A couple years ago, dance icon Daichi Miura released the incredible Be Myself. If you haven’t heard that song before, make it your most urgent mission to do so. Since then, none of his music has really hit me the same way. But I’m delighted to report that new single Backwards feels like the Be … Continue reading
Each year, I try to delve deeper into the vast world of J-pop. 2018, in particular, rewarded that persistence. J-pop may be difficult to find for international listeners, but it provided a wonderful antidote to some of K-pop’s overused trends. This countdown is usually littered with Japanese title tracks by Korean groups, but this year … Continue reading
At the end of each month, I look back at my three favorite title tracks by k-pop artists. I take my own ratings into account, but there’s a bit of wiggle room as certain songs tend to grow or fade. August 2018 Overall Thoughts Well, if July was disappointing, August was downright anemic. For the first … Continue reading
There are few things more frustrating than the Japanese music industry’s insistence on posting “short” music videos online. I get the fact that videos usually come packaged with physical albums and singles, and that throwing them up for free might discourage sales. But, it’s a total buzzkill when a song fades out just as it’s … Continue reading
