Trying to find a little bit of spring to get you going in the late afternoon, especially on a Monday following a typhoon that maybe kept you up extra late (or is this getting too journal-esque now)? Producer Neshizuku’s latest track offers a nice late-day rumble to get the blood circulating. “Patterned” teases a shift into lo-fi house via its warped vocal samples, but while those moans come off like VHS leftovers, the whole song avoids the faded fuzz associated with that microgenre. Rather, “Patterned” offers something that feels off-kilter, but with a far sturdier backbone, making for a nice energy. Listen above.
Category Archives: Music
New Yuri Urano: Autline
The latest release from Yuri Urano — formerly Yullippe — finds a mix between the Osaka artist’s familiar slow-burning tension and new turns. The biggest change comes on the title track, which finds Urano using her own voice more heavily to create disorienting details. The other semi-departure (not quite as pronounced as on “Autline”) comes on the finale of “Massio,” which skews closer to Urano’s preferred industrial chug, but here gone to a busy extreme with vocal samples sounding off behind the flurry of noise above. Right in the middle, though, are two tracks playing on her strong skills, with the rumbling “Pec” and the seven-minute shiver of “Knock,” the release’s highlight and a great example of using space to generate unease. Get it here, or listen below.
New Sappy: “Spider”
Sappy can’t settle on any one sound, and they are probably better off for it. Their just-released second album Altima finds the group zipping from mainstream baiting bits of bright-eyed balladry (“Starfall”) to sun-dappled indie-pop (“She See“). Their best mode, though, comes when they get a bit more dramatic on “Spider.” Those opening guitar chugs are a red herring — “Spider” soon turns into something more understated, letting plenty of space into its runtime to make the moments where everything locks in all the more forceful. And it also lets the moments of optimism that sneak into this otherwise bleaker number shine brighter. Listen above.
New Andrew: “ELB”
Trekkie Trax pillar Andrew writes that he made this funky number last September, but has shared “ELB” in 2018. Riffing off of Millie Scott’s “Ev’ry Little Bit,” Andrew creates a loose-limbed electro number fueled by clinky percussion and these big fat bass notes that give this a boogie feel. A nice afternoon pick-me-up. Listen above.
Personal Details: Nonsense Love Letter
Over the last month, Sapporo’s Nonsense Love Letter has shared two albums of bedroom pop, and approaching it felt a little bit intimidating. These aren’t quickly uploaded EPs, but fully realized releases touching on a bunch of styles, while being full of clever wordplay and an air of intimacy, like walking into someone’s living room and finding them writing poetry. But entered I did with Winter Alayz, an eight-song collection offering a concise look into Nonsense Love Letter’s world. Like a lot of young artists this decade, that place has been shaped by Etsuko Yakushimaru. “Lonely You Lonely Me” immediately showcases Nonsense Love Letter’s similarly high-pitched speak-sing, set over a rubbery rock backdrop accented by handclaps. It’s a style the band revisits frequently, such as on the slower “Linus” to the skippier “Bus Stop.” But then you get detours, like the sample-loaded space-out of “Vib-Ribbon,” which pummels ahead on a drum machine beat. Threaded throughout are lyrics that turn the everyday into something more. Get it here, or listen below.
Love Letter From Nonsense Love Letter goes in even more directions, showing more depth. Opener “Fushigi Na Wagon” teases a Shibuya-kei-derived stroll, interrupted by some electronic chirps, while “Harry Potter Potage” is…basically the same song, but now with Hogwarts-friendly lyrics. It’s a trip! This set feels a bit more ramshackle, more a collection of ideas that sometime result in great pop (“Oyasumi Zombie”) while others feel like half-folded pieces of construction paper. Yet it still adds further context to a project to keep an eye on. Get it here, or listen below.