Charting the path the members of Especia went on after the group finally called it a day reveals that many…kind of kept on sounding like Especia. Well, except ripped from the idol context and playful vaporwave imagery that added an extra wink to music that was pretty faithful to city pop and the various styles inspiring that one. Haruka Tominaga’s latest song as HALLCA only reinforces this trajectory, as it is a smoky jazz-pop number featuring bass notes that have had one too many and Tominaga’s vocal sashaying, featuring some nifty multitracking to add force to her chorus. This isn’t far from Especia territory — a touch more post-midnight, a little more melancholy and sparse — and still gets those old vibes across. Listen above.
Category Archives: Music
Skyward: Charles.A.D’s Inception
A fun exercise is to think about how many obscure Japanese albums from the late 1970s and 1980s are enjoying renewed interest today, and imagine…what will the equivalent be 20 or 30 years down the line? This isn’t just limited to Japanese music (honestly, I feel future decades are going to find a lot of gems from the last decade, especially as conversations around music shifted towards an elite upper level driven by attention. A lot of stuff that hasn’t gotten love will be picked up by the listeners of tomorrow and be embraced!), but since this is a blog about Japanese music, that takes up most of my mental space.
Inception seems like something that is bound to be a niche release in 2019 but really captures a specific moment in musical creation while also offering new twists on the style. Funabashi-based artist Charles.A.D hits on a sound falling somewhere between new age, ambient and dance (especially anything tagged as “lo-fi”) to create an album worthy of movement and meditation. It is at its best when just blissin’ out on the long running number nearing 10 minutes, “Sun-Rising” and “Peace Of Ego” (the latter being the album’s high point, a faded house rumbler mutating into something reflective as it bumps ahead). But moments of ambience like “Samsara” or the light rattling of “Pros And Cons To Everything” offer some nice nooks to retreat into as it plays out. Most striking, though, is that Charles.A.D has taken cues from a bunch of trendy (or recently trendy) sounds and struck on something both capturing them all but not sounding much like them. Get it here, or listen below.
New Rayons: “Our Future”
What have been Rayons been up to for the last few years? The Flau-associated project responsible for some of the more aching string-heavy music to come from that label spent some time creating the soundtrack to an anime called Sagrada Reset. Considering my past accidental revelations that I know very little about anime, it shouldn’t be a shock this was my first encounter with it. But maybe…maybe!…that works in my favor, because I have no connection to this cartoon, which means I can offer up a different perspective listening to “Our Future” from the forthcoming album collecting Rayons’ work for this program. This definitely sounds vaguely soundtrack-tipped, seeing as the singing opts for syllables serving really as another layer than anything that would get in the way of the action on screen. But Rayons has excelled at bringing together a variety of sounds — stringed or otherwise — to create emotionally resonant numbers. Here, the human voice adds a warmth that the violin and piano only underlines further, the whole thing building towards a big climax that fades into a more understated outro. Whatever the context, it’s Rayons operating at what they do oh so well. Listen above.
Round And Soft: Sawa Angstrom’s “Tape Loop”
Kyoto project Sawa Angstrom has been around since 2017, featuring a trio of artists who have dabbled in all sorts of other indie projects over the years. With this one though, soft and reflective is what they aim for. “Tape Loop” offers a gentle entry into their style, and it stands out as the highlight from their just-released debut EP. Synthesizer notes whirl around, leaving plenty of room for the vocals to circle alongside them, delivered in a soft but forceful voice that you might use to get a point across in a quiet cafe. Even the beat opts for something easy to sink into rather than as a tension-building element. But it all works to create an absorbing electronic number that’s nice to zone out to. Listen above.
New Koutei Camera Girl Drei: “Changes”
It has been a little over a month since Koutei Camera Girl Drei released Dawn By Flow, a full-length moving between dancehall-inflected numbers and more driving techno and house pop that has been the group’s go-to sound for a while now. It’s pretty great (“Taiwan No Men” and especially “Movin'” are early song of the year contenders), and the trio isn’t stopping with just that album. They have a new EP on the way, highlighted by the title track “Changes.” If Dawn By Flow mostly moved at a dash, “Changes” gives the trio a chance to take a breather and deliver a tag-team rap over a calm and spacious beat produced by Masayuki Kubo (AVV or And Vice Versa). It’s another side of the trio not popping up too much on their other latest, and a nice detour. Listen above.