25 Days Of Christmas Countdown Days #23 & #24: J-Pop/K-pop Groups To Watch In 2017

Warning! Lots of embedded videos in this post so sorry for slow loading computers out there!

Combining these two from last year so I can catch up to the correct day lol. Essentially these are new groups that either released their first single this year, or were formed this year. They could also be more unknown groups that just came on my radar this year. Since I combined the two posts, I chose four groups from each of the two genres for a total of eight new groups to watch. They're in no particular order, just alternating between K & J.

Group #1: Dear Kiss (J-Pop)

Full disclosure: I'm not super impressed with the music they've put out so far. I only care about them cause Nonoko. Really hoping their first release with her will be super awesome to entice me to buy it! Dear Kiss is a new group that formed early this year around former Galette member Saki Shishima. They currently have 6 members and have released one single and one mini-album. Nonoko recently joined not long after the end of Galette. I wonder if the other three former Galette girls will migrate to this group. I'd really love to see Yui Komori join as I liked her as much as Nonoko. I feel like this is nothing about Dear Kiss and everything about Galette. Cause it is. I miss them D:

Group #2: Blackpink (K-Pop)

The new YG girl group that everyone had been begging for for year finally arrived and they were much better than expected. I was nervous that YG would attempt to make them the new 2NE1. I'd say that their styling is very much that way, but their music is very different. Boombayah was a bit of an attempt to stay 2NE1, but Whistle & Playing With Fire really stick out as good framework to build the group's sound around in a way that they won't get labeled "2NE1-lite". I realized a little after PWF was released that I had been screwing up Jisoo & Rose lol. I thought it was Rose I liked, but it was actually Jisoo. Jennie is my overall favorite though. She is such a standout of the group.

Group #3: FuwaFuwa (J-Pop)

Ok so I still hardly know anything about this group except that they're a subunit of Harajuku Ekimae Parties. Do you know how hard it is to Google the term "Fuwafuwa"? Yeah. Not easy. All you get is a bunch of other result that have nothing to do with the group. Then searching HEP gets you nowhere either. Guessing there's not a lot of info in English out there? So I had to resort to the Japanese J-idol wiki database thing I found a year or so back and my poor Japanese skills to find out some basics about them....and then I STILL couldn't find them in the lists. I'm guessing I'm blind cause they must be there lol. So here's my poor description of them: They have lots of members and sing cutesy idol songs that actually are pretty catchy and sung rather well for cutesy idol songs. Check 'em out lol.

Group #4: Cosmic Girls (WJSN) (K-Pop)

They are currently an 11 member new group from Sistar's company. I didn't care for them one bit when they debuted. Both of their debut singles were awful honestly. Mo Mo Mo is the better of the two. I don't know what the heck they were trying to do with Catch Me because that song is absolutely tragic. Then Secret came out. The music video is the most stunning ones I think I've ever seen. The song was such a 180 from their first release. Really excited to see their comeback in January to see what they can do.

Group #5: Questy (J-Pop)

I debated adding them as I am not a huge fan of their first release as everyone else seems to be. However, they remind me of a new Fairies-type group more than a new Flower or E-Girls so I'm interested in what they will release in the future. They are a seven member group trained by LDH and debuted under Avex. Like with Fairies & other LDH groups, three of the girls are vocalists and the rest are performers (pretty much just back dancers to put it bluntly.)

Group #6: Sol-T (K-Pop)

These girls are from a super unknown company and they're also super unknown but their Bad Girls song is awesome. They have four members and have released two singles. They sound pretty great considering how unknown they are. I'm really hoping that they keep going down the Bad Girls path because that style suits them so well.

Group #7: Cherrsee (J-Pop)

I want to like these girls because their premise is interesting. A J-Pop group produced by a major K-Pop producer isn't probably a good idea for business, but it is super interesting for music in my opinion. I didn't care too much for their two A-sides this year, but their one B-side Surisuri Masuri sounds very promising. I hope they release something amazing in the new year.

Group #8: Matilda (K-Pop)

Surprisingly, this super unknown group has released THREE singles this year. For an "indie" K-pop group, they've actually done quite a lot. They've also gotten better with each single release. Their current one is their best in my opinion, although I don't think it quite fits their vocals (and the chorus is produced kinda badly. It's way too loud for the rest of the song.)

25 Days Of Christmas Countdown Day #19: Top J-Pop Idol 2016

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.

#1

Wa-Suta - Ultra Miracle Final Ultimate Choco Beam

Japanese Groups to Watch [September 2016]

Hi everyone! I wanted to do a quick not really informative but more music recommending post. I've been toying with this thought for a while about Japanese groups that I feel don't have nearly enough exposure in the Western J-Pop fanbase. As someone who really could care less about group dynamics and knowing the members or the history behind the groups, this is really going to be mainly music based, as I just don't know much about the groups themselves to give any details. Think of this as an introduction to the music, not the group.

Group #1: Osaka Shunkashuto

I've written about these girls before but I feel compelled to do it again. They're an idol/performance group that really is just bursting with talent. The lead singer, Maina, is one of the most talented Japanese idol vocalists I've ever heard. They don't have a huge discography, but they have released a few singles and one mini album. The mini album, Early Season, has some of their earlier singles on the tracklist. My introduction to Shunkashuto was through their MV "C'mon!". I was very impressed by the vocalist and looked for more of their music. I'm glad I did because they are quite good.

Group #2: FuwaFuwa

All I really know about these girls is that they are a subgroup of Ekimae Harajuku Parties and they're managed by Avex. Beyond that, I know nothing but the center's name. This is another group I came across on YouTube. Usually this type of group wouldn't appeal to me at all. They sing the typical fluffy idol songs, but they're so super catchy and not bland. I discovered them through their second single Koi no Lesson and became addicted to the track. They have two singles so far.

Group #3: LinkStar's

Well, the video I'm gonna link is from when they were called just Links. I haven't heard any of their music after the name change but it's something I have to do. On this list so far, their pretty much the most indie from what I understand. Well, they sound it at least. Objectively, I understand that their Love Soldiers song is nothing special and is actually pretty bad vocally and the vocals don't fit well with the music and all that; but I absolutely ADORE this song. I don't know why. I'll never know why. The music itself has an epic adventure feel to it and I love it so much.

Group #3: Mirai Skirt

As this list goes on, I know less and less about the groups. But I discovered Mirai Skirt through a CDJapan sale. I have an addiction to buying CDs and CDJapan feeds that addiction with their quarterly sales. I always try to pick up discounted idol pop CDs that I wouldn't buy usually to try out new music. They had their CosmosSplash CD on sale and I grabbed it. The song is super catchy and is a nice blend of idol pop and electro.

Group #4: Orange Port

It upsets me that there's no full MV of this group's song on the internet as of right now. But yet their single is on iTunes and Spotify. Go figure. I had heard of Orange Port about a year ago but didn't really care about them until I saw the short MV for "Trigger". Holy crap is the song ever good. If you love darker electro spiked music, this is certainly something you'd love.

Group #5: Galette

Yes I realize I've said many things about them many times. I also realize that they have a couple dedicated vocal fans that spam their stuff a lot. I still don't care. Love them. They are good.

The end! Enjoy!