[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsKb38VDtV0″] Remember the critical meme that popped up last year after the release of Port Entropy, the one where folks became skeptical of pop whiz Shugo Tokumaru because he seemed “creepy” sticking to sounds of kid-whimsy? Still a pretty dumb opinion (in my opinion) but the blog-owning chorus gets a little more evidence with the…
Well my day has featured a whole lot of origami. First I read Tiny Mix Tapes excellent Japan The Beats feature which covers rap in the country, this article featuring a bit on an outfit called Origami. Later I tried to do research on another musical project featuring “origami” in the title. And somehow Googling…
Rejoice owners of cassette players and/or really old Toyotas. Cutesy lo-fi sirens Puffyshoes have a new full-length coming out on the supposedly outdated medium this month, March 15 to be exact. Finally The Weekend features 10 tracks, some sporting very Puffyshoes-appropriate names like “I Want A Boy” and “Backstage Pass.” They also have the intriguing…
Sakanaction’s new single “Rookie” features everything you’d expect a popular, young J-Rock group to cram into a song: guitars, bass, drums, vocals, all the usual suspects that make mainstream rock music in this country oftentimes cookie-cutter and bland. Yet Sakanaction have already proven they are ahead of the curve, and “Rookie” hurls all of those…
This year’s hype-magnet (deserving of it!) James Blake recently dissed the idea of the remix, calling them “musical prostitution.” Chaz Bundick of Toro Y Moi pretty much agreed. Yet sometimes a rework of a song can be more than just a desperate attempt to latch onto another artist’s good press. Take Hoshina Anniversary remix of…