Think of this as the indie-pop inverse of Wallflower’s just released “I Wish Spring Would Last Forever.” Tokyo’s Cattle aren’t trying to extend the season as long as they can, but rather dealing with the fact it’s already in decline, with sakura pedals lining city streets and the protagonist of this song knowing some sea change is unfolding. No nostalgia, just an unavoidable melancholy. And Cattle just zips right on through it, playing an up-tempo song powered on by electric guitars that has no time to dwell, just deal with all the changes happening at once. Listen above.
Category Archives: Music
New Lulu: “Hora”
Let’s end the week with the newest song from Lulu. “Hora” is a slowly unfolding number, rumbling ahead but leaving plenty of space for the artist’s voice to come through. It gets run through a layer of filters, adding an electric energy to the number, but even pushed to a digital extreme, Lulu herself gets a personal longing through. And the bird chirps just outside of the main beat help ground this downcast number in reality. Listen above.
New Wallflower: “I Wish Spring Would Last Forever”
It’s somewhat startling to realize Osaka indie-pop band Wallflower haven’t released a proper album yet. They’ve become one of the cornerstones of that city’s twee-tastic community, and have put out various singles, EP and — that classic curveball — the mini album over the last few years. But now comes a real first album, set to be released in June. In a truly twee move, the first taste of it is a song called “I Wish Spring Would Last Forever,” which currently sounds fitting but upon the album’s release in the humid depths of summer will sound melancholy (and, like, really nice). Indie-pop isn’t exactly the most adventerous style of music, and “I Wish Spring” is more of a reminder of what Wallflower do well than any shift forward. But they do it well, and that’s why this album is going to be an anticipated one, regardless of the season. Listen above.
New House Of Tapes: “Another Sky”
One of the bigger downsides of music fragmentation — specifically the fragmentation of how one goes about listening to new music — is not knowing where exactly to find something you want to check out. House Of Tapes released a full-length album via Progressive Form last month, and it’s on the hallowed wanna-hear list…but I couldn’t find a physical copy in any stores near me, and it isn’t on streaming last time I checked (and, uhhh, I’m lazy about ordering online). “Another Sky” serves as a great personal reminder to stop slacking and go get it, while also teasing a new(ish) direction for the Nagoya producer. Unlike the heavier sounds populating his early song catalog, “Another Sky” opts for lighter, downright pretty synthesizer notes, letting them flutter upwards. House Of Tapes slowly distorts them, leading to the big, forceful break in the song — the arrival of drum clangs — but even that doesn’t turn the song claustrophobic. Rather, it adds extra energy, and underlines the warm feeling lurking within. Listen above.
Breezy Beat: Nacht Musik’s Cure
Fast music rules, but sometimes you listen to a netlabel offering and you end up reaching for a glass of water or something. That’s not really the case with Nacht Musik’s Cure, released via Omoide Label at the end of March. Every song just zooms forward, though — the Hiroshima producer leans in on squiggly synth notes and vocal chops that build up to even zippier segments. Opener “Find You” offers up one of the brightest blasts of adrenaline I’ve heard in Japanese electronic music this year, buoyed by pre-hook voice snippets that up the emotional ante. Even the songs with trap elements — “Wet” and “Cat” — end up feeling lithe. And that’s one gives Cure such a breezy vibe despite moving at a constant sprint. Nacht Musik’s light approach to making these songs make them feel less intense, and even though they are energetic, they feel far more measured. Get it here, or listen above.