Month: September 2022

Homicidols Investigates: How soft are the iTunes J-Pop charts?

/ chris

Congratulations to REBEL REBEL!  Their producer tweets:

Tweet by @richy259: REBEL REBEL's "ZUGZWANG" ranked 43rd in the iTunes Store (UK) "J-Pop Top Albums"!

Wow!  I love REBEL REBEL, nice to see them get some success!  Strange though, despite some efforts from this site, you don’t really see much chat about them from overseas idol fans.

And the iTunes Store?  Who still uses that?  Who purchases albums when you can get the choice from millions of songs on a cheap or free streaming subscription?

Well actually, I still do.  Not because of any altruistic desire to give those producing the music more money, although that’s a nice bonus, but because of the horrifying thought that the music I love may just disappear from the service one day.  You know what I’m talking about, BILLIE IDLE fans!  Plus I like to listen to all my music offline, along with a bunch of stuff that was never on streaming, idol and non-idol.

But hundreds of “Your Spotify Wrapped” tweets on my timeline every year shows that I am in a very small minority here in still using the iTunes store.  And the amount of J-Pop fans in the UK using the iTunes store must also be quite a small number.  I did buy that REBEL REBEL EP but given their relatively low profile it seems conceivable that I may be the only person in this country that did.  Is it possible that one sole purchase is enough these days to get something into the top 50?

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Reader’s Best: Karli’s Top Ten Favorite Idol Songs of All time

/ DAEMON

Welcome to another edition of Reader’s Best. This time, we’re turning over the blog to Karli who will tell us what good music sounds like in ten short tunes. The best part of this whole exercise of collecting reader’s favorite songs has been that, with each list we publish, I am discovering  at least one great new track to add to my playlist. Karli’s picks are a perfect case in point: the majority of these songs weren’t released as singles or featured in MVs. They are mostly b-sides or deep cuts off of full albums, a couple of which I had never even heard before. Good stuff. Let’s go!! Continue reading →

We Interview Idols: MELON BATAKE A GO GO on Their New Album, US Debut & Being Idols During COVID

/ DAEMON

It was just over one week ago that MELON BATAKE A GO GO delivered their US debut performance at Saboten Con in Phoenix, Arizona. Idols from outer space, Rutakame Run and Yuffie Sakimura, accompanied by human counterparts Tomoyo Chiyo and Usako Minano, delivered their unique fusion of rockabilly and punk idol to a raucous Friday night crowd followed by an extended weekend of activities documented here. As Saboten was winding down, I was able to sit down with the four sidekick idols and had a good long conversation about their first trip to America, their latest album, what it was like to be an idol during the pandemic and, the most important question of all, why “melon”? Continue reading →

Your Homicidols Weekender #303

/ DAEMON

Welcome to the Weekender. I’m actually still a bit discombobulated from spending four days in the reality distortion field generated by MELON BATAKE A GO GO. I did a whole report on it, but the central thesis is: if you like underground idols, plan a trip to Saboten Con 2023. There’s few other events, in Japan or elsewhere, that will afford you better opportunities to interreact with some of the groups we love.  The plan for next year is to bring over even more idol units and bands (we have pelted the talent booker with recommendations and he did take notes) so start saving now for next Labor Day weekend.

As we prepare for the future, be sure to live in the present, and don’t forget to respect the past, like all the stuff that happened this last week:  Continue reading →

Reader’s Best: Marc and Void’s Top Ten Favorite Idol Songs of All time

/ DAEMON

Welcome to the third installment of our Reader’s Best series. The response to our request for submissions of Top Ten song lists has been incredible and we want to send out big THANK YOU!! to everyone who has sent in a response. Because we want to make sure we get to everyone’s list, we will be closing down submissions later today so get any last minute entries in immediately. At this point it may take us three months to post everybody’s picks, but these are good problems to have! Since this went so well, we will definitely do more reader submission projects in the future. We’re leaning towards favorite MVs next time, but we shall see.

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Report: The US Debut of MELON BATAKE A GO GO at Saboten Con

/ DAEMON / 1 Comment

I apologize for not reporting in sooner but, quite frankly, I have been having too much fun at Saboten Con. It has been three years since the chika idol faithful gathered in the Arizona desert for Labor Day weekend and there was a palpable eagerness to reboot what had become (pre-COVID) an annual event for US idol otaku. It was a weekend filled with reconnecting, reminiscing, staying up late and waking up exhausted. That was all in addition to the main reason that brought us to Phoenix in the first place: the opportunity to spend four days with our favorite idols from outer space, MELON BATAKE A GO GO.

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Homicidols Best: Papermaiden’s Top Ten Favorite Idol Songs of All Time

/ Papermaiden / 1 Comment

Here is my idol song top 10. I wish I had something witty to say to introduce my list, but I’ll bare my heart in each song’s description instead. I’d just like to say that with the exception of my top pick (somehow!), I have all these songs taking up precious space on my phone because I know I’ll never get sick of any of them. If I could get them into my body for easier listening, I would. That’s how committed I am to each item of this list.

Let’s get to it!

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Reader’s Best: Melly’s Top Ten Favorite Idol Songs of All time

/ DAEMON

Welcome to our second installment of Reader’s Best! If you haven’t already, please check out Luna’s Top Ten in our inaugural post. Today we are featuring Melly’s picks, not just because they have fantastic taste, but also because they were the second person to complete the survey. We try to keep it simple around here. Let’s go, Melly!

Melly’s 10 Favorite Idol Songs

10. ASP, SAKEBE

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Your Homicidols Weekender #302

/ Papermaiden

While Daemon is living his best life seeing MELON BATAKE A GO GO, I’m in charge of the weekender!

We published a trilogy of articles having Nonamera as a pivot: one about her solo album, one on KAQRIYO TERROR’s newest release and finally, a piece of Kyunchi’s collaboration with her. That’s a whole lot of content for a week!

But what else happened in the idol world?

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Reader’s Best: Luna’s Top Ten Favorite Idol Songs of All time

/ DAEMON

Welcome to the first in our series of Top Ten Favorite Idol Songs as identified by you, the readers of Homicidols. If you haven’t summitted your list yet, it’s not too late. Just complete this Google form and let us know your thoughts. We will be publishing a few each week until we run out.

First up we have Luna, also know as LunaGeek on Twitter and Discord where he is known for his enthusiasm for WWI experimental helmets and multiple YouTube channels.  He’s an intriguing guy with a diversity of interests, so let’s see how that extends to his picks for favorite idol songs. Take it away Luna: Continue reading →