Jpop: Top 20 of 2016

The year of 2016 in Japanese pop has for me been less idols and more electronic and synth songs. Still a lot of strange and freaky, but in a more tempered way.
So here is my top 20 songs in some kind of order.

20. Ladybaby - Renge Chance! The bearded Australian doing maid cosplay with a heavy metal voice returned with an ode to ramen! Of course!

19. Natsu no Mamono. Cos-players and crazy live festival organizers, one has to love their videos, so full of just plain fun.

18. Awesome City Club. I like their sound, full of air and happiness.

17. Sasanomaly. Yes, the music is fine, but really, it is the videos you can't miss. They are arts-and-crafty litter masterpieces!

16. Fake - You. At first I felt like, hmm, it's OK for this kind of model group. But go beyond the surface and the song is a polished pop hit that has no unused space.

15. Haraeki Stage Ace - Rockstar. Passion and energy in this fighting track. Now can you please start posting full videos...?!

14. Suchmos - Stay Tune. It was like Jamiroquai had landed in a pop song in a good way.

13. C-ute - Dreamlike Climax. Mixing classical music and pop may sound odd, but it worked really well for C-ute, the drama of song and dance harmonizing with the classic melody.

12. Stereo Japan - Dancing Again. Good song but those breaks with super funky sounds made all the difference.

11. Babymetal. An anticipated comeback for the jpop metal girls, with The One and Karate holding up to expectations.

10. Oyasumi Hologram - Neuromancer. This indie duo delivered a track with a superb nerve that really made it stand out.

9. Reol - Give me a break Stop now. She finally showed herself in a full video, and such a great video it was - cool and catchy, so a great way to debut!

8. Cherrsee - White Shirt. While this is unabashed "Brave Sound in Japanese", it is still high quality and polished pop.

7. Czecho No Republic - Dream Beach Sunset. When they get their synths right, CNR is such a great group. Like here.

6. Cicada - Yes. The voice and the sound of "Yes" is soft and inviting, silent passion in harmony.

5. Have A Nice Day! ft New World's Girlfriend - New Romance. This song proves again that feeling and that extra 'it' always beats static perfection.

4. Taemin - Sayonara Hitori. Even though the video sometimes passes over to gaming territory, it is still a great ballad, with drama and a song without dead spots.

3. Niji no Conquistador - ↓Alien Girl in New York↑. The passion and the humor made me instantly love this song by the idol girls of Niji no Conquistador.

2. Frederic. The group may not have changed their basic concept so much, but "Only Wonder" was another great example of their trademark sound, and I do think their later "Night Step" marks a new step in a kind of darker and fresh direction.

1. Metafive. Even though the participating artists may have seen their best days, the stylish mega-group had high expectations on it when it debuted early this year, but they have surely delivered. Both "Luv U Tokio" and "Musical Chairs" are music perfection.

Jpop: Sasanomaly - Re:verb

I have praised one-man act Sasanomaly for his inspiring videos and the new Re:verb is no exception. In the form of an arts & crafts experiment with prints (using the same director, Atsushi Makino, as in the previous videos), it tells the classic story of how hate breeds more hate and what to do about it.

• Sasanomaly - Re:verb

Jpop: Top 10 of the first quarter of 2016

The jpop top 10 this spring has a mixture of stylish and nerdy, sometimes even in the same video,d epending on your taste. Being me, there is a bias towards the otaku favorites...

First the five follower-ups.

15. Perfume - Flash. Live, the queens of japanese electronic pop rule. Not live, it becomes to static.

14. Dempagumi.inc - STAR☆TT Shichauze Harudashi ne. A must watch video.

13. exist†trace - Dream Rider. Whatever old fans says, these girls still rocks!

12. SKE48 - Chicken LINE. Their latest single has a great Blade Runner reference.

11. Suiyoubi no Campanella - Chupacabra. The 'it' group in Japan right now. Crazy and cool as usual.

And so, we come to the best of the best, top 10;

10. Ladybaby - Renge Chance!. A heavy metal - trans - jpop celebration of noodles. Of course. Welcome to familiar jpop territory.

9. Diachi Miura - Cry & Fight. The dancer and singer is back and this time he focused on the dance number, but the song is pretty nice too.

8. Faky - You. They have delivered stylish looks and poses from the start, but this is the first song that actually felt better than average.

7. Dark DPG - Forever 88. The evil sister group of Natsu no Mamono, they delivers some fun idol songs that is great fun and cosplay to die for (die of?).

6. Natsu no Mamono - Tokyo Moso Forever Young. Well, having seen Dark DPG (above), Natsu no Mamono is a natural companion, with about the same levels of wild dressups and singing, so charming I can't get enough of it.

5. FEMM - PoW! and L.C.S.. Pow! gave us what we expected and L.C.S. gave us something new. I honestly think they need to evelve their concept for the third cycle, but for now this is still great in all its graphicness.

4. Sasanomaly - Synesthesia Ghost. Formally a video of 2015, this had to be here as it has a visual style that's unusual and perfect for the song it illustrates.

3. Metafive - Luv U Tokio. This is what the campaign Cool Japan would want to convey, a modern day metropolitan suaveness.

2. Babymetal - The One and Karate. The princesses of jpop metal are back! Suzuka's singing in english on The One gave me goose bumps the first time I heard it - finally they have that perfect live ballad, and Karate is another great song too.

1. Niji no Conquistador - ↓Alien Girl in New York↑. Yes, I know, it is a idol group, and the song is in some senses a run-of-the-mill idol song. But. But! They deliver it with personality, and the song actually is quite well constructed if you listen to it. All in all it is the perfect combination of typical jpop - charming, nerdy and special.

Jpop: Sasanomaly (ササノマリイ)

Sasanomaly (Sasano being his real name) or Nekobolo is a songmaker that has done lots of electronic songs using Hatsune Miku vocaloid among others, but in we can hear him sing himself in the beautiful video Synesthesia Ghost. The video makes a great use of animation where the animators (hands) are allowed to show but it just makes it even more metaphoric, a kind of love story where the main person transforms along with the girl he is chasing, the singing of Sasanomaly carrying us along.

• Sasanomaly - Synesthesia Ghost (共感覚おばけ)
• Sasanomaly - Re:verb
• Sasanomaly - Baloney Speaker (戯言スピーカー)
• Sasanomaly - Onomatopoeia Glasses (オノマトペメガネ)
• Sasanomaly - Things I Want You To Hear (きかせたいのは)
• Sasanomaly - Self-inflicted Achromatic (自傷無色)