If you listen to a lot of music on YouTube, you may have been recommended a video. The thumbnail image is a striking black-and-white photo of a Japanese singer named Mariya Takeuchi. The song, “Plastic Love,” is a lush disco track with deep groove, impeccable string and horn arrangements, and a slow-burn vocal performance from Takeuchi. When the song was rel ... Show More
Aug 19
All roads lead to Pharrell: Tyler, Clipse, and Cardi
The conversation around the new music this summer has been a dour one. Some of the biggest songs in the country right now are downtempo stomp-clap anthems and wistful Cranberries pastiche. Even on this very show, Nate and Charlie have asked: where's the fun? As it turns out, the ... Show More
52m 36s
Aug 12
A brief history of terrible lyrics (with Sam Sanders)
Why do bad lyrics happen to good people? From "suckin' on a chili dog" to "making love to his tonic and gin," even the biggest hits from our favorite artists can feature lyrical turns that make us feel quizzical, offended, or even downright nauseated. With the help of Sam Sanders ... Show More
43m 5s
Nov 2021
Hiromu Nagahara, "Tokyo Boogie-Woogie: Japan's Pop Era and Its Discontents" (Harvard UP, 2017)
Tokyo Boogie-Woogie: Japan's Pop Era and its Discontents (Harvard University Press, 2017) by Hiromu Nagahara is the first English-language history of the origins and impact of the Japanese pop music industry. The book connects the rise of mass entertainment, epitomized by ryūkōka ... Show More
1h 22m
Feb 2022
Future of Love by Kinoko Teikoku（J-Pop Hub） - きのこ帝国の「愛のゆくえ」（J-Pop Hub）
Koji Asano, a Melbourne-based Japanese voice actor and musician, hosts music segment J-Pop Hub for SBS Japanese. This week, he picked 'Future of Love（愛のゆくえ）' by Kinoko Teikoku （きのこ帝国）from a Japanese film 'Her Love Boils Bathwater'. - 今週から始まった「オンライン日本映画祭2022」。今週の J-Pop Hub では、映画「 ... Show More
3m 34s
Apr 2016
Sukiyaki (Ue o Muite Arukou)
Memories of a prison camp in the Arizona desert, a tsunami and a plane crash are stirred by the bittersweet Japanese song Sukiyaki, a huge global hit of the 1960s.Originally released in Japan with the title 'Ue o Muite Arukou' ('I Look Up As I Walk'), the song was retitled 'Sukiy ... Show More
27m 31s
Aug 2018
Yoshitoshi Radio 055 - Stranger Beats - It's a Nu Disco World
Yoshitoshi Radio, the new radio show from Sharam, puts a strong emphasis on Yoshitoshi, the label that Sharam has helmed for over twenty years and which to this day operates on the cutting edge of dance music. Comprised of live DJ sets, studio mixes, and guest mixes from Yoshitos ... Show More
1 h
Jun 2017
The Classic Music Company presents Business As Usual - June 2017
In 2008 I started a series of radio shows with fellow Freak and host, Jonny Rock. The original format was based around vinyl. Digital started to creep in, then CD's, then YouTube rips, and so on. But the idea remained the same, that we were sharing our discoveries with an audienc ... Show More
2h 4m