Producer Tamao Ninomiya transforms rough numbers into charming little songs. The producer’s 2015 demo Heavenly Disorders highlighted that well, with chirpy little synth numbers wandering off in all sorts of directions, but most of the creations featuring a melodic grounding of some sort — even if said grounding moved out of frame quickly after. Ninomiya’s latest again highlights their off-kilter approach to synth-pop, full of 808 hits, flourishes of juicy keyboard melodies and a lot of vocals sometimes seeming like they are off in their own world. Yet this charm point — similar to the darker-tinged approach used by Metoronori — adds nice tension to the song, and makes those moments when everything clicks all the better. Listen above.
Category Archives: Music
Drifting Out West: Ruby Lemon’s “The Ship Of Imagery”
Based out of Fukuoka, Ruby Lemon is the new solo project of Kumiko, formerly of the band Amorphous. Under her new alias, she’s moving towards something more reflective and more sun-bathed, vaguely tropical but ultimately more on the dreamy side. “The Ship Of Imagery” unfolds slowly, synthesizer notes drifting across all blurred and the beat mostly reserved, all allowing Kumiko’s voice to stand out. With more listens, what makes “The Ship Of Imagery” work so well is how everything mixes just right, the whole song checking off all the adjectives you’d need to describe dream pop without turning into a gauzy puddle. Listen above, or get it here.
New Cornelius: “If You’re Here”
Cornelius has returned, and he sounds at home with the current state of J-Pop. “If You’re Here” is the first song from Mellow Waves, his first original album since 2006’s Sensuous. And similar to the numbers on that full-length…and prior release Point…”If You’re Here” uses abrupt breaks and just-off rhythms to construct a song. Bits and pieces of sound get threaded together to form a calming, just-over six minute number featuring the artist’s voice drifting over it all. It’s relaxing and has a very late-afternoon vibe…and it happens to feel very much of 2017 in Japanese music, where the breakthrough artist of the year have been the laid-back groovings of Suchmos (the guitar line that pops up at points here is smooth enough to appear on any of the acid-jazz-leaning revivalists going today). This still distinctly sounds like Cornelius post-Fantasma, but operating in a more relaxed, contemplative space. It will be interesting to see just how mellow those waves get in June. Listen above.
New Dustin Wong And Takako Minekawa: “Elastic Astral Peel”
Usually, Japan gets new movies or TV shows way later than the rest of the world. But sometimes it works the other way too — I figured Dustin Wong and Takako Minekawa’s latest album Are Euphoria was out everywhere, since you can find it at music stores here in Tokyo. But nope! It comes out elsewhere on June 16th, which also explains why a video for the song “Elastic Astral Peel” emerged via Thrill Jockey today. Musically, it builds on the loop-centered style Wong and Minekawa have been exploring together since 2013’s Toropical Circle, the repeating melodies joined by an assortment of voices imitating cats, various yelps and more commotion. Yet in their hands, it sounds comforting, not chaotic. Listen above.
Also read The Japan Times’ great interview with Wong, who is very real about…a lot of things.
New Jun Kamoda: “Blind Disco”
One of the best live sets I saw last year came courtesy of Jun Kamoda at last year’s Maltine Records event at WWW X, a shape-shifting and exhilarating hour of music featuring splashes of guitar and moments of pure release. Echoes of that set appear in “Blind Disco,” the first song from Kamoda’s forthcoming release of the same name. It rumbles ahead, featuring guitar notes that are slightly smudged, a bit of whooping and hollering to up the atmosphere, and a shifty beat. Listen above, or pre-order here.