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Category Archives: Music

Solitary Skitter: MMEEGG And Abelest’s Lonly You

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Acting surprised that a label describing itself as “a platform for free expression” released a skittery pop song seems silly, considering they can do whatever they want. Free expression! But still, up until Midnight Cult has primarily leaned towards darker juke collections, including a set from Traxman and a 2017 highlight via Weezy. “Lonly You” finds artists MMEEGG and Abelest teaming up to create a sparse number that boasts percussion not far removed from juke, but still more reeled in than your usual Battle Train Tokyo fare (though, check the Kokushimusou remix included if that’s more your speed). It ends up being a sweet, albeit very melancholy number anchored by a big emotional hook built to by the pair trading verses. Yet that simplicity makes the central aching come through all the clearer. Get it here, or listen below.

New Cool Japan: “Give Up On You”

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This is pretty much the perfect kind of track to have appear at a time when I’m splitting time between last-second assignments and year-end-list planning (it’s tough!). Cool Japan shared the new rumbler “Give Up On You,” and it’s a house track that feels like its halfway to being sloshed. The key detail comes via the vocal samples, split-second yowls that vanish almost as fast as they appear, joined by these warped touches that make it all the more disorienting. Everything slides around and the whole things sounds like a sidewalk away from tripping over, but Cool Japan turns this dizzying sensation into something that holds together. Listen above.

New Night Tempo And Antenna Girl: “Catch!”

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Future Funk remains a confusing one for me personally, but when it’s used as a backdrop for an original song I’m usually on board. South Korea’s Night Tempo works especially well in collaboration with others, especially vocalists, and the Japanese version of “Catch!” with Antenna Girl certainly works. The original is a catchy bit of shimmering pop, centered around a sped-up vocal from Rye Rye’s “Sunshine,” and one of the better examples of Future Funk as a different name for “remix.” With Antenna Girl, though, that beat becomes all the better, as she bounces along with it, adding a new angle to it. Listen above.

Disjointed Pops: Mondo Algorithm’s Migration

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Nothing on Migration clicks completely, but everything clicks just right. The duo of Mondo Algorithm dabble in a kind of music where the distance between every element is clear, but it snaps together all the same. See “Dive,” a woozy number moving at half speed that features locked-in bass, synth washes and out-of-time vocals. Yet it all works together to create an intriguing song. This is the common thread connecting Mondo Algorithm’s music on the album, from instrumental creepers such as the title track, to the relaxed skip of “Capricious,” featuring vocals that trail behind the chill music. Get it here, or listen below.

Big Feels: Braven Featuring Yami “Contact”

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Plenty of electronic tracks sound big, but few sound as big as Braven’s “Contact.” The young Osaka producer — 17 going by the SoundCloud bio, alongside the description of “I make music that lets your penius erect” — teams up with Yami (who, based off the Vocaloid-lite vocal style, might be the UTAU Yami Ryone) for a really cinematic number. That’s all thanks to the drums — Braven is on some sort of Viking march vibe with this percussion, big hearty hits that up the drama of this song substantially. It turns the vocal hook from digi-wobble to (gulp) epic, and it’s all augmented by these rough-and-tough electro portions bringing to mind 80Kidz. Listen above.