Here’s how you make the most of everyone’s skill and create some balanced songs. ONJUICY’s latest release for Trekkie Trax finds him getting some assists from producers and one guest vocalist, all of whom help bring out the best in his songs while highlighting his strong points. The opening number bounces ahead courtesy of a…
This is like ASMR for me. The Oto Factory just coat their music in vocoder, turning funk and dance-pop songs into vibrating jams with a little bit of tension that a lot of similar “city pop” revival stuff avoids in favor of chill vibes. “R _ U _ S _ H _ H _ O…
Chelmico’s switch to a major label has, so far at least, found the pair focusing more on more outright up-tempo material. “Balloon” offers a breather, finding the duo reeling back the energy for at least one number in favor of laid-back rapping (and a little singing) over a sparse jazz-inspired beat moved forward by keyboard…
PellyColo covers a staggering amount of ground over the course of Solar Powered. The creator’s ambition came through clearly on the sci-fi-inspired album Universal Catalog, a number that turned spacecraft flight into jaunty synth-pop jogs. Solar Powered keeps the same star-bound imagery while pulling ideas from Gradius and house music among other places. It’s a…
Electro duo 80KIDZ have let their emotional guard down many times over the years, and those instances have always resulted in their best work. This is a group that came up during peak bloghouse days and gained attention in Japan’s club scene thanks to big blow-out dance cuts, but you can’t just post up at…