that foreign music blog🌎

I apologize for the sad attempt at a pun, but I don’t apologize for this amazingness I’m about to tell you. SO, while I was riding the bus back from Tokyo, I stumbled upon this video.

2- ケプラー  (Kepler)

If you read The Pains of August and Yutaro Furutachi, you’ll understand why I had a silent freak-out in the bus, holding back real tears. But before I absolutely lose my mind, I’ll do the band a formal introduction:

Vocals/guitar: Yutaro Furutachi
Guitar: Ryota Katou
Bass: Shinnosuke Akasaka
Drums: Yucco

All the members are from Tokyo excluding the drummer, who’s all the way from Hokkaido! You can read more about them on the profile page of their official website. I’ll instead spend the rest of this post celebrating their first video.

Now, as tired as I am, just getting home from a five-hour bus ride, I almost decided not to put in the effort, but this is my favorite vocalist. Plus, the title kinda caught my interest. It’s a great tune, but “Kepler”…sounds familiar, doesn’t it? You probably thought of the spacecraft–which is completely correct. I admit that I had to do a bit of research, but I remember learning about the astrologist, Kepler, in my history class.  With just that much context, you’re able to string together the theme of the song. To help you, I’ll write down just a few of the phrases I’m able to catch.

“まったく地球と同じの惑星がそう遠くない” (Planets like Earth aren’t so far away)
”。。。と輝く銀河。。。” (…bright galaxy…)
“君に恋してる” (I’m in love with you)

Ultimately, I think the speaker is using the metaphor of ‘planets and stars’ to talk about how he’s in love with someone who’s very far away from him. I think he might be talking about “Kepler” as a means to help find the girl, which might be what the “‘Help me, Kepler! SOS!” is referring to.

I’m sorry that I can’t really do the lyrics any justice, but knowing just that much more context helped me appreciate the song even more.

As for the melody itself, it reminds me a little of ” 床には君のカーディガン“, or “Your Cardigan on the Floor”. They don’t really sound the same, but that’s the first song that came to mind when I heard “Kepler” for the first time. Perhaps it’s because they’re both love songs? Although “Cardigan”…SEEMS to be hinting at the theme of losing virginity, rather than a starry romance. That’s really just my feeling, though.

I can’t wait to see them live in October! And it’s not only “2”‘s concert that I’ll be attending. Believe it or not, in October alone, I’ll be going to TWO concerts!

With that being said, I’ll segue into the second part of this Tokyo-magic: Mrs. Green Apple.  While I was walking around Shibuya, I saw their advertisement for their new single, “Wanted! Wanted!“. While I’d seen it before going to Tokyo this weekend, seeing it while I was within walking distance of Tower Records really tested my patience. It’s a good thing the single gets released AFTER payday!

Although Mrs. Green Apple is starkly different from my favorite Yutaro Furutachi, something I’ve continuously appreciated about Mrs. Green Apple is their creativity. Throughout each of their albums, they’ve maintained a colorful mix of rock and pop, making for energetic tunes that are easy to dance to. They often remind me of Sekai no Owari, but there’s definitely something special about Mrs. Green Apple that has incentivized me to buy all four of their albums. Perhaps it’s their strong chorus? Or their clever use of the keyboard in their songs. I will say that Ohmori’s unique vocals make for a stimulating experience in itself. Even if you can’t speak Japanese, it’s hard not to sing to Mrs. Green Apple.

Here’s some live footage of one of their more addictive, pop tunes, “Just a Friend” The theme should be simple enough 😉 What lucky girl could he be chasing, I wonder~