JP ALT’s Best of March ’26

ผ้าอ้อม99999- Junk Pop

Right after going mildly viral for their eccentric music videos and chaotic “acid bass” sound, pa-o-mu99999’s debut LP solidifies the band’s position as one of the more compelling acts in the Japanese Hip Hop scene. JUNK POP takes the listener for a ride through post-apocalyptic landscapes, oddly reminiscent of Toxitown, the main location depicted in Ryu Murakami’s novel Coin Locker Babies. It is futuristic, yet nonetheless as grimy. Speaking of the genres, the producers are playing around with drum & bass, deconstructed club and footwork. Among many other things, the album features rapid fire sampling, wonky beats running at an average of 140 BPM, and Tung Tung Tung Sahur raps (literally mentioned on the last track). As the group explains, the album was primarily inspired by the 音MAD (lit. “Sound MAD”) video remix style, with internet humor deeply embedded in the lyrics. JUNK POP is the perfect example of what a “chronically online” yet rewarding record would sound like.

–Evan

Favorite tracks: ‘忙忙忙ー忙・忙ー忙忙’, ‘Chunky Char Siu’

⭐⭐⭐⭐

okudakun- my song file.3

It’s been four years since the first entry in rapper and producer okudakun’s my song file album series, and the newest entry only further shows his evolution in artistry. Where msf.1 was digicore-adjacent, msf.2 was a blend of avant-garde trap, my song file.3 sees him take pages from books not dissimilar to Grimes or Portishead. This time, tmjclub’s resident magician rejects cultural conformity as his beats deconstruct and reconstruct themselves. Simple drum beats become polyrhythmic, and samples are strewn about whenever it suits his fancy. All the while, okudakun sings and raps with effortless charisma, chopped and spliced like a sacai garment to create a step into his world. Collaborations from underground electronic supergroup RewindFlash’s VOLTA, urban internet-born and raised rapper aliswa, and near-alien producer and vocalist LynxXxCERO:A (who released one of my favorite projects this year) serve to provide their individual interpretations of okudakun’s third collection of song files.

– Halo

Favorite tracks: ‘music for everygeek//public ritual’, ‘ikebukuro’

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Crab Club- 祝詞 (Norito)

A distortion that emulates grinding of teeth, a lead guitar emulating howls and saxophones, and a soft voice that brings back repented ghosts of biscuit-soft unrequited love. This new EP from Crab Club has no resolutions to offer, only a lullaby to calm the quotidian non-resolutions. What initially caught my ear about this EP was its opening track: “Parasomnia” which brought me back to the newfound emotions I felt back when first introduced to Kinoko-teikoku. A strain of rock which deals with a more tender subject matter: the amplification of the knots we accumulate throughout the day and ponder through the night before sleep; an argument with a friend, the pressures of an upcoming test, a pet gone missing. All these moods are captured both softly and harshly here. “Yasashisa no Gomenne” is good example of the range this EP carries. For the best listening experience, be sure to enjoy this on a hot night while car light reflections pass by. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

butaji- Thoughts of You

The new record from butaji arrives as an act of deceleration, allowing the listener to breathe. The record treats memory as something that bears weight that needs to be confronted with kindness and patience. Built around lush instrumentation with string arrangements and and an old time warmth, Thoughts of You is a gentle record. The album builds the premise of being created by someone who isn’t tough, but rather introspective and observant, the record keeps this atmosphere until the very end. Accumulated grief, the memories of people departed and the meaning of not letting the memory go are the centerpieces of this project. Despite all this weight, this album is, as stated before, really gentle and soothing. It’s a balance that needs tremendous craftsmanship to achieve.

–Seb

Favorite tracks: ‘In silence’, ‘怪獣’

⭐⭐⭐⭐

no.MEN- BAA, as the shadows loom

No.MEN are an alternative band from Nagoya, and their debut album sounds like they’ve been making music for ages. The first single for this album, „Unlovable”, drifts between teenage anxiety and and love, and it’s a great single to represent the album alternating between claustrophobia and relief. The songwriting on the project is mature and direct, something that even the most mature bands shy away from. The title itself places the record between something pastoral and gothic, and the album cover is phenomenal (it’s just a closeup of a sheep’s head, but it works so well!) and it suits the music that threatens to tip into darkness but ultimately resisting it. It’s a debut that makes you excited for things to come.

–Seb

Favorite tracks- ‘Setelan’, ‘Unlovable’

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Kayoko Yoshizawa- 幽霊家族 (Ghost Family)

Yoshizawa’s concept for this album is opening a door to see the younger version of your family sitting around the table, something that is unreachable for her. This is the spine for this album. Conceptually it’s something you think you’re going to cry to and will be tough to get through, but in reality, the album has many bright moments that lighten up the atmosphere. Yurei Kazoku is an eclectic one, you cannot really pinpoint this album to one genre. Rock, bossa nova, jangle pop, electronica, this album has it all. The album’s brightness sometimes cracks into an unsettling territory, just like the feelings related to this matter. Beautiful project.

–Seb

Favorite tracks: ‘幽霊’, ‘メモリー’

⭐⭐⭐½

orlik- New Contemporary

Orlik, a solo project of Terutomo Nakashima, born in 2005 in Fukuoka seeps with boiling teenage emotions placed atop of electronic patterns. It’s incredible that Nakashima is just 20, because this album is really polished, and it doesn’t delve into safety zones like many debuts do. Nakashima cites quite a handful of artists as his inspirations for this project; for example Radiohead, the cabs, or People in the Box. The souls of these bands can be found on the record. This album doesn’t have a story arc- it is a collection of impulses and emotions that create an elaborate pattern flying around the Fukuokan skies melting with the skyscrapers. The song titles like „Youth Terrorism”, „iAmAcitykidiliveintheplAzAhotel” or „humanistic approach” suggest someone wrestling with what exactly the word contemporary means.

–Seb

Favorite tracks: ‘PRET-A-PORTE’, ‘Youth Terrorism’

⭐⭐⭐½

Here is the link to our ongoing Best of ’26 Spotify playlist.