I am not sure how to categorize Yasuko Omori‘s music; Kawaii Punk maybe? Or perhaps Hyper-Energized J-Pop would be closer. Whatever it is, I like it, and wanted to share it here. The first track is something like absolute despair is the best condition, while the second one is Kyurukyuru, both from 2014.
This track is from Sashida Ikuya, who’s style seems to be buried in sappy ballads, but somehow he produced this interesting blend of Jazz and Rock, with the occasional dash of Pop. The song is called Spam, and it is the kind of tune that lodges itself in your head so you find yourself playing it over and over. To bad he can’t crank out a bunch of these; or maybe I just can’t find them with a search. It may be like Godley and Creme, who had an amazing run of killer songs with their bands 10CC and Godley and Creme, but when you search for them you only ever find two songs: I’m Not In Love by 10CC, and Cry by Godley and Creme. Songs like Rubber Bullets and Snack Attack never seem to come up.
I love good music and I enjoy animation, and this tune combines them both. This has won a few film fest awards for the animation work for Alvaro Les Riel, and the band who recorded this, DadaD, have a decent body of work. This song is called Peace, and it has been getting quite a lot of airplay for the Tokyo band.
The feminine duet YanaKiku have a light, energetic pop style with some good harmonies and a unique stage presence. The unusual outfits they are wearing they call Kimo-Cos by which they mean Kimono Cosplay, which all by itself would make them a perfect band for any Anime Con to invite to their stage. Since they just formed in 2012 they don’t have a huge catalog of music yet, but they are off to a nice start. The first track is called Fujiyama Disco, the second is PakuPaku Kingoyo.
The first track is called Robot Roh Night by the band Shinsei Kamattechan, who seem to like graphics a lot and are using a Hatsune Miku kind of singer/ vocal processing, as near as I can tell. The second song is Front Memory, and also spends as much time putting together the graphics as creating the music. Nothing deeply intellectual here, just some good upbeat silly fun; until you translate the lyrics, at which point all bets are off. The band formed in 2007 and gained a following through streaming music videos, in part because of their tendency to stream live songs and mini-concerts using unusual and eccentric processes with no advanced warning. A lot like what Jack White does online with his music, come to think of it. They were indie for years, but signed up with Warner Music Japan once they got big. The final track is Whistling Flower Child, or at least I think that is what whistling yellow flower-chan means.
Sounding a bit like everybody’s favorite virtual idol, Passepied just released a new CD this week, and the first track is a song called S.S from that release. They have been around since 2009, getting their major label deal with Warner Bros. Japan in 2012, doing some great music fusing a lot of different styles, but centered around pop and impressionistic. The fact they named themselves after the last movement in Debussy’s Bergamasque Suite pretty much says it all. Their music videos are also a treat, the lead singer having graduated art school influences them all, and I just had to grin about the Power Rangers in this one. The second track I included is an older song of theirs Yūyake wa inochi no umi, which makes their impressionist influences more obvious. And yes, that third video is from them as well, originally posted in December of 2012.