Indie-pop netlabel Ano(t)raks has been pretty focused on one thing so far in 2014 – a band called Shin Rizumu. Their past two releases – and only two of the year up until today – have been easy-breezy affairs from that group, completely pleasant listens that whiz by and don’t leave much of an impression…
This week has seen some exciting news for Japanese music crossovers with the Western world. Today, Lady Gaga announced Hatsune Miku will be opening up some of her tour dates…great, cool, neat. But even if it isn’t headline-worthy, the news that Japanese electronic label Trekkie Trax teamed up with Finnish label/promoters Top Billin is pretty…
Vaporwave, vaporwave, vaporwave. It is a thing that still exists, and a micro-genere fond of Japan. REALLY fond of Japan. Releases from vaporwave artists often figure splashes of Japanese on the cover and on the tracklisting…hope you have a good Firefox add-on…and some songs are built around samples of old J-pop or Japanese commercials. Funny…
Ahhhhh, so that’s what has been missing from Japanese indie-pop for a while now – silliness. Nothing wrong with embracing the sentimental and lovey-dovey, as the bulk of indie-pop bands who have emerged across the country in the past few years have. This blog has celebrated plenty of them, and stands by how good most…
This month’s Music Alliance Pact installment is here, and we are highlighting the latest from Tokyo’s Earthquake Island. Listen to it…and many more…below! Click the play button icon to listen to individual songs, right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a zip file of the full 27-track compilation through Ge.tt here….