know that I'm starting the Urban Contemporary Friday for at least a couple of songs early on a Thursday because I will be busy tomorrow for a good chunk of the day doing other things. I occasionally have a life outside of KKP.

I was going to post up an article regarding punipunidenki's（ぷにぷに電機） "Zurukunai?"（ずるくない？）from 2021, only to find out that I had already jumped the gun on that one a couple of years ago. I was slightly deflated there but I was then able to find this one by the Neo-City Pop songstress which goes even earlier into her discography. June 2019, to be exact. 

"Kimi wa Queen" (You are a Queen), which was written and composed by punipunidenki and given additional songwriting credits by composers Mikeneko Homeless and Shin Sakiura, is pretty much as advertised. It's a bouncy urban tune about someone liking and then lusting over a lady in Tokyo. Not surprisingly, the singer herself is taking a walk throughout the bright lights and big city of one of the world's largest metropolises while her singing is happily tripping the light fantastic on those streets. 

punipunidenki featuring Kan Sano -- Zurukunai?（ずるくない？）

 

Over the past several months, I've been able to encounter a number of eclectic and interesting artists with their music. And I'm happy to say that a couple of them have collaborated with each other in the past.

Singer-songwriters punipunidenki（ぷにぷに電機）and Kan Sano worked together on lyrics and melody respectively to form "Zurukunai?" (Ain't It Unfair?) which was released in May 2021 as a digital single. I was just talking about the multi-liqueur Singapore Sling cocktail in my previous article, and I think "Zurukunai?" is the musical equivalent and perhaps just as heady as well. I've had to listen to the song a few times and I've picked up on straight pop, some funk, synthpop and Neo-City Pop. Plus, there are the welcome smoky vocals of punipunidenki with Sano's vocal help in the chorus.

I also like the atmospheric music video which takes place at the Analog Record Bar in Shibuya so if any of you traveling to Tokyo are in the mood for the cool and refined drinking experience, you can give that a go. The young lady in the video by the way is model Yu Ishizuka（イシヅカユウ）.

punipunidenki & 80kidz -- Night Session

 

Welcome to the end of another work week. Hopefully, wherever you are, you are about to or are already enjoying some weekend R&R. I can do with a bit more sleep myself.

Although the electro duo 80kidz has been releasing singles and albums up to the present day, it's been a few years since I've put up their name on the byline. I think that the last time they were up there was back in 2018 for their 2010 "Weekend Warrior". Well, this time I get to hear them again for the first time in a long while in collaboration with singer-songwriter punipunidenki（ぷにぷに電機）.

In fact, I'm a little late to the game but their short-and-sweet "Night Session" was released a year ago. Written by punipunkidenki and composed by 80kidz, it's a boozy and woozy night out in the big city played against a background of Latin club dance rhythms and some old-style 80s synthesizers. We even get some vocoder scatting in the bridge. Plus, there is also the attractive smoky vocals by the singer herself. Nice of her to put up the short-and-sweet warning against underage drinking at the end. We can't let things get too out of hand.😋

Dirty Androids & punipunidenki -- Private Sunset（プライベート・サンセット）

 

I'm currently in envy of a few of my friends right now since in a matter of weeks, they will all be visiting Japan for the first time since the pandemic damaged international travel for a few years. With all of the construction that's been going on there, one friend and I have agreed that certain parts of Tokyo will have changed a fair bit, notably Shibuya. I wish that I could go but my finances aren't quite ready to absorb the oodles of Canadian dollars and Japanese yen that it will take for a decent trip.

My last time in Japan was the fall of 2017 so perhaps it was just before the whole City Pop thing exploded onto the digital zeitgeist, and since then, folks have been digging deeper and perhaps discovering that there are subsections within this rather wide umbrella of genres. And one of those sections is the Neo-City Pop that has included acts such as Kirinji（キリンジ）, Hitomitoi（一十三十一）and Ryusenkei（流線型）. I realize that there are folks out there who believe that City Pop should be kept within the borders of the late 1970s and 1980s, but personally, I'm perfectly fine with the Neo tag.

Last fall, I noted the collaboration between electronica artist DÉ DÉ MOUSE & online singer-songwriter and music producer punipunidenki（ぷにぷに電機）which resulted in "Midnight Dew" (2021). Well, the latter has worked with a variety of other artists including fellow producer Dirty Androids, aka somewhat secretive Daisuke Akitsu. The Yokohama native's speciality is Nu Disco and Future Bass, and together with punipunidenki, they came up with a maxi-single or EP titled "On the West Coastline" also in 2021 (August, to be exact). 

"On the West Coastline" has been categorized by Discogs as a mix of Electro, fusion, Nu Disco and Chillwave. I'm still wrapping my head around the various techno genres but one track on the single, "Private Sunset", as sung by punipunidenki as tenderly as a fork going through filet mignon, simply strikes me as club-friendly and City Pop circa 2020s. It does have that languid coolness and sparkly flavour that the thumbnail of Roppongi shows at the top. Hey, I think it would also go well with that car drive through the megalopolis, too.

DÉ DÉ MOUSE & punipunidenki -- Midnight Dew

 

It was exactly a month ago that I put up the first KKP article for electronica artist DÉ DÉ MOUSE with his collaboration with Neo-City Pop singer Hitomitoi（一十三十一）, "Neon Light no Yoru" （Neon Lightの夜）. The result didn't strike me as being City Pop in either the 1980s or 2000s way but "Neon Light no Yoru" was still a solid state synthpop creation.

However, I do think that the underlying rhythm of another collaboration with DÉ DÉ MOUSE, this time the partner being punipunidenki（ぷにぷに電機...Squishy Electric）, "Midnight Dew" is reminiscent of Mariya Takeuchi's（竹内まりや）"Plastic Love" in the chorus, and therefore, maybe there is that Neo-City Poppiness by default. Perhaps I can even see the song which was released in December 2021 as a sultrier and even more worldly descendant of "Plastic Love". DÉ DÉ MOUSE took care of the melody while punipunidenki handled the lyrics.

I also like the music video above with the typography of the title and the artists' names. Moreover, we've got DÉ DÉ MOUSE and punipunidenki acting as quiet and efficient bartender and seen-it-all customer respectively. The latter's website profile has their own description as a songwriter and producer but no mention of them as a singer. However, I think that punipunidenki does a good job behind the mike with a whispery voice that has hints of Hikaru Utada（宇多田ヒカル）. Taking into account the release date of "Midnight Dew", the video makes for a nice counterpoint to the various parties in Tokyo filled with Christmas cheer. Punipunidenki is most likely saying "Screw the cheer! I want chill.".