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Call It Katagiri Day: Yuhki Katagiri

I have no idea if electronic music maker Yuhki Katagiri is related to other electronic music maker Shintaro Katagiri (see post before this one). But they do seem to be MySpace pals and reside in a similar sonic realm. Whereas Shintaro leans towards a more club-friendly noise that at times can be extremely straightforward dance stuff (see “Airplane,” one post down), Yuhki produces Yasutaka Nakata-ish pop-scapes. Though not nearly as hectic as Nakata tends to get, Katagiri’s music shuns repetition for pinballing ideas fleshed out in neon-filled tubes. It’s DIY electro-pop – the shimmering “LAMP” re-imagining the manic-sweetness of Perfume as Game Boy music. Katagiri also flashes a more hard-hitting side at times, as on the cuts “PLEASE ME!!” and “Mountain,” but the highlights shoot for disco-hinting pop as on the extremely sweet “SONG1(仮)” or of highlight “Transformer (Instrumental)” which, true to the name, is begging for some great vocals to go with it. Yuhki Katagiri fits along nicely next to electro-heavy artists Nuxx and √thumm, taking mainstream electro-pop and bringing it to a smaller scene. Listen here.