Appropriately Wistful: Teenagers In Love’s “Magic”

ByPatrick St. Michel

I have been staring out a window facing a countryside neighborhood for the past six hours. It’s a wonderful view…nice weather means the sky is a perfect blue, and there is a mountain covered in trees only a few miles away…and I’d stare at it endlessly if I could, except I’m sitting here working. Niigata’s Teenagers In Love (how twee!) have offered up a very good slice of indie-pop to soundtrack this view with “Magic.” It’s a no-hurry affair anchored by guitars and sweetened with keyboard droplets. It sounds good to doze off to, but its real strength comes from the vocals, which deliver a wistful drama to it all. The rest sounds good too. Listen above.

Similar Posts

  • New Cemetery: Denial

    ByPatrick St. Michel

    Denial surrounds and unnerves. The first album from the Tokyo-based project of Cemetery…the solo outing of Batman Winks’ member Kota Watanabe…loads up on spoken-word samples in all sorts of tongues and layers on the thick synthesizer lines to create a collection following somewhere between Jesse Ruins and a puddle of wet cement. Sometimes, a clear…

  • New Picnic Women: “PICNICWOMEN On The Floor”

    ByPatrick St. Michel

    Picnic Women deals in samples, turning familiar songs (in most cases) into warped juke numbers. They are rarely as direct with what is going on as with “PICNICWOMEN On The Floor,” which lays out the idea right in the title. This is Bruno Mars’ sultry “Versace On The Floor” — the slow-dance/make-out session counterpart to…

  • It’s In The Name: Lycoriscoris’ “Lush”

    ByPatrick St. Michel

    Well, sort of. Tokyo’s Lycoriscoris’ newest song certainly starts out in a way deserving of its title, a stuttering beat decorated with various chimes and a bit of electronic noise worthy of the IDM tag. But then the intensity picks up significantly, Lycoriscoris creating a drama (and, at moments, abrasive atmosphere) that kicks at “Lush.”…

  • mus.hiba Teams Up With Calum Bowen For “Winter Valentine”

    ByPatrick St. Michel

    “Winter Valentine”を説明するにはいくつかのアプローチ方法があります。ボーカロイド好きのアーティストmus.hibaとBrightonを拠点とするゲーム音楽プロデューサーCalum Bowenのコラボレーション作品なのですが、国内外でのコラボでは最先端と言えるのでは（例えばi-flsとmus.hibaとZoom LensだったりCokiyuとBathsだったり)。この曲ではmus.hibaによる雪歌ユフの声と、(おそらく)人間の歌声がデュエットしています。こういう事もボーカロイドの持つポテンシャルと言えるでしょう。が、そんなうんちくを抜きにしても”Winter Valentine”は素晴らしい。9-Bit Blizzardというコンピに収録されているのですが、mus.hibaの “Magical Fizzy Drink”と同様に、ゲームぽさを匂わせつつも、それはほんのディテールであって全てではない。始まりは愛らしい子供時代のような雰囲気で２人のボーカルが交互に歌います。まるで星のカービィのような世界観なのですが、ここからは素晴らしい展開が。mus.hibaとBowenの両者が多くのアイディアを出したというのが聴いていてわかる程アイディアに満ちていて、１つのネタに留まらず、様々な方向に移行していくメロディが圧巻です。コラボレーションとはこういう事でしょう？試聴は以下から。