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Category Archives: Music @ja

New Dustin Wong: “The Big She”

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Tokyo-based guitarist Dustin Wong already had a strong first half of 2013, teaming up with Shibuya-kei staple Takako Minekawa to produce an album that took both artist out of their comfort zones. Now he’s primed for the rest of the year too, as he has a solo album (Mediation Of Ecstatic Energy) due out on Thrill Jockey in September. Here is our first preview of that collection, the surprisingly menacing “The Big She.” It opens with what almost sounds like guitar scraping, eventually joined by Wong’s submerged voice. Then…it shifts, and a beat enters…and then it borders on turning into a heavy metal number (or at least the boss music for a video game set in a dungeon). It’s a fragmented yet intriguing work, and makes us all the more excited for Wong’s forthcoming release. Listen below.

New Cloudy Busey: “A Spring Fuck You”

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At long last, Osaka’s Cloudy Busey is back with a new song and video. “A Spring Fuck You” breaks a bit from the last few songs this Osaka-based artist released to the world. Those songs set far-from-positive lyrics against pop-oriented backdrops. Now, similar words are being set against music that practically lurches, and at times seems close to turning into a sea shanty. Yet this also allows Cloudy Busey more space to experiment with, which makes details like the trailing echo on his vocals and those lonely cries deeper in the mix that much more affecting. Whereas earlier Cloudy Busey songs had you dancing while also holding back emotions, “A Spring Fuck You” hypnotizes you in to just wallowing in them. And it sounds really good. Watch the video above.

New Cuushe: “Twilight”

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In a Japan Times’ story about her label Flau, the head of Flau reveals that Cuushe’s last EP was intended to get the artist pegged as “dream pop” rather than “electronic pop.” Mission accomplished I believe – who knows how many times I’ve referred to her songs as “dreamy.” Yet newest cut “Twilight,” in advance of her new album out in September, isn’t quite the simple “dream pop” that Flau wants the world to associate with Cuushe. It certainly is lush and hypnotic and a blur of synths…and Cuushe’s just-out-of-focus singing does bring to mind a dream…yet it’s also more complex than that. The beat in the first half of the song snaps, and later on it quickens into something that would wake most people up instantly. “Twilight” isn’t a song that ends up floating around itself, but one propelled forward by some clear percussion. It isn’t dream pop…it is way more than just that. Listen below.

Maltine Releases New Compilation Album Shimin Poolside Featuring Osamu Ansai, Okadada, The Best Vacation Resort Hotels

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Maltine Records – for the people. Besides offering all of their releases for free online, the netlabel is not afraid to theme compilation albums around things open to everyone. Shimin Poolside translates to “community poolside,” which is to say this isn’t music meant for the elites lounging around some ivory-fenced swimming hole. Nope, this is music for those who will enjoy the summer from community-maintained pools.

It’s also a heck of a compilation. Disco-loving producer Bazz delivers one of the compilation’s highlights with his “It’s You,” a light warm-weather disco number. We have a sneaking suspicion that Kobe’s Tofubeats is on here, working under the name The Best Vacation Resort Hotels. Whoever runs that project offers up a lovely bit of breezy rap on “Tokyo Hotel Pool.” We have already listened to Osamu Ansai’s excellent sample-heavy number “Woman,” and Kansai’s Okadada contributes a solid vocal-featuring song as well. The best moment, though, comes from Costa Mesa, California’s Kosmo Kat, who offers up a whirling bit of electro-pop…anchored by a J-Pop sample…that’s the most dizzying thing here. Get the whole thing here.

Good For The Brain And Soul: Einstein’s “Please, My God Camus”

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I can’t really elaborate on how this exactly relates to Albert Camus, though for all I know this is a meditation on the fleeting nature of happiness and life and how we should embrace that idea as a means to live our lives to the fullest. This just sounds really good. Einsteins aren’t an out-of-nowhere unit – they actually released an album online last year, which you should go download. “Please, My God Camus” is their latest song, and it’s a soft affair, built around fluttery synths and the group’s lead vocalist, who boasts a higher-pitched singing voice. The overall effect of all these elements is of lightness, of every sound arranged here seemingly at risk of being blown away by a single gust of wind. Yet it does have some rougher spots – the drum programming skitters, at times sounding like glitches in an otherwise cute operating system. Still, this is a thoughtful track from a group we shall certainly be keeping an eye on from now. Listen below.