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Category Archives: Music @ja

New Kindan No Tasuketsu: Illuminations, Satellite Heart/ Chill Sounds Series Volume 1

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I recently had a chat with someone about music in Japan. One takeaway – and an observation I’ve heard many times before in bars up to Retromania – is that some fans in Japan get super into a niche sound, and become experts of it. And that’s true! And can lead to great music! But let us take a moment to appreciate artists not afraid to explore all sorts of musical terrain, the sorts who want to try out as much as they can. Like Kindan No Tasuketsu, who is not afraid to try on new styles.

Her latest release, the try-to-say-it=fast Illuminations, Satellite Heart/ Chill Sounds Series Volume 1, serves as a good example of her flexibility. As the title hints at…and as song names like “Flights To Ibiza” and “Sunset Beach” imply…this is a summer album, one meant for “chilling” out too. And it features a lot of sonic details associated with other albums from the last few years forever tied to “chill” – the first two songs here feature no vocals, just synths melting over one another and hip-hop-inspired beats. “Cafe Del Mar” comes close to even being “chillwave,” at least in regards to nostalgia – Kindan No Tasuketsu includes samples of kids playing, which give it a cheerful-memory vibe. An all-sounds album probably would have been cool too, but when her voice pops up on album-highlight “Pina Colada,” it’s a very welcome addition. Over a slow, whirring collection of electronics, she unravels her voice over all of it, and it adds a hypnotic effect. “Sunset Beach” even adds some rapping. The first installment of this series is a varied collection, but constantly enjoyable. Get it here, and listen to “Pina Colada” below.

New White Wear: “Honkadori”

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When talking about anything White Wear…or, honestly, anything that has emerged from the CUZ ME PAIN label over the past few years, from Jesse Ruins to The Beauty…does, I tend to include the word “unsettling.” That’s a trait he’s really good at conveying in his music, and has made the two EPs released under the White Wear name intriguing listens. What’s striking about this “introduction for third EP,” though, is how damn cheery it sounds. “Honkadori” hides no menacing intentions, no monsters hiding under the bed. It’s several perky guitar lines…so this is what a day in the park with CUZ ME PAIN would sound like…with some non-threatnening synths and sorta muffled vocals. Never though anyone related to Tokyo’s most shadow-drenched label could make a song you could drop on a pool-party mix, but here we are. Listen below.

Her Ghost Friend Prep New Album Cosmic Counterpart, Preview Some New Songs

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Her Ghost Friend occupy one of the stranger niches in modern J-Pop music. They are, distinctively, pop…there are clear, catchy choruses supported by twinkly instrumentation and Shinobu Ono’s lovely sing-rapping. Yet they aren’t quite in that hallowed upper crust of mainstream music, rather caught somewhere between front-row-at-Tower-Records and indie. They’ve released two great albums…a solid self-titled and a year-end-crashing number in last year’s Looking For Wonder…but still exist under the radar. Third time’s the charm right? The world shall find out, as the duo prepare to drop a new full-length titled Cosmic Counterpart, out July 10. In advance of that, Her Ghost Friend have previewed four tracks on SoundCloud. They range from the clattering, colorful “Itsumono Fantasia” to the playful run-around that is “Ice Planet,” a simple but sweet number. Ono also flexes off her rapping skills on the third song…over a fragile piano line and some clapping, she either rhymes or just speaks fast, but it’s Her Ghost Friend at their most charming. We will write about the full-length later, but for now enjoy these previews. Listen below.

New The Moments: Short Trip EP

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Man, has it been almost two years since Nagoya’s The Moments caught our attention with “Short Trip.” The Japanese indie-pop boom was just getting underway, and that was one of the first songs to earn dozens upon dozens of repeat listens, and even pop up on our monthly music mix (remember that thing). Now, a year and some months later, a polished version of that irresistible track appears on the group’s Short Trip EP. That song remains as catchy as ever, the guitars propelling forward in summer glory. The only real difference now is the vocals have been sharpened a bit, no longer muffed in static but coming through clearly. It improves the quality of the song even more.

The EP also included one other track, “Midnight Escape.” It’s a slower affair, but still charming. Oddly enough, though, the vocals do sound a bit more obscured here, The Moments not making “Midnight Escape” as clear as “Short Trip.” Maybe that’s because “Midnight Escape” is more of a burner, a slower number that changes a lot more in its brief play time. Listen below, or get the EP here.