Japanese Summer Orange gets sober on “The Ones,” a reflective number revealing new depth to the project. Up to this point, the semi-slacking outfit has been about stumbling about and feeling the hangover the next day, but “The Ones” heads out with a clear mind and a lot on its mind. The bedroom-recorded quality remains,…
Let’s actually back up a bit and start on a more optimistic note. Tokyo artist Magical Ponika has been kicking around for a little bit now, in the same zone as other underground Japanese rappers seemingly inspired by the whole “SoundCloud rap” thing . Initially, she delivered bright candy-shelled numbers that put her own spin…
Simplicity wins for Nagoya’s The Vegetablets. That’s how it tends to go with indie-pop of all stripes, Japan-based or otherwise, but with this duo the lets-make-some-music! vibes just come across more clearly, as their songs are both simplistic but deeply charming. 3 follows an album from last year that got The Vegetablets some international glances,…
This is as jaunty as DYGL have ever sounded, to an almost unsettling degree, though peel it back a little and a bit more roughness comes through. DYGL move ahead on a hoppy melody, highlighted by some nifty turn-of-the-2000s guitar work and a beat built for a get down. And those handclaps, so jolly! It’s…
Sometimes, trickery or genre subversion or nifty sonic tricks that make your music sound like it was found on an orphaned VHS tape (despite the music being made on a MacBook Pro). All of those scenarios can result in great music, but so can keeping it simple and just creating hyper catchy. AFAMoo doesn’t complicate…