Monthly Listening: November 2022

This month's list collects my favorite non-2022 Japanese album discoveries of the year

Hi! This is November’s Monthly Listening list. I usually compile a quick rundown of new Japanese albums I enjoyed during the month, but for this month, I’m following a different theme, listing my favorite non-2022 Japanese music discoveries of the year. You can browse past Monthly Listenings in the archives.

Keeping up with the new has slowed down for me when it comes to Japanese albums as I get deep into the process of putting together the newsletter’s year-end package. That’s not to say there aren’t any new records to recommend for November. A few I loved are ANORAK!’s self-titled, Menace9’s MENACE, and Tsudio Studio’s My Room. But I wanted to dedicated this space instead to the great Japanese albums from the past that I listened for the first time this year. Unlike last year’s edition, these won’t come with accompanying blurbs, but I can vouch for all of them being a memorable piece to my music listening in 2022.

Here is a list of my favorite non-2022 Japanese album discoveries of the year. For those who prefer to keep up with new releases, the Spotify playlist for this list will feature my favorite new singles from November. Happy listening!

Murdered by the Music by Yukihiro Takahashi (1980)

new wave | ► “Murdered by the Music”

Night Mirage by Ippu-Do (1983)

new wave / post punk | ► “African Nights”

Don’t Be Swindle by S.O.B (1987)

hardcore punk | ► “Don’t Be Swindle”

Close Dance by ZI:KILL (1990)

new wave / visual kei | ► “Secret Romance”

True by L’Arc~en~Ciel (1996)

new wave / visual kei | ► “Lies and Truth”

Grapefruit by Maaya Sakamoto (1996)

pop | ► “Yakusoku Wa Iranai”

11 by UA (1996)

R&B | ► “Jounetsu”

Puppet Show by Plastic Tree (1998)

post-punk / visual kei | ► “Zetsubou No Oka”

ASTROMANTIC by m-flo (2004)

hip hop / R&B | ► “miss you” ft. melody & Ryohei

Tommy heavenly6 by Tommy heavenly6 (2005)

punk pop ► “Wait till I can dream”

infinite synthesis by fripSide (2010)

electro-pop / anison | ► “Only My Railgun”

Re:Upload by livetune (2013)

electro-pop / Vocaloid | ► “Tell Your World” ft. Hatsune Miku

Car and Freezer by Eiko Ishibashi (2014)

experimental / pop | ► “Car and Freezer”

Modern Times by PUNPEE (2017)

rap / hip hop | ► “Renaissance”

---

This Side of Japan has a Ko-Fi as a tip jar if you want to show appreciation. A subscription to This Side of Japan is free, and you don’t have to pay money to access any published content. I appreciate any form of support, but if you want to, you can buy a Coffee to show thanks.

Next issue of This Side of Japan is out December. You can check out previous issues of the newsletter here.

Need to contact? You can find me on Twitter or reach me at thissideofjapan@gmail.com