Triple Mango NL21: Japango
🥭 Harajuku Core 🥭 80s City Pop 🥭 Banny Bugs and other treasures from a recent trip
Hey there!
Just getting my feet back on the ground after an enlightening bucket list trip to Japan with a bunch of good buds these past few weeks. Been finding it hard to explain or put to words the experience and the highs felt throughout it but what I can certainly do is share and elaborate on some of the musical treasures I discovered along the way.
From dive bars to listening bars to karaoke to coffee shops I continuously found myself asking for track IDs and Shazam’ing (discreetly) city pop, jazz fusion, folk rock, rap, and my favorite new genre Harajuku-core. A standout evening was spent at Loveless Bar in Shimokitazawa, a cozy 6-seater we stumbled upon where a few of these discoveries were made between the hours of 1 - 6am, with the bartender/owner Mochiko singing along.
I hope they transport you as much as they have me this week 🥭🥭🥭
Tune: Banny Bugs - A24 (2024)
Insanely versatile artist out of Fukuoka who’s the label boss for CCS records., and lands anywhere between rap, house, shoegaze, vaporware, and psychedelia. CCS also has a focus on fashion/merch a la Public Possession and appears to throw some great parties around Japan. Immaculate late-night city vibes.
Album: never young beach - YASHINOKI HOUSE (2015)
American indie-influenced soft rockers who’ve been regarded as the resurgence of Haruomi Hosono’s legendary Japanese folk rock group Happy End. This is their debut album which has been a great starting point for me with notes of Mac DeMarco, Real Estate, and the like. Their third album A Good Time was on at a student cafe serving fruit sandwiches and matcha near the university in Osaka.
Album: Yumi Matsutoya - Pearl Pierce (1982)
Mochiko kicked off our night in Shimokitazawa by playing this album and subsequent other bangers from Yumi’s catalogue, which she was also practicing karaoke alongside. As I was blissfully uneducated on most Japanese pop music going into this trip, I quickly learned that Yumi is a J-Pop icon and still churning out hits in her 70s.
Tune: Original Love - Deep French Kiss (1995)
Jazz-rock legend also discovered at said bar and who proceeded to soundtrack many a moment throughout the rest of the journey. Can feel the Steely Dan, 70s/80s yacht rock influence in there but with a unique swagger fit for the lounge.
Album: Naniwa Express - No Fuse (1982)
Can’t say I’ve come across a Jazz fusion album quite like this one with its blend of Japanese jazz and city pop. After a couple listens and digging a bit deeper, I learned that they had a deep respect for vinyl culture which led to recording sessions with acute attention to detail that aimed at producing pristine sound quality for listeners. A gem for any appreciator of hi-fi listening/sound systems.
Tune: Bennie K - Melody (2002)
Japanese TLC-vibes from Bennie K, the first female urban project to break into the Japanese mainstream in the early 2000s. At times it feels a bit cringey but there are some unquestionable jams in their catalog that are ripe for Y2K karaoke.
Tune: Yuki Chiba - Team Tomodachi (2024)
Bouncing around a dive bar with the locals to this at 4am. One of the more well-known Japanese rappers who is starting to get some traction outside Japan with this earworm getting the remix treatment with one featuring Will Smith and another Memphis rapper Duke Deuce.
Album: Group2 - II (2020)
Another late night city stroller swimming in psychedelia and shoegaze. Was unaware until looking into it that it was released on the same label (Gerpfast Records out of Indonesia) as Japanese dream-pop group sugar plant, a Mango fav that was featured in the radio show ditty in the last edition.
Tune: EPO - Downtown (1980)
Another city pop classic that feels like something Prince could’ve had his hands on. Whenever there is an opportunity to work wrestling into this newsletter, I will seek it out. I’m unsure of the context but it seems to be the closing credits for a variety show from the 80s that included both wrestling and an EPO in-studio performance.
Tune: Miki Matsubara - Jazzy Night (1980)
From the ‘Ride Like The Wind’-esque intro to the inimitable dance moves and swagger, there’s a lot to love with this one from another J-Pop icon Miki Matsubara. If your keen on journeying down the city pop rabbit hole, Miki seems like an ideal starting point. I’ll be doing the same.
Album: Scha Dara Parr - スチャダラ外伝 (1994)
One of the original Japanese rap groups from the early 90s who worked with De La Soul and the Beastie Boys. Their productions hit all the golden-era rap feels from the 90s and the playful rhyme schemes and flow are reminiscent of West Coast classics like The Pharcyde and Hieroglyphics at times.
Tune: HANABIE. - My Type (2025)
Certainly did not have Harajuku-core - a fusion of heavy metal, hardcore punk and electronica with Harajuku aesthetics - on my bingo card of genre discovery, yet here it is and what a find. A new friend put me onto HANABIE. as the current torchbearers and they’re on tour in the US these next two months - I’d love for you to go see them and report back.
(Un)surprisingly there is also a former amateur wrestler in the Kawaii-metal scene, Ladybeard, who now fronts the band Babybeard. Unsure how I feel about it.
Album: Nujabes - Metaphorical Music (2003)
A formative album for me when I first started branching out from listening to G-Unit in my early high school days. Felt appropriate to run it back throughout my time in Japan and as expected it met the moment perfectly, as it always has.
🥭 Here’s a Spotify playlist that has a taste of everything mentioned 🥭
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See ya in a couple weeks for NL22!
Mango-san
🥭🥭🥭