The Unfinished 100

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.

100 Favourite Japanese albums: #054 – still a Sigure virgin?

still a Sigure virgin?. Ling Tosite Sigure (2010)

It’s taken a while but I’m finally convinced that still a Sigure virgin? is better than its predecessor just A moment. There may be no radical change in style between those two albums compared to the leap made from Inspiration is DEAD to just A moment but what there is a whole lot more polishing and sharpening of their post-hardcore sound…better production, if you want to put it that way. Major deal dollars, they do help.

If I were to have written this series of posts in 2014 you might well have found this album being usurped by TK’s own solo album but for now, still a Sigure virgin? is tops in my mind. And Shandy is still the best song he’s ever written.

Refer:
Shandy
I was music PV

100 Favourite Japanese albums: #053 – DAWN WORLD

DAWN WORLD. TRICERATOPS (2002)

DAWN WORLD is perhaps the album that is least typical of the trio’s edgy rock style, leaning more towards lighters-aloft anthems and melancholy break-up ballads that they tend not to do too much of these days – the change in tone certainly struck a chord with me. Not surprisingly, none of the tracks I most favour made it as singles: the mournful sitar/synth heavy Broken and Britpop-influenced New Lover and tender ballad Heaven. I’m not knocking the hits though; without something like Fly Away (which served as the ending theme for NHK’s Pop Jam show) I would never have learned of TRICERATOPS in the first place.

Refer:
Fly Away PV
Be My Baby

100 Favourite Japanese albums: #052 – Take Over

Take Over. Yamamoto Ryohei (2004)

With big-name collaborations (Fantastic Plastic Machine, Sunaga t Experience, m-flo) under Yamamoto’s belt before he’d even cut an album, the internet hype machine was predictably close to overdrive by the time Take Over hit stores. Slick, smooth tunes combined with Western sensibilities (he spent his youth in the States) drove its success, setting the template for the likes of Shimizu Shota and JAY’ED to follow. 8 years on, Moon Sexy is still my jam.

Refer:
Moon Sexy
Set Free PV

100 Favourite Japanese albums: #051 – OZ

OZ. 100s (2005)

Sometimes, geniuses can be baffling. And Nakamura Kazuyoshi is nothing short of genius, a fact that is ably proved by OZ, the debut album from his assembled rock supergroup 100s. You’d normally expect such a hefty album (21 tracks clocking in at 70 minutes) to have saggy bits hanging off here and there but that was never going to happen with Nakamura at the helm. Psychedelic hymns rub shoulders with funereal ballads and Beatlesy anthems – sitting through OZ is a bit like accompanying Alice on an ecstasy-fuelled dive down the rabbit hole and all through Wonderland: trippy but exciting.

Refer:
Honeycom.ware PV
Yasashii Lion

100 Favourite Japanese albums: #050 – night

night. Odani Misako (2003)

An accomplished pianist, composer and songwriter, Odani’s classical-pop crossover sound has drawn a considerable number of celebrity fans and collaborators – bloodthirsty butchers’s Tabuchi Hisako, LOST IN TIME, Ling Tosite Sigure, ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION and Nakamura Kazuyoshi have all paid tribute to her many talents. All of her albums are accessible and easy on the ears, but night is especially so with its soaring, earnest ballads – think a tortured Onitsuka Chihiro singing happy Rie fu songs, and you may have gotten a step closer to pinning Odani Misako’s style down.

Refer:
Off you go PV

100 Favourite Japanese albums: #049 – DRAWING

DRAWING. BE THE VOICE (2004)

One guitar, one female singer. That’s all it takes to make songs that have soul. And boy does DRAWING have soul – spades of it. Vocalist Wada Junko has a way with her words that draws you in & keeps you enchanted, enough to take your attention away from the minimalistic backing that Suzuki Shunji provides – most times it’s just a couple of simple notes on an acoustic guitar, yet BE THE VOICE are anything but boring.

Refer:
Haru o Tadoreba
Altogether Alone live
8gatsu no Kirin

100 Favourite Japanese albums: #048 – Hinotama Boy

Hinotama Boy. Suzuki Keiichi & Moonriders (1976)

Suzuki formed producer-supergroup Moonriders after Hachimitsu Pie’s split and the project gained much success & is still going strong some 35 years later.

Hinotama Boy’s folk/Americana-influenced feel came before the advent of their foray into experimental techno-pop n the ’80s. Straightforward as it may have been (especially compared to almost everything that came after), it was a solid album containing mainstays of their live setlists such as Yoiodore Dance Music (a cover of a Hachimitsu Pie song) & Miwaku no Minato – it would be a good idea to check out the reissued release that supplemented the original tracks with several fine out-takes & live versions.

Refer:
Anoko ni Love Letter & Sukanpin
Miwaku no Minato

100 Favourite Japanese albums: #047 – LOS ANGELES

Los Angeles. the brilliant green (2001)

I was vaguely aware of Buriguri’s existence but only really gave them a go after they were featured in an issue of Time magazine. And I was instantly hooked by what I heard on their third album Los Angeles., hard riffs pushing a poppy, shoegaze sound (I would later learn that earlier albums sounded…virtually nothing like that). It was a style that the band were sadly never to revisit – frontwoman Kawase Tomoko’s dalliances with her Tommy _____6 alter-egos in the intervening years seemed to influence BuriGuri’s sound, watering it down to generic pop-rock by the time 2010’s Blackout rolled around.

Refer:
Kuroi Tsubasa
angel song PV
Hello Another Way PV

100 Favourite Japanese albums: #046 – I dedicate D chord

I dedicate D chord. toddle (2005)

toddle is the brainchild of ex-Number Girl/current-Bloodthirsty Butchers guitarist Tabuchi Hisako and you could consider it a supergroup of sorts, with members of indie darlings niumum and luminous orange making up the numbers. Formed after the dissolution of Number Girl, toddle’s debut album saw Tabuchi choosing to take a much more straightforward and melodic approach, though some of the frenetic fuzzy noise from her association with the unhinged genius Mukai Shuutoku remained evident on songs like A Sight & Bakadana~.

Refer:
World Wide Waddle live
I dedicate D chord
hesitate to see