:: Melody Cafe ::

Why oh why… (random thoughts from Japanese popland)

As I look through upcoming releases…

– Why can’t SCANDAL band members drink milk without spilling it everywhere? See: 0:58

– Why are Aimer song titles full of typos (random semicolons) in the middle of them? Like her most recent single, Ref:rain.

Happy New Year!

As it is said in Japanese, Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu!

Wishing you a wonderful 2018. May it continue to be filled with music and new memories!

// ico.

Has Yoko Kanno reached the pinnacle of recognition for a composer?

It took me most of the year to realize that Yoko Kanno composed the music to Naotora, the current NHK Taiga drama. Has she reached the pinnacle of recognition for a composer, now writing the score for one of the most prestigious TV programs in Japan? She’s even composing for Lang Lang. Truly impressive.

2010 is the decade of Japanese girls’ rock

Two weeks ago I wouldn’t be saying this, but 2 weeks ago was right before I saw BAND-MAID live in San Francisco–and subsequently did some research into other rock bands. We’re in the decade of Japanese girls’ rock. To be more precise, we’re in the decade where all-girl rock bands is acceptable and even mainstream (compared to the past 20 years where girls’ rock bands undoubtedly existed, and did not seem to get recognition). Heck, all-female metal rock bands are even getting air time–like Aldious and Bridear.

It is possible that the internet revolution has something to do with this phenomenon. Even if “traditional” outlets (magazines, TV, etc) are not promoting girls’ bands, 15-minute fame spreads like wildfire online through sites such as YouTube.

I’ll try to highlight some of these bands, many of which have been active since the early 2010’s. In the meantime, keep on rocking!

Back from hiatus!

That was a quick one. After declaring a break, I promptly heard about new and interesting music being released this month. Read on to find out more about new releases I’ll be looking forward to this month!

And as always, thank you for your continued support of the Melody Cafe.

// ico.

Hiatus

Due to my current schedule and circumstances, Melody Cafe will officially be going on hiatus for some time. Perhaps months, perhaps years–hopefully not so long. I’ve had other priorities at work and in life, among them sleep and burnout prevention, so until those are taken care of, it will be hard to keep up with my interest in Japanese pop music.

I briefly wanted to say thank you to those who have supported the Melody Cafe all this time. I will certainly get back to it when I can!

// ico.

Moved and settling

It’s been two months since I’ve posted anything on this blog. I’ve got good excuses: I moved 600 miles to start a new job, and I’m working close to 80 hours a week, now about a month in. It’s the hardest job I have ever had. I’ve hardly had time to sleep, let alone stay up to date on Japanese pop music. It’ll get there, once I unpack the boxes and settle in–a process that will likely take about a year. In the meantime, thank you for your patience. The music lover in me is not gone yet.

// ico.

The (not-so) great internal debate of 「づ」

Alright, I give in. I’ve decided to romanize 「づ」 as ‘zu.’
This breaks one of my tenets of transliterating (romanizing) Japanese characters with less ambiguity, as the character is more distinguishable (from 「ず」 which is also ‘zu’) if written as “dzu.”

I decided to make this change because the combination of the two consonants ‘d’ and ‘z’ can be very confusing for English speakers, making it unnecessarily difficult to process, and because “zu” is more aesthetically pleasing.

I was clearly wavering on this one, romanizing it as “dzu” in some lines and “zu” in others, sometimes within the same song. I have been going back to make everything more consistent when I catch a stray “dzu”, but please help by sending me a comment when you find one.

Of note, this character is rendered “du” according to the Japanese government’s official (Nihon-shiki) system, but please don’t make a fool of yourself by singing “too-doo-ku” instead of “tsuzuku” （つづく）.

Seasons Greetings!

For those who celebrate Christmas, I hope you are having a merry one. For everyone else, I hope you are having a relaxing holiday season and a cheerful winter.

You may have noticed the rapid pace of posts in the past month as I continue to restore the site content back to the way it was 6 years ago. I have continued to revise and catch errors from translations from long ago. Again, please do not hesitate to contact me with any suggestions or comments!

// ico.

Happy Thanksgiving!

You may notice some site activity in the past month compared to the past year. I’ve been working on posting the lyric files that I lost when the previous site went down several years ago. I’ve also been editing and updating some of the files and translations as I go along. I’ll be the first to say that my files are rife with mistakes, and I appreciate your continued input and corrections!

Once the old files are up, I hope to start posting prior CD reviews–again, these have to be recreated from scratch. Hopefully, looking ahead a few years, I should start to have time to catch up with the J-music scene and be able to bring you current news and updates as well.

In the meantime, thank you for your patience and support, as always, and I hope you are having a relaxing, enjoyable holiday season.

// ico.