CHAI have become known for their more frantic numbers, but I’m a bigger fan of the moments where they let their guard down and get a bit sentimental. “Sayonara Complex” features plenty of goofy fun, but it’s the sweetness sneaking through that really seals it for me. “Horechatta,” off the just-released debut album PINK, flashes…
When you need a little burst of energy during a busy day, Osaka’s Satanicpornocultshop always comes through. The juke-leaning collective’s new Green Papaya EP zeroes in on percussion, with nearly every track here interlaying different beats over one another to create shuffling rhythm tracks. It runs from the sparse, skin-tingling wooden sounds of “Mouthwash” to…
The artists behind the mind-bending Wasabi Tapes label have released plenty of loosies over the course of 2017 — but two of their cornerstone projects dropped albums on basically the same weekend, giving anyone entranced by their sound-warping style plenty to listen to over the last few days. Let’s start with Nyoi Plunger, the latest…
Producer Takeda Soshi dabbles in city-pop inspired dane music — or you can call it fusion, pick your term — but “Cozy” moves a touch away from that more glistening sound in favor of something appropriately laid back. The song is in no rush whatsoever, Soshi opting instead to construct a slippery shuffler featuring synthesizer…
Tokyo’s LLLL is prepping the next installment of the Chains series for a December release, and “For F” shows a continued commitment to the shadowy but ultimately hopeful sound that has defined the bulk of this project. The music here comes off as among the heaviest things LLLL has created as part of this series,…