Sometimes you just need to dive into music without thinking much about it in order to escape from the everyday. Producer IIIreme’s “Planetary Cous Cous” offers one such opportunity to just get spun around a bit by colorful blips and a shuffling beat. Nothing more nothing less – this is a rainbow-accented escape for right now. Listen above.
The preview collection for the Visitors 2 compilation sounds rather lovely, a collection of very talented producers offering up easy-going (but not meek) disco cuts. Yet this one, from producer Bazz, jumps out amongst the bunch. It is a sparkly number, one that paces itself just right and features enough flourishes coming in at the…
“Tropical” has become such a meaningless buzzword that hearing something that genuinely sounds tropical is a genuine shock to the system. Buddhahouse has done this well over the last two years, whether via the cool shimmy of “Summer Breeze” or borderline kitsch of “Mango!,” each of which have genuinely gotten me writing about weather.* “See…
“Winter Valentine”を説明するにはいくつかのアプローチ方法があります。ボーカロイド好きのアーティストmus.hibaとBrightonを拠点とするゲーム音楽プロデューサーCalum Bowenのコラボレーション作品なのですが、国内外でのコラボでは最先端と言えるのでは（例えばi-flsとmus.hibaとZoom LensだったりCokiyuとBathsだったり)。この曲ではmus.hibaによる雪歌ユフの声と、(おそらく)人間の歌声がデュエットしています。こういう事もボーカロイドの持つポテンシャルと言えるでしょう。が、そんなうんちくを抜きにしても”Winter Valentine”は素晴らしい。9-Bit Blizzardというコンピに収録されているのですが、mus.hibaの “Magical Fizzy Drink”と同様に、ゲームぽさを匂わせつつも、それはほんのディテールであって全てではない。始まりは愛らしい子供時代のような雰囲気で２人のボーカルが交互に歌います。まるで星のカービィのような世界観なのですが、ここからは素晴らしい展開が。mus.hibaとBowenの両者が多くのアイディアを出したというのが聴いていてわかる程アイディアに満ちていて、１つのネタに留まらず、様々な方向に移行していくメロディが圧巻です。コラボレーションとはこういう事でしょう？試聴は以下から。
I’ll cut straight to the chase…the band Flight Egg recently posted two new songs to their MySpace. One of them sounds like a stab at Radiohead balladry. The other, and the one I want to write about, is “道程.” The track opens with an indie-take on hard rock, meaning the guitars sound aggressive but still…
Time for MAP, the monthly feature where blogs from more than 30 countries share an artist and a song with the world. For Japan, we are highlighting the driving rock of Tenkiame, the newest project from Azusa Suga (For Tracy Hyde, Shortcake Collage Tape). Hear it and more below. Click the play button icon to…
Programming Note: This week, expect abbreviated posts because…well, I have a lot of regular work to do and, most importantly, I’m taking a Japanese test this Sunday! I’ve failed this stupid test twice before, and really want to pass it this time around, so I’m studying really hard…accordingly, don’t expect much in-depth writing this week…