With a large music industry such as Japan has, the 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 40 of the year 2021. Enjoy the new discoveries!
Wisteria – THE FLAME
More than a year after the release of the third single LOVE TRAITOR, the four-piece rock band Wisteria returned with THE FLAME after the band line-up had undergone a change. The Tokyo-based band started in 2019, knew to impress the audience with the release of their first singles. — Recommended by Francisca
Rorschach.inc – Rorschach
Rorschach.inc, a mysterious underground band consisting of humanoid rabbits, popped up in the music scene at the start of this year and that didn’t go unnoticed in the visual kei scene globally – it might have to do something with the background of these band members in human form. This their second digital release and they are going all out with an aggressive sound. — Recommended by Francisca
リスキーシフト (Risky Shift) – MiMIC
What you are watching now is the first official music video of the band Risky Shift, a four-piece rock band based in Tokyo. They released their first double-A single in August of this year and it seems to be a solid release – MIMIC is one of the tracks on the single. It is waiting for more of this young band. — Recommended by Francisca
Arbus – Long Way Home
Kyoto-based mathcore band Arbus got formed in the spring of 2008. The sound of the five-piece incorporates elements of progressive rock, jazz, and pop music but they are influenced by more music genres from Bossa Nova to hardcore to punk. Long Way Home is the first release after 1 year and 6 months. — Recommended by Francisca
Sleepless Sheep – lab.
Sleepless Sheep got formed in January 2020 and is centred around bass player Leon, who composes the music, writes the lyrics and produces the tracks. In total, the band consists of six members and they have recently released their second digital single, on which lab. can be found. — Recommended by Francisca
Phobia – Bizarre
The visual rock band Phobia returned after a very long time with a couple of releases, starting with two music videos. The Nagoya-based band was active around the end of the 90s and the start of the 2000s, and can be seen as a legendary band. Phobia planned to return for a one-day revival in 2020, but it seems that they want to stick around a bit longer. In November they will release their 0th mini-album, a crowdfunded one, titled bəˈzär, their first release in 20 years. — Recommended by Francisca
チョーキューメイ (ChoQMay) – Cold Sleep
Tokyo-based band ChoQMay got formed in the rainy season of 2020. Directly after starting, the three-piece has been busy releasing several music videos, an EP and a mini-album. Their hard work paid off. ChoQMay will soon tour through Japan with guitar rock band Broken my toybox and release another EP in November. — 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! Want to read more about how this project started or check out the YouTube playlists? Click here for all the information.
