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Review: Nuxx’s “Sound Ache”

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This won’t be a typical CD review, so let’s get this out of the way first – Nuxx’s Sound Ache is a really really good album. Not a great album, because certain songs tend to drag and the group’s debut includes two undeniable air balls in the form of “I Said ‘No'” (sample lyrics: “laziness, corruption, drug addiction, anger, selfism, immorality.” Lead singer ecco goes on to list a plethora of other social woes on the Mega Church speaking agenda) and the too-long snorer “Night Seeing.” In a proper review, these two misfires would warrant an entire paragraph to themselves. But that’s not how this particular write-up is going to go. To sum it up for those just wanting to know whether to buy this album or not – you should.

It wouldn’t matter if Sound Ache came into the world a perfect album or even a mediocre one, because the album’s very existence (and fact it doesn’t outright suck) validates one of the most thrilling musical scenes in Japan right now. Though lacking a snappy, blogable name, I’ll go with “techrock” as that’s the name used for the live series put on by scene figureheads √thumm and Nuxx, featuring young turks like Dambo, EeL and SQUASH. The characteristics of “techrock” are: club-friendly electronics clashing with traditional pop structure, often Auto-tuned vocals and absolute monster hooks designed to be as catchy as possible. Most of the scene seems to originate from the Kansai region…Osaka, Nara, Kyoto and Kobe. It’s one of the best under-the-radar movements happening in Japan right now. Sound Ache showcases every reason this burgeoning genre deserves attention in one package.

Though it isn’t the first album to highlight the sound. Last year saw two important releases for the young sound – √thumm released the highly enjoyable Coton, one of the best albums I heard from any part of the world in 2009 and still the best “techrock” album to this point. The other pivotal release was a five-song EP from Osaka trio Bang Bang Balloon that hinted at where the scene could go. Now for the big reveal…Bang Bang Balloon became Nuxx following a name change, and most of that obscure EP’s song appears on Sound Ache in slightly polished forms.

If Coton was the artistic triumph and Bang Bang Balloon the blueprint, Sound Ache functions as techrock’s infomercial. And not just because this album managed to wriggle it’s way next to the Ke$ha display at my nearby Tower Records. You want a constant flow of pure pop pleasure? Album opener “PL<YBUTTON" waits for you, less a song and more one sweeping hook bathing over you. Looking for dance tracks with absolutely triumphant choruses? Look no further than "Runner's High" and "Am I Free?" Call now and get some great slow songs absolutely free of charge.

Techrock's two biggest points of reference are the original techno-pop band Yellow Magic Orchestra and modern day J-Pop juggernauts Perfume. YMG's influence comes out on the electronic-heavy composition side (it should be noted the "rock" aspect of "techrock" isn't really prevalent in the sound, but rather in attitude, more on that later), but it's the touch of dancey pop that keeps groups like Nuxx from sounding like programming homework. The best Perfume tracks foresake complexity in favor of simply piling ear-pleasing noises as high as they can go, emphasis on what the singing sounds like and not what is being said. They are shots of joy worried about nothing else. Nuxx do both these sides of techrock very well – credit goes to production side of ize-mac and Gun-Hiroshi for constructing these songs in so all the electronics never feel like an overload. They also deserve praise for their handling of Sound Ache’s slower tracks, lifted from potential ballad doldrums by the digital flourishes (those intergalactic squiggles on “Ache!” that rising series of blips on “Under Leaves!”) they fit in. They also took Bang Bang Balloon-era holdover “Kaede” and transformed it from a sparse, chilled-out piece of atmosphere into a blooming electronic garden where everything just sprouts at the perfect time, leading to one of the album’s strongest tracks.

Ultimately, though, it’s the pure pop side of things that make Sound Ache so irresistible. If ize-mac and Gun-Hiroshi win points for creating the sounds of Nuxx, lead singer ecco deserves praise for lending the music soul. Her Auto-tuned vocals – Sound Ache also works as evidence for the pro vocal-manipulation camp, as I can’t picture unaltered voices running alongside the music – bounce and surge like dancefloor staples from the 90s…think Alice Deejay or Underworld, where the band presumably takes their name from. Just listen to the chorus of “Runner’s High” or “Am I Free?” Or better yet, listen to every second of the propulsive “Journey To The West,” the album’s best song and right up there with √thumm’s “Magic Love” as a scene defining anthem. Nuxx, and techrock for that matter, is just plain fun and there isn’t anything wrong with that, especially when done so well.

The actual sonic content of Sound Ache explains the “tech” part of techrock clearly, but the “rock” aspect takes some digging to get at and really only exists in the spirit of the music. Think of rock bands, garage rock, rock bands recording music in their garage, desperately trying to sound like the rock outfits on the radio. Or look at a group like The Tough Alliance, two gangly Swedish kids pretending to be international popstars. Or Toro Y Moi, basically recreating cheesy hits of the 80s from his bedroom. What “rock” here really refers to is trying to take popular music and make it your own. Nuxx look at chart darlings like Perfume or MEG and try to become them, they just lack the major label backing and refuse to let that stop them. Can’t hire a renowned producer? Make it yourself. Can’t sing like a diva? Here’s some Auto-tune, now you sound great. Despite the clean pop sound, techrock couldn’t be more DIY and daring. That’s the reason it’s worth your time, and why Sound Ache signals something important.

Buy the album here

Review: Puffyshoes Something Gold

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Japan – cute place right? Experienced exclusively through the “news of the weird” pages/blogs, the country seems like a toddler’s imagination turned real, all Hello Kitty and robots marrying people. The number of cute mascots vying for my attention on my daily commute to work have convinced me that if Pikachu appeared on the national currency tomorrow I wouldn’t bat an eye. Yet like most things looked at only from the outside, the inner workings of Japan aren’t so cuddly. Michael Zielenziger’s Shutting Out The Sun documents the unseen side of modern Japan, a world full of young people refusing to interact with the outside world. Above all else, the Japan Zielenziger writes about seems like a terribly lonely place where fashion brands replace human relationships. No amount of Sanrio plush dolls can dull that pain.

“If it’s ice cream, I’ll write about ice cream. If it’s a ghost, I’ll write something about a ghost. There’s not necessarily a particular message.” That’s Puffyshoe’s member Neko discussing how she writes lyrics, and I don’t doubt her for a second. The Tokyo fuzz-rock band’s second album Something Gold never explicitly mentions modern Japan, but the same outwards-inwards relationship their home country experiences can also be applied to their band. From the outside, Puffyshoes are two young women who emphasize “cuteness” via photos of them posing with sweets and songs about dessert items, delivered in a scuzzy lo-fi package announcing “cutesy girls make loud music!” bordering on total novelty. Spend some time with their latest release, though, and the inside becomes clear. Something Gold finds the energetic young duo not just making some of the catchiest and most chaotic punk-tinged-pop of the year, but also some of the loneliest.

Which is to say…when did Vivian Girls end up being the most influential band in the indie-world? The Brooklyn trio’s 2008 debut album clocked in at just under 22 minutes, but has since influenced scores of groups trying to merge girl-group melodies with reverb. Though Puffyshoes draw inspiration from numerous other groups…fellow Japanese acts Afrirampo and Shonen Knife in particular…, they take the most cues from Vivian Girls, and manage to hit on everything that made Vivian Girls such a thrilling listen. Something Gold never burns itself out (over in 24 minutes) and manages to make reverb an essential part of its songs, not just a cosmetic detail.

Puffyshoes’ mostly avoid complexity on Something Gold, choosing instead to keep it simple with rudimentary playing and lots of hypnotic repetition. What the sloppy chug of “Kissing In The Kitchen” and the vaguely Strokes-ey “Get You Gone” lack in terms of development, they more than make up for with pure catchiness. When Puffyshoes come across a great riff-and-vocals combo, like on “I’m Sorry I’m Not Sorry,” they milk it for all it’s worth and drop it before things get stale. The lo-fi static helps the most on these more mosh-worthy tracks – the extra noise helps buff out the duo’s sparse set-up (guitar, drums), especially when only the drum is being smacked around. “The Scary Ghost,” the one song on Something Gold where Puffyshoes stretch out a bit, benefits the most from the fuzzy recording technique. Opening as a dusty strut, “Ghost” quickly descends into terrifying sonic territory, as the extra buzz turns shouts of “I’ll eat your eyes! I’ll eat your heart!” into actual psychotic threats.

Something Gold would be just another very-good garage rock album if it featured nothing but these kind of songs, but it’s the sadder and less noisy moments that make it something greater. “Happy Birthday To Me” puts a Chuk-E-Cheese-worthy melody up against defeated singing. “Happy birthday to me/tonight I’ll stay here alone/alone, alone, alone/I’m a loner” the song starts before getting into the sad-sack details. It’s not the loneliness that sticks out though as much as the narrator’s desperate attempt to convince herself everything will be OK even when she “cries and cries inside.” Late cut “My Imaginary Lover” devastate even more. “I can hear you in my ears/I can see you in my eyes/I can feel you in my hands/I love you my imaginary lover” things begin, and it soon becomes clear this dream-love is the only thing going for her. Bluntly put, it’s one of the saddest songs I’ve heard all year.

Yet for all the hints of isolation dropped on Something Gold, Puffyshoes also deal in hope. Album standout “Good Girl” works as a sort of statement of purpose for the band, despite ditching the noisy chaos in favor of tight songwriting that would make Guided By Voices proud. “No need to be a good girl” becomes Puffshoes’ rallying cry, and they let it sound clearly over the album’s prettiest sounds. If “Good Girl” is a mission statement, album closer “Lazy Seventeen” serves as a call for action. Pushed ahead by waves of reverb, the band sings “I’m getting too old/I better get up.” After 20-some minutes of loneliness and goodbyes and junk food, Puffyshoes realizes they’ve got to do something.

Something Gold might have a song about ice cream, pizza and ghosts on it, and yeah the cover features the duo wearing animal masks. All external appearances – Puffyshoe’s sophomore album is a catchy blast of garage rock where fuzzy noise boxes in the vocals, making already lonely lyrics even more isolated. A lot of these neo-garage bands could be cited for apathy, but Puffyshoes aren’t afraid to detail being alone, or the hopefulness that eventually springs up from such emotional pits. Despite the cream puff outside, Something Gold’s all substance.

Buy the album at the Social Alienation store

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ps9zpXwFq1A&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

Live Review: Brainfeeder Sessions Featuring Flying Lotus, The Gaslamp Killer And Samiyam At Triangle Osaka

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I’m hesitant to review club nights because the dynamics of the live event change, moving from watching an artist to having fun, something reviewers often can’t touch without sounding like a jerk. Thankfully, Saturday night’s Brainfeeder Session featuring three of the labels brightest stars, resembled a traditional concert thanks to the mosh-pit atmosphere created by the club’s patrons. Speaking of…holy shit, some of the people straight up sucked. The majority of the people at Triangle…which also boasts a very nice staff!…were perfectly cool and not obnoxious. The minority, though, really stood out thanks to general terribleness. I’m not knocking them for being energetic or even drunk…rather for being total dicks who think “dancing” constitutes “imitating Ray Lewis.” Don’t get me started on the guy who wore his backpack on the dancefloor and left it open, thus spilling all his books onto the ground. They were the bros icing the rest of us FlyLo bros.

Ignoring that terrible Smirnoff taste, the actual Brainfeeder event couldn’t have been better, a thumping showcase of one of the most promising electronic collectives on the planet. Founded by Flying Lotus a.k.a. Steve Ellison, the label features artists blending various forms of electronic music together into an otherworldly smoothie that goes down surprisingly well considering the weird ingredients. The Los Angeles-based label has been having a huge 2010, led by founder FlyLo’s glorious electro-mindfuck Cosmogramma and The Gaslamp Killer’s superb production work on the new Gonjasufi album. Their show at Triangle felt like one part victory lap and one part science lab, a chance to revel in recent successes while also continuing to warp electronic music in strange ways.

Samiyam opened the night and impressed during his first visit to Osaka. Though he treads the same 8-bit-and-spacey territory as Flying Lotus, his music remains earthbound. That’s to say…his beats are the only ones I could see a rapper having a shot of flowing over, but retaining the same hard-to-explain “vibe” making the Brainfeeder stable so buzzworthy. Wearing a Gonjasufi t-shirt during his set, The Gaslamp Killer gave a shout-out to the singer whose album A Gonja And A Sufi he offered a sizeable chunk of production to. Whereas his work on that album worked as an ominous backdrop for Gonjasufi’s words, his set at Triangle came off as a pounding mish-mash of styles. The Gaslamp Killer takes the hallmarks of other sounds (primarily dubstep and southern hip-hop), dissects them and sews them together Human Centipede style into new, slightly unsettling bangers. On stage, The Gaslamp Killer plays DJ, hypeman and curator (“now I’m going to take you back…this is from Bombay in 1971”), rarely letting the energy of his set dwindle.

Sandwiched between those two was Flying Lotus and his celebratory set. Leaning heavily on the critically lauded Cosmogramma but working in plenty of older material, FlyLo sent the packed Triangle dancefloor into a tizzy with each new blast of forward-thinking piece of electronic music. For the most part he played versions faithful to the recorded versions, – Thom Yorke’s ghostly voice on “…And The World Laughs With You,” the clanging desert beat of “Camel,” the wobbly synths and should-fly-off-the-track percussion beat that manage to stick together on “Computer Face // Pure Being.” One of the major reasons Cosmogramma stands out as 2010’s best album thus far is, regardless of how cluttered the songs get with disparate ideas, everything remains completely danceable. People went bonkers hearing the rising strings of “Galaxy In Janaki” and the general head-warping insanity of album highlight “Do The Astral Plane.” I don’t know how bodies are supposed to move to these noises, but they found a way Saturday.

The other big reason FlyLo’s latest seems destined for the top of the year-end lists is how personal the whole thing comes off (related…read this). Ellison works in many elements touched by his likes and history – jazz, west coast rap, video games, Radiohead – which makes Cosmogramma warmer and personal and, ultimately, joyous. This revelry carried over to his set in Osaka, where a constantly grinning Lotus took to his Apple iBook like a kid playing with a newly opened Christmas toy, except the child has been opening the same present nearly every night for the past few years but never gets sick of it. He brought out little details speaking to what he enjoys – his dope-as-hell remix of Lil’ Wayne’s “A Milli,” a sample of Adult Swim’s Steve Brule, “Idioteque” – that managed to also resonate with the audience (I like both Tim and Eric, and Kid A). The little touches and FlyLo’s contagious happiness to be playing music, his music, in front of people elevated the set into something else entirely. Something spectacular. Even if the guy behind me kept lifting the hood of my sweater over my head.

Late But Great: Turntable Films Parables Of Fe-Fum

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Parables Of Fe-Fum saw release back in February, but I didn’t get my hands on a physical copy of the mini-album until after Turntable Films performance at the Nara Street Style Festival. Well worth the wait – this album finds an extremely talented young band hitting their stride, and penning some excellent tracks more experienced groups could only dream of stumbling on.

Though this quartet could easily be lumped into the folk-pop genre – yeah, they sound like Fleet Foxes at times – Parables biggest strength lies in how the band manages to take inspiration from a wide arrange of styles and bring it all together into one excellent package. The bells and background “ooh-oohs” push the chug of “Won’t Let You Down” to pretty heights, while the slowly unfolding “Where Is My Little Heart” features similar twee elements that help the song from becoming to folksy. The biggest genre-turn, though, comes on “Welcome To Me,” which should serve as a pretty convincing audition for an appearance on A Prairie Home Companion. It’s a straight up country charge, and a convincing one at that.

The best moments on this album come early on though, the first two tracks being among the finest stuff put out by anyone in Japan in 2010. Opener “Hot Tea After The Lunch” begs you to label it as “Wilsonian pop,” the big Beach Boys-aping breakdown giving you all the evidence needed. And it definitely is worthy of such a tag, but not for the obvious reasons – “Hot Tea” is just a wonderfully pieced together pop specimen, the main guitar line sounding as effortless as a walk in the park but the perfect compliment to the horns blasting through. Every second here gets used as it should…and yeah, especially the Beach Boys-aping breakdown.

Then there’s “2steps.” It’s easy to picture a young band stumbling onto something like “Hot Tea” – a lot of rookies HAVE mined 60’s pop for inspiration and hit on a hype-worthy single. But “2steps” is an entirely beast from the first drum hits. It’s urgent folk pop…indie-pop that grew a backbone making them stand a little taller…that finds every member of Turntable Films upping their game a bit. Specific praise goes to Yosuke Inoue singing, which sounds a touch more confident, and drummer who Tamura Natsuki who owns the song courtesy of his get-in-line beat. This isn’t just an excellent piece of songcraft or obvious single material…which, hey just came out on vinyl…but all the proof you need to throw faith into this quartet.

Parables certainly makes one excited for the future of Turntable Films, but does so all while standing strong as a great mini-album in it’s own right. If this review comes off as a bit too gooey, all praise featuring nothing but synonyms for good, that’s because it’s hard to be critical of this band. This album, albeit a very short one, has no filler, and the highs offer such excitement trying to gloss them up with clever similes or adjectives seems pointless. Just listen to “2steps” and try not to wonder how a band formed in 2008, only on album two (errr, 1.5) could come up with that. It’s damn exciting. So yes, keep an eye on these guys and where they’ll go next. Just don’t forget to give them a spin in the present as well.

BUY IT NOW HERE

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQleIwtKwag&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

Review: Soutaiseiriron’s Synchroniciteen

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“Being mysterious” has long been a successful gimmick exploited by musicians to grab some media attention. Much like in professional wrestling…how disappointed were you when masked hellspawn Kane was revealed to be a bald white guy?…an air of mystery and inaccessibility can get a lot of folks interested in what you serve up. But not giving interviews or having an official website can only go so far. Save for Jandek, if a musical group doesn’t make good music people eventually stop caring. The Tough Alliance and jj didn’t become blog darlings because Google Image Search brought up few photos, but because both groups made top notch pop music with an undercurrent of playful situationalist politics. The Knife didn’t land on everyone’s end-of-the-oughts list because they wore bird masks…they just made one of the best pop albums of the decade.

Every single article about Soutaiseiriron…including my own…talks at some point about the band’s mysterious ways. Few publicity shots of the group exist online and they don’t talk to the media. These two points have got prominent play in the few reviews of the outfit’s new album Synchroniciteen before the album itself gets lauded. Here’s the problem – the “Soutaiseiriron is so mysterious!” angles has been played up so much I think it’s giving this album a critical boost it’s not really deserving of. Sure, finding anything about the group borders on the impossible…but so what? That shouldn’t transform an OK album into one of 2010’s best.

Soutaiseiriron mostly play stripped down J-Pop. The overproduction dooming most mainstream Japanese pop gets thrown out here, replaced with delicate guitar lines, minimal percussion and the occasional electronic effect. I see why this formula would appeal to Japanese music critics swamped by J-Pop artists who seemingly exist exclusively in Kirin ads…this stripped down musical and PR approach definitely comes as a breath of fresh air. Yet this doesn’t excuse some pretty unexciting songs. Synchroniciteen opener “シンデレラ” pretty much previews what’s to come – neon-tinged synths offer initial intrigue before a guitar line drops into the song and ends up becoming the song’s dominant sound. A sound, I might add, that sounds a bit too much like the music played during the Weather Channel’s “Local On The 8s” segment. Before the track winds up, the band hits on one excellent sounding idea.

The majority of songs on Synchroniciteen generally follow this formula, save for the group’s few forays into straight-ahead rock which ignore the whole “catchy” thing entirely. Let’s ignore those weak points and return to “シンデレラ” for a second – it’s a track that opens up interestingly, starts becoming too repetitive after a minute, then hits on one genius idea, here the chorus, which allows the lead singer to show off her vocal acrobatics (more on that later). Problem is…the song shows off this highpoint but then immediately returns to the now-doubly-boring part that preceded it. The track repeats itself, sticking to the less exciting part before springing the really cool part on the listener one more time. Soutaiseiriron never develop the music any further than this, instead teasing with awesome sounding bits before pulling them back. Most of the songs here suffer this problem, becoming an annoying exercise in putting up with meh ideas for the payoffs.

But good god damn, those payoffs. So good I almost wanted to sugarcoat the rest of Synchroniciteen’s shortcomings, they all come courtesy of lead singer Etsuko Yakushimaru’s voice, capable of both prettiness and sudden shifts in speed like it’s a verbal time machine. She takes something as unsexy as saying the word “China” repeatedly on “チャイナアドバイス” and turns it into one of the album’s most sticking moments. Elsewhere, she zig-zags through a guitar line imitating the “Asian music” you’d expect to find in a Looney Tunes’ short from the 1940s on “(恋は)百年戦争” and glides perfectly in time with the scittery pace of late highlight “小学館.” After being confronted with Synchroniciteen’s most irksome sound – funk guitar – on “マイハートハードピンチ,” Yakushimaru steps in to save the song by delivering the album’s most hypnotic vocal moment – come the chorus, she basically just runs through the Japanese alphabet, but does so in such a captivating way I’m convinced an LP of her just reading off the Domino’s Pizza menu would blow my mind.

Oh, and let’s not forget about the “Miss Parallel World,” the single that convinced me to give this album a shot in the first place. The verse instrumentation shifts ever so much, the little turns adding a layer of intrigue often missing from the rest of the songs. Then there’s the predictably great chorus, where Yakushimaru’s voice sounds like several Yakushimarus trying to sing over one another, the resulting pile-up like hypnotism. Most of the songs on this album follow the same skeleton as this one, but Soutaiseiriron just sound better on “Miss Parallel World.” It’s the record’s best and one of the year’s finest.

Still, these instances only pop up sporadically, never carried out consistently. Synchroniciteen boasts plenty of great moments and a few standout tracks, but never feels consistently good. Soutaiseiriron definitely come off as a band worth rooting for, one of the few bands capable of charting on Oricon who also aren’t annoying adverts. Yet this isn’t reason to hype up an otherwise so-so LP. It’s an OK album propped up by a mysterious band. To cut to the chase I’ll drop my air of mystery and break out ye olde Pitchfork number ratings – 6.6.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zri4mqEwVE4&hl=en_US&fs=1&]