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Category Archives: Music @ja

New Talking City 1994 (right?): “We Can Ride The Boogie”

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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 take the titular phrase and morph it into a slinky dance number. What’s surprising is how unedited the vocal sample gliding through the middle of this number is – instead of warping it or trying to hide the source, Talking City just let Michael Jackson’s voice flutter out in the open, proudly leaning on one of the world’s most famous voices as the backbone of their song. Less surprising – how catchy this is, how every element clicks into place at, during certain stretches, practically swelters. Oh, and one heck of a great vocal hook. Listen below.

Pleasure In Pain: Boys Get Hurt’s “While I’m In Doors”

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I’ve gotten way too old for nights out. A couple years ago, the idea of going to a club and getting silly until the sun came out sounded like a thrilling prospect, a chance for who-knows-what to happen. Nowadays, I’d much rather get eight hours of sleep and wake up with enough time to cook breakfast before going to work. That’s probably why so many musical celebrations of all-nighters leave me cold – it’s tough to get behind songs like “Die Young” or “Give Me Everything” when 12-hours-out (let alone the club-appropriate debauchery!) are massive turn-offs.

Boys Get Hurt’s latest song “While I’m In Doors,” serves as a sort of alternative celebration of going out. The video for the song features clips from, presumably, Boys Get Hurt’s live shows at various clubs, with people jumping around and hollerin’ and taking to poles (intercut with still shots and…geometric shapes). Yet the song itself does not sound particularly aggressive, but rather surprisingly sweet. Don’t get that twisted – this thing still hops around and builds up to some great moments of pure release – but it does so in a way that almost feels like thinking back on a memory, and basking in it. It’s simple but movable, and above all else very sweet. Listen above.

New Merpeoples: “Tinkle”

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It has been awhile since we’ve heard anything new from Tokyo’s Merpeoples…last time was last June with the song “Silent Sleep,” a good tune albeit one that faded quickly. Looks the group are ready to give it another whirl, and they’ve got this blog’s full attention with the hopping “Tinkle.” Merpeople have always been good when everything sounds locked in, every guitar line and drum hitting like they’ve been blueprinted out, yet they’ve only been great when they mix some playfulness into their tracks. That’s what made the back-half of 2011’s Metropolis such a stunner, and this swinging energy makes “Tinkle” a worthy successor to the highlights from that full-length. Every instrument clicks into place just right…the keyboard, in particular, helps guide this one along wonderfully…but it never feels rigid, everything bouncing along. It’s the vocals that help the most, from the backing yelps to the lead vocalist’s stronger delivery come the chorus. New album soon, yeah? Listen above.

Electronic Weekend: New tofubeats, Obutsudan-Sumino And OKLobby

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Three songs to take you into the weekend (oh thank goodness it is here!). Let’s get into it:

– Kobe’s tofubeats had a really busy 2013, and he appears to not be slowing down as the calendar turned over. “CHNGEYRHRT” though finds him stepping away from the nearly all-original sounds that dotted his music last year in favor of a sample workout. The song finds tofubeats working primarily with sampled sounds to create a smooth little bit of funk. Listen below.

– Fellow Kansai producer Obutsudan-Sumino has a wormier new track up today in the form of “Atama Danpen.” It’s a maximalist whirrlygig, somewhat similar to Animal Collective in construction (wildness, more like it) but more all over the place than that. Features some chipmunked-up vocals along with throbbing electronics pushing everything forward. Listen below.

– Last, a short little…sketch?…from not-Kansai producer OKLobby. Short but nice.

You Should Go Listen To The New Especia Single Now: “Ya Me Te”

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I’ve already written a bit about one of the three new songs to appear on Osaka idol group Especia’s latest single, and now you can hear all three songs over at SoundCloud. Let’s focus on the pair I haven’t had a chance to virtually blab about yet. The titular track, “Ya Me Te,” is a horn-heavy number that’s one of the liveliest pieces of music to emerge from this group’s small (but great!) song catalog to date. The singing members of Especia take turns stepping into the spotlight to do their thing, with the music itself pulsing forward and offering up spots seemingly built for dance-offs (which, well…I saw Especia live and they do actually do this, the non-singing members breakdance and stuff during these moments, it is great). That leaves “Ame No Parlor,” the longest and most laid-back song of the three here. It’s also the weakest moment here, but pleasant enough, and the still has some great horn sounds and synth droplets. Listen below.