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 45 of the year 2020. Enjoy the new discoveries!
Gordon – Warp
Before Gordon became the name of this rock band, the project was called Con/Anmitsu. Con is better known to some as Kokoko (子子子), she was a member of idol group Yukueshirezutsurezure (ゆくえしれずつれづれ) for a year and a half in 2016 and 2017. Now she is working with Anmitsu in this rock band. They have released several EPs since 2018, with the first one sold out. Warp is part of the first digital double A-side single the band has released. — Recommended by Francisca
tone spoon – 01
For those who enjoy listening to technical rock and double female vocals, might like the new post-rock band tone spoon. The band is based in Nagoya, started officially with activities in July of this year and consists of five members. The video presented below is their first music video and the song was also presented in a short video that was shared in their first tweet on their official Twitter account. — Recommended by Francisca
SHIFT_CONTROL – アイウォンチュー (I Want You)
Based in Gifu, rock band SHIFT_CONTROL started out exactly one year ago, making them still kind of brand-new. The music of this band can be best described as guitar-heavy rock tinged with passion and melancholy that will pack a punch. Recently, the band released their second mini-album, titled Slowmotion through No Big Deal Records. — Recommended by Francisca
ikd-sj – 蟹工船 (Kanikousen)
If you put metal, psychedelic and shoegaze together, what do you get? While ikd-sj vocalist Akira described the musical style of this five-piece as HAG (Heavy Ambient Grunge), the music genres mentioned before might be a good indication of what you can expect. The group from Tokyo has been active from 2004 and shows up with new music irregularly, making it laborious to follow every step of the band. Nevertheless, they have released a couple of albums, the latest in 2018 and even produced a song for the horror game SIREN: Blood Curse. — Recommended by Francisca
SULLIVAN’s FUN CLUB – BOOT
All the way from Sapporo and active since 2016, if you didn’t notice this from the band name already – they are called SULLIVAN’s FUN CLUB – this four-piece is seemingly bringing some high energy rock vibes to your way. They performed at SUMMER SONIC 2019 and released in total three mini-albums and several (digital) singles, it seems that this band will likely surprise their fans with a full album soon. — Recommended by Francisca
菅野恵 (Megumi Sugeno) – Daybreak
Megumi Sugeno is a singer-songwriter from the city of Fukushima. She sings about the joys and sorrows of life from her perspective, while playing on her guitar. Her music has been featured on several Fukushima TV programmes, but also for the commercial of Fukushima Bank and for the well-known confectionery from Fukushima, called Imokuri Sataro. Currently, she is working on releasing new songs for 3 consecutive months, Daybreak is the first release. — Recommended by Francisca
あるくとーーふ (arukuto–fu) – トリッキーフューチャー (Tricky Future)
What stands out from the music is the light and impressive voice of the vocalist Rikako. あるくとーーふ (arukuto–fu) are not a simple pop band but manages to be explosive. The five-piece band has been active since 2017, at that time they were classmates. In the meantime, they have already released three EPs and several singles, most of them in-house. The newest EP, titled HAPPY END!, has been their first release that is distributed nationally. — 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!
