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Category Archives: Music @ja

We Were Happy About It, Though: Gloomy’s “I Was Crying”

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I’d like to think this a case where a music scene’s very existence proves itself to be vital, to be responsible for fostering a young artist and helping them improve over time. Gloomy popped up on our radar late last year, when they (I believe they are a duo) appeared on the bill for one of Canopies And Drape’s Unico live events. I couldn’t attend that one…but Chick of Canopies And Drapes later told me in an e-mail a little about them. They come to all of her events…and at the time were still in high school. Finding material by them online wasn’t easy, save for a single video for a song called “Ghost.” It’s a fine enough song, if nothing more than a really good drum-machine-and-synth workout. Watch below.

That appeared on their first demo CD, which came out around the same time they appeared on the Unico bill. Presumably, so did the song “I Was Crying,” which happened to spring up on my SoundCloud feed today thanks to Shortcake Collage Tape. This one stopped me cold. “I Was Crying” features a similar structure to ghost, all sparse drum machine, pretty synths and surprisingly unsettling vocals – all tricks Gloomy might have picked up from seeing her perform live so much, a (once) student soaking it in. Critically, “I Was Crying” finds Gloomy digesting those influences and creating something all their own. The musical set-up might sound familiar, but the way Gloomy repeat the titular phrase over and over again (a departure from Canopies more short-story style) becomes hypnotic…and it all builds up to a nice release. It’s sad but bright, all while also being entrancing. Listen below.

New May.e: “Oide (Come On)”

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May.e has quickly become one of the artists I will always find a chance to gush about, and today I got to do some more praise heaping in The Japan Times. Go read that! In a nice coincidence, she also released a new song online called “Oide (Come On)” that’s another gorgeous cut from an artist with a lot of ’em. This new one is built from familiar sounds…guitar and voice…but there is one new wrinkle. Unlike Mattiola, this one is sung entirely in Japanese. Yet it’s every bit as gripping as her previous material, her voice especially shining here as it rises and falls. Just gorgeous. Listen below.

Rest Cycle: Miche’s Sound Sleep

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This dropped a couple weeks ago, but it has finally floated into my ears at a deeply appropriate. This is a concept album about sleeping – the song titles feature specific times of the night and what’s going on as the central character sleeps. Like last year’s Sleepy Tokyo album…a concept record about lack of sleep, experienced through a Japanese workers perspective…Miche dwells on what happens late at night, here creating a soundtrack for a night of rest. This week, I have not been getting much sleep…work is especially taxing, and I have been getting an average of five hours of sleep a day. Better than a lot of folks, but it still leads to a lot of days spent wandering around the office in a drowsy state. Miche’s five-song collection is the closest I’ve come at times to a good night’s sleep.

Miche, who popped up on the PixaPhonic #2 compilation a few months ago, makes ambient music, but one that digs deeper into memories. For that comp, he provided a song evoking memories of elementary school, dotted with samples of children playing. Sound Sleep features less sampling (though on the two songs bookending the album, the sound of insects and birds do appear, observations only someone awake can pick up) and more on sounds blanketing (sorry) the listener. It gets very delicate – the gorgeous “AM 5:05 Predawn” is built around guitar and piano, with strings creeping in as the song builds, while the concluding “AM 6 Good Morning” similarly hovers around piano – but can also get a bit crushing, as on the heavy “AM 2:30 State Of Dreaming.” Yet for the most part it’s a calm recording that pulls you in, subtle shifts moving you along. Not as good as eight hours shut eye, but works in a pinch. Get it here for free.

New Yoshino Yoshikawa: “Kawaii Candy”

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This morning, Perfume announced a forthcoming album titled Level 3. This put me in an excellent mood, and made me want to listen to some gooey pop music. I jump over to SoundCloud, spirits high, and see a new song from producer Yoshino Yoshikawa called “Kawaii Candy.” It’s labelled as “ULTRAPOP.” Bless your soul Yoshikawa.

“Kawaii Candy” could also be labelled “Kirby’s Dreamland-core” and be on point. It’s a collection of chirpy synths seemingly ripped from a Super Nintendo cartridge, the whole thing bubbling along. There are no words here, because Yoshikawa doesn’t need words when the sounds he lays down shine through so brightly. It’s a colorful track that also doesn’t just get by on being cute…it goes through several stages, and is every bit as compelling as it is rainbow-bright. This would probably work well at lifting someone’s spirits, but heck it wows even when your already bubbly. Listen below.

Track Premier: mus.hiba Remixes spazzkid “Kokeshi Doll”

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In case you didn’t know, Make Believe Melodies also has a Tumblr, where I write a bit more about J-Pop and non-Japanese music. A few weeks ago, I wrote about Desire, the new album from Los-Angeles-based artist spazzkid. Read that here. For those who aren’t going to click it – Desire has jumped up to the top of my “albums of the year” list thanks to spazzkid’s ability to convey intimacy through his music. Every track feels like someone breathing down your neck, even the instrumental tracks. It’s a stunner. Go get that here.

On June 24, a remix album of Desire songs drops, and it features A BUNCH of dudes Make Believe Melodies loves. Meishi Smile, DINOSAURUS REX, SAINT PEPSI, Calum Bowen…it’s a loaded line-up. Also offering up remixes are two Japanese artists (mus.hiba, PARKGOLF)…and Make Believe Melodies is happy to premier mus.hiba’s contribution to the Desire remix album!

The atmospheric Vocaloid-manipulator brings his talents…and the voice of Sekka Yufu…to one of spazzkid’s instrumental tracks, “Kokeshi Doll.” The most immediate change comes courtesy of the Vocaloid singing, which obviously change the complexion of the song a lot. Also, like all of mus.hiba’s solo works up to now, everything gets surrounded by a digital haze. The original version of this song carried a dreamy vibe…but mus.hiba’s take turns that into something a bit more bleary eyed. Ultimately, though, it’s that voice that adds the most intrigue. Listen below!