[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiMiq45_VfA”] Kimonos’ first single, “Almost Human,” seemed designed to be as different from Mukai Shutoku’s other contemporary project (Zazen Boys) as possible, replacing mathey chaos and abrasive vocals with laid-back electronics and Leo Imai’s smooth singing. The next song from the group’s upcoming debut album, “Soundtrack To Murder,” still sounds distinctly unique from any other…
For every precisely-tuned Perfume or labored-over Arashi, there is at least a basement-venue’s worth of musicians who get by on sheer enthusiasm alone. The sing-a-long indie-pop fuzz of The Weddings or the trippy DIY recordings of Foreignland stand out immediately amongst the sea of similar bands armed only with some instruments and a cheap means…
On an album loaded with downtrodden songs filtered through Autotune and Austin Powers references, “Paranoid” stood out instantly as something special, cultural boogeyman Kanye West making an absolutely stunning synth-pop song with a little help from Mr. Hudson come chorus time. On 808s And Heartbreak it kicked off the album’s strongest run, leading into the…
Tokyo’s Tidy Boy reminds us isolation and depression still exist at even the most tropical of locales. Despite the general beach-side feel fueled by copious amounts of cow bell, Tidy Boy blankets the party in fog via rough guitars and his coming-from-a-dark-corner-of-a-room vocals. “Muddy Tree” might feature a beat just dieing to be covered in…
One glance at the t-shirt racks of a Hot Topic or the recent film work of Michael Bay should convince you…if you didn’t already notice…that the 80s remain uber hip. Plenty of other junior pop-culture writers have already pointed out how a lot of people babbling about the Reagan years didn’t actually exist during them,…