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 lesser-known Japanese musical acts that are definitely worth watching. We are now looking back on a couple of videos that were released in week 11 of the year 2021. Enjoy the new discoveries!
中村パーキング (Nakamura Parking) – テールランプ (Tail Lamp)
Nakamura Parking started activities in 2012 when a former band of some of the members disbanded. The band moved from Aichi Prefecture to Tokyo Metropolis. After releasing several EPs and mini-albums, it was in 2020 time for the three-piece to release a full album. They are seen as the newcomers of the next generation of guitar rock, although elements of city pop and funk can be heard in their music. — Recommended by Francisca
RONDONRATS。- PARASITE
RONDONRATS。are a 5-piece mixture rock band centred on vocalist MAMIKO. Originally the band is from Hiroshima, but they have moved to Tokyo in the fall of 2015 to strengthen their live activities. As the band has been around since 2002, the list of releases and performances is long and impressive which is fun to go through for the fans of rock bands with screaming guitars and a female vocalist. There is so much more to tell about the band, but there is no room for that in this article. — Recommended by Francisca
ダブルサイズベッドルーム (DOUBLE SIZE BEDROOM) – 再生 (Saisei)
First active under another band name as a three-piece, in the winter of 2017, the Hokkaido-based rock band decided to start new and named their band DOUBLE SIZE BED ROOM. Nicknamed Dabsai, the band doesn’t seem to be tied to a specific genre. In 2019, DOUBLE SIZE BED ROOM released their first album accompanied by a 64-page manga magazine, with its own sections made by each band member. — Recommended by Francisca
KOWAREMONO – 残響、こぼれて (Zankyou, koborete)
Behind KOWAREMONO is the singer-songwriter Hirofumi Katayama, a do-it-yourself artist who not only creates his tunes, but also the recording, mixing process and video editing. After his old band merged into a new project, which also stopped after a short time, he decided to focus on his solo project. From the summer of 2020, he has released five digital singles accompanied by an equal number of music videos. — Recommended by Francisca
PROM – ダクト (DUCT)
Tokyo-based 3-piece punk band PROM will release soon their single, HYPER ACTIVE BLUES, on 7-inch. After releasing songs on two cassettes and last year an album, they have recorded the coming release analogue which is the first time for the band. Formed in 2017, the band gets inspiration from bands as Hüsker Dü and Wipers sprinkled with a muddy garage sound, emo and melodic elements. — Recommended by Francisca
Citrus in the rain – キラキラナイトミュージック (Kira Kira Night Music)
Formed in 2020, Citrus in the rain based the theme on music x video, which is not surprising since the city pop unit consists of video- and music makers, such as vocalist naco (also active solo as a singer-songwriter and in One Phrase), Shinri Fukui (music) and otocara (video). In this first release of 2021, the unit presents a new take on lo-fi hip-hop. — Recommended by Francisca
fesFE[M] – 黒き森と愛情と (Kuroki mori to aijou to)
Visual Kei band fesFE[M] performed as a support act during Jupiter’s European tour in 2019. The band consists of six members, five ‘dolls’ and a doll master who controls them. There is a counterpart band, with the same name but different writing and genre, a festival rock band, called FE[S]fem. Both bands share the same singer, named Lion. — Recommended by Francisca
Next week we will be back for a new list of new music videos to check out. But you can also look back to the earlier editions of this weekly article series for when you yearn for more musical gems!
