Maybe it is just small sample size, but all of the music from Le Makeup I’ve heard thus far has been on the more hectic side. So “Friends” is a nice switch up, a slower-tempo song more intent on reflection than movement. The criss-crossing synths end up comforting, and even the slightly pitched-up voices behind them sound like echoes of something good rather than an unnerving element. Listen above.
Category Archives: Music
More Than Sugar: YUC’e’s Macaron Moon
It’s tough to talk about kawaii bass…or any hyper-crowded electronic music to come out of Japan over the last year and a half…without bringing up YUC’e. Her “Future Candy” is one of the defining songs of the sub-style, a catchy pop number that goes lightspeed at various points…but always manages to return to that main melody, regardless of how much bass freakout breaks out. She deserves to be up there with Yunomi and Snail’s House as a vanguard of the playroom-ready dance sound.
Macaron Moon catches our ears for expanding on that cuddly thump. The opening one-two of “Opening Theme” and the title track tease something resembling Shibuya-kei…or at least capable of having that styles shadow glaze it…with its Euro-pop bounce, leading up to the moment where it all breaks apart into a drop. Even after, though, a Parisian bounce emerges, resulting in one of the more charming takes on bass music out of Japan I’ve heard out of Japan recently (Skrizzicato Five?). She builds on that sound on further numbers such as “Night Club Junkie,” while also flexing her more muscular EDM-tinged skills on “Cappchino” and “Datte.” If kawaii bass is here to stay, here is someone poking at its borders. Get it here, or listen below.
New Evening Cinema: “Wagamama”
Roughness helps Evening Cinema stand out from the ever-smoothing Japanese rock crowd. Intentionally or not, the group’s harsh vocals add a sandpapered-edge to twinkling pop full of tight bass lines and sparkly keyboard notes. “Wagamama” shows this isn’t just a demo situation, but rather that the elements just not quite fitting — but coming close enough to not sound bad — make this far more intriguing. And good to remember, plenty of city pop titans sometimes sounded off over the excess of their music. Evening Cinema seem more deserving of the “new city pop” tag than most. Listen above.
New Hiroto Kudo: “Blink”
Producer Hiroto Kudo crafts something calming but with a little kick on latest song “Blink.” For the most part, it is a sparse number featuring synthesizer driplets and a fidgety (but understated) beat. Save for some voices floating by in the back, it is straightforward and relaxing. But Kudo knows how to turn all of these twinkling sounds into something sturdier, and a chiming melody emerges midway through and twists the song around into something more upbeat and solid for the rest of its run. Listen above.
New Fragile Flowers: Psyche
Indie-pop project Fragile Flowers called up a lot of heavy hitters from the country’s twee-leaning scene for their first album, but have now settled on more fixed lineup for Psyche. It also feels a little more settled sonically, hovering in the same dizzying space that For Tracy Hyde occupied early on in that group’s existence. At their best, Fragile Flowers transform familiar indie-pop structures into spinning, almost chaotic numbers. See closer “Perfect Last Scene,” where a bouncy melody gets surrounded by all sorts of distant vocals, giving it a fever dream skip. Other songs are more routine, though even they can be quite good when the group focuses on laying down a solid melody and hook. Get it here, or listen below.