Oricon’s top 100 selling singles/albums of 2008…so far

Simply put, the Oricon Charts are Japan’s equivalent to the Billboard. A portmanteau of “original” and “confidence,” the list-maker has recently compiled its top 100 selling albums and singles as 2008 hits its mid-point. Some thoughts:

• There are two EXILE albums in the top three, neither of which I’ve listened to. At this point, it’s worth mentioning that I haven’t listened to every album or single on the lists; I suspect simple uninterest that names like NEWS and V6 evoke are the reasons behind this ignorance. Also: BoA’s THE FACE only made it to 31, 5 Johnny’s Jimusho groups beat out Ayumi Hamasaki’s single, and T.M.Revolution is not on either list. Fair enough.

• Perfume’s GAME is number 16, Hikaru Utada’s HEART STATION is 4 – the two most deserving albums on this list.

• Ayumi Hamasaki’s GUILTY is number 8, right under Koda Kumi’s Kingdom – both are probably due in part to the brand names they have become than the actual content of the albums, which were pretty mediocre.

• There are also two KATTUN singles in the top three, neither of which I’ve listened to. The Japanese are nothing if not consistent in their devotion.

• Apparently, SMAP is still releasing music. 17 years and counting.

• It’s important to remember that while there is correlation between sales and popularity (the real reason for putting theses lists together is usually just an easy way to interpret what the public’s “favorite” music is), I suspect a more accurate representation of popularity would be the Japanese iTunes’ Top 25. A quick Google search confirms this list does not currently exist.

• GReeeeN is all over these lists. I had no idea people actually listened to them, let alone spent money to.

• But most importantly, nary a Western record is to be seen amongst the top 25 of either chart (if my shoddy katakana skills are correct, the first is Madonna’s Hard Candy at 32). My interpretation is that a) the Japanese are extremely loyal to the home teams, and b) the Japanese music culture is continually expanding, growing, and developing, and like an American who tunes into the radio expecting to hear Leona Lewis, there is simply more interest generated within the market due to the ease and convenience of access. While American music is still omnipresent (and probably just as easy to catch as the new Namie Amuro single – number 8, for those keeping score), the same argument can be made of Japanese music to Americans (re: Internet, although I suspect this will, in turn, incite arguments of language barriers [everyone in Japan is exposed to English in some form on a daily basis and are used to the sounds and texture of the language, whereas Americans are still unaccustomed to foreign languages outside of Western Europe]; also, sheer laziness). But in terms of Japan, cultural loyalty is earning my respect rather than resentment; years ago, the top selling figures were more likely Western, today the Japanese are proving they can hold their own and in some cases, even transcend that of their Western peers. Now if only their appearance on Billboard was just as quotidian.

Below are my picks for Top 25 singles and albums of 2008…so far.

Axl and Eminem: reconsidering the musical geniuses

Axl Rose, pre-hairstyle of the damned

I’ve been plowing through a book with such an interesting concept, I’ve considered adopting something similar on this blog (I won’t): Kill Your Idols: A New Generation of Rock Writers Reconsiders the Classics is essentially a collection of negative reviews on popular rock albums. Most of the Western world’s famous works are in here, from the Who’s Tommy, to Nirvana’s Nevermind. While even editor Jim DeRogatis admits it’s a bit like a bratty teenager spitting on a blackboard in anger at the woe that is his life (and more than once slams the Baby Boomer generation in what seems like cheap shots), it’s also fun, particularly if the album in question is one you’ve always wanted to verbally piss on yourself.

One such essay is Andy Wang’s take on The MC5’s Kick Out the Jams. I flipped to the back to read his top ten albums first, which includes Guns N’ Roses, Pet Shop Boys, Social Distortion and Jewel, a type of variety that’s both rare and charming. Furthermore, a lot of the essays make really weird, wonderful comparisons (Beach Boys to Depeche Mode, Brian Wilson to David Lee Roth), but Wang pushes the envelope.

There’s a reason why geniuses like J.D. Salinger and Axl Rose and all those guys who wore masks in the World Wrestling Federation in the 1990s turned into recluses. It’s not that they couldn’t deal with the pressures of fame. It’s that they were singularly extraordinary, and they quickly realized that the rest of the world is stupid. (Wang, 51)

Did you catch that? Wang just compared Axl Rose to J.D. Salinger. And J.D. Salinger to masked wrestlers. And all three of them suffer from the agonizing stress of being brighter than everyone they’ve never met. It seems Wang is genuinely invested in believing Axl Rose is one of the smartest men alive, after all, his number one album of all time is Appetite for Destruction. OK, so Appetite is a great album, I’ll agree with that; I appreciate its place in the music-space continuum and even agree it can (and does) rock, sometimes with no logical explanation. But is Axl Rose really in the same league as someone who wrote Franny & Zooey? And someone who body slams for a living?

I won’t bother to claim I’m an expert on any of these things, let alone wrestling, but it’s rather suspect to claim Axl Rose was a veritable genius, particularly when Wang goes on to praise Eminem in one of the only parallels I can get behind: Eminem is a misogynistic wife-beater (“Sit down bitch, you move again I’ll beat the shit out of you!“), Rose hates immigrants, homosexuals, and black people (“Immigrants and faggots / They make no sense to me“). Maybe they should collab? But for what is essentially two angry white boys on an extended rant, this is not the first time I’ve now heard them both referred to as smarter than the average bear. Just what exactly is the science behind taste and will there ever be a universal standard (I hope not, that would make things pretty boring)? Also, J.D. Salinger is the type of guy who has become a hero to the disenfranchised, emotional high schooler, yet constantly peppers his tales with themes of religion, God, and Eastern mysticism. Eminem and Rose welcome listeners to the mean streets of Detroit and the jungle (a.k.a., the mean streets of L.A.). I’m not one to pigeon-hole (I’m fully aware of the other “masterpieces” created by said artists), but clearly, I am missing something here.

I have no doubt that all three in question probably believe they are simply phenomenal human beings of intellect and wisdom (when I think Axl Rose, I do not think “humility”), but what’s more accurate: the way you conceive yourself, or the way others conceive you? Are Axl Rose and Eminen genuine masters of the craft (musically; I won’t get into Rose’s approval of a music video where a man becomes so distraught at rainfall, he dives into a wedding cake)? If not, what makes a musical genius? Should one or two controversial  works have the power to shatter a lifetime of achievement? And if Rose is so smart, how come he can’t sport a flattering hair style?

Mirror, mirror on the wall: Koda Kumi’s raison d’etre

My biggest downfall as a music writer (or blogger, whatever) barely makes sense at first glance: I probably read a greater variety of music-related articles and books than I listen to their actual musical outputs. Example: I read the 500 page Bob Dylan biography Down the Highway and was fascinated but I have never listened to a single album of his in one sitting (though Blonde on Blonde’s tracks definitely have had the highest ratio of success for me). If someone gave me the choice of reading 800 words on Led Zeppelin or listening to five of their songs, I would choose the former. I cannot help it: if written correctly, the best music writing can trump the music itself. Similarly, I’ve never actually listened to a total album of Koda Kumi’s until Kingdom back in January, but I’ve read mostly everything I’ve come across that mentions her name. What this basically equates to is a whole lot of knowledge on a Japanese pop phenomenon that, as it turns out, doesn’t require a basic handle on the songs to back-up.

We’ve all seen the videos, or heard about them anyway; Kumi was already pegged for success several years ago as a top contender for Japanese (urban) queen just as Ayumi Hamasaki was submitting to a slow dethroning (Pink Wota already mentioned the symbolic aspect of Kumi’s latest album cover which depicts the singer in her best regal pose atop a fur-lined throne, complete with a crown and a hand of not-so-subtle playing cards, so I won’t beat the dead horse) as avex’s number one provider; clearly the shoes were tough to fill, but it seemed fans were more than willing to root for Koda’s feet as she stomped, strutted, and gyrated through countless music videos and television appearances. It’s hard to take something like her image seriously when it’s more than clear that Kumi’s role as imitator and not trend-setter accounts for much of her popularity: she is hardly paving the way for dozens after her, but offers an audience a citation for the urban glam that has been sweeping Japan for some time. But if we didn’t take it seriously, than nothing could be taken seriously at all and since musical criticism relies on this seriousness regardless of genre (even hair metal gets the treatment), it’s best to break down Kumi the same way a retrospective look at Britney Spears’ career might: both women are icons and both have scandals backing up their tough personas (Kumi’s hardly worthy comment about women’s fertility; Spears’ everything post-K-Fed), but what is the appeal?

Taking the time to actually watch Kumi’s newest music video for “That Ain’t Cool” featuring Fergie and listening to her newest single MOON has only reinforced my somewhat negative reaction; I’ve seen snippets of some of her early videos, but was truly initiated with “Under” and subsequently baffled by Kingdom: her entire musical career is fraught with so much visible effort, I’m hard-pressed to understand the devoted nature of her fans and more often left awaiting the punchline that never seems to come. It’s easy to step back and respect certain artists without being a fan (Prince is a requisite, I guess Radiohead, and even Hikaru Utada post-DISTANCE, to inject some Japanese pop back into this), but it’s sometimes too easy to judge an artist by their fans (the more obsessed and well, fanatical, the more I tend to discriminate), but Kumi is neither wholly talented or innovative and her fans are more than simply dedicated. The appeal continually astounds me: sure, Kumi plays the sexpot nearly every time and she can carry a tune some of those times, but there is little to nothing genuine or sincere in her delivery. While it’s easy to mistake that idea and critique the sincerity of her attitude in terms of its relevance to her genuine attitude, it is important to remember that a) most people don’t care and b) the two are mutually exclusive; what is important is how well she sincerely portrays the chosen attitude regardless.

And like a child playing with her mother’s makeup, Kumi’s sexiness isn’t so much plausible as her effort is visible; in “That Ain’t Cool” she actually makes Fergie seem like a successful veteran of the genre. Her vocals are a mash-up of staccato and struggle and the dances are designed to do nothing but imitate moves we’ve seen done better. What is even stranger is the fact that Kumi should be a veteran herself, but belies any accumulation of experience. In a recent post I discussed the collaboration between Namie Amuro and DOUBLE on the track “BLACK DIAMOND” and later happened to come across a few posts that pinned the two ladies against each other in terms of experience in both singing and dance. The winner usually came out to be Amuro, the argument being she is more experienced, and I probably said something to the same effect. But after a few weeks of re-listens and re-watches, I’m actually quite positive the two complement each other nicely. The two never dance in complete sync but it’s probably because they’re both so sure they’ve got it right and they do; experience is never the only adequate reason for talent. Kumi never seems to get it right at all and even her experience doesn’t help.

The failure of able choreographers (I’d say mediocre here, but way better than Ami Suzuki’s) and composers (again, Kumi’s songs aren’t groundbreaking and her vocals are a testament to marketable image before marketable talent – “Moon Crying” was more than a little difficult to sit through and she often falls into what seems a fallback falsetto) all seem to indicate Kumi’s popularity stems little from originality and mostly from her mirror-like capabilities; she is an icon because she gives her fans another good reference to be who they are.

Ami Suzuki’s “ONE” PV

After Yasutaka Nakata made Ami Suzuki relevant again, Team Suzuki decided to forfeit producing rights for her first post-DOLCE single “ONE” in the hopes of scoring more buzz and sales. While it was hard not to be excited about this single at all (this is probably my eighth post talking about this dude, which is weird considering his music makes up maybe all of 0.5% of my music player), I’m beginning to feel a bit skeptical. It’s strange because one year ago, Nakata was an original – I was hard-pressed to find anything resembling his unique blend of club, jazz, bossa nova, and pop, but today, I’m left wondering where he’s going to take it next, or if there is anywhere to take it at all from here. Team Suzuki suggests: let’s go full circle and bring it back to the beginning with a PV that has…

…really bad choreography…