Ballsack’s J-Pop Midlife Crisis, pt. 17: 山根麻衣

Starting sometime last year, I started really getting into Japanese music. This came as a bit of a surprise to me, because I had always thought I hated singing in Japanese. Turns out I don’t! In the night threads for the following week, I’ll write a little about each of my favorite artists that I’ve discovered, and share a streaming album for you to dutifully ignore.

I’m going to take a brief stop here for some City Pop, a genre that’s gotten some considerable attention in the last ten years or so, despite it kind of being a made up genre. I mean, all genres are made up, but this one is more based on aesthetic and a ‘feel’ than some sort of musical characteristic. But, oh wait, that’s kind of punk, too… I’m not going to get into it, there’s plenty to find out about it on the web if you are so inclined.

Instead, I’d like to briefly talk about Mai Yamane’s 1980 album Tasogare. Mai Yamane may be more famous right now for her work on the Cowboy Bebop soundtrack. In fact, if you search for her on YouTube music that’s all that comes up. Which is too bad, because Tasogare is quite good, and deserves some attention. It has some melancholy to it and a good bit of soul. Or something.I don’t know it’s good stuff