Bet you didn’t know.

Ayoo! Howdy 😄 And welcome back to the one, the only, J-Music Exchange/Rate! That’s right, it’s that time of the month again and yes, me and Al are back once more with yet another set of album reviews for you guys! To those of you who need no further introduction, y’all know where to go from here, BUT if you’re actually new to the blog and you’re not quite sure what this series is all aboutー

The Exchange/Rate is a tandem album review series conducted every month by yours truly alongside my good friend and fellow Japanese music fan Al (from Omunibasu). Each month we decide on a specific theme with which our reviews would revolve around. We then pick out albums from our respective libraries which we think best coincides with that theme. We will then give the album we chose to the other person and vice versa (exchange), after which we then listen to and subsequently review the album we were given (rate). This project has not only allowed us to explore music beyond our libraries, but it provides an opportunity for us to see our favorite albums from a different point of view. It is our hope that this series is able to do the same for you and that you either find a new artist to try out and/or we offer you a fresh take on one of *your* favorite albums 

Al and I take turns on who gets to decide the theme for the month, and this month’s theme was chosen by yours truly. I like this one a lot because I personally get excited when I come across one of these myself, and it’s albums by lesser-known projects of otherwise famous people. I absolutely love it when I randomly come across a seemingly unassuming group only to find out that someone well-known is either involved with it in some form or is directly behind it is someone I know for their work.

One of my favorite examples of something like this is Biteki Keikaku. You can head on over to the Omunibasu Substack to know which famous person is involved with as you read Al’s review of their album BITEKI. Al in turn gave me the album City Habits by the group brkfstblend to go and talk with you guys about today.

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brkfstblend is a Tokyo-based trio comprised of singer-songwriter Michael Kaneko, Keity (former bassist for the band LUCKY TAPES), and Kasuya Tetsushi (former drummer for the band Yogee New Waves). After meeting for drinks one night at a bar in Shibuya, Kasuya and Keity, both fans of the same kind of music, thought to start a new band. To that end they contacted mutual friend Michael Kaneko who they decided would be their vocalist, to which he wholeheartedly agreed on.

＜Ｃｉｔｙ　Ｈａｂｉｔｓ＞
(＊Spotify link to the full album)

CDJapan Affiliate Link(s):
N/A

＜T ｒａｃｋｌｉｓｔ＞

０１・Cannonball
０２・City Habits
０３・nyc
０４・2am
０５・west la
０６・Cannonball (Keity Wasted Remix)

Ａｌ：One day, most likely while I was perusing the ‘Chill Mix’ playlist on Apple Music, I stumbled upon this release, titled City Habits. Never heard of this ‘brkfstblend’ artist before but given that it was on a mix that I like checking out a lot, I figured I’d give it a shot. And I was pleasantly surprised that I initially recognized one of the people behind this EP & group, them being the great Michael Kaneko. I’ve always enjoyed the low-key energy and groovy vibes that he usually shows off in his own music, and the way he frequently sings in English and in a more Western-style vocal register… the combination of those two have worked beautifully for my own personal tastes, making me a pretty big fan of his work (would also recommend checking out his ‘The Neighborhood’ and ‘Daydreams’ albums).

And essentially the same ideas can be seen within this side project of his. Feel-good and even nostalgic-sounding soul/R&B/rock-inspired pop music, with great tracks like “2am” and its loose nature and the pure smooooooothness of “west la” just feels serene as heck. And while this does feel very in line with what I’m used to with Kaneko’s work, a ton of credit also has to go towards the other two guys in this band, Keity and Kasuya. I loved their performances on the bass and drums respectively, as they worked phenomenally well with MK’s guitar and vocal abilities.

This EP is quite short for Exchange/Rate standards (especially when you exclude the remix at the end, which I also enjoyed, FWIW), but I just had to bring it up for this month’s theme. brkfstblend’s stuff just oozes potential and what makes it even better is that they truly do seem like a bunch of talented dudes who just came together to make some cool ass music. That’s unbeatable, in my opinion.

＜Ｓｏｎｇｓ　ｏｆ　Ｉｎｔｅｒｅｓｔ＞

０１・Cannonball
As is often the case when we break down albums (or in this instance, an EP) on Exchange/Rate, we begin with the opening track—Cannonball. True to its name, the song makes quite a splash upon first listen, though perhaps not for the reason you’d expect. It’s not so much about how the song sounds but rather what I heard in it, if that makes sense. Granted, I might’ve latched onto it quickly simply because it’s sung in English rather than Japanese, but what really stood out to me was how mature it felt (it even has an “Explicit” tag on Spotify). To be clear, this isn’t the first time I’ve heard expletives in a Japanese song, nor the first time an artist has sung about having breasts on his mind (I think, maybe). Still, I tend to associate that kind of content more with rap or hip-hop/hip-hop adjacent genres, which makes it all the more striking here.

At the very least, it made me curious about how brkfstblend define their brand of music. As I looked into the group further, I fully expected them to describe their sound as something like “modern jazz” or “neo-soul.” However, in an interview with Spincoaster, they revealed that their music is rooted instead in ’70s and ’80s “AOR”—a term I wasn’t familiar with before this review, which only piqued my curiosity further. I soon learned that AOR stands for “adult-oriented rock,” which already felt hilariously fitting (lol). But what intrigued me even more was discovering the other names associated with AOR during its heyday: “soft rock” (as opposed to “hard rock”) and yacht rock. Unlike AOR, yacht rock is a genre I’m more than familiar with, though I’d never really thought about it in the context of Japanese music. Doing so now—and for the purposes of this review—I think helps nail down what’s most fascinating about what this group of friends are doing here (if at least for me personally).

０２・City Habits、０３・nyc
Just to clarify—I’m not exactly a die-hard TOTO or Billy Caldwell fan, so before anyone in the comments tries to come for my yacht rock cred (JK), let me set the record straight. That said, I do hear a lot—and I mean a lot—of Hall & Oates and Michael McDonald at the place I work, which is where most of my familiarity with the genre comes from. For what it’s worth, my understanding of yacht rock aligns pretty well with the key elements found on City Habits: a modest pop-rock ensemble blending R&B, soul, and jazz influences; mellow vocals; smooth, groovy melodies; simple, catchy hooks; and clean, polished production.

I think both the title track City Habits here as well as the track following it nyc exemplify those elements the most in that regard, showcasing nearly if not all of them, while still demonstrating some appreciable variety in their approach. The former leans into the genre’s jazz roots, offering a bit of bite and edge while maintaining its overall blasé, nonchalant vibe. nyc, on the other hand, flips the script with its groovy guitars and bass lines, pairing a lighthearted and spirited tune with Michael Kaneko’s lyrics about societal unrest driven by political agendas. Which, again, is very “adult” and “mature” to be hearing in a song, just not in the manner that we typically mean when we talk about songs being geared towards mature audiences. More on that later.

０５・west la
While drafting this review, I had a galaxy-brain shower thought—a hot take that might just blow your minds, too. Now, I need you to really think about what I’m about to say. At first, it might sound like I’m just cracking a joke (and, to be fair, it is funny and sounds unserious when you first hear or read it), but I genuinely believe there’s something to this. So, I humbly ask that you let me cook on this one. Okay, ready? Here it is—

Yacht rock… is guy/dude city pop.

…. Now what the heck do I mean by that? (XD) Well, a couple of things, really. First, it’s exactly as it sounds: where Japanese city pop is predominantly championed by female artists, yacht rock, in contrast, is largely male-fronted. But beyond that, the differences between the two genres (to me at least) are surprisingly minimal. In fact, I find they have far more in common than not. Both have their roots in the ’70s and ’80s, with strong ties to R&B and jazz. Both explore “adult” themes, often revolving around the complexities and trappings of romance while also evoking a very West coast vibe. Both are retro-styled genres that have experienced (and continue to experience) major resurgences. The parallels just keep adding up. Sure, west la sounds almost nothing like a Japanese city pop song upon first listen. In essence however, and once you focus instead on the contextual nuances of the two genres, you can kinda start to see it as being perfectly opposed to one—where yacht rock and city pop come across more as being two sides of the same coin.

＜Ｗｈａｔ　Ｉ　ｔｈｉｎｋ　ｏｆ　Ｃｉｔｙ　Ｈａｂｉｔｓ＞

It was fascinating to learn about brkfstblend’s origins as a group—a random gathering of friends who also happened to be musicians and fellow ’70s/’80s AOR fans, each in the process of leaving their respective bands, deciding that they want to play some “classic shxt” (in their own words) together one night at a bar in Shibuya. That said, the deeper I delved into this narrative of yacht rock and city pop being closely related, the more it felt like brkfstblend might have been born not just out of spontaneity, but out of necessity.

What I’m getting at here is that, despite how I’ve framed throughout this review, Japanese yacht rock isn’t really a thing in the same way that Japanese city pop is. Why this is important to note is because it highlights a void in Japanese music—particularly in terms of it being an avenue for creative expression, especially for Japanese male artists. Sure, there are male Japanese city pop artists, and they can certainly follow that path if they want to write songs about adult or mature themes in the vein of the ’70s/’80s, because that’s the kind of music they grew up with. But, as we discussed earlier, there are subtle differences between the two genres in terms of sound that might make one hesitate to go that route. Chief among them is that Japanese city pop leans more heavily on synths, whereas yacht rock tends to rely on a more traditional rock band setup. Perhaps some artists might prefer that latter approach when creating music, but if they’re drawn to that sound, what options are available to them? That’s where I believe the impasse lies—except it’s not entirely without a way forward.

One simple solution is to just do it themselves. And that’s exactly what the brkfstblend boys ended up brewing here with City Habits. Theirs is both a nostalgic as well as a refreshing sound that a lot of people can most certainly relate to for reasons already stated and more importantly may even fill that very void for fans also seeking out this style of music today, whether they’re fans of Japanese music or fans of the genre itself. It might not seem like it at first glance—especially since it was mostly done on a whim—but it’s still a novel release.

＜Ｍｙ　Ｒａｔｉｎｇ＞


３.７５ ｏｕｔ ｏｆ ５

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７.５ ｏｕｔ ｏｆ １０

If you happen to be a fan of yacht rock, this one’s absolutely for you. I’d also like to recommend it to fans of Japanese city pop—there’s plenty to appreciate here given the shared DNA of the two genres. Beyond that, if you’re simply looking for something jazzy and mellow to chill out to, City Habits will more than deliver. Depending on how old your folks or coworkers are, they might enjoy this one too! … Just be mindful about putting Cannonball on the speakers if you decide to play this record at home and/or at work, though (lol).

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What are your guys’ thoughts on City Habits? Let me know in the comments!

Likewise, what are some of your favorite lesser-known projects by otherwise famous people? Feel free to share with is down below as well! We’d love to know about ’em 😋

Lastly, don’t forget to check out Al’s review of BITEKI over at the Omunibasu Substack if you haven’t yet already done so!

Happy Listening!