Music Corner 41: Kumiko Yanagida

Kumiko Yanagida broke into the Japanese music scene back in 2002. She decided to go in a different direction from the pop filled, R&B infested genre that took over the Japanese music industry. Yanagida, with her superfluous acoustic guitar skills and vocal range, was one of the handful of revolutionary artists that started to takeover the industry in the mid 00’s of the female lead guitarist/vocalist boom that lead with Yui. A trend that is continued on to this day with that of the likes of Aimyon. Her initial solo works shows off her impressive ranging from mid-tempo composition tracks such as “影おくり” (“Kage Okuri”),  “Lemonday”, to emotionally driven tracks that emphasizes on her amazing vocal range such as “あなたと私“ (Anata to Watashi”) “真っ白な日々” (“Masshirona Hibi”). 

While she had a small following during her original solo career, Yanagida’s popularity wouldn’t boom till her involvement with the pop rock band The Milky Tangerine in 2009 and their lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist. Having a sweet but sour punch to their sound compositions being involved with the band brought the best out of Yanagida by having her transition into a more bubbly and livelier vocal range with her more emotional vocal style chiming in time to time. “渋谷買物構想曲“   (“Shibuya Kaimono Kousoukyoku”) and “Your Beautiful Mind” are some examples of the dynamic range that she exhibited while being apart the of band. Although not being the forefront, Yanagida had continued with her solo career with several smaller releases, a choice which had proved to be useful with The Milky Tangerine hiatus in 2016. Taking the lessons that she learned during her time with the band, Yanagida had encompassed a more happy-go-lucky fusion style composition. Her track “Summertime Music” is the perfect example to show off her growth that she exhibited throughout her career. 

Both solo career venture tracks along with Yanagida’s tracks when she was with The Milky Tangerine are available in all digital streaming platforms. You can follow her on her Official Site and Twitter and check out the music video for her track “Summertime Music” below!

Music Corner 40: BananaLemon

BananaLemon is a Japanese R&B/hip-hop group who consider themselves “Neo J-pop”. They made their debut in 2016 with their first song “#SorryNotSorry”, released on iTunes. BananaLemon currently consists of four members: Nadia (main vocalist/leader), Mizuki (dancer/rapper), Saarah (lead vocalist), and the newest member of the group, Lety (rapper), who joined last April after original member R!NO left in late October 2018. Their name is derived from “the sweetness of a banana and the sourness of a lemon”. The group was formed through producer STY, who is well known in the industry for working with famous groups such as EXILE, Girls Generation, Koda Kumi, Daichi Miura, and many more.

BananaLemon’s style of music showcases their powerful vocals, rap expertise, and catchy compositions, geared toward the world. Not only do they have the vocal and rap skills, but impressive choreography capabilities. BananaLemon brings a special sound to the industry geared toward the international music scene with their 90s R&B flavor. Each member possesses a uniqueness and provides “that special something”, whether it be with vocals, rapping, or dance. BananaLemon provides a major support to the international community with their multi-cultural background and it shows in their music style. These girls can switch from Japanese to English fluidly in their tracks, plus their blending of Western and Japanese styles makes it even more seamless. Their sixth and seventh singles, “Girls Gone Wild” and “Look At Me, Look At Me”, gained much traction in the United States and Europe, which goes hand in hand with their East Meets West/Neo J-pop style. Due to all this traction BananaLemon has gotten overseas, they have performed many concerts and events all over, including in Korea, Taiwan, and the United States.

Through BananaLemon’s latest dance practice release “JOYRIDE (#SorryNotSorry pt2)”, the girls show not only their masterful choreography but the vocal capabilities of each girl. The composition of this track brings you back to the late 90s/early 00s with a heavy R&B dance beat and catchy chorus. In their song “Beautiful”, BananaLemon shows they can slow it down for an empowering ballad which sticks with you due to its powerful lyrics and vocals. Their latest digital single “Slapanese” shows an interesting side of the girls as it has a heavier hip-hop feel to it, featuring everyone rapping, and it brings a heavy Western vibe. Their 90s-00s Essential R&B Medley shows how much fun these girls have and their multicultural musical background as it includes a variety of both Japanese and English R&B tracks.

Currently, BananaLemon has 15 digital singles that can be all found on Spotify, iTunes, AppleMusic, and most digital streaming sites. Check out their official website, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

Music Corner Week 39: IVVY

HIROTO

YU-TA

TOSHIKI

KENTO.i

TAIYU

IVVY is a five-member dance and vocal unit that formed in September of 2015. The group consists of HIROTO, YU-TA, TOSHIKI, KENTO.i, and TAIYU. HIROTO is the leader and provides vocals and raps. YU-TA is one of the vocalists and has had an interest in music from an early age. TOSHIKI is the oldest member and is also a vocalist. KENTO.i is the rapper and as of October 2015 is the last member to join. Lastly, TAIYU is the youngest member and is the prolific dancer and singer. 

IVVY, in their small-time on the music scene, offers a pretty impressive range of songs with some awesome dance numbers, a stunning ballad, and some pretty solid pop singles. One of their stand out songs is “Too Late” which offers an impressive showcase of their amazing vocal skills and KENTO.i’s rap break is the icing on the cake. The harmonization skills are really good, offering a wonderful delight for the listener. My personal favorite song is their latest single “Alice”; a wonderful pop single with an amazing melody and great vocal work. Also, the rap break has a great cadence to it. 

IVVY released their first single titled “Baby I’m Back” on October 17 of 2017 under the IVY record label with hit number two on its first day on the Oricon charts. They would then move over to the Victor Entertainment record label to release their single “First & Last” on December 19, 2018. The other single that they have released is “Light on fire”, followed by two digital singles “With You” and “Alice”. IVVY has a new single titled “WINK” and is set to drop on March 25th. IVVY’s official website has all of the latest news on the group along, as does their official Twitter account.

Music Corner 38: Sorane

Sorane is a rapper who burst on tothe scene back in 2018 and, while young at the time of this writing, is changing the game in the rap genre in Japan. With his more urban yet modern style of lyrical compositions, Sorane has garnered major attention with the younger generation.

While several artists of similar genre we covered in the past might take a slower and more fluid composition with their tracks, Sorane cranks that speed tenfold with impressive rap skills and doesn’t let up. “Hug”, “yummy”, and “Mr.mind” are just some of the tracks that show off his lyrical speed. When Sorane does bring that speed down a notch, the style also changes as he brings a more urban style of lyrical compositions like with “planet tree”; Sorane just brings the listeners down a notch as well, down to that relaxing composition, just making them feel the music a tad more than in his other track.

While still having a rather young career compared to other Music Corner artists, Sorane has several singles under belt which he released throughout 2019. He also dropped two albums, Fantasy Club and Mr. Mind, in 2019. Check out out his Twitter, Instagram, and official YouTube channel along with the music video for “Hug” below!

Music Corner Week 37: Rei Yasuda

Vocalist, model, and radio host, Rei Yasuda got her start in the music industry back in 2006 when she was chosen to be portrayed as Lumi, the lead vocalist in the virtual band Genki Rockets. Rei-san continued with Genki Rockets until she graduated high school to pursue a solo career. It is in 2013 when she debuted under Sony Music Japan with the single “Best of my love” which was used as the second ending theme song to the popular anime Space Battleship Yamato 2199. “Best of my love” made it to #21 on the Oricon charts.

Rei-san’s smooth voice, multicultural background, love for music, and early experience have made for a fantastic combination. Not only does Rei sing, but she is a model for Nylon Japan and has her own radio program called Girls City Music which has been running since 2016. Despite her music being categorized as pop, don’t let that fool you; she has a talent for portraying emotions in her songs smoothly and her bilingual skills make for a nice, smooth transition from Japanese to English flawlessly.

Several of Rei Yasuda’s tracks latch onto you like a snapping turtle as her voice has a power to it that is memorable despite most of her tunes being more poppy. Her vocal capability stands out in tracks such as “Passcode 4854”, “Brand New Day”, and “Mirror”, where the songs have a pop based feel, but due to her smooth powerful vocals you listen to her voice flow with the melody and the catchy chorus. Her latest song “Asymmetry” is an upbeat track which has nice piano and from there it adds many other instruments making it an upbeat dance song that puts you in good spirits, and Rei-san’s vocals flow perfectly with the beats. In her ballad “Ashitairo” her emotions come across so clearly through her control and display of her vocal capabilities which can’t help but move you.

Currently Rei Yasuda has two studio albums released, Will and PRISM, with a third, Re:I, set for release March 18! Rei-san also has 13 physical singles and 3 digital singles as well, with her latest, “Asymmetry”, having dropped last November. With many amazing releases under her belt, Rei shows us she is not slowing down.

You can check out her official website, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter to keep up with her latest news. You can also listen to and purchase her music on CDJapan, YesAsia, Amazon Music, Apple Music, iTunes, Spotify, and more!