For Tracy Hyde has expanded a bit – they’ve grown in number of members, which I saw at a live show they played recently. Despite a rise in the number of folks in the band, new song “Small Town, Summer Rain” still sounds like For Tracy Hyde. It’s a peppy indie-pop song…crucially, sang in Japanese…accented by little electronic touches. It will appear on the forthcoming All About Ivy EP. Listen above.
Category Archives: Music @ja
Stuff To Watch Over The Weekend: Madegg’s “Kiko” And Cuushe’s “Airy Me” Videos
It’s probably about time to do a “stuff we missed: 2013 edition,” and one album I didn’t write nearly enough about is Kiko by Madegg. He’s still one of the most prolific electronic artists in Japan today, but also one able to backup all the output with talent. Kiko is his best full-length album yet…Kashiyuka from Perfume agrees with me!…and now, above, is a nice video for the title track.
Flau’s Cuushe released the song “Airy Me” quite a while ago, but now that lovely track has been graced with a gorgeous video, which you can watch above. Dazed Digital premiered the track, and in a bit of good timing The Japan Times ran a story about Cuushe and Flau this week.
Random Letter Generator: Imdkm’s Fischblut
At this point, trying to pin Japan’s booming indie electronic scene to one specific geographic region besides “the Internet” seems silly. Osaka – and, really, Kansai – used to be the go-to place, but now new branches of this community have sprung up everywhere, from Fukuoka to Hiroshima to Sapporo. It doesn’t really matter that Imdkm hails from Kyoto because his album Fischblut popped up in the ether that is Bandcamp. This artist appears to be tied to no one and just sorta showed up. And uploaded a really solid collection of electronic music in the process.
The actual sounds here are just as all over the place. The opening title track takes cues from footwork music but never really turns into anything that could be classified as that. Instead, it builds on that style’s rapid-fire beats, but tries out different things around it. Same goes for “Blast,” where all sorts of stray synths…some of which sound like they were recorded off a cheap toy laser gun…zoom by, making for a dizzying listen. “Flow” and “Seventy Four” imagine what i-fls’ homemade electronic music would sound like if it were transformed into dance music, the latter boasting actual sampled voices. The highlight…and the reason Imdkm warrants this post…is “Butter And Jelly.” It’s the album’s most uptempo number, one stuffed with bright electro details that make it absurdly fun to listen to. Listen below, or get it here.
New StillSound: “Good Idea”
Okinawa’s StillSound returns with a lovely, bouncy number called “Good Idea.” It’s a relatively straightforward track – a beat, some non-flashy synths, singing which isn’t immediately audible but far from fuzzed out – that doesn’t change much during its playtime. Yet it’s an effective combination, especially StillSound’s singing, which rises and falls elegantly and ends up the best sounding part of “Good Idea.” Great to hear from him, and here’s hoping for more soon. Listen below.
The Best Time Of The Year: NUBACK’s Goodbye Summer, Again EP
Ahhhhhh, people flocking to beaches, cicadas chirping off in the trees, Twitter folk whining about the heat. Summer is here! And, soon enough, it will be gone.
After a few years where a lot of Japanese acts (and, honestly, a bunch of groups from around the world) tried to capture an endless summer through music, 2013 has seen a few acts approach the season with a bit more ennui. Slow Beach’s debut album obsessed about leaving as much as surfing, and now comes NUBACK with Goodbye Summer, Again, an EP that sees the end of August on the horizon, and reacts accordingly. The four tracks here are constructed out of sounds that easily could play over a beach party – laid-back guitars, warm synths, sparkles, island-flavor drums. Only opener “Summer In Your Eyes” really gives itself over to the warmer months, all slinky guitar grooves and high-pitched singing that seems blinded by good times. But after that, things get melancholy. The title track loops a mournful instrumental while a voice sings deeper in the mix. “Heartbeat Summer” moves even slower, like capturing the last sunset of Summer. Closer “When The Party Is Over” reintroduces a dance edge to NUBACK’s latest collection, but even as synths sparkle off, the vocals sound a touch downtrodden, grasping onto something that seems to be fading away. Makes you appreciate what’s left…and will surely help when the autumn roles in. Listen below.