Nah, It’s AG Calling

That’s right folks, this week we are talking about ATARASHII GAKKO!! Recently I’ve become quite obsessed with JPOP and other various genres of music from Japanese artists. It’s led me down some fun rabbit holes that I will eventually share in here, just as I am here with AG. (Maybe I’ll chat about Wednesday Campanella 👀)

This honestly turned into rediscovering a lot of KPOP and just east-Asian artists that I also used to listen to, which then sent me towards other mediums. And I began watching a lot more anime, Train to Busan (again), and like so much more, LOL. 😅 I digress… before the rec, and as per uuuushhh, let’s chat a bit about who they are, how many releases, and a little bit more.

What To Expect + Brief History

AG is a group of Japanese friends that decided they would make tunes together and just dominate a sound that has been long popular in movies and we are seeing a resurgence in as well as recognition from more western countries. How did they meet? Well, there are a few stories on how they came together as a group, some say they were childhood friends and some say they met in a supermarket? Who knows for sure, either way they make stellar tunes and we can def have a convo on that.

You can expect to hear sounds you know from pop with a higher tempo that symbolizes the vibe of club or house music. They have a fairly unique sound that combines this element with 80s/90s Japanese city pop (think artists like Anri from their album Timely!!). It sounds very larger than life, repetitive moments and melodies that incentivize dancing and moving your body. If you need some music to lift your spirits, keep you going, working out, cleaning the house - they are def a SOLID option for that sort of fun.

REC TIME BELOW ⬇️⬇️ 

They have four full releases out as of writing this, with the album being recced having come out this year (June 24’). I HIGHLY recommend you also pop back to some of their other releases, like ICHIJIKIKOKU and listen to tracks like Giri Giri and Suki Lie. With that, here is AG! Calling.

ATARASHII GAKKO! - AG! Calling. They kick the album off with a high energy, classic drum and bass sound. You can hear the dynamics of their sound well here! From there it moves into a place that diversifies the sound, but just enough to feel quite different/explorative and also same-y to their overall identity as a group. It was quite hard to pick a favorite track from this release, I thoroughly enjoyed the full release here.

album rating - 9.3/10, fave track - Hero Show
honorable mention - Maji Yoroshiku

Thanks for tuning in, my friends! I do hope you all have enjoyed this week’s Finetuned. I’d appreciate any insights, opinions, thoughts, admiration, or otherwise. You can direct that towards my email or DM me on Twitter. ([email protected])

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See you all in the next one! 🙌