Music Chat Spam

[DonJuan]

So it IS the new super group lol

[JPope]

I mean, it had to be. I wasn't a huge VK fan back in the day, but having heard some stuff from all of these bands after the fact, I'm kind of low-key jacked for this. And it's a really great band name considering how dead Rock is as a genre in 2022. I really wanted Judy and Mary to be the band that did this, but I think that window has shut completely, so this will do. I bet Nagata is super pumped for this.

[JPope]

Don't know if anyone besides me missed THE LAST ROCKSTARS debut release

"THE LAST ROCKSTARS (PARIS MIX)"


All English lyrics is a bit of a surprise, but I mostly dig the song. The "Bigadan bigadan ban ban ban" bit is a little cheesy, and the modern production is a tad soulless, but the rest of it has just enough turn of the century VK feel to make those things not so annoying. The bridge is really fantastic.

[DonJuan]

Oh, that's sweet. Pretty damn good for a comeback.

[Shoujo Q]

AHHHH! I missed this release.

I was surprised at how well Hyde spoke english. I think it was his VAMPS stuff that had me like, oh? He's pretty good. And a lot of his solo stuff is in english. I already know that Miyavi and Yoshki knew english. That just leaves Sugizo.

I want more now.

They don't look bad for a bunch of 50* year olds. (*Miyavi is in his 40s)

It's amazing what a little makeup and photoshop can do? Yoshiki does NOT look 57.

[JPope]

Yoshiki has definitely aged better than Makoto.

[DonJuan]

He is WHAT?!
Damn, I want to age like he did lol

[JPope]

Rick Beato had Marty Friedman on his channel for a wide-ranging hour-long interview that included a conversation about the differences between Japanese and Western pop.



A few of us who've been following Beato for years have been trying to get him to check out J-pop, because everything he misses about Western pop is still at the core of J-pop. Marty might have finally cracked through the wall.

[MejraThea]

I recently discovered Atarashii Gakkou no Leaders! I actually found them a couple of years ago, thought they were weird but intriguing and then forgot them. This week I found their song Otona Blue, which I really like. Their newest single Maningen is good too, but they are extremely hit and miss to me. Anyway, I was very impressed by their The First Take performance of Otona Blue.

[JPope]

Dempagumi.inc calling it a career in 2025.



16 years is a hell of a run. I really love their early chaotic stuff.

[JPope]

Four of the P101-JP finalists who didn't make the cut are debuting as IS:SUE.

https://www.billboard.com/music/music-n ... 235665083/

The four finalists of PRODUCE 101 JAPAN THE GIRLS, one of the largest audition programs ever held in Japan, are set to make their Japan debut from Universal Music on June 19 as the brand-new group IS:SUE.

The members are RIN (Rin Aita), NANO (Nano Kenmotsu), YUUKI (Yuuki Tanaka), and RINO (Rino Sakaguchi), all signed to LAPONE GIRLS Inc. The name of the group is a play on words, from the Japanese word “ishu” meaning “a different kind” and the English word “issue,” with the group aiming to become “a fascinating and different kind of existence that always captivates people through newsworthiness and topicality (issues).”

You just know that they're gonna end up being bigger than ME:I.

[DonJuan]

When will their Love Machine drop? lol

[Shoujo Q]

Only after one of the members leaves and is replaced by an even bigger ace.

[JPope]

I always love seeing H!P stuff turn up in unexpected places, like the latest video from one of my favorite Youtube follows, Techmoan. He's a middle-aged English dude who collects old tech -- mostly audio related, but other stuff, as well -- and his latest features an old broken Japanese coin operated game that he's unable to repair. It's a dud of a feature, but the second part is where the fun begins.

He has a NOS hand-held cartridge karaoke mic from 2002, as well as several carts of JPop selections from the era. Guess who was still massive in 2002? Well, a lot of great Japanese acts, actually, and it's just kind of fun to pick them out from the close-ups of the track listings. He plays snippets of several tracks, and though the quality is clownishly bad, it's still fun, and H!P pops up a lot. If you were into JPop back then, you'll probably enjoy this. The video is queued to the segment of interest.

[sadude]

Thanks for posting! That was certainly a trip. It was definitely nostalgic seeing all the H!P prominently featured and fun to try to sing along to 100kai no Kiss as he was showing it.
I wonder how much H!P earned in royalties from things like this.

[JPope]

Yeah, the first case he showed had 100kai no KISS on the front cover, and it was at that moment when it hit me that I might recognize a lot of the music he got with that mic. One of them had all of the Shiawase shuffle group songs, which just goes to show how big H!P was in 2002. Hearing -- and recognizing! -- that cheesy version of Kyoko Fukada's "Swimming" was the most nostalgic part for me, though, because that was my fucking jam back then.

[JPope]

Not sure how anyone here feels about Eminem, but his new album is ridiculously good, especially if you're a fan of the classic Slim Shady era stuff.

[JPope]

New Idol Group Alert!

Welcome to the world of Phantom Siita.

This popped up in my YT mentions today, and while I usually roll my eyes at "dark" idol groups, I gave it a listen for some reason, and I'm glad I did because they're really good. Great vocals and music that, while on the dark side of things, is interesting and just whimsical enough to keep my eyes from rolling at all the transgressive idol darkness, lol. Let's start with their two singles/videos.

Their first single released in June, "Otomodachi"


With a different arrangement this would fit OG Anju nicely, and the 3/4 time interlude feels very Hoshibe Sho. Right away, though, you can tell that these are pretty talented idols.

2nd and current single release last week, "Just Wanna xxxx With You"


The way they use the Sailor Moon musical motif is outstanding and again keeps things from becoming too serious. If Otomodachi didn't convince you that these girls can sing, well this one should remove all doubts.

Phantom Siita are the brainchild of Ado, and the six members range in ages from 16 - 21. I'm just gonna cut-n-paste from the their Jpop wiki entry here:

The concept of Phantom Siita is "retro horror idol" and they aim to create a new idol image while giving a sense of nostalgia and Japaneseness. The group's name is a combination of the word "Phantom", which are illusions and ghosts, and "Siita", which is a combination of the scientific name of the Monarch butterfly, Parantica sita, and the scientific name of the swallowtail moth, Epicopeia hainesii.

"If modern idols are "butterflies", then Phantom Siita is a "moth", a heretical existence in the idol industry. It's frightening and beautiful, making you want to reach out even though you know it's scary."

Yeah, that's some eyeroll shit there, but the music's really good. I thought about putting this in the alt-idol forum, but I'm not sure anyone considers them an alt-idol group. Feel free to move this if it belongs there, though.

[Shoujo Q]

Oh. Nice find. I'm always looking for quirky idol groups that can sing and don't sound like a bunch of deflating balloons.

I love a lot of Ado's music, and this has the same feel.