Monthly Listening: January 2021

This month's rundown of new albums from Yoneko, Kid Fresino and many more

Hi! This is January’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 in the archives.

Well, here begins another year of music-listening! January always ends up feeling a bit more idle when it comes new releases since the wheels are just beginning to turn for everything. It’s good for me as it gives me a nice excuse to catch up on 2020 releases I missed especially after a month of folks sharing their fantastic lists of their favorite albums. For this Monthly Listening list, I included a couple of December stuff that I checked out along with this month’s new releases that caught my attention.

As always, here’s also a Spotify playlist of songs that didn’t make the cut. Happy listening!

2R0I2P0 by Boris & Merzbow | metal / drone / noise

► “Away from You”

Multiverse by Genin Wa Jibun Ni Aru | pop / idol / NicoNico-core

► “Shakespare Ni Manabu Renai Teiri”

*Read more about the album on issue #25

20, Stop It by Kid Fresino | rap / hip hop

► “Rondo”

Between Isekai and Slice of Life by Miho Hatori | alt-pop / electronic

► “Formula X”

dimen by NOT WONK | alt-rock / psych rock

► “dimensions”

cyan / amber by SPOOL | indie rock / shoegaze / dream pop

► “Come for Me”

Rewire by Various artists/VirtuaFreak | pop / electronic / Soundcloud bass

► “Rewire” by Avec Avec (ft. wotoha)

I Have a Little Hangover by Yoneko | pop / synth-pop

► “Neon”

The next issue of This Side of Japan is out Feb. 10. You can check out previous issues here.