Monthly Listening: April 2025
Rounding up great new releases we checked out during April from Hitomitoi, suisoh, Mao Sasagawa and more
Hi! This is April’s Monthly Listening list, a quick rundown of new Japanese albums I checked out this month that I enjoyed. You can browse past Monthly Listenings from this year here.
This Side of Japan is still on vacation with the returning date pushed back to late May, but April’s been a busy month for me. There was a particularly packed week seeing three Japanese acts in span of a week: Ging Nang Boyz, Kenshi Yonezu and Hitsujibungaku, in that order, all fulfilling shows! I ended up writing a report for the Kenshi Yonezu show in Los Angeles over at Nante Japan. I don’t know if I got words in me more than “it was great to finally see my favorite band live” for the other two, but it was great to finally see my favorite bands live that I honestly didn’t imagine I’d ever have the opportunity to see.
I’ve been also using my break time to write about some new songs over at scrmbl; you can check out a round-up here. And some time has been spent listening to new albums. Here are picks of new releases I liked in April.
Resonance by airattic
► “Distortion” | idol pop / math rock
Majestic Baby by BELLRING GIRLS HEART
► “Majestic Baby” | idol / goth
Confutatis by Burden of Despair
► “Slaugherfaith” | death metal
DMC by DC
► “GIGA DRILL BREAKER” | death metal
Antigone by Eiko Ishibashi
► “Coma” | experimental pop
Telepa Telepa by HITOMITOI
► “Anata To Contigo” ft. Juanpalitoschinos | lite funk / city pop
mobpop by inu
► “mobpop” | electropop / hyperpop
Kirinuki, Hosogire, Scrap by ITHAQUA
► “Wasurenaiyouni” | breakcore
STRANGE POP by Mao Sasagawa
► “Desukara, Yakemashita” | pop / electro prog
Friends by Piaman
► “Accelerator” | drum ‘n’ bass / electro
Twinning Fate by REIRIE
► “RulerxRuler” | idol pop
SekaiSekaiSekaiSekaiSekai by sassya-
► “Shinjuku Sakebu Girigiri Temae” | post-hardcore
Tellective Circuit by Shota Hasimoto
► “Melancholy Sunny’s Heart Club” | IDM / drum ‘n’ bass
100% by Subway Daydream
► “SUNDAY!” | indie rock / power pop
FLTR by suisoh
► “MONOCHROME” | electropop
Weird Dreams by Texas 3000
► “Universe Drawer” | indie rock / post-hardcore
Bonus Beats: R.I.P. JJJ - 6 Albums
Rapper JJJ passed away on April 13 as reported by his label Space Shower Music. He was one of my favorite rappers working in Japan today. In a scene where the boom bap deeply hangs on as an influence, he showed how to grow from the classics while respecting his foundations, displayed best in his last album, MAKTUB. Just speaking pure style, his free-associative flow is an inimitable one that gets to the essence of the freestyling roots of hip hop. I wrote a longer one in tribute to his music over at scrmbl, and here are some albums I checked out in preparation for it.
JJJ - Yacht Club (2014)
JJJ - HIKARI (2017)
JJJ - MAKTUB (2023)
Fla$hback$ - FL$8KS (2013)
KID FRESINO - Horseman’s Scheme (2013)
Daichi Yamamoto & JJJ - Radiant (2024)
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