With a large music industry such as Japan has, second largest in the world, it is inevitable that music fans will be inundated with a profusion of good (and also less good) music from this country. It is impossible to keep track of this and write a review about it per video. But to avoid missing out on gems, it is time for a weekly list of new music videos from Japanese musical acts that are definitely worth watching. We are starting with week 28 in the year 2020.
ELECTRIC MAMA – Ley Line
Electronic rock unit ELECTRIC MAMA released a new video after 6 months for the song Ley Line, which is also a digital single. The video consists of stop-motion and footage of their one-man show at club vijon last June. The unit from Osaka and released an album on their own label LEFT HORSE RECORDS last December to celebrate their 15th anniversary, titled Moment. — Recommended by Fran
Shintenshi Kaibyakushudan ZIGZAG – 五月ノ雪 (Gogatsu no Yuki)
With a style primarily Visual Kei, the sound of this band is a surprise to the ears. They break traditional Visual Kei conventions by combining a harsh look with indie-pop and progressive sounds. Not to mention the vocalist has an amazing range! After releasing a music video two weeks ago, the band shared a live video of a song that was released in November 2019 on a sound source collection. — Recommended by MetalHachiko
KITANO REM – RAINSICK
There have been a couple of small articles published about this singer-songwriter KITANO REM before on AVO Magazine, formerly known as REM. The musician surprised fans with a new video on the 7th of July, on Tanabata. The song RAINSICK is part of a double-A single, titled RAINSICK/Orange. KITANO REM is known for her powerful and versatile voice and knows how to entertain with intriguing videos. — Recommended by Fran
Haruka Yoshiki – Mid & Summer Night
Haruka Yoshiki released her first solo music video in over 2 years, her first release since idol group Party Rockets GT disbanded earlier this year. The video is very simple: following Haruka through different landscapes as her voice and the music conjure memories and dreams of summer. — Recommended by PHX
moll – NEW WORLD
Grunge rock band moll will soon release their third mini-album with the title NEW WORLD. The three-piece started in 2018, has performed a few times with The Doggy Paddle (Director of Photography for this music video is the vocalist and guitarist of this band) and appeared on TOKYO CALLING in 2019, Japan’s largest live circuit festival. In the video where you see the band performing on a small stage, you get greeted by an uplifting and raw song. — Recommended by Fran
IIOT – Song 1
A very new band from Tokyo, IIOT, released a music video that is a result of the inspiration that vocalist and keyboard player eri-nyo (also active in CUICUI) got after hearing her 11-months old son singing a new song along with the guitar. She used the melody for this song that is partly English and Japanese. Advised is to watch the video until the end. The band’s name is a combination of the first letter of the last names of all band members. — Recommended by Fran
Mom – 胎内回帰 (Tainaikaiki)
The singer-songwriter Mom describes his project as ‘Craft Hip-Hop’ for the new generation and doesn’t want to be labelled as a rapper or bandsman. He just released his third album, titled 21st Century Cultboi Ride a Sk8boad, and has been sharing a lot of music videos to promote this album, with the music video below as the latest addition, the opening song for the album. The video is directed by the musician himself. — Recommended by Fran
Next week we will be back for a new list of new music videos to check out.
