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 31 of the year 2022. Enjoy the new discoveries!
UtaKata – メイテイ (Meitei)
The three-piece alternative rock band UtaKata got formed in the winter of 2019. The rock band is mostly active in the metropole of Tokyo. To date, the three-piece has released a couple of singles and an EP with songs characterised by an intense sound, variable time signatures and fleeting melodies. Meitei is their newest song, and currently, the band is doing a Twitter campaign, where the band wants to reach at least 1000 retweets or 2000 likes to reach a couple of goals, including releasing the song digitally. — Recommended by Francisca
Hello1103 – Deconstruction
With trackmaker and engineer Hitomi and VJ and visual creator yukako, Hello1103 can be best defined as a musical and visual team in one. The unit mostly concentrates on live performances, however, they regularly release new music filled with electro and ambient. The duo introduced a VR experience in 2021, a live event that featured VR headsets during performances at live venues. Deconstruction is Hello1103’s first release in 2022 is a single, before this release they released an album and an EP. — Recommended by Francisca
DARRELL – INFERNO
Born out of vocalist Ai’s solo project, started in 2015 after the metal band DEATHGAZE announced to go on an indefinite hiatus, in 2017 the project had gotten rebranded as DARRELL. To celebrate the metal band’s fifth anniversary, DARRELL released a best-of album, titled CLASSIX, featuring almost all the songs on two discs that the four-piece has released over the years. Then it was time for new music again, namely the upcoming digital single INFERNO. — Recommended by Francisca
Gordon – 涅槃 (Nirvana)
It has been a while since we wrote about the Nagoya-based rock duo Gordon, consisting of vocalist and guitarist Con (ex-ゆくえしれずつれづれ/Not Secured,Loose Ends) and guitarist Anmitsu. The band has been actively touring since its inception in 2019, and they have released several EPs, a couple of (digital) singles, and earlier this year a full album, titled INFLAME. Nirvana is the fourth digital single for the band, which is another guitar-driven song topped by Con’s strong singing voice. — Recommended by Francisca
AIRTONIC – センチブルー (Centimeter blue)
For this music video, Tokyo-based band AIRTONIC has chosen to create a documentary-type video, giving an insight into the lives of the band members and their friends during the summer. The song Centimeter blue is a typical summer song and comes from the three-piece rock band’s first album, while conveying the concept of ‘our music in a new era’. The band has been active since 2015 and has already released several singles and a demo before the release of the album. — Recommended by Francisca
SEASIDE CIRCUIT – Trump
The four-piece pop-rock band SEASIDE CIRCUIT got formed in 2018 with the city Osaka as their home base. The songs the band creates are a mixture of fast and catchy tunes, intertwining the guitar sound and powerful vocals. After the band came on our radar in 2020, when they released their first demo, they have had some changes in the band lineup, joined the record label bloom night records and released several singles. Hopefully we can look forward to an album soon! — Recommended by Francisca
Night Glory – today？
On the 10th of August, alternative rock band Night Glory will release their first album, titled if one mislaid, filled with shoegaze, pop, and piano-rock songs connecting the past and present of the band. With the closing of the only live house in the city of Okazaki, the home base of the band, changes in musicianship and direction, and the pandemic, the road to this first album was not an easy one. With activities started in 2014, the current band line-up is still going strong as a four-piece since the end of 2018. — 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.
