The year is still early —- at least that’s what I’ve been telling myself — but nearly three months have passed, which feels like a significant checkpoint. So far, my favorite album of the year from Japan comes courtesy of Saitama’s Mom, whose Baby Like A Paperdriver offers a dizzying and fun set of genre-skipping…
Labels and collectives gestate around all kinds of unifying theories, from identity to specific genre to shared interests. If Dark Jinja’s first compilation points at an overarching ethos, it’s that they love the dark and unnerving side of electronic music. Dark Jinja Compilation I is a masterclass in all things jittery, with nearly every inclusion…
Tokyo duo ELLEH recently teamed up with London record label Rare Cut Records, and “Everything You Ever Needed” is their first release via them. It’s a larger platform, and fittingly the two’s latest offers a great entryway into their sound ahead of their next EP. “Everything You Ever Needed” features their liveliest music to date,…
Everything feels just off on Ryuuta Takaki’s new album, Twist. Vocal samples smear together, creating mismatched moments that often get pitched into unnatural territory on top of that. Takaki matches these disorienting stretches with music that’s equally unpredictable — beats sound like they are fading away (the title track) or hiding something sinister (“Your Ocean”)….
Harunemuri doesn’t represent a new standard in Japanese pop music, but she does point towards a direction where a lot of things are starting to go. Last year’s Atom Heart Mother (really!!) offered a great introduction into what she’s all about, placing her rap-sing delivery in the spotlight against a mix of wonky beats and…