Monthly Listening: November 2020
This month's rundown of new albums from Ayami Muto, Nougat, Ryusenkei & Hitomi Toi and more
Hi! This is November’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.
Maybe it’s me starting to check out of the year-long grind of staying up to date with new releases, but for November, I was more attracted to the idea of reaching for older albums. (Some titles that I enjoyed off top: Capsule’s LDK: Lounge Design Killer, Miho Nakayama’s Mind Game, Kenji Ozawa’s Life.) I imagined that I didn’t listen to much music as I would have during the months before. But to my surprise, the Spotify playlist for November has the most amount of songs—140 tracks!—than any other that I’ve made for the Monthly Listening lists. I guess the grind hasn’t stopped just yet.
Here are the new releases I enjoyed in November. You can check out the songs that didn’t make the cut for this month’s newsletter on this Spotify playlist.
Ano Koro, Kimi Ni Watashita Playlist Wo Imademo Boku Wa Kuchizusamu by Ayami Muto | pop / retro
► “Betty”
Fun by Batten Shoujotai | pop / idol
► “OiSa”
Waken by Cuushe | electronic / pop / house
► “Magic”
Daydream by Edawakare | indie rock
► “Overnight Train”
Kaleidoscope by Ibuki Takai | pop
Contact from Exne Kedy and the Poltergeists by Kensuke Ide with His Mothership | rock / folk
Moonless by Kiarayui | pop
► “Shibuki”
Reply by Miyuna | pop
► “DeadRock”
Sweater by Nougat | post-punk / post-hardcore
► “Sweater”
Talio by Ryusenkei & Hitomi Toi | city pop
Tenshoku Katsudo by SAWA | pop / electro-pop
► “Tenshoku Katsudo”
Chaos Tape by (sic)boy & KM | rap / emo rap
► “Set Me Free” (ft. JUBEE)
Anyways by Tamaki Roy | rap / hip hop
► “Rothko”
I Know You Don’t Come Tomorrow by Yonawo| rock / R&B
► “Tenshin”
The next issue of This Side of Japan is out December 9. You can check out previous issues here.