Navigating emotions and then simply going for total release is a constant element of Harunemuri’s music. It’s part of the reason her Haru To Syura album from earlier in the year is among 2018’s finest — the constant tension between turning things over frequently and using words as a way to figure out what’s happening, and the more visceral decision to just burst. Her newest single “Kick In The World” leans all in on this balance. The verses are all words, first set over synth bursts and the slightest guitar notes, and later picking up intensity while still allowing space for Harunemuri’s speak-sing tangle. But the hook is pure punch, the music recalibrating into a rock chug (complete with all-together-now “la las”) and Harunemuri screaming the title over it. That familiar tension smashes forward, and show she’s still able to get a lot out of this formula. Listen above.
Category Archives: Music
New Pelican: Nagatsuta
The lead single didn’t capture all the different directions this one would go. Pelican’s Nagatsuta opens with two slabs of crunch electro-rap — including the linked “From Japan” — but it doesn’t take long for Pelican to swing off into all sorts of different directions. “Myth Scat” introduces a 2-step beat for her to bob over, while she covers a glistening C-Side Sea Site track. She then pinballs around juke and even appears on a noodle-like disco number. Whatever the situation, Pelican adjust accordingly, and the end result is a nice bit of chameleon pop with a touch of the wonky side. Get it here, or listen below.
New Foodman Featuring Machìna: “Clock”
Voices have long crept into the music of Foodman, from discombobulated sonic touches to honest-to-goodness guests. Yet usually the humans joining the producer for songs clash with his wonky sounds — Ez Minzoku welcomed Bo Ningen’s Taigen Kawabe in to rap in a way that felt like it was trying to claw out of the music, while other guests offer similar mashings, serving as another off-kilter element to his music. “Clock,” from the highly anticipated (around these corners, at least) Aru Otoko No Dentetsu, shows how something more melodic and traditional can fit into Foodman’s world. The backdrop is Foodman operating in a sparser mood, percussion trickling down and subdued hoots emerging from what sounds like feet stepping on ice (it sounds familiar, but I’m blanking if this came out without singing before). Over this, Tokyo’s Machìna offers singing that goes from muted to right upfront…and it isn’t creating more cacophony, but rather working alongside the music. Turns out something familiar can sprout in these weird grounds. Listen above.
New Yunovation: “Roki Store”
The Expo ’70 Commemoration Park in Osaka is probably one of my favorite places in the world to visit. It’s peaceful and pretty and all around a place that puts me in a good mood every time I have had a chance to stop by while in Kansai. Yunovation’s “Roki Store” takes its title from one of the snack stands found in the park’s confines, and the melodica-guided number captures the same bright feeling simply visiting this place can give. It’s a chance for her to flex her melodica skills, but it also captures the feeling of escapism simply visiting a place you like can bring. Get it here, or listen below.
New Taquwami: “Long Kigo III”
I don’t know what it is about the back half of 2018 that is conjuring up serious electronic nostalgia for me personally, but I’m here for it. Ventla returned, and Metome captured ennui for a time gone by perfectly. And now, Taquwami returns via Secret Songs. The producer hasn’t been gone that long, all things considered — the Moyas EP came out in 2015, and still manages to sound a million years ahead of everything else. But a lot has changed in just three years, so “Long Kigo III” does feel like a real shock…and real comfort, one of the best in Japan’s electronic music scene returning. His latest isn’t quite the shapeshifting madness found on Moyas, but more reflective of the slow-burning numbers of Aj Mo Ka / Ka Ao Um. The main melody zigs and zags through the whole song, but everything around it blurs and mutates. The percussion changes, what sounds like a particularly menacing Kirby sucks in air, voice pop up briefly to add the grandeur of the landscape. It’s a trip, and I’m so happy to take it again. Listen above.