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 48 of the year 2021. Enjoy the new discoveries!
Back o Beyond – No Pain,No Gain
Back o Beyond, consisting out of vocalist SUM and guitarist SHIGE, is best described as a loud mixture band. With roots in various genres such as punk, rock, pop, hip-hop and visual kei, perhaps a jack of all trades, the Tokyo-based band is ready to give you the best rollercoaster ride you ever enjoyed. In this music video, vivi (BLACK MARIA, ex-Anlique) is also seen, but not as a musician for this band. — Recommended by Francisca
33Insanity’sVertebra – INSTANT BABY
It’s been a while since we’ve heard from rock duo 33Insanity’sVertebra, which was formed in 2012, in terms of new music. After releasing an acoustic release in December 2018, the band seemed to have taken a break. They are currently active with performances and seemingly thought it was time to share a video, made by vocalist NOZOMI for one of their acoustic tracks, but there is good news: a new album is on its way. — Recommended by Francisca
チセツナガラ (Chisetsunagara) – 野良猫のストラット (Noraneko no Sutoraato)
Osaka-based five-piece Chisetsunagara got officially formed in 2019 and can actually still be seen as brand-new. The band released two EPs, one in 2020 and another one this year, titled 問わず語り (Towazugatari). They have attracted the attention in the indie scene of Kansai thanks to their high-level performances, but also creativity in their lyrics and catchy melodies, which brings out something unique. Definitely a band to keep an eye on! — Recommended by Francisca
hizume – シーソー (seesaw)
After the restart of the rock band in May 2020, the Osaka-based four-piece hizume went all out with producing and releasing music. After a demo, the band released a couple of singles and then focused on creating music videos. Last summer, it was finally time to release a mini-album, titled 記憶 (Kioku). With the concept of expressing emotions that arise in everybody’s daily lives, they state that they are the kind of band that has deep emotions, but still sees a slight amount of light in the dark days. — Recommended by Francisca
イカワマイ (Ikawamai) – PANDORA
Ikawamai is a singer-songwriter and graphic designer which she gladly combines in her project to eventually become a famous singing designer. From a young age, she has been drawing and soon, after being inspired by YUI, she started to play the acoustic guitar. After a couple of demo releases and a single, it was finally time for an EP release, titled LOVE ERROR, singing about love and life. The upcoming track will be a digital release but first received a colourful music video. — Recommended by Francisca
板歯目 (BANSHIMOKU) – フリーダムスタンダード (Freedom Standard)
Formed in 2019, when the members were still high school students, the heavy rock band BANSHIMOKU (with a dash of garage rock) shared their first music video with the announcement that they will release their first album on the very first day of the new year, to start 2022 on a brilliant note. The three-piece describes themselves as a reptilian rock band singing songs about crocodiles, turtles and lizards. — Recommended by Francisca
Velka – I MISS YOU
Pop-rock outfit Velka, consisting of bass player and vocalist Ichiru Yagawa and drummer and vocalist Tsubasa Aoi, released their first mini-album, gigil, on the first of December. To promote this release with five new tracks, they released a music video, I MISS YOU, on the same day. It has been a while that fans heard something new from the band, as they were busy with other projects, such as 362. Songs are based on dark pop and fantasy and do not only express it in their music, but also in fashion and art. — 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.
