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, with the guitar melody having a home-recorded glow and the vocals sounding raw (credit those keyboard squiggles though, for adding some jauntiness), but that’s all in service of a number that’s more about taking time to think things over and kind of just stew in tough feelings. It’s a new side of Japanese Summer Orange, and one that hints at lots of potential. Listen above.
Category Archives: Music
Fatalistic: Magical Ponika’s “We Are Anyway Die”
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 on a style that, by mid 2018, felt well established. She also could get a bit more melancholy when needed, but it was only a few days ago she dropped a real bubbly, tomorrow-is-bright cut called “Future (Rebuild).” Backed by a woozy sample, Magical Ponika sets her sights skyward, delivering verses overflowing with excitement. Listen below.
She followed that one up with “We Are Anyway Die,” which swings the totally other way to a point of being somewhat uncomfortable in its feelings. The title lays it out — we are all doomed, so let’s connect, but not really in a joyful way, but more in a fatalistic way. It still has plenty of bounce — and some fun ad libs — but of the two songs she has put out recently it is far more…relevant to right now, even if something inside me wishes it was the other way around. Yet what both manage is something a lot of younger artists in Japan inspired by American hip-hop are starting to do, which is use familiar ideas born abroad to find their own little corner to play around in. With this pair, Magical Ponika demands to be included, whether she does so by being upbeat or down. Listen above.
New The Vegetablets: 3
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, and these eight new songs offer up a set content to celebrate the simple things in life using a sparse set of sounds. Save for a guest appearance by Mayumi Ikemizu of Three Berry Ice Cream to add some accordion to the sweet afternoon stroll of “A Friend Of Mine,” 3 finds the two Vegetablets just getting goofy (check the slinky garage rock of “I’m Going To Eat It,” where they sing-speak about…being hungry) or sentimental (the lazy-day hop of “Thinking Of You,” the chugging ode “The World Is Made Of Dreams”). There’s moments where the charm comes through the pair trying to be a bit more ambitious than their talents might allow them…the male half of this group sometimes slips into a high-pitch that is going a little too far…but The Vegetablets also have a knack for just hitting on these catchy and comforting melodies, such as when “Magic” opens up into a jog or the blissful Spring skip of “Green Green.” Nothing complicated, and wonderful for it. Get it here, or listen below.
New DYGL: “A Paper Dream”
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 Nobuki Akiyama’s vocals, though, that really make this one feel optimistic…or maybe a little defeatist, depending on what side of 30 you sit on. This one is all about holding on to your dreams, and how clinging to that idea even if it is ridiculous can only pay off. Or…can it? Details about “when you put the same records on again and again” takes on a more jagged edge when Akiyama yelps it and the lines around it, and then you get a pretty direct jab with “when you feel so old, and you feel like nothing.” Maybe this one is built for dancing through the tears. Listen above.
New AFAMoo Featuring Lil Summer: “Thinkin’ Bout U”
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 “Thinkin’ Bout U,” even if some of the synths sound a touch faded and the vocal sample at the very end feels a little too on the nose. But the producer mostly just lays down a shifty groove, and lets guest vocalist Lil Summer deliver an un-smudged performance tightroping between ecstasy and ennui. Listen above.