I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for music that conjures up memories of the 2011 and 2012 Japanese indie rock community, when Hotel Mexico put their spin on chillwave and the entire CUZ ME PAIN universe offered an unsettling merger between dance and rock. Naturally, the one group left to emerge from that scene has my attention. Wooman’s latest, “Six Days,” plunges ahead, the guitar and drum job wrapped in a thin layer of feedback. As has been the case since they emerged, it’s the vocals — brushed in static — that give the song both a hook and a slightly unnerving edge. Listen above.
Category Archives: Music
New Tenma Tenma: “Yakou”
Few activities are more fulfilling personally than wandering around aimlessly at night, with a bunch of heavy thoughts on your mind. And that’s the vibe coming through on Tenma Tenma’s “Yakou,” a tipsy electronic number that feels temporarily content with itself. While the music itself goes a long way to both being flat-out enjoyable (that melody!), the detail that keeps me hitting repeat is how he pitches his vocals around, turning them into a lower-tuned stumble in the verse, giving “Yakou” a giddy, intoxicated edge. It’s that feeling of a number always close to spilling over on itself — but always holding itself together — that works so well. Listen above.
Emotional Launch: Kai Shibata’s Escape Sequence
The songs on Tokyo producer Kai Shibata’s Escape Sequence exude a bedroom quality that makes the emotions lurking within all the more forceful. It’s especially true for the pair of songs featuring guest singers. Opener “Unlock” finds Powaramiu bobbing over a herky-jerky set of drum-machine beats and synthesizer, her delivery generating a nice tension alongside the skittery music, generating a feeling not far off from what LLLL does with their vocal-featuring numbers. Nostola manages a similar feeling on the more anthemic blur of “Kurage,” though that one sees the music do most of the heavy lifting. Just to remind of their prowess as a producer, Shibata adds the thump of “On The Bottom Of The Lake” to close out the EP, highlighted by hype-man-esque vocal samples and the set’s most energetic pace. Get it here, or listen below.
Wildest Imagination: Technic Runner’s Dream Machine EP
Duo Technic Runner have been popping up on the Tokyo live circuit for a few years now, releasing songs as far back as four years ago and popping up at Scum Park events around the same time. Their style has mutated over the years, last seen with a nervy EP splitting the difference between Group A and Nature Danger Gang. Dream Machine, their newest EP, finds the masked pair explicitly experimenting with trap music. What could be a big misfire ends up being a solid release, mainly because Technic Runner offer such a charming perspective on the style. Opener “Tetsu No Knuckle” features a chanted hook, ad libs galore, and even a few “skrrts” for good measure, but it’s all set against this squiggly music that brings to mind group_inou’s explorations rather than a Migos-rip. It’s when they let this rinky-dink homemade feeling come through they shine the most, as on the title track and on “Detroit,” nodding to the titular city with some acid-house splashes. Get it here, or listen below.
Kitty Kitty Bang Bang: Itchy & Scratchy’s Bad Sons Of The Rave EP
As Tokyo-based label Trekkie Trax celebrates its five-year anniversary of existence, they are going back in time and honoring their upbringing. “I grew up with those guys from this duo’s DJ performances at the local venues in Tokyo,” label co-founder Seimei tweeted around the time Itchy & Scratchy’s Bad Songs Of The Rave EP, a euphoric set toeing the line between melodic release and something harsher. Listening to the three songs the duo contribute, it’s easy to hear how this eventually shaped Trekkie Trax — opener “Inna Di Place” matches a garage-type beat up against bright synth plops and, eventually, piano. Better still is “UFO,” which adds sharper bass to the otherwise cathartic release. Fittingly, two remixes put on the end come from Trekkie Trax artists who feel especially tied to this type of blend — Masayoshi Iimori (who put out a solid EP on Fool’s Gold definitely worth your time…one of those “I was gonna write about this but got busy” casualties!) who adds a little muscle to “Inna Di Place,” and Carpainter, putting his spin on “UFO.” It’s a nice nod to the past that helped shape the present. Get it here, or listen below.