Well, even though TU maybesorta was joking, you can't be too quick to discount Hatsune Miku. And maybe to an extent girls like Sashihara and Hashimoto Kanna are kind of stealth solo idols. But I guess you're really thinking about women who sing for a living?
I think these things are rather cyclical. I mean AKB has pretty much burned through its first couple of generations already and while Yukirin, Rino, Mayuyu, Paru and a few other "kami" remain popular, I think eventually the public will tire of the cynically throwaway singles that Akimoto's factory pumps out. Kokoro no Placard just barely cracked a million and Kibou Teki Refrain sounds weaksauce to me even by AKB standards. Plus, the more that AKB48 becomes "something your dad likes" the more that younger people will flee from it in search of something they can call their own. That's why Morning Musume had to become '14, so they could form their own fanbase of non-geriatric listeners, but even that couldn't happen until OG had pretty much faded from prominence. Akimoto's got a lot of OGs floating around. It's going to be hard for his empire to not eventually get crushed under the weight of its dried up old fruit.
I'm not really a fan these days. I still follow their activities a bit and occasionally download some of their shows, but I haven't bought any of their stuff in years. I have zero interest in any of the post 10 generation members (who debuted in early 2010) at all except marginally Kawaei.
I needed somewhere to post this cause I love it right now. Well, I love the whole album, but I'll spare y'all. Some things probably got lost in translation, but I really like the lyrics to it.
^That's so folkloric and alternative at the same time. And it's not even Japanese folklore, it's something occidental and actually reminds me of some slavic ttraditional music. So interesting. =) Singing tho-ugh
Speaking of alternative, just found this(it's pop-rock actually but welllll) :
I kind of like that raw sound that ゆるめるモ has live, rough vocals and all.
These days, I find myself instinctively looking for anything that sounds like it could be some kind of raw, rough, street-level edge to the idol world (no matter how much I have to stretch the definition of all of those terms ). I'd blame BiS, except that I've always been somewhat deranged in that direction.
^^ Yep, they sound a lot better in that one. It's good Not sure if it's my type of songs though, kind of too... melancholic (maybe?,idk, just a strange feeling)
____ I love the setting in this one, very expressive: