 Ever since the Nakisou Sunday single release, bi bi bi bi bi has been one of the most hotly anticipated events in BILLIE IDLE's (admittedly short) history. It also serves as the group's first full release without the much-beloved Yasui Yuuhi, and in turn somewhat of a proving ground for her replacement Akira. I'm happy to say that bi bi bi bi bi smashes all expectations to take its rightful place in BILLIE IDLE's discography.
 Only a week after re-recording some classic BiS tracks, the new BiS are back with another song, this time something totally new!
 Though I adore callme’s music, I admittedly was out of touch with their recent releases due to the hectic nature of my trip to Japan. It came as a surprise to me when I walked into the Tower Records in Shibuya and discovered that callme’s third single, ‘Confession’, was on display in the idol section. When I finally came home and got to pop it in, I couldn’t have been happier. Much to my delight, the headlining song of the release, ‘Confession’, has a heavy piano motif. I always get really excited whenever they use piano motifs in their songs like this. It has a very smooth beat that helps to make the listener relax while enticing the senses with just the right amount of exciting sound. To help accentuate this are the soft vocals that really helps to make the music itself standout. Following that is the song ‘Take my time’, which is a deeply calming song that throws a constant barrage of soothing sound at you to help drown out distractions. Every time I hear this song I honestly feel at peace, which is likely the goal they were going for when creating it. It’s not entirely unique, but is very solid. ‘Summer of love’ is the final song on this release. The song title actually best describes the song in a nutshell. It sounds like a fun, sunny, bright and endearing song. It’s especially nice that callme manages to take some simple song concepts and beats and successfully blends them together to form something different yet familiar and fun yet soothing. ‘Summer of love’ is the culmination of this concept. The whole release clearly is set around the theme of love coupled with the carefree nature of summer. Being a summer release, this makes complete sense and fits quite nicely. ‘Confession’ released on June 29th and is available at cdjapan for order in three editions. Type A includes a DVD with the music video for ‘Confession’; Type B includes a special DVD with some production content; Type C is the only version that includes the song ‘Summer of love’ and it’s instrumental. Be sure to get your copy! - Teepu 
New BiS has been a tough subject for me. While I'm glad that one of my favorite idol groups is back, the live performances with the new members have been... not so good. The wait for new studio material has been frustrating at best! This morning, though, that wait has come to an end. BiS released a ton of redone versions of old songs right onto their Soundcloud account!
Reknowned idol group, BiSH, recently released a new PV titled "本当本気 (Hontou Honki)". Which translates to "really serious". This new PV's video is very vibrant with a fast pace.  The newest member of the group "AYUNi D", got the spotlight as well! Congrats to her! This PV was fun, well-paced , and had a touch of goofiness. The girls in the group are running through the streets of what seems like Tokyo with a shopping cart that has lights attached to it while at the same time Momo has a megaphone and is yelling at the top of her lungs! Things get more interesting when we see Chittiii come by on roller skates, skating through the city with the rest of group. The fun doesn't stop there, the intensity keeps up with Aina dancing in the hallway for pretty much the entire music video, adding more vibrant colors and fast pacing since her dancing style for the PV is very over-exaggerated and wild. LASTLY the big thing that had fans dying and blowing up the comment section is the kiss that happens in the PV! If you pay close attentuon there are actually TWO kisses.
The main kiss being Aina and Chittiii. For the second kiss it is Momo kissing AYUNi D on the cheek! With every new PV comes great music! The actual song itself featured very fast electric guitar playing and big, fast, wild drumming with a touch techno music in-between. This song also has its slow transitions into the chorus while at the same time slowing down the PV itself to match the music atmosphere created. The team over at AVEX sure do know how to give people what they want! My overall thoughts? It was both refreshing and fun to watch! The main thing for me, was that i could not stop staring at AYUNi D and Atsuko the whole time! They're just too cute! I loved the fun they were having running around like chickens with no heads in a shopping cart! It shows the girls are great friends and are very comfortable with each other. Be sure to give the video a watch and subscribe to avex for more videos like these not only from BiSH, but other artists as well! -光る BiSH - Hontou Honki  Having had the pleasure of travelling to see various idols perform, I had never gone to the popular ‘Naruchika’ events that Hello! Project started back in 2013. I finally had the opportunity to go during my most recent trip to Japan (specifically to a Morning Musume。‘16 Naruchika concert in Shunan), and I can speak from personal experience on why they are as amazing as fans make them out to be. First thing’s first though: what does ‘Naruchika’ even mean? Naruchika is a shortening of the phrase ‘Narudake Chikakude’, which essentially means ‘being as close as possible’, which is what the concert revolves around. While it is completely normal and expected to be able to go to small venues in small towns and see indie idols perform, it’s not exactly the case when it comes to major idols such as AKB48 or Morning Musume。‘16. More than anything it ends up being a logistical issue. There’s much more money to be had in big venues, which is important considering the heightened costs that come with more popular idol groups. It’s an unfortunate but understandable situation.  The general idea behind Naruchika is to kind of re-capture that feeling that we get when we go to small indie lives. The closeness you feel by being in a live house or small venue, where it’s easier to interact, be noticed and overall experience everything that is happening. Not only that, but this movement was designed to cater to some of the smaller towns where fans may not necessarily be close enough to larger areas like Tokyo or Kyoto where they may not be able to afford the trip to the bigger cities or may merely not have the time to make that kind of a trek. As a result, these places which have fans who would like to support their groups in the same way as fans in the big cities end up being left out. Thus they get to deliver to the small-town where people don’t have as easy access to the idols they love. This all turns into a multi-faceted situation where more people get to experience the idols they love and everybody is happy. The concept kicked off with a °C-ute and S/mileage crossover concert tour in 2013 that hit smaller locations within areas like Hokkaido, Gifu and Kochi. Unsurprisingly, these were very successful and as a result have continued every year with various groups, the most recent of which being Morning Musume。‘16.  So now that I got to experience one, was it all it was cracked up to be? You bet! Having only been to Tokyo in my trips to Japan, I decided to give this a go. I made the long trek south to Yamaguchi Prefecture via the Shinkansen. It was about 6 hours when I finally arrived in the town of Shunan, which is almost at the southern tip of the main island of Japan. With my minimal communication skills, I was able to manage my way around. I got up early the next day and went to the venue to discover a lot of local fans who I tried to chat with, along with fans from all over the country who made the long trip for the idols they love. Interestingly enough, I was the only foreigner that I was able to spot. The concert itself was really cramped, but really charged. The most exciting part of the whole experience was that everyone could clearly see the group and everyone could get noticed by the group. When it comes to idols, oftentimes those are the most important things. It was a very personal experience and I enjoyed it thoroughly (even if I didn’t win any of the raffle). Incidentally, if you’ve gone to any of the overseas Hello! Project performances then you have an idea of how a Naruchika is, since these concerts tend to be modeled in that way.
So if you’re a fan of Hello! Project groups, I can’t recommend enough that you do your best to make it out to a Naruchika concert at some point. With the rare exception like Berryz Kobo going to Bangkok in 2015, Naruchika concerts are held exclusively in Japan. It’s a very endearing experience from a fan’s perspective and also opens opportunities to see areas of Japan you may not go to normally! - Teepu |
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