Gang!, Tokyo-based artist Zombie-Chang’s most recent album from earlier this year, showed off her pop credentials. Plenty of the Shinjuku Loft-leaning dankness of last year’s absorbing Zombie-Change snuck in, but they were matched by moments of relatively un-fuzzy numbers not far removed from something that could sneak into mainstream rotation. With the benefit of a…
Tokyo-based producer Attic Note delivers a solid electronic track with “Happening,” a bit of pitch-bended sharpness that plays around with a familiar approach but hits on something all its own. It wasn’t that long ago that tipsy numbers anchored by vocals manipulated to be faster or slower were the dominant sound of the community here,…
Orange Milk Records knows how to find them. The American label that shined a bright light on Foodman, DJWWWW and Toiret Status among others now presents Tokyo-based artist Koeosaeme, who explores similar ground as the aforementioned but ultimately finds their own path forward on the woozy Sonorant. Koeosaeme stands out because of speed — whereas…
The early 2010’s idol scene found groups grasping for any visual or sonic cue that would help them stand out from the crowd. Latching onto a specific genre could pay off big time, but it could also result in strange creations such as air guitar idols or steam-punk-themed outfits (with terrible music). Novelty has always…
Last year in Japanese music, for me at least, was defined by the experimental meaning-we-do-not-need-no-meaning-here wonder of producers such as Foodman, DJWWWW and Toiret Status. Their chaotic but delightfully dizzying exercises in exploring sounds — regardless of how out there those noises got — crystalized the most head-spinning movement in the country going, and made…