Issue #18: Lucky Pool
We flip the format today to cover some old J-pop favorites from Halcali, Judy and Mary, MAX and Rip Slyme
Hi! Welcome to This Side of Japan, a newsletter about Japanese music, new and old! You can check out previous issues here.
Things are different for this issue! The content material is essentially flipped so the Album of the Week and the Singles Club are highlighting old music while the This Week In… section is covering the latest entry in the Oricon. I realized that though I introduce this newsletter to be about Japanese music, new and old, it’s mainly focused on the new and not much dedicated to the old. So I want to keep flipping the content like this periodically to write about old music but also just to switch up the newsletter.
I’ll admit that I have far less knowledge on old Japanese music than the new. It’s partly just how I am with music in general. I’m a lot more excited about the latest things coming out at the moment, and the older the record is, I seem to be less and less interested. Like, I still have blind spots even in the Western canon, but if I decide to set new release to instead grab for a record from the previous century, I’d most likely spend time brushing up on, say, ‘90s techno or indie rock than ‘70s classics like Patti Smith’s Horses or the Stooges discography.
But it can also simply feel more difficult to figure out how to get and exercise that knowledge of older Japanese music. Finding the record titles may be the easier part. Best-ever lists provide a great entry point to start cracking on records of the past, and typing into Google “the best japanese albums” will give you a fair amount of listicles. The attached information about the album is likely going to be a blurb in length, but it’s at least somewhere to start. (As for actually listening to the records, especially ones not on streaming services yet, all I can say is get creative.)
The more challenging part is making sense of how a piece of music fits in the grand scheme of things. The albums and songs that belong in the Western canon are identifiable as such because there is an ongoing conversation around them that not only anoints these records to its canonical status but also maintains their place within it. The same conversation for Japanese music is probably happening somewhere on the internet, with fans and critical voices keeping a record like Jun Togawa’s Tamahime-sama as part of a collective canon. Finding that conversation and really catching up with all of the essential details covered in that conversation takes more time. A user-written blurb may provide enough information to get you to listen to a record, but it probably lacks the amount of context that reveals the significance of the music in relation to everything else.
Though it seems like a lot of more work than getting familiar with Western music of the past, I actually find that lack of access to an understood narrative around the music as well as a consensus to that narrative rather exciting. It makes it easier for me to reject details that conflict with my own understanding. Like, when it comes to Japanese music in the ‘90s, I find the critical praise of Shibuya-kei rather overrated while I’d much rather place more focus on the actual pop music happening at the same time. For me at least, it has encouraged me to develop my own canon while educating myself through other people’s points of view on a particular record or music era.
Without much accessible lists and features from big publications, making it up while listening to the perspective of others is what you have to do to fill in the gaps. We are essentially helping each other by sharing what we know, and we can make up for the differences in opinion later. Familiarizing yourself with old music can be frustrating with so much information not easily in reach, but I also find it very rewarding in a number of ways.
***
For my picks this issue, I used what would’ve been the time dedicated to browse all the new stuff to instead dig into all of the old records that piqued my interest throughout the year. While the entries in Singles Club are all what came out during those sessions, the Album of the Week comes from an artist who had stuck out from my music listening during the spring. It was actually refreshing to give myself time to get away from the release cycle a bit and pursue my personal interests. I hope you like this flipped issue as well! Happy listening!
Album of the Week
Ongaku No Susume by Halcali [For Life, 2004]
Recommended track: “Strawberry Chips” | Listen to it on Spotify
Considering that Rip Slyme’s Ryo-Z and DJ Fumiya spearheaded the project, it was perhaps not hugely difficult to pass off Halcali as a legitimate rap act in the duo’s debut LP, Halcali Bacon. That’s not to discredit the talent of the members, Halca and Yucali, who had to pass an audition to get their spots. The two showcase chemistry as well as athleticism when they trade bars in the old-school tradition, and more than a few singles are driven by their pop charm as much as pure skill. For the production, though, the funk-meets-hip-hop music resembles a lot of what Ryo-Z and Fumiya were already making with their main rap group, just tweaked into a little more retro-chic pop.
The follow-up, Ongaku No Susume, answers to a bigger challenge of expanding Halcali into more of a pop act. The group doesn’t abandon rap entirely, but they more so try to imagine what else they can do without straying too far from their origins. That effort to expand is reflected best in the production roster, which invites people such as Denki Groove-affiliate DJ Tasaka and Fantastic Plastic Machine’s Tomoyuki Tanaka to contribute. The album welcomes inspiration from outside of their immediate circle, and it results in a freshly different version of Halcali.
Halcali’s main producers themselves seem eager to lead the two into new creative avenues. While they handled the production for more than half of Halcali Bacon, Ryo-Z and DJ Fumiya provide just two tracks. “Strawberry Chips” wanders to a whimsical place as the two quite literally has their heads in the clouds, and the dreamy pop track floats along more aloof than the silly pop-rap of the previous record. While “Marching March” follows a more straightforward rap style than the former single, Fumiya’s beat taps into the duo’s goofier impulses through the fat chiptune bass and equally rotund horn section.
The outliers provided by contributing musicians help re-define what Halcali can be. DJ Tanaka re-imagines the two as MCs of an acid-techno tune in “Oboroge Copy View.” A returning guest, Tomoyuki Tanaka doubles down on the duo’s funk foundations in “Wakakusa Dance” and throws in a flashy disco-house loop very familiar to his Fantastic Plastic Machine project. Tanaka later cuts a left-field sample—a guitar riff of “B.Blue” by ‘80s rock icons BOOWY—in “Baby Blue” that further stretches the pool of pop sources for Halcali to re-purpose.
As far as Halcali likes to venture out in Ongaku No Susume, taking on techno or glam-rock riffs, their adventurous creative choices still feel strongly connected with their musical voice. They are schooled by hip-hop culture after all. Re-mixing and re-purposing is part of who they are, and the found-sound feel of Halcali Bacon, partly reminiscent of Shibuya-kei pop, made the project fresh and vibrant like Halca and Yucali were creating on the fly. Ongaku No Susume feels more proper as a production with its structure more conscious of the album format, and yet the experimental approach to pop remains. The duo open up their vocabulary from rap and hip hop to other adjacent styles such as funk, house and techno to redefine their sound in Ongaku No Susume, and they don’t lose any bit of the fun that made their first outing special.
Singles Club
“Lucky Pool” by Judy and Mary [Epic, 2001]
Certain lyrics continue to read a little different during these COVID times, and the chorus for Judy and Mary’s “Lucky Pool” hits poignant especially during such a summer restricted by the pandemic. “Lucky pool / let’s take it out on a small lawn / and make it the biggest ocean,” YUKI sings in her former band’s last single. Those words radiate with a charming innocence when sung by the same singer responsible for the jubilant energy of anime-song classic “Sobakasu,” and the band assists with a punk-rock jangle equally gleeful as their most known anthem. The great unknown that lies in the future feels thrilling to face—Judy and Mary disbanded couple months after this single—as long as they make the best out of the little things.
…from the 2001 album, Warp.
See also: “Grow Up” by Hysteric Blue (2001)
“Give Me a Shake” by MAX [Avex Trax, 1997]
The post-New Jack Swing sound of “Give Me a Shake” marked a big break from MAX’s previous success of the debut album, MAXIMUM. It was their first original track after several reworks of Eurobeat records—a strategy employed since the four were in the same teen-pop group with Namie Amuro. Lyrically, too, the song takes a firm stance in taking full control of one’s narrative with the four not being afraid to ask for exactly what they want. The chorus finds them singing the sharpest kiss-off line: “You don’t even have it in you to fool me / so don’t get so full of yourself, throwing around a word like ‘love.’” MAX have been responsible for a series of fierce songs, but such an attitude is even more fulfilling to witness in a single that has the group fully coming into their own.
…from the 1997 album, MAXIMUM II. Listen to it on Spotify.
See also: “Go! Go! Heaven” by SPEED (1997)
“Fade Away” by Rip Slyme [File, 1998]
I cannot recommend Rip Slyme’s Talkin’ Cheap enough for any fans of the Native Tongues, especially De La Soul circa Buhloone Mindstate. While they don’t get nearly as insular and esoteric as the Long Island trio—it’s nearly impossible to recreate such lyrical surrealism—they flaunt such a colorful style of rap that’s also full of reverence for ‘80s hip hop. The sun-warped, stoned-out boom bap of “Fade Away” already looks to early ‘90s New York for inspiration. But what makes their music come alive is their loose approach to rhyme as well as their playful bar-trading—a delight to experience along with the scenes of the group fucking around in the music video.
…from the 1998 album, Talkin’ Cheap. Listen to it on Spotify.
See also: “Mikakunin Hikoubuttai Sekkinchuu (Kyusekkin Mix)” by King Giddra (1995)
This Week in 2020…
“Re: Live” by Kanjani8 [Infinity, 2020]
No. 1 during the week of August 31, 2020
Johnny’s groups have swept the top spot every week for August, and Kanjani8 only continues the streak. Perhaps such an outcome is not so surprising given that, well, it’s Johnny’s, the company with such an immense hold on the industry. But Kanjani occupying first place is somewhat impressive if only because frankly they’re the least interesting act out of the five who appeared this month. For them to be here also during the same week as when BTS dropped their new single is at least something.
The Kanjani fan base must be a loyal bunch if they can shoot “Re: Live” to the top. I will give the benefit of the doubt that the studio recording sounds much better. I can only access the song via their performance on the special summer music program Ongaku No Hi because that is just how inaccessible Johnny’s music have been, and my, is the first verse rough on the ears when each sing their parts solo. Loving the rough edges is the idol experience, though, I suppose: “For this new song, I love how the off pitch and the lyrics give it its own flavor. The studio version is probably adjusted in production, but I love how the live singing sounds like them,” writes a fan on YouTube, who has followed them since there was 7 of them. Those mentioned lyrics are also partly made in collaboration with the fans, so it’s understandable if they also feel like they have more individual stock in “Re: Live.”
What’s more indicative of the success of “Re: Live,” and the whole Johnny’s August takeover in general, is that the company’s talents are the only few entities popular enough to beat out the current streaming giants. From third place down, the charts remain pretty much static with Kenshi Yonezu, YOASOBI and Eito’s “Kousui” not budging in the slightest. Aimyon and NiziU just got knocked out in the week Kanjani placed, replaced by Tomorrow X Together and Saint Snow from the Love Live! Sunshine!! franchise. But considering their ubiquity in the Japanese mainstream, I wouldn’t be surprised if they climb back up next week.
Kanjani won them out solely by CD sales, moving 325,000 copies. That is more than if you combined the units recorded by the two following entries, NMB48’s “Datte Datte Datte” and Tomorrow X Together’s “Drama.” For a first-week showing, that is a success. But they will likely share the same fate as their company mates and fall out of the top 10 if not next week then the week after; not even Arashi lasted two weeks in the top 10. While they sink fast, Kenshi Yonezu and YOASOBI will still be around as they observe other acts cycle in and out. In the streaming age, that seems to be how the game works.
The next issue is out September 16th. You can check out previous issues here.