Albums etc. of 2020

[adevyish]

I won’t be doing a proper ranking this year as I just don’t have the energy. Instead, I’ve grouped albums, minis, and EPs arbitrarily into On Repeat, Really Like, Weird Music Section, Other: Pop Rock/Alt Rock, Other: Pop. The list clocks out at 22 albums etc.

Unless otherwise noted, all albums etc are Japanese. Bandcamp links provided where available, otherwise there’s a Spotify playlist at the end with picks from each album etc. Except for mel’s dayflower, which is only on Bandcamp!

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1. On repeat

BBHF — BBHF1 -YOUNG MAN GOES SOUTH-
BBHF — BBHF1 -Nanka Suru Seinen-

When Galileo Galilei disbanded in 2016 upon releasing one of my favourite albums ever, of course I was disappointed. I didn’t find out until this year that they’d formed a new band in 2018, originally called Bird Bear Hare and Fish. They released an album on Sony that year then promptly left Sony. Despite the name changes, the music is very much a continuation of the Galileo Galilei project.

This is their second album as BBHF and their first back on an indie label (Lastrum’s Beacon imprint). The indie freedom seems to have given them space to not worry about soundy pop or radio-friendly any more, but they’re still firmly in the ’80s pop rock lane.

It’s a two-disc album, but there are few weak points. My favourites are the emotional tracks — “N30E17”, “Taiyou (Sun)” — and the big guitar pop songs — “Tokenai Mahou (Unbreakable Spell)”, “1988”. I also like seeing them going out of their comfort zone — “Retake”, “Tsukareteku (Tired)”.

Cuushe — WAKEN ❧ Bandcamp

Cuushe’s first album in several years; her first after a terrible ordeal with a stalker. The intro to this album on Bandcamp reads: “It’s early morning. You wake up from a dream. It’s still dark. You’re full of uncertainty, but also hope.” This album is at its best when it finds the space between uncertainty and hope.

Cuushe has a dream pop background and opens with it — “Hold Half” and “Magic”, both beautiful emotional landscapes. Then WAKEN dives into other genres like house or dance — sometimes losing the emotional impact along the way. When it manages to find the balance between genres, though, you get songs like “Not to Blame” that harness the anxiety of garage and match it with the surrealism of dream pop.

Louis Tomlinson — Walls (UK)

Lyrically raw, musically safe. Some songs could use more detail to more closely match the Britpop sound of “Walls” or “Kill My Mind”. My favourite track is “Defenceless”, which subtly layer details, and breaks down into stunning vulnerability. “Fearless” is also quite good, and “Only the Brave” uses stripped back production to great effect.

Despite the underproduction, I think it’s the best debut 1D solo album. And as I mentioned before, Louis’s completely re-worked this album since. If I was going by the December live version, this album would be in my top two of the year.

2. Really like

Hitsujibungaku — POWERS

Their first major label release! They haven’t lost their penchant for nostalgic melodies over gut-wrenching guitars. They go more punk than they have in previous songs, for example in “Girls”. Standouts are songs that manage to build tension or bring release: “mother”, “Omajinai”, “Sabaku no Kimi e”. The title track “powers” and “Aimai de Ii yo” are also lots of fun.

mele — Yume Atoukagiri (mini)

Nostalgic alt rock with some J-pop melodies. “Daigaku Doori” brings that normal verse to emotional chorus transition of a graduation track perfectly, and “Nigemachi” has a great empty chorus open before going to a rock song.

tricot — Makkuro
tricot — Black

Dense, dissonant math rock exemplified by songs like “Mitete (Watch)”. The tracks where tricot shine the most is when they slow down to breathe a bit, like “Teisokudouro” or the cathartic “Abunaku Naku Nai Machi e”.

They also released another album this year, 10, that is slightly poppier.

YeYe — 30

Every song has something new. You like city pop? “Step in Time”. You like weird production? “Catch Her”. Baroque pop? “Shiawase ni wa Naranai”. Shibuya-kei? “Silent Dance”. I’ll stop here, because I’d just name the entire album. (I’m trying to describe “Invisible Coyote” and coming up with “glitch baroque folk”.)

You probably know that I usually hate genre incoherence, but this album doesn’t once feel like a Frankenstein sum of disparate parts. Somehow it works. Honestly just listen to the whole thing; it’s such a fun listen.

3. Weird music section

chelmico — maze

Yes this is a mainstream J-pop album in the weird section. Beacuse it’s weird. It’s fun and experimental while being identifiably chelmico. Favourite moments include the chill-hop of “Douyara, Watashi wa”, the dissonance of “Iruyo”, and the upbeat “GREEN”. And I appreciate them exploring their vocal side, even if it’s a bit rough.

Meitei — Kofū ❧ Bandcamp

This is billed as “a satire of old Japanese aesthetics”, but that’s not all this is. Yes it does sample traditional Japanese vocals and layer them on top of modern ambient production, but sometimes it’s only modern production. That said my faves are the more traditional tracks like “Oiran II”.

Mom — 21st Century Cultboi Ride a Sk8board

Is this hip-hop? Is this psychedelic rock? Is this electronica? This album starts out very strong with some uncomfortably experimental tracks with the one-two of “Teinai Kaiki” and “Akarui Mirai”, jumps into more familiar beachy J-hip-hop, but tails off into standard nostalgia J-folk-rock. Some other standouts are the melancholic “Mask” and the mish-mash “Cultboi”.

ROTH BART BARON — Loud Color(s) & Silence Festival
ROTH BART BARON — GOKUSAISHIKI NO SHUKUSAI

I found this band because “Gokusai | I G L (S)” came up on my Youtube recommendations while I was listening to Tempalay, but I would have forgotten about them if Spotify didn’t recommend the same song while I was listening to BBHF. And that’s a pretty accurate description of where they are musically. They’ve also been described as “Montreal-style indie rock”, and well I do love 2004 Stars.

This album is overflowing with sumptuous brass, the occasional strings and piano, and choral vocals. There’s just a bit of electronica, but it’s retro enough that it still feels very analog.

SARI — a u se ❧ Bandcamp

Formerly of Necronomidol, SARI has gone electronic in her solo career. This EP features stuttering not-quite dark pop. It’s uneasy and questioning yet beautiful.

4. Other: pop rock / alt rock

Akai Koen — Orange / pray (EP)

Sadly their vocalist and songwriter passed away this year; this was released after her death.

Aoi — Ū Lí Ê Kòo-Sū (Taiwan)

A Hokkien alt-pop album with good bones—twinkly production, heartful choruses. The production on the more fully instrumented songs can be a bit unbalanced and not in an intentional way. Best track is by far “Tshì Uī Pi Kua (Hedgehog)”.

CRUNCH — Mitsumetetai (EP)

Crunch stray away from their summer beach rock roots to go electronic. Could do with less bongo. My favourite is “Asa no Hikari”, a muted melding of traditional instruments with unapologetic electronica.

mel — dayflower ❧ Bandcamp

Shoegaze pop with catchy hooks. Tracks like “Haze” combine Japanese folk with a distorted guitar and a pop chorus.

MOSHIMO — Kamu (mini)

I missed their mini last year, but I do have their 2018 full-length and wow I didn’t expect this tongue-rolling screamo punk pop from Moshimo! (Since we’re doing label-watch: they moved from Lastrum onto Marguerite for this mini.)

5. Other: pop

mei ehara — Ampersands ❧ Bandcamp

mei ehara’s voice reminds me of Yukawa Shione’s, but her music brings a bit of funk to the beach vibe.

Sabrina Lo — Sa(tur)day (EP · Taiwan)
Lo Sha-Sha — Sa(tur)day

Smooth R&B vocals, nice production.

Smany — illuminate ❧ Bandcamp

Ambient dark pop, or as I like to call it, b-sides on an anime soundtrack. There’s a lot of layers to the production, all with a plaintive, hesitant voice on top.

Snail’s House — Imaginarium ❧ Bandcamp

Snail’s House jumps genres all the time, and puts out such different music, but this is one of my favourite releases of theirs yet — hopeful glitchy future bass pop. There’s some brilliant moments in this, like the joyous buildup/breakdown in “Imaginary Express”, and the experimental glitchy “morph” (which is made of samples of their own music).

sora tob sakana — deep blue

Anime-adjacent indie idol pop over a math rock beat. The middling vocals are typical of the genre, but there’s a lot of nice details in the production. Most of the album is a rework of previously released songs, but it’s also a farewell album.

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Playlist

❧ Spotify playlist

Features songs from albums etc on this list, plus a few singles I liked and songs from albums etc that didn’t quite make the cut. Occasionally I’ve picked a song that better fit in the playlist rather than my favourite from the album.

It’s roughly organized by genre: pop rock, alt rock, ambient/dark pop, city pop, electronica.

Asides

For some reason, songs with years as titles were popular among Japanese post-punk bands this year: “1988” from BBHF, “1997” from Regal Lily, and “1999” from Hitsujibungaku. Average years their members were born in: 1991, 1997, and 1997, respectively.