Anna Takeuchi,
MATOUSIC The debut album from an artist I just heard of today. Anna at first appears to be an acoustic wielding singer songwriter but there is a lot more of interest. She has lots of 70's and 80's influence and yet this album comes across as rather fresh. It's not a throwback project. Her vocals are great, there is a similar bright, direct and youthful quality that reminds me of Yui. She gets into some fast singing bits and uses lots of great English phrases. The instrumentals are so fun, with all the electro elements. It's a bit of a one note album but I think this is very promising as a debut. I will be looking out for future releases from her.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX4AV6MPc_o Aimyon,
I Heard That There's Good Pasta Aimyon is an artist who's been on my radar for a bit, but I've never listened to one of her albums until now. She's also very popular but not to Western audiences. I was looking up what I could about Aimyon, there is a lot of information in English thankfully. I wish I could understand her music because she seems really interesting. I don't always feel like I'm missing out on the full picture with J-Pop but Aimyon's music makes me feel that way since I miss out on the expression that comes out in her lyrics. That said her talent is quite evident. "Harunohi" is a fantastic song, it has a bit of a 2000's J-Pop feel. These are very well put together songs and her voice is absolutely wonderful. She has such a great vocal tone and I love listening to her singing. I really enjoyed these songs and I'll certainly be going back to these songs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfGI91CFtRg chelmico,
maze chelmico got everyone's attention with "Easy Breezy" the opening song to Eizouken. It's such a weird fun song that you can't help but love. They are a rap duo that make insanely enjoyable music. They have a very cool sound and songs like "Limits" have such great production. There is a lot to take in so I'll have to listen again, this a great album and really overflowing with creative spirit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gQ0ALMOkBs Machine Gun Kelly,
Tickets To My Downfall Why did I listen to this album? I was curious. This is an outright Pop Punk album that uses all the cliches. The lyrics are...well..."If I was a painter I'd be a depressionist". That's a cherry picked example, it's not all that bad but it reeks of an immature burnout who hasn't grown past his emo phase. "bloody valentine" is actually a pretty good song however, that is what made me give this album a chance. I really enjoy the song! The lyrics aren't totally awful and the instrumental is very good. I don't like Halsey but her feature isn't too bad on "forget me too" and she adds something to the song. The songs are all very short here, there are actually some good ones like "WWIII" that could of been longer.
There is an interlude of him on shrooms talking to his friend on the phone pretending to be aliens. It actually made me laugh and ease up on the album. From that point on I enjoyed all the songs. "concert for aliens" was pretty fun and "my ex's best friend" is simply a good track. There is something I enjoyed about this record. The idea sounds like the worst thing ever but it's so fun when you realize it's not serious.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk49Sr8sZmw Ayuni D of BiSH is going to play at Budokan with her Rock band PEDRO next year. This is absolutely insane since the goal of both BiS and BiSH has been to do Budokan. BiS never got there and BiSH hasn't got there yet, although they have become quite popular thanks to their tie-in songs. Most recently BiSH did a song for Call Of Duty mobile which was honestly pretty good and truly representative of the old BiSH spirit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blOYboCkgDQ BAND-MAID will also play Budokan next year and come out with a new album. I'm very interested to see where they go since CONQUEROR saw them doing some different things and coming into their own as artists more.
Seiko Oomori has had some singles this year but honestly, I'm not thrilled by them. She changed her image to look a lot more idol and I really wonder where she's going musically. "Re:Re: Love" was such a great single last year. Her idol group ZOC has had a crazy year and are about to do their major label debut. There is a lot of drama within ZOC and a bit of an unstable line-up. I hope they can pull together because they have a lot of potential shown by their three singles.
Ac/Dc (whoa something not J-Pop in this post) will have a new album next month. I thought Rock or Bust would be their last record. It kind of said we're old but still doing our thing. But no, they got another one in them. Malcolm's spirit will live on since they used riffs and demos he'd made. Ac/Dc had a very crazy period towards the end of the Rock Or Bust tour with an insane line-up change. Who would of thought you'd see Axl Rose sing with Ac/Dc. But now they are back to the Back In Black line-up minus Malcolm. I think the album will be something I only listen to once and be like "alright". Won't complain about new music from my second favorite band though.