Issue #26: Between Isekai and Slice of Life
Exploring the new Miho Hatori album, Brilliant Green's third number one, and DJ Matsunaga showing turntablism to the Japanese public last year
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Overshadowed by inescapable names like YOASOBI and LiSA, Creepy Nuts was a rather overlooked act that drew the attention of Japan in 2020. The duo already had a high profile in the country’s hip-hop scene with rapper R-Shitei holding multiple Ultimate MC Battle Championship titles. But 2020 saw them get a huge boost in public exposure after DJ Matsunaga won the 2019 DMC World DJ Championships, opening the doors for even more TV spots throughout the year.
The hip-hop duo joining the variety show circuit wasn’t so much the surprise. Their radio show on All Night Nippon had attracted enough of an audience to have their talk skills catch the attention of more than a few celebrities and media heads. For me, the real amazement was seeing the media cover DJ Matsunaga’s DMC Champion title and in turn spotlight a slice of turntablism to the Japanese public.
Turntablists hardly ever get appearances on a morning TV show like Sukkiri, let alone any non-music programs, but there was DJ Matsunaga showing one of his title-winning routines to hosts Koji Kato, Haruna Kondo and Asami Miura. This very niche corner of hip-hop was now shown to TV over breakfast as though it ranked in the same level of interest in pop culture as NiziU. And though the hosts couldn’t comprehend a thing, their faces communicated the awe of seeing Matsunaga’s physical tricks.
It helped that Matsunaga is a TV-friendly personality. He’s a self-deprecating type with both comedians and himself poking fun at how awkward he sits alongside a table of entertainers. No one would assume this sorta-nerdy-looking character to be a master turntablist or an artist in the hip-hop scene, and the contrasting reputations work in his favor. He appeared on more than a few variety show segments as the on-call DJ guru that year: for one, he taught a routine to former Nogizaka46 member Mai Shiraishi for her to perform on the idol group’s variety show. His tricks are a work of a virtuoso for certain, though Matsunaga also presents turntablism as something approachable either through his everyday character or easy-to-understand lectures.
Matsunaga hopped on as a lecturer of sorts on music program KanJam, explaining the basics of DJ-ing to members of KanJani8 as well as the show’s entertainer regulars. He performed his routine to demonstrate his skills. (A memorable quote came from actress and guest Natsuna: “I didn’t really take you seriously as a person until I saw this!”) He then started his lesson by first breaking down the different kinds of DJs with relatable examples, like TRF’s DJ KOO to illustrate the live DJ. By the end of the show, Matsunaga managed to introduce the written notations behind his turntable tricks and techniques in the best way he could.
I thought of Matsunaga in KanJam again as DJ A-Trak, a 1997 DMC champion, shared on Instagram his notes coming up with that very notation system as well as a clip of him presenting it at the conference Skratchcon2000 back in 2000. “It’s very nerdy!!!” He wrote in the caption. “I got heckled during the presentation, by a couple of djs who felt that scratching shouldn’t be so dorky, it should be a ~feeling~…”
While A-Trak got mixed responses by his own crowd, a Japanese DJ is now explaining it two decades later to TV viewers across the nation who perhaps just learned about turntablism that night. Based on the guests’ faces of KanJam or Sukkiri upon what they’ve seen, it would take few more episodes to fully lay down the foundational information. Though, DJ Matsunaga’s TV spots have no doubt been the most exposure turntablism has got this popular of a platform in recent history.
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Though we started with some hip-hop talk, this issue is actually more rock-heavy particularly in the Singles Club section. It’s also a bit connected with our look back at the Oricon. If you want beats, maybe the Album of the Week might somewhat satisfy. Happy listening!
A question for me? Curious of my take on a certain subject?
Album of the Week
Between Isekai and Slice of Life by Miho Hatori [self-released]
Recommended track: “Formula X” | Listen to it on Bandcamp/Spotify
Miho Hatori’s productivity hasn’t slowed down in the slightest since the dissolution of Cibo Matto. Her solo creative pursuits thereafter grappled with modern curiosities through an adventure in sound: the left-field electronica of New Optimism responded to the irony-filled age and the “new sincerity” while the trip-hop daydreams of Miss Information explored today’s advanced forms of communication using the Silk Road as a starting point. Cerebral as the descriptions can read, the resulting music favors the simple thrill in chasing an answer to an impossible question over self-indulging in the esoteric.
Credited now under her birth name, Between Isekai and Slice of Life follows the trend set by her previous solo efforts in both conceptual curiosity and approach to sound. Hatori lists Caribbean philosophy and anime as inspiration this time around; the album title directly lifts from genres found in the latter. That said, the record serves more as the very document of her trying to process new information in real time than any explanations of some great text.
Hatori’s surreal pop befits the title with the music lying between the otherworldly and the familiar in atmosphere. Trip hop serves as a backbone, albeit mixed with current influences. While the dubby hip-hop of opening cut “Tokyo Story” is traceable all the way back to her time working with Gorillaz, the sonar wobbles and the persistent drums of “Don’t Be Cheap” feels post-dubstep. As the harsh, ringing beats of “Formula X” can attest, a series of rough sounds constantly cut through the thick, ambient haze like the noise of reality spilling into an otherwise pleasant daydream.
“Why is the world so noisy,” Hatori notes at one point in “19 Years Old,” dealing with, assuredly, searing synths, ghastly moans and hard drums all threatening to drown out her voice. An aloof, diaristic observation in response to an overwhelming environment like this etches into the song as lyrics, grows into a hook, then eventually finds itself the crux of an entire song. It often inspires deceptively simple questions too daunting to soberly approach. “My phone decides what to do without a soul” she sighs in the tranquil “My Phone,” “is there something in me?”
The best lyrical moments of Between Isekai and Slice of Life manage a delicate balance between hyper-current contexts and timeless human questions. It’s easy to tip too much into one over the other: “I’m a cyborg / made of soy sauce,” Hatori sings in the chorus “Formula X,” and the clunkiness ends up being its memorable quality, not so much its curiosity or profundity. The opening lines of “Desire,” meanwhile, read evergreen yet also fixed in today’s world of tech-culture buzzwords: “asked my future to navigate me / let my dream to stay to activate me,” Hatori sings with a rap cadence in a track that later rips apart pre-determinism.
For all that references to technology can situate Between Isekai and Slice of Life as a record specific to its day, the casualness in which Hatori lets those references fly lightens the record from becoming prosaic. She’s simply reacting to what she sees in her life via music, and Smartphones and AI just happen to influence so much of the world. The technology itself is so intregal to everyday life, it’s almost banal. The questions it can inspire, however, as Between Isekai and Slice of Life reminds, are nowhere basic nor simple.
Singles Club
“Kimagure Tick Tock” by Harmoe [Pony Canyon]
New seiyuu duo Harmoe brings together Haruki Iwata and Moeka Koizumi, who each boast a loaded resume of voice work for franchises like D4DJ, Revue Starlight and Love Live! Sunshine!! But before knowing their history, what immediately captivated me from their debut single, “Kimagure Tick Tock,” was the prickly bubble-pop production done by none other than Tomggg. His meticulous attention to texture is on full display, and the music teems with life come the chorus. “Tick, tick, I can’t stop this feeling,” the two sing, suddenly speeding up their delivery. The colorful beat bursts with whooshing synths, Jersey club breakbeats and a whole series of sounds as their curiosity blooms. Meanwhile, the duo’s emotions show no sign of decelerating.
Kimagure Tick Tock is out March 10.
See also: “Life is Cider” by Anemoneria; “Ayafuya Asterisk” by DIALOGUE+
“mid seventeen” by Mamana [self-released]
Nineties-channeling power-pop is what Mamana does best as showcased in last year’s Giga, an album that sits comfortably next to peers in America’s nu-school of Alternative Nation like Bully or Charly Bliss. Very apt for its title, the fuzzy-and-sugary riff of the singer-songwriter’s new track kicks open like a theme song to a coming-of-age movie starring a teen-girl protagonist. “Baby, I’m different than before,” she screams in the chorus while sweetly telling off everyone to “shut up! Shut up!” If you need a brat-punk anthem to announce a brand-new you, “mid seventeen” is the one for the job.
Listen to it on Spotify.
See also: “Mother” by JIGDRESS; “Mrs. Journey” by Slingshot Million2
“Nokoru Ato, Yureru Hibi” by The Scented [self-released]
While The Scented shroud themselves in anonymity, their second release since their launch this January sounds anything but bashful. A sharp guitar riff immediately cuts through the beginning of the track, reflecting off a wistful, emo-tinged tone, as the lead vocalist ruminates on a now-gone relationship she’s struggling to fully let go. “A meaning and love / you certainly gave them to me,” she sings, “that’s enough, that’s enough / that’s all I kept wishing.” Her conflicting emotions seem impossible to separate as it oscillates between gratitude and regret, and the tension all spills over in the cathartic chorus.
Sent is out March 17. Listen to the single on Spotify.
See also: “Futari No Sekai” by Layla; “Sunset Hellowork” by Peanut Butters
This Week in 1999…
“Sono Speed De” by The Brilliant Green [Sony]
No. 1 during the week of Feb. 8, 1999 | Listen to it on YouTube/Spotify
The same year Blur laid down their now-iconic “woo hoo!” while nodding at American lo-fi indie-rock, the Brilliant Green debuted in Japan with a sound echoing the baggy ‘90s Britpop that Damon Albarn and co. showed off about half a decade prior. A big, jangling riff roared out of their amps in the trio’s “Bye Bye Mr. Mug,” the guitars slightly washed out from the distortion. So when the band covered “Song 2” for their 2010 reunion album, Blackout, the choice befit them so well, it was almost too on the nose.
A key difference that separates the Brilliant Green from their Britrock influences is singer Tomoko Kawase. Her slacker drawl loosely reminds me of America’s alternative rockers though without the sourness or emotional ambivalence. Her voice instead becomes a great vehicle to express longing over these oceanic, distortion-heavy guitar riffs. While they grabbed for the same sonic textures as Blur once did circa Leisure, the Brilliant Green singles prioritize bigness in contrast to the 90-second rush of “Song 2.” Many fan blogs reminiscing about the band instead mentions Oasis when they pin down a UK band as a reference, and no shock there: “Tsumetai Hana” calls back to Oasis’s “Slide Away” from its woolly, arena-made guitars to its gentle pacing that takes its sweet time getting to the chorus.
The Brilliant Green had their winning framework down by the fifth single, “Sono Speed De,” and they’ve now begun to refine what they patented in their first Oricon number-one, “There Will Be Love There ~Ai No Aru Basho~.” Though the guitars are still beholden to effects, the jangling riffs sound slightly more nimble like it’s now used to the dense noise applied to them. Kawase intones more purposeful rather than appearing in a daze. She channels the winter romance narrative behind Over Time, the rom-com drama which the single serves as its theme song, clutching onto a feeling she yearns to get across.
Kawase once again shines in the chorus. “The light rolling down these sad wings is heading for the moon,” she sings, breaking out mightily from the hypnotic melody of the verse, “display my heart, and break it into pieces like stardust / with that speed.” Her lyrics are flowery and evocative as a dream pop track, surrounded by sensual textures home to a shoegaze one, though she sounds far from bashful than the typical personality central to either of the genres. That said, she stands nonchalant while spilling her big confession, like the cool heroine of a film with a bit of her signature slacker drawl to her voice.
Though the band scored several top 10 hits, “Sono Speed De” remains the Brilliant Green’s last number-one before their extended hiatus in 2002. Kawase then focused on her solo project Tommy February6. With guitarist Ryo Matsui leaving in 2010, and bassist Shunsaku Okada retreating more behind the scenes, the Brilliant Green currently stands pretty much as another of Kawase’s solo projects. The band seems bound forever in the ‘90s from sound to legacy, though perhaps the nostalgia cycle has now come around to them: Lovely Summer-chan’s latest album, for one, owes a lot to the three-piece in terms of influence, and this issue’s featured artist Mamana digs from the same well. Surveying how today’s indie rock in general sounds right now, the Brilliant Green fit right as a proud parent.
The next issue of This Side of Japan is out Feb. 24. You can check out previous issues here.
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Miho Hatori’s creativity is a thing of wonder. Thanks for sharing such a great review!