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Category Archives: Music @ja

Suburban Escape: The Bed Town’s Karupirusu

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Suburbia had its moment a few years ago, at least when you look back at the shape of the North American rock scene (limiting, but it was still a thing). Exclamation-pointed by Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs, this interest in the communities outside major cities was also propelled by acts like Real Estate, Ducktails and Titus Andronicus, all from New Jersey, who sang about life in what a lot of people view as simply as state-sized suburb of New York (for the prior, a hazy-lazy nostalgic thing…for the latter, the angsty side of it all). That brief thematic interest in the suburbs faded…in 2013, the biggest releases have been obsessed with bright lights and big cities.

In Japan, life in a metropolitan area (Tokyo, mainly) remains prevalent, but 2013 has seen some wonderful exceptions. The best has been producer i-fls who, using mostly Garageband, has created several albums and EPs of emotionally rich, suburban-obsessed music. Add to that an artist who i-fls has been writing a lot about on his personal Tumblr, complete with appropriate name – The Bed Town. The two don’t sound remotely similar – The Bed Town is, I believe, a one-man operation who creates actual songs, with like guitars and drums and actual lyrics as opposed to i-fls beautiful vibes. But both are concerned with life outside the city. With The Bed Town, this has become even clearer via two video he released for his new album Karupirusu.

The first is of The Bed Town in (presumably) his home, sorta goofing off. Even better is the clip for “Namida No Time Card,” which is mostly shots of a typical Japanese suburb – lots of parks, apartments and blue sky. The music itself on the album is solid indie-pop,sometimes fast and fierce (“Third Cup Of Moscow Mule”) and other times very much laid back (“Orange No Niwa,” the whispered “Zenya”). It comes off as a release where the words are very important and that has made it tough for me to really crack through this (this came out like two weeks ago, and I’ve been listening to it a lot), but the videos helped me a lot. Still digesting it, but I am intrigued by The Bed Town’s suburban view. Get the album here.

Listen To White Wear’s Black Strings Now

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Bits and pieces from this, CUZ ME PAIN project White Wear’s debut album, have been popping up over the last few months. Yet the final product, Black Strings, has been only available in stores in Japan since its release. Now, though, White Wear has uploaded the whole thing to SoundCloud so everyone can enjoy the smoothness he conjures up on Black Strings. In many ways, it still fits in wonderfully within the CUZ ME PAIN universe, as White Wear has created a dance-oriented album still brimming with mysterious vocal touches and synth washes. Yet this is also as chilled out as any project under the CUZ ME PAIN umbrella has ever sounded – even with sorta creepy vocal additions, something like “She’s Green Eyes” is really strut worthy. And “I Hate Rainbow” sounds…sensual. Listen below.

New Soft As Snow But Warm Inside: Asymmetry EP

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Soft As Snow But Warm Inside continues to avoid falling for the predictable trap laid out in their name – on new EP Asymmetry, they continue to not sound anything like My Bloody Valentine. Unless you count the fact the duo keep their vocals relatively low in the mix (and even that is a stretch), Soft As Snow is pure synth-pop, everything clear and straightforward. The title track is vapory but far from shoegaze, a dreamy swirl of synths and vocals but with a clear drum-machine beat…and a finale that features percussive fireworks (it almost sounds like the sort of digi percussion used in EDM…albeit without ever dissolving into pure chaos). “Isometry” is even more uncomplicated – it is the most clean-cut song the pair have ever put together, a stab at straightforward pop that achieves the simple job of being very catchy. The highlight, though, is a cover of Dannish outfit Mew’s 2003 song “Symmetry,” which features vocals from Tokyo producer/Slow-Beach vocalist Kai Takahashi. It is a fidgety update of the original, trading in the somewhat predictable drama of the original for something shakier and ultimately more intriguing. Get the album here, or listen below.

New Head On The Sofa: In Your Galaxie

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In Your Galaxie presents an interesting test for shoegaze-leaning outfit Head On The Sofa – can the reverb-loving music they make remain strong for an entire album? Up until now, they’ve only released EPs, often clocking out after five songs. It felt like just the right amount of time for Head On The Sofa, who are good at the loud-guitars-mumbly-vocals style but who don’t know many tricks beyond that. Record a few songs like that, maybe an instrumental or one experimental-leaning number and call it a release. In Your Galaxie features 11 songs, and some of them take their time. It is a good listen, albeit one that can sometimes drag.

The best songs don’t mess around. “Lean On” and “Become A Sea” are distorted indie-pop songs finding just the right balance between dissonance and catchiness (they probably owe a bigger debt to Yo La Tengo than My Bloody Valentine, especially the latter song). “Song About A Light” builds on sonic ideas introduced on this year’s “You Have A Light,” turning that fast-paced number into a more introspective ballad. There are also short but effective moments, like the 24-second “Sporty Love,” which add needed tremors to these songs. Yet the formula can also drag, other songs here sounding a little too comfortable in the style Head On The Sofa have established for themselves. That is not the case with the most challenging song here, the 11-minute-long “Sporty Town.” It is the toughest number to wrap your head around here, as it is tough to say whether it is aimless shredding or Head On The Sofa pushing themselves sonically. Right now I’m leaning towards the latter, and it is the most memorable moment here. Listen below, or get it here.