This is an indexed table of contents to the series of reviews that was published throughout December 2021.

Japan Vibe was somewhat neglected during 2021 and as an effort to catch up with things while giving an overview of the year, I wrote and published 31 reviews of 2021 releases in 31 days in December (well, finishing a few days late actually, but oh well). These reviews cover a very wide variety of genres: mainstream pop, noise, hip-hop, post punk, indie rock, techno, dubstep, psychedelic rock, post rock and so on and on… and even some country and traditional African music! Of course, it still just scratches the surface of the insanely vast and diverse Japanese music scene, but hopefully everyone finds something of interest in there.

So, scroll through the list, read what sounds interesting and maybe discover a new favorite or two:

Mono: Pilgrimage Of The Soul
post rock

Puffy: The Puffy
j-pop

Mainliner: Dual Myths
psychedelic rock / noise rock

Newspeak: Turn
rock / pop-rock

Grim: Totem Song
industrial / power electronics / noise

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu: Candy Racer
j-pop / electro pop

Young Yujiro: 2025
hip-hop / trap

Controlled Death / Mayuko Hino split
noise / dark ambient

Chai: Wink
j-pop

Chanmina: harenchi
j-pop / hip-hop

Toshimaru Nakamura: Culvert – No-Input Mixing Board 10
experimental / electronic music

Susumu Hirasawa: Beacon
art rock / new wave

Anyango: Kanki
africal traditional / world music

The fin.: Outer Ego
dream pop / pop-rock / indie rock

Jody: Jody
trap / hip-hop

Kinoco Hotel: Marianne no Mikkai
beat / rock / group sounds

Chie Horiguchi: Outsider
southern rock / country

Co-Fusion: Co-Fu3.0
techno / electro / house

The Mirraz: Japanese English
indie rock / alternative rock

No No No: No No No
indie rock / thrashcore / noise rock

FEMM: Tokyo Girls Anthem
j-pop / hip-hop

Merzbow & Prurient: Black Crows Cyborg
noise / dark ambient

Nehann: New Metropolis
post punk / alternative rock / goth rock

TsuShiMaMiRe: Sake Mamire
indie-rock

Goth-Trad: Survival Research
dubstep

Miyavi: Imaginary
pop-rock / rock

Tricot: Jōdeki
j-pop / pop-rock

Ryo Murakami: Tiers
dark ambient / ambient

Acid Mothers Temple: Zero Diver or Puroto Guru
psychedelic rock / folk rock

Tokyo Jihen: Ongaku
j-pop / jazz

Linekraft: Asura
industrial / power electronics

#2021reviews