Jpop: Tokyo Girls Style - Predawn

Tokyo Girl Style has since the first video I saw ("Cross-Movie") ever been about that slightly gothic and about long and wistful looks from the members, and "Predawn" continues that tradition with lots of melancholic ambience.

• Tokyo Girls Style - Predawn

Jpop: Top 10 of the second quarter of 2016

This quarter's best videos has a definite tilt towards the electronic and and synth-retroesque, but there is still place for some wild visuals and idol groups.

10. Natsu no Mamono - Demon Bom-Ba-Ye, Awakening version (魔物、BOM-BA-YE 〜魂ノ覚醒編〜). The super charming cos-playing gang of five is back with another great fan-service video of craziness. Looove it!

9. Frederic - Only Wonder (オンリーワンダー). They have found their sound it seems and they are sticking to it. Well, it works and so who am I to complain.

8. Naomirusty - La Niña Night (ラニーニャ夜). A naive styled 80s retro song with just the right balance of emotion and instruments to make it work so well as it does.

7. Haraeki Stage Ace - Rockstar. Basically a rather simple uptempo jpop song that we have heard before, but the focus and clarity makes it well worth listening to.

6. Tokyo Girls Style - Reflection ( リフレクション). The girls has a presence in their videos that few idol groups manage, a kind of soberness amid all the usual dancing and singing.

5. Sasanomaly - Re:verb. This is visually the best video all hands down this year so far, where director Atsushi Makino continues to use the excellent arts&crafts themes as before.

4. Cicada - Yes. Akiko and her band delivers with confidence a soulful and soft song that makes me relax.

3. Oyasumi Hologram - Neuromancer (ニューロマンサー). Drawing trongly visually on Harajuku-stylish looks and image, the duo delivers emphatic electronic pop that uses dissonance to enhance the beat.

2. Stereo Japan - Dancing Again. This could have been a run-of.the-mill girl idol band, but the production and the funky drops in the middle sections are just lovely ear candy for me.

1. Have A Nice Day! ft New World's Girlfriend - New Romance. The emotion and sound landscape actually makes the broken english an asset here in this great retro piece.

Jpop: Tokyo Girls Style - Reflection ( リフレクション)

Since I wrote about Tokyo Girls Style they have lost one member but still some of the darkness lingers in the new video even though it is not as explicit as before.

• Tokyo Girls Style - Reflection ( リフレクション)

Jpop: Tokyo Girls Style

Tokyo Girls Style latest "Cross Movie" for the movie "School Ghost Story -The Soul of Language's Curse" is quite a gothic masterpiece, and the version over at Jpopsuki isnt even the full version.

• Tokyo Girls Style - Cross ~Movie ("School Ghost Story -The Soul of Language's Curse" version) (十字架 ～映画「学校の怪談-呪いの言霊-」Ver.)
• Tokyo Girls Style - Limited addiction
• Tokyo Girls Style - Reflection
• Tokyo Girls Style - Predawn
• Tokyo Girls Style - The Secret of Heartbeat
• Tokyo Girls Style - Rock you!
• Tokyo Girls Style - Partition Love (live)
• Tokyo Girls Style - Liar
• Tokyo Girls Style - Kirari☆  (キラリ☆ )
• Tokyo Girls Style - Bad Flower