Monthly Listening: June 2025
Rounding up great new releases we checked out during June from Ano, AQ, iVy and more
Hi! This is June’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.
If I may, let me talk about my favorite discovery from June: Kyoko Koizumi’s 1989 album Koizumi in the House. In the idol’s 14th album, Koizumi is a prism in which to project the country’s enthusiasm for the post-disco and dance styles that emerged from the proliferation of samplers and drum machines earlier in the ‘80s, like electro, house and hip hop. An incorporation of the latter genre, you probably guessed from the title, and if you’re a idol/rap nerd like me, you might like hearing Koizumi sing-rap over a 8-minute drum break—kind of like her “Rapture,” if Debbie Harris rapped for the song’s entirety. My fondness for this album also is similar to my love for first generation K-pop, where they seemed sincerely stoked to absorb in all of this fresh, new pop music coming out and take a stab at it themselves.
There’s more new music goodies from the month of June below. Enjoy!
BONE BORN BOMB by Ano
► “Kono Sekai Ni Futari Dake” | pop / punk
S.E.A. by AQ
► “FANTAStiQUE” | rock / idol
Pegasus by as a sketch pad
► “Come On” | emo / indie rock
Quick Pop Fanclub by Chinese Hoodie
► “Rapid Express” | pop punk / melodic hardcore
Confused Appetite by iVy
► “vampire” | indie rock
CRACK by PAX0
► “speed it up” | rap / rage
mou-ikune EP by Romanesco Roman
► “Thinking out” | indie rock
Ubiquitous by View from Soyuz
► “Disdain” | death metal
broken words by Vote for Pedro
► “broken summer” | emo / indie rock
Bonus Beats: ‘90s Solo Idol Albums
Earlier this month, Kono Sekai Wa 1-Daful, a variety show centered on countdowns of various subjects, aired a Tetsuya Komuro special that polled the people’s favorite of the superproducer’s top 20 singles. Sliding in between numerous TRF, globe and Namie Amuro singles was Yuki Uchida’s “Only You,” at number 15, which then got me to put that song on heavy rotation for the rest of June. It’s a classic ‘90s J-pop tune that finds Komuro using the buzzing idol as a vehicle to slide in jungle beats into the masses. I recommend it.
I tend to think of Uchida solely as an actress and forget she also had a music career early on in the ‘90s. Her path into music follows a trend not unlike her peers from the same decade, the sort of pop talent who does it all from singing, modeling to acting yet claim none as their primary trade—the type better understood through a catch-all term as idols. And along with a dip into Uchida’s music, which I was mostly unfamiliar with, I figured it’s a good excuse to finally step more into the ‘90s in idol and browse albums from her contemporaries as well as her near-predecessors this month.
I enjoyed these records by solo idols from the ‘90s. Hope you do too.
Alisa Mizuki - Arisa III: Look (1994)
Miki Nakatani - Shokumotsu Rensa (1996)
Nae Yuuki - Mori No Jikan (1993)
Rie Miyazawa - Chepop (1990)
Rie Tomosaka - Un (1997)
Yuki Uchida - Ai No Baka (1996)
Bonus Beats: Deluxe Edition
I had some time to put together a list of my favorite Japanese albums of 2025 so far. You should most of these familiar if you’ve checked out the Monthly Listenings from this year. I already shared it to my followers on X, and now you can take a look too.
airattic - Resonance
AQ - S.E.A.
as a sketch pad - Pegasus
ayutthaya - epoch EP
cyber milk chan - flesh
Downed - Love My Death
Eiko Ishibashi - Antigone
iVy - Confused Appetite
KAIRUI - Hoshi No Wakusei
LanPage - ten pages
Laura day romance - Walls
Mao Sasagawa - STRANGE POP
nagareyama righteye - behind faint echoes
nyamura - Another Seraph
Ohzora Kimishima - Oto No Suru Heya
Pale - Our Hearts in Your Heaven
PAX0 - CRACK
Piaman - Friends
Robou No Ishi - alternative mick
Suichu Spica - Lux
suisoh - FLTR
Tive - A Kindness Comparable to Nuclear Energy, and Akirame
Tsukino Mito - 310PHz
Yawning Mondo Qube - YWQEP
Yuka Nagase - Mofu Mohu
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