I mean, congrats to Oresama for landing an anime ending sequence, that’s a pretty solid career step. But I will never watch this ghost cartoon that “Hoto Hashiru” appears in, so I have to just absorb it as music. Thankfully, their latest is a nice bit of fidgety electro-pop, loaded up with small ripples that keep the energy moving (especially fond of the post-chorus sections, where the half-second vocal snippets do their best work). But it’s anchored by lead vocalist Pon, who speeds alongside the splintered funk music and adds in all the extra energy needed. Listen above.
Category Archives: Music
New Mom: “Natsu No Mahou ’18”
The latest from Mom serves as a celebration of summer, even in all of the bad parts of the season. Mainly, the heat, which is at record highs this year across the country. Mom actually nods to this during “Natsu No Mahou ’18” but doesn’t let the record-breaking temperatures get them down, as they deliver a laid-back flow over a pretty easy-going beat. And while Mom nods to the heat, they also celebrate the small wonders of these months, from the air conditioning on the subway to simply hanging out on a park bench. A snapshot of life and the simple but pleasant parts of it. Listen above.
Space Race: +you & space x’s with u
I don’t normally associate the music coming out of Wasabi Tapes with “space,” but +you’s with u — featuring an assist from space x, up to you to decide if that’s a real artist or a little bit of extra flair to the project — imagines what the wonky label’s attempt at an ambient album might sound like. This release boasts a loose “space” theme, with bits of NASA dialogue sampled throughout and references to the cosmos throughout. Plenty of busier moments appear throughout, like the radio-scramble of “Rocket Or Chiritori” or the dialogue heavy “Aliens.” But the best moments find +you creating stretched-out numbers that feel like floating in a wide space, such as on the twinkling and chilly “Futari Dake” or the calm of “Ecco.” Get it here, or listen below.
Suiyoubi No Campanella Teams Up With Chvrches For “Out Of My Head”
Link for video viewable outside of Japan here
Well here’s an unlikely collaboration. Chvrches capped off a recent swing through Japan for the Fuji Rock Festival by sharing a new song featuring…Suiyoubi No Campanella (I mean…just KOM_I? Kenmochi Hidefumi involved, because it sure sounds like Chvrches). Hey, now that’s a nice profile raiser. The song itself is very much in line with the fest-ready electro-pop Chvrches have made a career out of, capped off by a call-and-response hook. KOM_I’s big touch comes in the moments where she lets loose and rips off screamed vocals…about social media, nonetheless…to add edge to a group that excels at holding just back from tipping over. Listen above.
Digital Holiday: Manatsu No Wakusei Dai Chokuretsu’s Summer Vacation EP
Another entry in the “Vocalid used intriguingly” files. Manatsu No Wakusei Dai Chokuretsu finds artists Matsu Kasa and Yoshihisa Hirata teaming up to create an oddball bit of Vocaloid coming from a label known for dabbling in singing-synthesizer rap. To that end, Summer Vacation EP comes complete with skits, ranging from robo classrooms full of mean teachers to discussions about Yellow Magic Orchestra. But the main draw are the songs pushing digi voices to the front, such as the pleasant pop of the title track to the hip-hop-inspired brain melt of “Kiokusoushitsu” (complete with human voices jumping in the digi fray…and Vocaloid saying skrr skrr). It’s a creative use of the technology, but more importantly they create something good from it, standing out from the crowd (both Vocaloid and Japanese rap). Get it here, or listen below.
Also worth checking out — the poppier stylings of Yoshihisa Hirata’s recent solo album utilizing Hatsune Miku. Get it here.