So I thought of another song for yesterday's post. Perfume's Flash. I was thinking it was 2015, but nope! Released this year. Oh well. This year I feel like I really expanded my horizons with J-idol music. However, I wouldn't say I necessarily expanded my interest in other groups. I've listened to a lot of stuff and for me, most of it is very meh. There's a lot of 48G music clones and then there's also a lot of the "anti-idol" scene out there recently which doesn't appeal to me in the slightest. I don't like rock or alternative music like I used to. Some stuff I can tolerate, but other than that I just don't care for it. I kind of want some H!P music clones. I like H!P's J-popxEDM style where it's not EDM like K-Pop's or like Western music but it's a very specific style to them that kind of blends idol pop & EDM. It's cool, I like it.
#10
Dianna Sweet - Super Hero
#9
Bakusute Sotokanda Icchome - Otome Gokoro
#8
Predia - Setsuna no Yoru no Naka de
#7
Galette - Sonic Fighter
#6
P.IDL - Hello! Halloween
#5
FuwaFuwa - Koi no Lesson
#4
Tokyo Performance Doll - GyakkoxRaisan
No good YT videos, but you can listen to it on my newest 8tracks playlist! Click me!
#3
Orange Port - Trigger
#2
Rev. from DVL - Ungaisouten Samurai Tamashii!
Like TPD, this isn't on YT, but it is on the 8tracks playlist. Clicky Clicky.
I can't believe how soon December is already. I've decided I'm going to do what I did last year, the "25 Days of Christmas" countdown throughout December. I thought it was fun. Don't know if anyone else enjoyed seeing it or not, but I liked it. It makes up for hardly ever posting otherwise lol.
I don't actually know a whole lot about Dianna Sweet other than they have a few cool songs. They formed in 2013 and currently have three members. They have released seven singles with their newest being "Superhero" which was released this year. "Deep Snow" is their fourth single and was released in three versions, each with a different track 2. I'm mainly going to be talking about Type A since that's the one I have.
Track #1: Deep Snow
I'm actually not a big fan of the title track itself. It starts out nice enough, and the music is catchy, but I don't like how they sing the song itself. Their vocals are very young sounding and a little annoying. It also sounds like the girls are off pitch of the song that they're trying to sing in certain places (in the verses in particular). It's unfortunate because I think with a different group the song would sound really cool. 3.5/5.
This will be the only video linked since the others aren't on YouTube/Spotify.
Track #2: The Twin Tail!
This song is the reason that I bought the single in the first place. Now I'll be the first to admit (and I've even already said it) that I can't really stand the super high pitched cutesy voices that are present in this song. The reason I do like the song though is because of the music itself. It's a "metal" idol pop song that is super catchy and fun. It's like really early Babymetal, except without Suzuka's good vocals. 4.5/5.
Track #3: Hatsukoi Revolution 2015
This is the third track across all three versions of the single. It is an updated version of their first single, Hatsukoi Revolution. I don't like remakes and remixes personally. It bugs me when I end up having 3 different versions of the same song so I always end up deleting the non-originals. However, I have never heard the original of this song so I can't really compare. This version of the song is really idol poppy, but not annoyingly so. It's catchy, but definitely my least favorite on the CD. 3/5.
Type B Track #2 & Type C Track #2: Lucifer & Always
I can't really say too much about either of these two tracks as I've only heard previews of both. From the previews that I've heard, Lucifer is my favorite of the two. Lucifer is a dance pop track with pretty good sounding vocals. Always is a ballad track and doesn't really do anything for their vocals in my opinion. I can't rate either though as I haven't heard either in full.
All in all, it's not a great single, but it's fun and catchy. I much prefer their two newer singles to this though. Although Dianna Sweet isn't that well known, you can buy some of their music on US iTunes! If you'd like to check out more of their material. 4/5.
So unlike yesterday's list which was J-pop acts in general, this list is all Japanese idol groups. This year I really found myself digging deeper in the Japanese girl group scene. I had been content for years with just 48G & H!P and a couple other songs here and there, but over the years I've become more and more curious about other groups that are out there. I have to say that the idol scene in Japan is quite overwhelming because of the sheer number of groups that exist. It's also interesting to me how many of these local idol groups have YouTube channels and allow overseas viewers to see videos and such. YouTube has really been an awesome way for me to discover new groups.
For this list, 48G & H!P are excluded like always.
#10: Linda III Sei - Ruby Monogatari
#9: Fairies - Kiss Me Babe
#8: Osaka Syunkasyuto - C'Mon!
#7: X21 - Shoujo X
#6: Ayami Muto - Parallel World
#5: Dianna Sweet - Fire Girl
#4: Yuu Kikkawa - Wild Strawberry
#3: Up Up Girls - Bijo no Yajuu
#2: Cupitron - Battery
#1: Galette - Air Summer
Enjoy! What are your favorite songs from Japanese idols this year?
