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Category Archives: Music

Check The Notes: Pavilion Xool Featuring Yunovation “I Still Smoke”

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It takes skill to make a song leaning heavily on a sample from The Notebook work, but all credit to Pavilion Xool, whose “I Still Smoke” manages to do just that. The producer’s previous works bends heavily towards future-funk, but “I Still Smoke” features a woozy bed of synthesizers that whirr off, over which guest Yunovation sings and adds melodica melodies (more on that in a second). It’s a dreamy cut, even before the dialogue of two people shouting at each other comes in. Listen above.

The key to the song, though, is Yunovation, an Osaka artist best known for her melodica skills (documented in covers here and here). On “I Still Smoke,” she provides appropriately noir-ish sing-speak to the off-kilter electronic melody, and also presumably provides the melodica notes that pop up throughout, adding a unique character to the song (seriously…steel drums have been exhausted, melodica has gotta have a moment soon right?). She’s an artist to keep an eye on too, check out her melodica-house number “Fern 4.29” below.

New Metome: “Sathima”

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Not to get too goopy about it, but I recently visited Osaka (uhhh, look out for that one soon?) and was frequently revisiting…mentally and verbally…the period from about 2011 to the start of 2014 where the city’s electronic music scene was going full gear. Today, like it has in many places, the gap between underground and commercial has expanded drastically, and it is tough imagining producers moving up the ranks like they did a few years back. Which isn’t to say the actual music has dipped in quality…it hasn’t at all, as new faces and familiar names continue to create thrilling stuff.

Metome was part of that groundswell a few years ago, and he’s explored all sorts of sounds in the years since. “Sathima,” uploaded recently to SoundCloud, feels like a nod to the past though, with its cascading bass slaps and vocal hiccups (not to mention artwork bringing to mind Metome circa Objet). It is a number that morphs into all sorts of shapes, full of details that practically rub up against you (that piano, those water drops!). Yet there is also something sad lurking within “Sathima.” It moves a touch slower than older Metome songs — instead of bursting into a bunch of joyous little fireworks, this one kinda marches along, with just little bursts coming up — and even those familiar water droplets carry a melancholy to them. Which, funny enough, singles another shift for Metome, albeit one built on familiar sounds — the whirlwind approach to making a song remains, but now it is stripped down (a bit) and made reflective. Listen above.

Smudged Surprise: Tempalay’s “Kakumei Zenya”

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Tempalay seemed like a pretty forgettable rock band in 2016. The group released an album called From Japan, and the songs within sounded like most of the other Mac DeMarco-derived sunny-day rock that was just starting to take off — in no hurry, practically bored with itself, some forced wackiness (especially in videos). But this year has revealed some surprising wrinkles to the group. Their latest EP, put out in February, features five songs inspired by a tour of the United States, which isn’t the most exciting premise for a musical release. Yet the songs revealed a smudgier sound for the group, their laid-back rock now actually featuring details of someone who has actually smoked weed — it’s one of 2017’s bigger surprises around these corners, highlighted by wobbly numbers such as “New York.”

“Kakkumei Zenya” isn’t quite as off-kilter, but it comes close, and further highlights Tempalay as a band actually worth caring about. Made in conjunction with the GAP’s 1969 Records TV (a fact I wish I could make fun of, except they propped up Taquwami last year and I gotta respect that), “Kakumei Zenya” is a lava-lamp-paced number where the little details make the song shine — the flute-like melody that brings to mind Fishmans, the violin samples lurking in the mix, the goofy little piano interlude that feels zonked out of its brain. Whereas other groups you could lump them in with are content to just bask in the sun and offer up nothing of interest, Tempalay at least let weird details drift to the front. It’s helping them float out from the pack. Listen above.

New Acidclank: “Rocks”

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Acidclank seems to have grown quite a bit since last checking in with them. A while back, it was a solo project that leaned towards shoegaze, albeit in a way more interested in catchy melodies than waves of distortion. With new single “Rocks,” Acidclank appears to have a full band behind him, and the sound has moved away from ground-staring to a more skippy, almost indie-pop sound. There’s a sense of aiming for something a little bigger with it…the distance between “Rocks” and the stuff on DYGL’s new album isn’t that far…but with the heart and melody present on Acidclank’s older material still present. Listen above.

New Wooman: “Still Inside”

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The throwback vibes of earlier Wooman songs have receded with “Still Inside,” the post-CUZ ME PAIN band project of several prominent names in the Tokyo indie scene. The fuzz remains, but rather than an Ariel-Pink-ish (or Hotel Mexico-like) shambling, “Still Inside” finds the group hollering off in the distance, the verses and hook practically shouted over the driving guitar. Considering how much of CUZ ME PAIN — and even Wooman songs from just last year — sounded like they were hiding in the shadows, hearing them suddenly get loud and emotional is quite the change-up. It’s still cloaked in a layer of distortion, but this is them showing a new ambition to rise up to the surface. Listen above.