Netlabels have become prevalent in Japan, so how does a fledgling outfit like electronic-music imprint Trekkie Trax (born in May of this year), grab attention? Release a great compilation album. Their XYZ EP collects eight songs from electronic artists from all over Japan. Our eyes zeroed in on a contribution from Tokyo’s Miii – his…
Recently, I watched a debate unfold over Twitter about the quality of Japanese author Haruki Murakami’s work, the majority of those jumping into the fray tearing into his style, in particular his reliance on “magical realism.” I get why some would be turned off to this, but that ability to make the everyday seem special,…
Poor, poor Figure. Take a glance at the Japanese artist’s Bandcamp page and you’ll see something jarring – along the right-hand side are tour dates, and it seems Figure will be touring all around the United States this fall. Alas, wrong Figure – turns out there is an Indiana bass-music maker sharing the name. Yet…
It’s debateable whether Seapunk was ever an honest-to-goodness scene or just a close-knit community of artists with a silly-sounding name that lots of publications made fun. Regardless of whether Seapunk made a splash (ugh) larger than a few Twitter hashtags isn’t clear, but there does remain a devoted set of people in love with the…
It has been a long, strange trip for HNC. She started her career as Hazel Nuts Chocolate in 2000, appearing in songs by Plus-Tech Squeeze Box and Yasutaka Nakata’s Capsule project, which at the time was more focused on globe-hopping Shibuya kei than dance beats. Her earliest collaborations and original work was hyperactive pop, all…