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Category Archives: Music

New Daisuke Tanabe: Cat Steps

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Long-running Japanese beatmaker Daisuke Tanabe has teamed up with Mumbai independent label Knowmad Records to release Cat Steps, a set of sparse tracks that see him splattering sound about and seeing what sticks. He elevates beyond lo-fi hip-hop by keeping these numbers in constant motion, adding in surprise elements that send ripples through the music. Opener “For The Twin” integrates something kinda close to a juke beat set against naive electronic notes out of the Boards Of Canada playbook, but as everything moves forward Tanabe shifts it up, speeding the song up or removing elements. “Cat Step” and “Your Tube” go even more minimalist, a move that puts Tanabe’s small changes into a clearer light. Here is beat music that mutates at a molecular level. Get it here, or listen below.

Haruka Tominaga, Formerly Of Especia, Is Now HALLCA, Shares “Milky Way”

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It would be a little silly to give Especia unearned influencer points for the state of Japanese pop music today…but the now-defunct group were way out ahead on the current city-pop-revival that has carved out space in the mainstream. And unlike a lot of the Tumblr-esque recycled moods of bands now scoring theme songs and nationwide tours — not to mention non-Japanese interpretations of the same thing — Especia approached it all from an actually creative angle by way of a pretty unique interpretation of vaporwave filtered by actual Bubble-Era signifiers.

But those days are over, and the members of Especia have all gone off to do other things. Haruka Tominaga recently returned as HALLCA, a new project that sees her reunite with sometimes-Espeica producer PellyColo for a lot of the songs shared thus far. Ahead of her first EP out this Wednesday, she shared “Milky Way,” a PellyColo number that leans a little bit on Especia nostalgia (aided by the producers interpretation of ’80s sounds…that guitar solo!). This is easy-going stuff, offering space for Tominaga to show off her voice, which drifts nicely through the space conjured up on this sparse number. Better numbers can be found on the EP — “Diamond” is the real push forward for her — but this is a solid number to soak in, and one that fulfills some longing for a time now gone. Listen above.

New Miii: “Vacillate”

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Following up on this year’s tense, rollercoaster of an album Plateau, “Vacillate” finds Miii letting off a little more steam. There isn’t really a build or slow creep towards release — it bursts out with skippy percussion, accented by, uhhhh, some very British sounding vocal samples, which eventually skip over themselves en route to a bass freakout placed right in the middle of the proceedings. No rise and fall, no warning — “Vacillate” is Miii harnessing these disruptive sound and making one coherent piece from them, without any familiar drama. Get it here, or listen below.

New Mitsume: “Sedan”

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For a band capable of such laid-back numbers, Mitsume’s music relies heavily on movement. Many of their songs chug along like a car doing the speed limit on the highway. “Sedan” almost takes this literally, with the title for one and references to just wanting to go…somewhere in the lyrics. But the best Mitsume numbers work in all sorts of longing and excitement into the cruise, capturing what it actually feels like to sit back and really roll thoughts around in your head. “Sedan”doesn’t reach “Esper” heights, but ends up a serviceable Mitsume number thanks to the backing vocals and the moment when everything rips open near the end. Listen above.

New Anna: Tonite

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Big Love Records’ artist Anna hasn’t filled out her music anymore since last year’s sparse debut, but she’s gotten better at making all that room count on Tonite. The title track rattles forward, turning into something outright joyful when the drum hits gallop alongside the guitar just right, but all made a bit chillier by her singing, which give it some Chromatics-esque unease. Same goes for centerpiece “Cloud Dancer,” marked by skittery drum machine hits and a touch more melodic vocal. While it treads the same territory as Anna’s previous releases, it shows her feeling more at home in this space, and approaches something closer to what She Talks Silence did at the start of the decade. Get it here, or listen below.