我々の”favorite songs of 2012 lists”のような年末特集を組むのは非常に難しいです。限られた数を選ばなければいけないので、結果選べないアーティストもいるからです。去年でいうと”My Aquamarine/Spinning Wheel”をリリースしたElen Never Sleeps。このシングルは素晴らしい曲を２つも収録した、ENSがアーティストとして急成長した作品です。そして2013年を迎え”Silver”をリリースしたENSは、今年もさらに彼らしさを発揮させています。新曲”Shine On Me”は去年の”My Aquamarine”を彷彿とさせるものの、ビートがENSの今までの曲の中で一番ダンサブル。コーラスの部分では、風変わりなボーカルやストリングスを始め、さまざまな音色が飛び交っているものの、互いを殺しません。こういった細かいこだわりが光ります。
One of the tougher parts of putting together a year-end feature – like our “favorite songs of 2012 lists” – is cutting it down. This means some really great stuff gets left outside…and last year, one of the toughest omissions to make was Tokyo murmur-pop dude Elen Never Sleeps, whose “My Aquamarine/Spinning Wheel” single featured two great songs and marked a jump forward artistically for Elen. It’s looking like ENS won’t be facing a similar dilemma in 2013, as he’s just released two tracks in advance of his new Silver EP, and both find the solo artist making further artistic strides. “Shine On Me” initially resembles last year’s “My Aquamarine,” but features a livelier beat that is the closest ENS has ever come to being dancey. The real development, though, is greater attention paid to sonic details – the most catching element of “Shine” is the almost-meowed noises that make up the chorus, but equally as strong are the strings that rise up throughout the song.
The title track from the EP, meanwhile, is more reflective, but features ENS adopting a slightly deeper voice for most of the song. It’s the less daring of the two tracks, but refines the Elen Never Sleeps sound further. Listen below.
In which Tokyo producer Kenie_T…who on SoundCloud now goes by knie with a block symbol between the “k” and “n”…realizes Vocaloid doesn’t have to be just a replacement singer. The productions released by this artist over the past few months have been warm and dizzying, yet it’s on “Papapa” in which the digi-voice of Sekka…
The career arc of Shiina Ringo isn’t like your typical artist’s. Ringo started her career as a solo musician, crafting some of the early 2000’s most forward thinking and best albums (of anywhere in the world). Yet she then decided she wanted to be part of a band and formed Tokyo Jihen who, despite having…
Cool journalistic work on display: I googled “Talking City 1994 SoundCloud” and this song came up! Boom, hire me New York Times. The Osaka outfit (probably, or at least someone associated with them) is responsible for “We Can Ride The Boogie,” which dips into one of the pop music’s finest tracks…Michael Jackson’s “Rock With You”…to…
“Young Love” is one of the most exhilarating songs I’ve heard so far in 2013. It comes courtesy of a Japanese band I had no idea existed until last weekend called Andersons, a boring name concealing something really special. “Young Love” does a lot of what the music I’ve fallen for so far this year…
このEPは日本インディー・ポップ界のとても強力なタッグから生まれています。”Heartbreak”や”Never Let You Down”等、2012年度最高峰ともいえる曲をリリースした大阪のPost Modern Teamと、元Candy EyesのDai OgasawaraによるTwangy Twangyが、Canata Records(BOYISH, Elfs In Bloom)からスプリット・EPをリリースしました。 Post Modern Teamの”She Does Something To Me”では、彼らの普段のスタイルから離れ、新しい手法を模索しているようです。Sloppy Joeに近いテイストを感じます。ザ・スミスやザ・キュアー等のインディー・ポップとも比較されそうですが、曲を通して細かいディテールが詰め込まれていますし、コーラスも決してアンセムのような物ではありません。 Twangy Twangyの曲は電子楽器とアコースティック・ギターで構築されています。つぶやくようなボーカルにもう少しヴォリュームが必要かな、とは感じますが、とても美しい曲で、暑い八月中旬にはもってこいでしょう。ダウンロードはこちらから。また、視聴は以下から。 Where The Action Is EP by Canata Records
YMCK, like fellow Japanese artists Omodaka and the older material of 99 Letters, pulls off a rare thing – being able to make music based primarily around 8-bit sounds and turning it into something beyond novelty. “Sesetsu Shite Usetsu Shite” could be goofy novelty in the hands of someone more interested in playing Mega Man…
