The beat had me sweating when this opened up. Haruruinu Love Dog Tenshi is another artist coming up from web-centric indie communities to more exposure, and the subdued mood of early releases appeared to be tossed out the window with those opening rumbles and the general “It G Ma” rehash of it all. But thankfully the artist before the “feature” delivers with what she has done well for a while (Rikon Nozaki is…fine, but feels a bit superfluous). Haruruinu Love Dog Tenshi drifts over the beat, not trying to match it in intensity but rather turning into smoke to waft over head. It’s understated and affecting. Listen above.
Category Archives: Music
New Mom: “Boyfriend”
How do you follow up on one of 2018’s best all-around albums, not to mention one pointing at a way forward for independent musicians raised on the internet to travel down? Release another album — billed as a “first album,” at that — to close out the year, one that might be even loaded with more genre-blurring bangers. Mom will be capping off a breakthrough 12 months with another full-length, titled Playground, out in November, and “Boyfriend” offers the first look at it. It’s pretty on point for what Mom has been doing before — they are one of the first artists to emerge that feels like netlabels and YouTube algorithms played a massive part in shaping their approach to music. Which is to say…Mom is very online, and their songs are not concerned with genre walls. “Boyfriend” finds Mom delivering a sing-rap about RoboCop and his romantic intentions, backed by synths just dazing out and a guitar melody more in tune with indie-rock than anything else (poked fun a little bit in the video which…hey, look at Mom! Charming!). Maybe this will be their “first album,” but it will be building on a very strong base. Listen above.
New Bearwear: “I’ll Take You Anywhere”
It’s surprising how Ano(t)raks turned into this incredible feeder system for slightly larger labels. Call it a mix of having a good ear for great indie-rock, and a bit of good timing too…Ano(t)raks was one of the first places to get ahead of the whole “city pop revival” thing via comps loaded up with mellow numbers. Add Bearwear to the list of form compilation inclusions now getting a bit more shine. The group’s “I’ll Take You Anywhere” finds a midpoint between on-trend laid-back rock and indie-pop, conveyed through the slightly scrappy guitar lines and the heart-on-sleeve love lyrics. It’s pure Ano(t)raks), creeping towards something bigger. Listen above.
Head Down Rush: Dronjo Kept By 4’s Exhibition EP
Like I’ve said before, sometimes simple charms are all you need during your day. Dronjo Kept By 4 have been chugging along since 2007, creating rock hop-scotching between feedback-dipped fare inspired by The Pixies and Dinosaur Jr. to more indie-pop fare (while, still on the fuzzier side). The Exhibition EP isn’t re-inventing anything and maybe I’m just getting a nice shot of nostalgia here (you fool!), but the opening riffs of “Parasol” alone get the ol’ indie feels going…and then they zoom right into a skippy verse featuring male-female vocals coming together for something nice and sweet. The best is saved for finale “Never Let You Down,” a hopper featuring a simple but sticky hook that nails all the simplistic wonder of indie-pop. Get it here, or listen below.
New ΔKTR: CAMOble
ΔKTR has long re-arranged songs from yesteryear into new forms, but with CAMOble the producer tries something a little different. Here he is taking the 2017 Camoflauge EP by the rapper Kyoh3i and basically remixing it, swapping out the sparse boom-bap inspired beats of the original for backdrops ripped from ΔKTR’s record collection, resulting in a radically different take on the album…but one where the rapping still fits in nicely. While CAMOble works fine by itself, I’d recommend listening to the original album too in order to really see what transformation goes on here. Get it here, or listen below.