Make Believe Melodies Logo

Category Archives: Music

Kool Switch Works Shares delicious beats 4 sale! vol​.​3, Gives Me Chance To Talk About Other Two Volumes

Posted on by

I figured, oh I’ll just write about this series when it reaches its conclusion. Little detail forgotten — I have no idea when that would come. So let’s just jump into Kool Switch Works delicious beats 4 sale! series at the third installment, because I can’t ignore this anymore. The series aims to offer up electro and ghettotech from Japanese producers, though it hits on a variety of styles beyond those too. Gunhead gets this set off to a rumbling start with the trap-accented “Bum Bum Satellites” (also, wow good name), while D.J.G.O. creates an unnerving track using horn blurts and spoken-word samples. Get it here, or listen below.

The previous two installments are also well worth your time. Vol. 1 features the heaviest-hitting line-up, opening with a swaggering track with hints of smudged corners courtesy of AVV, followed up by some throwback electro vibes courtesy of Satanicpornocultshop. Vol. 2 sees Picnicwomen mutate The Offspring into a goofball crowd pleaser, while Trekkie Trax’s Andrew delivers what might be my favorite track across any of these three with the electro hop-scotch of “I Want, I Need.”

New Taquwami: “Ag Hikari”

Posted on by

If nothing else, this October is going to be good thanks to this project courtesy of Secret Songs. Everyday, the label will share a previously unheard song from Taquwami, one of our favorite artists of this decade. This has prompted some internal debate — does this blog just become a Taquwami landing page for a month? Just do some check-ins throughout the month? It’s probably that one — but really, I’m just excited to hear all of it. So let’s go from the start. “Ag Hikari” is a return to the fizzy times leading up to Moyas, opening with a soft and fidgety passage somewhere between Shigesato Itoi and Aphex Twin. The intensity picks up from there, with Taquwami adding in more sounds and being unafraid to let them crash into one another in order to see where this goes. And after an upbeat run, it ends on one of the more reflective passages to pop up in a Taquwami track. It’s going to be a good month. Listen above.

Smartphone Bling: Seaside-métro’s “Kazehikunayo”

Posted on by

Music, made on an iPhone…what a novel idea! That’s the hook for Seaside-métro, but the smartphone producer manages way more than novelty with the chipper “Kazehikunayo.” Other songs featured on their SoundCloud page feel way more phone-generated, charming but also not far from default ringtone. But “Kazehikunayo” zooms forward on synthesizer wooshes and a persistent beat, topped off by a kid-like choir vocal really bringing out the Katamari Damacy feels for this. And that’s a good comparison, because “Kazehikunayo” manages the same goofy-fun feelings and consistent skip of anything from that soundtrack…but in pocket size! Listen above.

New BD1982: Arclight EP

Posted on by

Consistency remains the most undervalued element in modern music. Well, OK, not just “modern” music, this is ultimately an art form dictated by trends more than any other. But in a hyper-reality like the one now, where everything moves so fast, stepping back and taking stock of the bigger picture can be a rarity. So this is all to say…Diskotopia, still doing the job! Their latest release comes from co-founder, one-half of Greeen Linez and (uhh, full disclosure?) fellow writer at Metropolis BD1982. The Arclight EP is an exercise in turning disruption into something movable, starting from opener “Arclight UV’s” synthesizer melody being smashed open by the percussion. “Miracles” breaks out with a limber beat but gets an uneasy edge courtesy of robo-vocals lurking beneath and just all sorts of noises competing for attention. Get it here, or listen below.

New Cicada: “Furete Hoshii”

Posted on by

What has long separated Cicada from other slinky outfits creating smooth city-bound music in the 2010s is the little sense of unease they bring to their numbers. Suchmos or Nulbarich are a mix of cool and goofy earnest, but never unnerving, while Lucky Tapes or Never Young Beach tend to just be chill. Cicada, on songs such as newest creation “Furete Hoshii,” have weaved in little details that throw the laid-back vibe off. Here, it’s those pitch-shifted voices and the way the melody slightly skips over itself. Or how everything crawls to a syrupy stroll late. Experimental explosions this ain’t — Cicada probably still wants in on this boom while it lasts, and this has plenty of bounce too it (plus, those sticky vocals) — but I think their origins in Japan’s electronic (or at least netlabel-adjacent) community color songs like this, and make it far more intriguing than most. Listen above.