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 50 of the year 2022. Enjoy the new discoveries!
あるくとーーふ (arukuto–fu) – 悪役のはなし (Akuyaku no hanashi)
It’s been a while since we highlighted pop band arukuto–fu (or perhaps better said ARKTH) in an article. This time, the five-piece has decided to re-record their very first and most popular song 悪役のはなし (Akuyaku no hanashi). The original song can be found on their very first self-produced EP from 2019, FACT Re:. The music video depicts a confrontation with themselves while singing about justice and evil. — Recommended by Francisca
Catfood Salmons – SYMPATHY
This week the in 2018 formed band Catfood Salmons released their sophomore mini-album, with the title Patchworks. The four-piece embraces and delivers an unquenchable thirst for music, with alternative, dream pop, and shoegaze as its primary styles of music. The album delves into more introspective feelings from their previous mini-album Watercolors, which was released two years ago, but is still full of constant enthusiasm for music. — Recommended by Francisca
Carpenter’sBlue – Gianna
We have arrived at the third single from three-member shoegazer band Carpenter’sBlue, Gianna, and the title track received a cinematic music video. It’s another song with a strong emphasis on melody and lyricism in the song text. The trio has been active since the summer of 2019 and is situated in Machida, which is to the west of Tokyo. Hopefully 2023 will bring the band a mini-album or full-length album. — Recommended by Francisca
チョーキューメイ (ChoQMay) – 十三月の銀河 (Galaxy Beyond December)
From the start in the summer of 2020, this pop band has been quite active in pumping out new music and videos to present their face and tunes to the world and this paid off. They published their debut album at the beginning of this year, and one of the quartet’s songs was chosen to serve as the introduction to the MBS drama series あせとせっけん (Ase to Sekken). To top it all off, ChoQMay will release their third EP at the start of next year. This EP contains the ending theme song for TV Osaka’s drama series イケメン共よ メシを喰え (Ikemen-domo yo meshi wo kue). — Recommended by Francisca
snowy – Gravity Of Snowy
While here and there in Europe the snow has the landscape white, it is perhaps appropriate to come up with music from snowy, or Moe Sasaki, a singer-songwriter, producer and composer. You might recognise her from her work in electro-pop band EDOGA-SULLIVAN. The name of her project is inspired by the snowy landscapes in her hometown. In a few days, she will release her second EP, Gravity Of Snowy, filled with an alternative electronic sound. — Recommended by Francisca
yeti let you notice – bookmark
This week saw a new release of the four-piece alternative rock band yeti let you notice, an album with the long title bookmarks (I can be *** with some chalky candys.), consisting of 10 tracks filled with sentiments. Both happiness and emptiness of memories are expressed through a light sound and fragile songs while they sing about human weaknesses, ugliness and deviousness. A great note to end the year 2022 for this Tokyo-based band. — Recommended by Francisca
Moon In June – hikari
Two years after their first self-produced EP titled 海鳴り (uminari), the Tokyo-based five-piece Moon In June released EP number two, evergreen. The band had undergone a sort of transformation and seemed to have shifted from their previous work, but they never let go of the shoegaze stamp. The band members travelled to what appears to be a desolate island to film the music video for the second EP’s opening song. — 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.
