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Category Archives: Music

New Yullippe: Selfish&Anchor

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Alternate title: I’m glad I didn’t start writing year-end content, because here comes an album to disrupt it a bit.

Osaka’s Yullippe excels at dark, unnerving dance music. Her third album Selfish&Anchor continues this dive into the shadowy side of the genre, and results in her most cohesive album to date. Which isn’t to say her previous full-lengths were lacking, but this one literally flows, songs blending together to create a rumbling mover set in the darker corners of sound. The opening title number sets the tone — over eight minutes, it builds from water-splash samples to the sound of Yullippe’s voice rippling, before an industrial beat slides in to take control of everything for a bit, silence breaking up its march. The rest of Selfish&Anchor plays around with the loud/soft dynamic, “Kokot’s” ample room making the fried beat all the more menacing and “Orbit’s” woozy structure made more effective by the elbow room it gets to stretch out. What makes it truly stand out, though, is her ability to make such claustrophobic sounds inviting. Get it here, or listen below.

New Tentenko: “Nantonaku Abunai”

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Tentenko presents a dilemma. She’s one of the most prolific artists of this decade, releasing CD-R after CD-R of songs skipping across all kinds of genres — she experimented with juke recently, what the hell! But also, hell yeah! — and genuinely going off in whatever direction she wants to. She has one perfect song that also turned out to be ahead of its time, and there is the whole “was part of the idol group that ended up having the biggest influence, for better or worse, on that scene in the back half of the 2010s” thing. She’s also eyed something bigger, signing with Toy’s Factory and putting out more mainstream-leaning songs to that end. There’s a lot to sift through, but oftentimes she feels stuck between stations. I think this Arama post from earlier this year captures it just right.

I’m intrigued, then, by her newest EP, out today. It seemingly builds on her first Toy’s Factory release by having her navigate other artist’s sounds — just look at the line-up on the first one — but pairs her with younger producers such as Emerald Four and Pellycolo, which are just outside (but not too far removed) of her ’80s space. “Nantonaku Abunai” doesn’t fit that mold. It gets assistance from Shintaro Sakamoto, and his lonely take on lounge music fits Tentenko’s voice well. It’s a solid song from an artist happy to slide all over the place. I think it’s also a good step forward towards potential bigger attention…if that’s what she wants. If she does, experiments like this seem like a good fit. Listen above.

New Mitsume: “Esper”

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With Mitsume, it’s all about the moments happening away from the vocals. Which isn’t to discount what Moto Kawabe does while singing — his light vocal delivery adds a melancholy-tinged breeziness to the quartet’s music, and the head-to-the-ground style trumps the more dramatic flourishes of groups such as Suchmos and Never Young Beach for me (which…quick aside, it’s sorta crazy how Mitsume paved the way for both those bands and down-the-ranks projects like Yogee New Waves to have bigger success…musically, not far off!). But it’s the sounds bookending the voice that really set Mitsume apart, and new single “Esper” provides one of the clearest examples in the band’s catalog to date. Just listen to the instrumental passages, featuring sun-soaked guitar playing that sounds just off — the bright rays out of focus just a touch — and the various effects swirling around them. Not quite uneasy, but like those mirage puddles you see on asphalt while driving on a hot day — a weird trick in something otherwise serene. Listen above.

New Hiroki Yamamura: Butterfly Hour EP

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Osaka-based producer Hiroki Yamamura has been one of the region’s most hyperactive footwork creators over the last few years, releasing tracks on the more frantic side of the tempo scale. The Butterfly Hour EP, released via London’s Moveltraxx, offers as concise a gateway into his sound as possible given how quick Yamamura can get. The pace is set right from the get-go with the title track, a skippy affair moving so briskly the vocal samples and synths practically start fading on themselves. The 8-bit liquid funk of “Turquoise” barely allows space to take a breather, while “Cinderella” just barrels ahead on a chirpy chorus and horns. The standout though is “Frosty Cake,” a number we’ve already praised in the past, but still sounds as invigorating as ever on this EP. Get it here, or listen below.

New Kotetsu: “Gloss”

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Producer Kotetsu released one of the stranger — and, accordingly, one of our pleasant surprises of 2017 — mixtapes earlier this year with MAVTAPE 1. Now, the Picnic Disco member has upped the ante with MAVDISC, featuring woozy songs from the tape alongside a bevy of new ones. “Gloss” is a shimmering highlight, a bouncy track featuring glassy electronic droplets and vocal samples tripping over themselves into a delirious rush of sound. Like many of Kotetsu’s creations, it leans close to being a pure beat. But like all of them, it morphs enough over its short time to be totally compelling on its own. Listen above.