Late on J-Pop superstar Ayumi Hamasaki’s new album, a weird little remix of her song “Melody” pops up. It’s the sort of rework one doesn’t typically find on CDs, a fidgety track unafraid to distort Hamasaki’s voice and let its beat burst out in all sorts of directions. It could be safely called “post-dubstep,” and…
In his relatively brief career, Tokyo’s Taquwami has explored a lot of sonic ground. He’s made maximal sounds, fragile songs, sample-heavy dance numbers and heady tunes that sound like holding a particularly trippy seashell up to your ear. And that’s not even counting the directions he’s splintered off with his Occult You project. His latest…
What got us excited about mus.hiba back when he uploaded “Magical Fizzy Drink” was the fact the young Tokyo producer used Vocaloid technology, the singing-synthesizer software often bundled with cute anime characters, to create music that was experimental. His use of Sekka Yufu (one character) is really important for showing the potential Vocaloid holds as…
The folks behind INNIT, Osaka’s best forward-thinking electronic music event, tend to release a mix of songs in advance of their next party, featuring producers who will be playing the gig. The latest mix finds INNIT switching things up a little, though – besides featuring songs from two American artists who will be playing the…
Tokyo’s Ningen OK are a group that demand to be seen live. I lucked my way into seeing them this past weekend, knowing nothing about them, but leaving thinking this duo put on one of the better live sets I’ve seen recently. They play surrounded by what appear to be homemade white pyramids. Guitarist Takurou…