Tokyo's Coolest Sound radio show on La Face B: "Tokyo's Coolest Sound" vol.17

This is Tokyo's Coolest Sound's own radio show, which is featured on La Face B (Facebook page), an Internet radio based in Montréal (Québec, Canada). It brings you some favorite songs and artists that you've read about in these pages. Tune in at the times below at http://lafaceb.live. Happy listening!

"Tokyo's Coolest Sound" (vol.17) will play at http://lafaceb.live on June 23, 2021 from 22:00 (EDT = Montréal/New York).
* Japan time: June 24, 2021 from 11:00 a.m.

There will be replays in October 2021:

EDT (Montréal/New York) —: Fri. Oct. 15 at 16h, Mon. 18 at noon, Tue. 19 at 8h, Wed. 20 at 4h, Thurs. 21 at 0h
Japan time —: Sat. Oct. 16 at 5h, Tue. 19 at 1h, Tue. 19 at 21h, Wed. 20 at 17h, Thurs. 21 at 13h

This episode was not archived as-is. Listen to the Spotify playlist of most of the songs, or scroll down this page to find music videos and individual songs, and also listen to the narration.

Below is the full tracklist with liner notes, and narration parts that you can listen to.

1. Zoomgals "Status Ailment Just Alive" (2020)
(Japanese title: 「生きてるだけで状態異常」)

Zoomgals is a super group of 6 MCs: Namichie, Marukido, ASOBOiSM, AKKOGORILLA, valknee and Haruko Tajima. Having debuted last year remotely (their name even taken from the remote tool), they have so far released three songs starting with "Zoom" (music video, also on Spotify, ) which was followed by this song "Status Ailment Just Alive" (Spotify, ).

Zoomgals' latest is titled "GALS" and features Yayoi Daimon (Spotify, ). Watch its music video further down this page.

🔈 Listen to Narration I
Presenting: Zoomgals, MANON

2. MANON "18" (2020)

French-Japanese artist & model MANON (Instagram) released this song "18" (Spotify, ) last year, with lyrics she wrote herself about being an 18-year-old (she has since turned 19). MANON also does video, and she co-directed the music video for this song.

MANON's latest original song is "GALCHAN MODE" (Spotify, ) released digitally last month. Check out the 3DCG video further down this page.

3. Otagiri "Échoes (feat. Butaji)" (2021)

Otagiri is a rapper who was previously known as Soccerboy, and he has just released in February an album titled "The Radiant" (Bandcamp). Included is the song "Échoes" which features butaji, who also co-produced another song on the album.

A recent performance in collaboration with theater company chelfitsch and video artist Kouki Tange, titled "Outrap", has just been made available ondemand via Vimeo. You can check out the trailer and rent the full-length here (19 minutes).

<a href="https://otagiri.bandcamp.com/album/the-radiant">The Radiant by Otagiri</a>

🔈 Listen to Narration II
Presenting: Otagiri, Love And Hates

4. Love And Hates "Money" (2011)

Love And Hates is a duo formed of Yuppa aka HNC (Twitter, Instagram) and Moe (Instagram) (of Milla and The Geeks, Housewife Punks), mixing indie pop, lo-fi and hip-hop. The song "Money" is from their album "L.A.H." (Spotify, , YouTube Music), which was released almost 10 years ago. Always sounding just as fresh, the album features collaborations with Hideki Kaji (in a cover of "Mahna Mahna"!), human beatbox AFRA (watch the video below) and talkboxers Luvraw & BTB.

HNC recently made an appearance with MANON on the new album of KM, "Everything Inside" (Spotify, , YouTube Music). Moe has been active in making fancy accessories with her brand Joy!, and sometimes DJs as a member of Twee Grrrls Club.

5. Haruko Tajima "Astral Gal" (2019)
(Japanese title: 田島ハルコ「Astral Gal」)

Haruko Tajima has been active solo for over five years, releasing several albums of which the latest is "kawaiiresist" (, Spotify, YouTube Music) on which appears "Astral Gal". Since then five singles were released, along with starting activity with Zoomgals. Bandcamp is the place where to find all of Haruko's works, including new wave band Shampoo Hats.

Check out Haruko's YouTube channel that's full of addicting self-directing music videos. You can start with her latest song "Eccentric Seinen Boy" (Spotify, ), also featured at the bottom of this page.

Also, a show of Haruko that was held in January 2020 at Shibuya WWW can be watched in full on YouTube! I was there and had a blast!

6. valknee "SUPER KAWAII OSHI" (2020)

I learned of valknee (Twitter) via Zoomgals, which apparently got formed from her doing a call for other gal rappers, and I quickly got into her characteristic style. Although being Japanese, her lyrics often show some Korean skills that she gained from living in Seoul at a young age. "SUPER KAWAII OSHI" is from her mini-album "Diary" (Spotify, , YouTube Music) released last year.

Her latest track is "Sweetie30" (Spotify, , YouTube Music) released digitally as she turned 30 in March.

🔈 Listen to Narration III
Presenting: Haruko Tajima, valknee, O'CHAWANZ

7. O'CHAWANZ "Rest of the Girls" (2021)

Hip-hop unit O'CHAWANZ has a nice and fun vibe that often reminds me of Shibuya-kei, of course also a bit because of the bordered T-shirts. They have just released a 3rd album titled "Do The Right Thing" (Spotify, , YouTube Music).

O'CHAWANZ often live-stream their shows, so it's good to keep an eye on their official Twitter which sometimes suddenly posts a streaming link. I try to pick them up and post details in this site's live streaming news whenever I happen to notice.