Music | Make Believe Melodies

Weekend Round-Up: Happy Kuru Kuru, DJ Amps, Tominaga And The Sub Account

Posted on March 27, 2017 by Patrick St. Michel

Lots of good releases over the weekend, here’s a round-up of the highlights!

— Yunomi has his sound — jacked-out dance music colliding with pastel cuteness — and he isn’t deviating from it anytime soon. And while I’m sure cheery bass drops aren’t going to charm forever, he still manages to turn Happy Kuru Kuru’s “Kuru Kuru Fantasy” into an irresistible treat. Credit to the vocalists, who skip along the beat and add a sweetness to the tune. Listen above.

— DJ Amps latest bit of juke, “Stranger,” goes for a shadowy, mysterious vibe, with faint vocal samples and the whole thing feeling very noir-ish. Yet skittering right down the center is that beat, which adds the necessary energy to keep this from being too atmospheric. Listen below.

— Producer Tominaga opens up a bit…and slows her music down ever so slightly…on the melancholy “Tomorrow Never Be Today.” Despite a very fidgety beat and moments of rush, this is a song about reflecting on times that are gone forever, and the sadness wrapped up within. Tominaga’s voice here melds well…it is far from polished, but on a downtrodden number, it fits in nicely. Listen below or get it here.

— Few genres (errr, Internet sub-genres) leave me more conflicted than “future funk.” Yet I’m way, way less conflicted about The Sub Account, who have a tendency to transform anime songs and J-Pop into darting club cuts. With “All I Wanna Do,” they venture into K-Pop, by speeding up and adding extra bounce to Jay Park’s joyful 2016 single of the same name. Listen below.

Friday Crush: Karen Felixx’s “Mad Edge”

Posted on March 24, 2017 by Patrick St. Michel

I’m always up for electronic tracks that, to some degree, constrict the listener tightly. Karen Felixx’s “Mad Edge” does just that, the techno number leaning close to the House Of Tapes approach where, despite a present melody and nice beat, the whole song gets turned into a crusher. Distortion and moments where the volume is out of whack go a long way to making “Mad Edge” sound like a treat, at least for those who like feeling like their dance music is stepping on them. Listen above.

Trending Upward: Nikkei’s RPO (Ritual Public Offering)

Posted on March 23, 2017 by Patrick St. Michel

Wasabi Tapes have been at the forefront of Japanese artists exploring and embracing the wonder of sound, from the high-definition collage blitz of DJWWWW and Toiret Status to the hypnotic affects of pachinko. Their latest offering comes from a project called Nikkei — aiming for my journalistic side — and finds them more directly approaching ambient music, with opener “The Deutsche Bank crisis How we got here, and where we are” clocking in at over 30 minutes. Yet that long-runner still highlights the label’s playful approach to texture, as the sounds rippling and slowly morphing over the course of the song definitely have that same tactile feeling that comes across on other releases. Now, though, they just burn slower. Get it here, or listen below.

<a href="http://wasabitapes.bandcamp.com/album/rpo-ritual-public-offering">RPO (Ritual Public Offering) by NIKKEI</a>

Fancy Flight: And Franny Featuring Powaramiu’s “Spacium Girl”

Posted on March 23, 2017 by Patrick St. Michel

You can find plenty of Japanese electronic music full of chimes and other cuddlier musical elements, and a lot of it is very good, but something about the wave of “kawaii bass” that leaves me wanting a bit more is in terms of ambition. Very few of these songs push themselves to go further out of there comfort zone, or take listeners on a journey (or at least one longer than a rollercoaster drop). Producer And Franny’s collaboration with Powaramiu, “Spacium Girl,” offers something different. It is a dizzying number, featuring no shortage of bells and sudden tempo twists, but constructed in a way that feels far more surprising than most SoundCloud uploads. It helps a lot that Powaramiu’s singing melds perfectly with the loopy song around it, making for a charming number keeping you on your toes. Listen above.

More Than Cosmetic: The Pats Pats’ “Make Up!”

Posted on March 22, 2017 by Patrick St. Michel

The Pats Pats are a Tokyo duo who have been kicking around for a few years, releasing catchy indie-pop skippers with a garage-rock vibe. Still, for me at least, the recently shared “Make Up!” from their first album The Pats Pats (out today), is the one that has been stuck in my head the most since they shared the video last week. It is a sunny number highlighted by the hook, bringing to mind Twinkle Twinkles out of Osaka in how much they get out of simplicity. All around a very positive number…it’s about doing things you like for yourself, which is nice, though I also had to Google Romy And Michelle’s High School Reunion so I’m not the one to offer any commentary on that. Listen above.

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