Albino thrives on a sense of intimacy. The Japanese artist — who doesn’t reveal much info about where she is or how long she’s been creating music — creates a warm escape on her latest song “Hidden Place,” a dreamy number that sounds like it is folding over itself. Everything unfolds at a syrupy pace, with sounds of bugs buzzing and train station announcements helping to ground music that sounds spaced out. Yet as woozy as it gets, Albino’s singing — unafraid to push up a register — rises above it, and stands as the song’s most beautiful element. Fans of Cokiyu or Cuushe, check it out. Listen above.
Category Archives: Music
New Jun Kamoda: Steel City Dance Discs Volume.5
A set I still think about frequently — despite almost turning one year old in a few weeks — is Jun Kamoda’s performance at Maltine Record’s showcase at WWW X back in 2017. The mix itself has now vanished from the internet, but the flash-bang blend of funk and dissected rock rumbles around in my head frequently. Kamoda has shared a lot since, but Steel City Dance Discs Volume.5 comes closest to capturing the magic of that Maltine performance.
“Flamingo Flamingo,” shared a couple months back, remains the knockout punch. It’s a slow-burning seven minute groover, punctuated by guitar notes and vocal samples that slowly wooze out, giving the song a sweltering feel that makes the energy all the better. The other songs included here shine as well — “Misty Funk” takes tropical sounds and turns them faded, while “The Fine Line” was a prominent part of the aforementioned Maltine set so…yeah, I’m here for it. Get it here.
New Sappy: “Sleepless”
So many Japanese shoegaze bands are just biting My Bloody Valentine…why not make it clear? In the clearest nod to the band since the Yellow Loveless cover project from 2012, Sappy share “Sleepless,” a song lifting a melody straight from MBV’s “When You Sleep.” Blatant? You bet! But they also clearly know it, and are pretty upfront about it (see: the song name). On top of that, they at least try to play around with a familiar sound, rather than literally recreate “You Made Me Realise” for the billionth time to diminishing results. Sappy play it a little faster, and let the vocals come through a bit closer, giving the song an extra pep, which makes the final push all the stronger. Listen above.
All Over The Place: Mom’s G.E.E.K
Trying to pin the artist known as Mom to one specific trend proves pointless. Which, funny enough, might actually be all the hook needed. The album G.E.E.K comes courtesy of Ano(t)raks, but stands as a particularly odd addition to their catalog. It starts out feeling both fitting and timely with the laid-back funk of “Boyfriend,” a number not far removed from the grooves of Suchmos or Lucky Tapes (the latter featuring Ano(t)raks veteran Kai Takahashi). Then things get weird. Mom veers between skippy, chime-accented pop on the next song, before drifting into a sort of Odd-Future-indebted rap, complete with Kanye West quotes (“I feel like Pablo”). And it only gets more unexpected from there, with woozy pop numbers and sweltering hip-hop complete with phones ringing. Yet for all the twists, Mom manages to always stay engaging, and make genre-skipping feel really natural. Get it here, or listen below.
New Happy Kuru Kuru And Tomggg: “Namida Gusya Gusya
This seemed inevitable. Happy Kuru Kuru is one of those idol groups who have long used contemporary cuddly sounds — cough cough kawaii bass if you please cough cough — as a basis for their sound, working with producers such as Yunomi and Yuigot on chirpy cuts. So why not hook up with the producer who really got this chime-accented sound in style? Tomggg seems like a natural fit to build on Happy Kuru Kuru’s sound, and “Namida Gusya Gusya” features plenty of chimes and playroom-appropriate sounds. Yet here’s a twist — this song actually hints at some changes for Tomggg, whose music here features some flourishes closer to Shibuya-kei (or, perhaps, the zippier tempo of neo-Shibuya-kei). It’s a nice new twist for him, and gives Happy Kuru Kuru something approaching a throwback feel — but with a modern day flavor. Listen above.