SAKA-SAMA summed up the state of idol for 2019 in a nutshell: They kicked off in January as a six-member unit, then experienced a major overall, leaving them as Kokone’s solo act for a bit, and is now ending the year with multiple-group veteran Mizuho stepping up as a support recruit, rebranding SAKA-SAMA as a duo. (I think they’ve been a duo at least once before… it’s hard to remember every incarnation!) How long will this arrangement last? It’s a SAKA-SAMA world, so we’ll just have to simply wait and see! But this moment in the group’s evolving history will be documented in the form of a recorded single that’s title translates to “Goodnight Judy”. So with this new single, how does the dynamic change? Here’s an MV to give us the insight…
Indie
RAY Drops a Visually Stunning Meteor of Emotions and Reverb…
It was just mere days ago we were talking about that wonderful footage of RAY performing live in Taiwan, and we took a moment to also mention that the group will also be releasing their first single/EP, entitled “Blue”. The release has lovely cover art and an extremely impressive roster of collaborators. Now we’ve been blessed with another highly anticipated track on the disk, “Meteor”, featuring an instrumental arrangement by Elliot Frazier of the highly regarded Austin band Ringo Deathstarr!
You Should Get RAY On Your Radar Right Now…
I’ve been kind of tingling with giddy anticipation all day today since this bit of news broke via a retweet from the Dots staff twitter. As you may know, the mysterious mind behind Dots has been quietly planning a successor to the seminal experimental and constantly evolving shoegaze idol project, and at last, it appears that the time is nigh for the next event to break out and dare I suggest, likely shatter expectations with an exciting new unit…
新生アイドル「RAY」、・・・・・・・・・運営チームのサポートで始動https://t.co/GfvRjhhQ1X pic.twitter.com/LdlZahUzgw
— 音楽ナタリー (@natalie_mu) April 15, 2019
Tickets Are Now on Sale for the Most Indie, Idol and Infamous Tour in the UK
How conveniently named then!
Yes friends, the thing that you should be incredibly hype for if you’re able to go, and at least somewhat hype for just because it exists, is now something that you can officially purchase a ticket for, which you should undoubtedly do, and soon:
Tickets on sale now for INDIE, IDOL AND INFAMOUS with @DOUBLE_AND @14hanakosan @GARUDA_info!
https://t.co/wa16hlLfL1#idol #london #Japan #doubleand #idol_garuda #十四代目トイレの花子さん pic.twitter.com/23qpKkkp3E
— ORIONlive UK (@ORIONlive_UK) January 18, 2019
Now That’s What I Call Indie: Ichiho Goes Executive
I won’t lie, when I first saw an announcement post followed by news tweets of Ichiho’s face, I panicked a little. Thankfully, it’s nothing to do with my horrible luck when it comes to picking oshis this time around.
劇場版ゴキゲン帝国 白幡いちほが会社設立、アイドル界初の取締役会長に就任 | ドワンゴジェイピーnews – 最新の芸能ニュースぞくぞく! https://t.co/btjdCyrg6P#ゴキ帝 #劇場版ゴキゲン帝国 #白幡いちほ @gokigen_teikoku @1ho1118 #アイドル界初の取締役会長 pic.twitter.com/ojK4tb6PL1
— ドワンゴジェイピーnews (@dwangojpnews) September 3, 2018
At first, I was going to try and weasel out of this, “oh, I don’t know enough about this for a full article, maybe I’ll leave it for Weekender fuel” but then I remembered that I just published an article about a group who have released almost nothing at all, and I realised I had no excuse. Continue reading
Wyenra Is Like Some Kind of New Stage for Indie Idols
So. It’s Sunday. There are no hard-and-fast rules around what does and does not constitute “easy” when it comes to Sundays, though that designation has in the past extended to such things as HAMIDASYSTEM and random H!P things and I think AH* that one time. The point is, I usually like to use Sunday as a time to celebrate cool, interesting, homi-ish idol things that maybe don’t have the pedal all the way down to the metal.
Today, arguably my new favorite thing this week, wyenra:
News of this unit’s creation and inauguration has been randomly, one might even say ordained-ly, been kicking around Twitter and my dang inbox for a couple of weeks, but here they are, for real, in the digital flesh. Completely self-produced, self-managed, etc. They’re still putting together their first lives, but they’re also putting together really nice music with a really well-done MV. Also, two of the members are sisters, I think. Continue reading
Indie Idol Wednesday Is an Ass-kicking
Happy Indie Idol Wednesday! In today’s look into the indie side of (the hard side of) idol, I give you vampire girl Hoshina Fumimi:
You Don’t Even Need Japanese to Understand This Idol Documentary That’s All in Japanese
This is pretty cool; if you have a little while today or tomorrow or over the weekend or at some point before the heat death of the universe, give this documentary on the idol underground, the people performing and the people who love them a watch:
@homicidols This is a documentary on the indie/underground idols and fan base
https://t.co/uHdLvpuV3R— PureIdolHeart (@Pureidolheart) November 2, 2016
An Inside Look at Becoming an Indie Idol
I found this article while cruising through Reddit. It’s several months old, but the information is probably still really valuable.
Not all of the idols featured on this site are indie, and the indie scene is so big and diverse that it would be nuts to even try to encompass everything (even the forthcoming companion site won’t try that), but we do have a soft spot for those self-managed, in-it-for-the-love-of-performance idols who “tour” Tokyo or Osaka and have a handful of devoted wotas and otherwise sweet, delicious anonymity outside of the clubs.
This is also a good opportunity to link again to good friend Pure Idol Heart (site / Facebook), who seriously follows the indies and smaller agency talents. There’s another real insider look to the process of becoming and being an idol that you should look into.