I started writing this series of posts in early 2011 – I was still on Tumblr back then and if it isn’t already obvious, I will never complete it. Three years have elapsed and I’ve listened to a hell of a lot more music that I’d love to put on the list, but that would be a little unfair to the 46 albums that never got their blurbs posted. Funnily, nearly half of those 46 had write-ups ready to go…I just never got around to copy/pasting/click publish button. Wooh, the joys of procrastinating.
To put a line under this ridiculous project I probably shouldn’t ever have started, here is a complete list of the 100 albums – with the ’46 That Weren’t under the dotted line.
1.muzai moratorium. shiina ringo (1999)
2.jacks no sekai. jacks (1968)
3.yume no arika. noanowa (2009)
4.enpitsu de tsukuru uta. hirakawachi 1-chome (2004)
5.fanfare. kuchiroro (2005)
6.love psychedelic orchestra. love psychedelico (2002)
7.the power source. judy and mary (1997)
8.private. hirosue ryoko (1999)
9.i/flancy. yaida hitomi (2002)
10.17-sai no chizu. ozaki yutaka (1983)
11.please mr.lostman. the pillows (1997)
12.oruto no kumo. shibata jun (2002)
13.japanese girl. yano akiko (1976)
14.private. horishita sayuri (2004)
15.smile. sasuke (2004)
16.ningen program. the back horn (2001)
17.tea. kaji hideki (1998)
18.futoushiki to sono kai. hoover’s ooover (2007)
19.kazemachi roman. happy end (1971)
20.hanazukan bessatsu. dew (2008)
21.the way we are. chemistry (2001)
22.distance. utada hikaru (2001)
23.insomnia. onitsuka chihiro (2001)
24.14banme no tsuki. arai yumi (1976)
25.full contact. dry & heavy (2000)
26.rapunzel. cocco (2000)
27.live in living 08. youmou to ohana (2008)
28.fake fur. spitz (1998)
29.even so. bonnie pink (2004)
30.bleu-bleu-bleu. hysteric blue (2001)
31.amp-reflection. school food punishment (2010)
32.ketsunopolis 4. ketsumeishi (2005)
33.change this world. instant cytron (1995)
34.from rainbow town. the miceteeth (2005)
35.touch in light. apogee (2008)
36.matatabi. okuda tamio (1998)
37.kanjou no tamago. gentouki (2005)
38.life is lovely.. okazaki ritsuko (2003)
39.sun sun sun. sparta locals (2004)
40.hi-fi shinsho. soutaiseiriron (2009)
41.route 3. freenote (2008)
42.dream field. see-saw (2003)
43.ai to warau no yoru. sunny day service (1997)
44.good times. bagdad cafe the trench town (2006)
45.chambers. steady&co. (2001)
46.i dedicate d chord. toddle (2005)
47.los angeles. the brilliant green (2001)
48.hinotama boy. moonriders (1976)
49.drawing. be the voice (2004)
50.night. odani misako (2003)
51.oz. 100s (2005)
52.take over. yamamoto ryohei (2004)
53.dawn world. triceratops (2002)
54.still a sigure virgin. ling tosite sigure (2010)
——————————————————————
55.message pie. anatakikou (2006)
56.highvision. supercar (2002)
57.three cheers for our side~umi e iku tsumori janakatta~. flipper’s guitar (1989)
58.13 leaves. fra-foa (2002)
59.shonen alice. sakamoto maaya (2003)
60.a watercolor. suneo hair (2003)
61.step by step. moritaka chisato (1994)
62.good morning. special others (2006)
63.nanae. spangle call lilli line (2002)
64.47’45”. kirinji (1999)
65.swingin’ street. dorlis (2004)
66.magic hour. kicell (2008)
67.preppy kicks. bridge (1994)
68.transit. swinging popsicle (2004)
69.university street. takeuchi mariya (1979)
70.elementary. hotaru biyori (2010)
71.team rock. quruli (2001)
72.wasted tears. hamada shogo (1989)
73.tokyo classic. rip slyme (2003)
74.face the music. sleepy.ab (2002)
75.beautiful days. scoobie doo (2004)
76. who said “LaLa…”?. wyolica (2000)
77.life. ozawa kenji (1994)
78.hell-see. syrup16g (2003)
79.yggdrasil. bump of chicken (2004)
80.koori no sekai. inoue yosui (1973)
81.dramatic. clammbon (2001)
82.and world. acidman (2005)
83.solid state survivor. yellow magic orchestra (1979)
84.fuukei byousha. onsoku line (2005)
85.star circus. the ARROWS (2004)
86.songs. sugar babe (1975)
87.great splash. cune (2002)
88.naraba, imi kara kaihou sareta hibiki wa “oto” no sekai no shinen o kataru. te’ (2005)
89.future listening!. towa tei (1994)
90.natural beauty. core of soul (2002)
91.karuki zamen kuri no hana. shiina ringo (2003)
92.tamahime-sama. togawa jun (1984)
93.gear blues. thee michelle gun elephant (1998)
94.astromantic. m-flo (2004)
95.kyou made no watashi, ashita kara no kimi. katou izumi (2006)
96.maiden voyage. salyu (2010)
97.sugarless. suga shikao (2001)
98.kyoiku. tokyo jihen (2004)
99.shinkai. mr.children (1996)
100.songs in the birdcage. kotringo (2007)
The reason I decided to just post the list instead of letting it rot away in my drafts was because of this article. When I first got into Jpop around 1997-98 (thank you, SPEED!) I had absolutely no idea where to start and which artists I should be listening to when I was looking to expand beyond mainstream Jpop; it wasn’t until I started teaching myself Japanese around 2000-ish and with the emergence of forums/download sources such as the PMMT/Bunko tracker, WinMX and SoulSeek J-indie rooms that it got a lot easier to seek out new music. 15 years on it’s even simpler and a lot cheaper too – we now have direct access to digital releases and Amazon JP & CD-Japan and can sample before buying through Youtube/iTunes etc. Still, I’d love to have had any kind of reference list early on so I wouldn’t have been stuck with the same Hamasaki Ayumi and B’z recommendations over and over. I’m not claiming to have that great a taste in music – one man’s meat is another man’s poison after all, but I hope that someone out there will find at least one new thing to like from here.
’til the next time I attempt something silly, peace out.
Muzakally Inclined 