The J-Pop Thread

Debut album, they've released an EP before.

New Kyary video, enjoyably daft as ever
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bFHzDa9U9w

She's playing London again in the Spring as well it seems. Not going to miss that one!

http://i.imgur.com/XACug1X.jpg

Koshino Junko joins BiS

The fashion designer Koshino Junko (コシノジュンコ) joined BiS (Brand-new Idol Society) as a new member.

She passed secretly the audition held by the idol group.

Koshino Junko is going to make her first appearance on November 5 at Hot Denpo Festival 2013 in Tokyo. JK will also participate in BiS upcoming single Koi Suru Denpou Japan (恋する電報Japan).

Koshino Junko, 74 years old, is a famous fashion designer who worked for many brands.

Lineup for new year show Kohaku Uta Gassen (Red and White Song Battle) is out, nothing too surprising - Kyary, Perfume and MCZ are all back and Sakanaction are performing for the first time.

Yeah but no Babymetal (I was knocked out by this today https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjQsayrmMoU )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRaMsDyW-XQ

Smashing.

'STUPIG' is probably my favourite out of the last round of BiS things.

New Kyary vid is pretty sweet. Anyone seeing her on the World Tour?

Babymetal album out next week!

BiS album out in a couple of weeks too, splitting up after their show at Yokohama Arena on July 8th ;_;

these retro posters for the upcoming Perfume FES tour are pretty great tho

http://i.imgur.com/WoDxsBE.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/2uvP0DQ.jpg

Ooh, those posters look great.

anyone know who sings this
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/437863/02.%20.mp3

I dunno but I like it. Very Deerhoof sounding backing to the extent I wouldn't rule out their involvement.

possibly seiko oomori on vox?

The new Dempagumi single is amazing, next-level stuff http://youtu.be/NypVvG9fQ7o

haha just came to post that ^^^

yes! love it. so dense and catchy.

WORLD WIDE DEMPA was great too. (though sadly a little on the stingy with new tracks)

stingy SIDE

Tricot drummer is leaving the band this month, on the positive side they are booked to play a summer festival in Hungary so more European dates are likely to follow

Also Slovakia, also Czech republic

Curious who they land on to replace the drummer, not like you can get any old chump to do it. Also curious what 'creative differences' exactly made him leave, after releasing all that amazing music. Maybe they want to get a girl.

damn, that drummer was fantastic on The

The BiS album is out and great

Re-issuing their first release and putting out a raw acoustic version of a song from that release, at the same time alluding to the new life of the band ahead

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5R19QjZNvUA

^ tricot『Laststep(Live, Acoustic Version)』

Kind of addicted to this at the moment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIKqgE4BwAY

man that new dempagumi single is the best thing ever

I'm not sure I've ever heard a production quite like it. anyone know who wrote it?

this guy apparently https://www.google.no/search?q=%E7%8E%89%E5%B1%8B2060%EF%BC%85&safe=off&espv=210&es_sm=93&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=kcgYU6mzJaPnygPunoGgAQ&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAg&biw=1536&bih=704

album of Disney covers by the likes of Tricot, Dempa, Tokyo Girls Style etc. really want to hear the full version of "Some Day My Prince Will Come" by BiS!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmG5WJiYfwk

I've been looking for a way to listen to this album for weeks now ;\

thanks, abcfsk! (x-posts)

this is execrable but check the sample

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_4nGY9at9M

lol

I actually enjoyed that song but it may be because e-girls while is probably the best hip hop dancing girl group out there they've done singles so fluffy and tame they've been forced to put out separate dance intros or instrumental dance videos -- and this time they finally manage to incorporate it into the song/mv itself.

while e-girls is*

new Vampillia album out next week, has collaborations with Tujiko Noriko, BiS, Hirotomo Hasegawa of Aburadako, Mick Barr of Orthrelm and ... Jun Togawa!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTWfomMQaP4

like that one. she's the best.

Yeah that's nice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apr2JCdpTbQ

new Kyary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paHGjIe2Wms

are there any good english-language critics/bloggers who are writing about new J-pop in an interesting way?

Make Believe Melodies guy can be pretty good. I don't dig that deep into the J-Poposphere though.

feel like melissa johnson's blog stands out:
http://blog.mjohnso.com/

mostly k-pop but some j-pop too. you can filter by tags if need be.

Yeah I guess I get most my jpop stuff from twitter, forums, stuff like that. Weird that there shouldn't be some regularly updated, j-pop only, high quality blog though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QjACk4qM6g

new especia single is fantastic:
http://mbmelodies.tumblr.com/post/83615671010/omikse-livefromthetabernacle

Woah, that's a big, great tune.

And here's the new Momoiro Clover single / MV http://youtu.be/TC1Q7DuNKfw

Composed by Nakajima Miyuki

hmmm... not bad but doesn't strike me as all that special either? but I like them best when they're at their most manic and that's pretty restrained.

I think it's partly a case of other groups having taken on the mantle of the super hyperactive, manic idol group - like dempagumi inc, even with former MomoClo musical maeastro Hyadain - and so MomoClo try to stake other courses to stay unique. Personally I really like their rock side, "Otome Sensō" (Z女戦争) is my favorite single of theirs and it's hardly them at their most manic - much as I love their CoCoNatsu / Santa-san side. This is a bit straighter than Otome, better compared to 'Saraba..' perhaps, but sounds good to my ears. I really like how distinctive the members' voices are, though I know other people find them shrill they've really sold the individual personalities in later releases.

Cosign Make Believe Melodies, I wonder if that's the same Patrick who occasionally posts on ILM about Japanese music.