Cubismo Grafico and Matias Tellez must have hit it off at the Flake Records show earlier this month. Grafico remixed Tellez’s “Convicted,” giving the Norwegian artist’s poppy tune a dancefloor punch. Tracks up at Flake Records MySpace, check it out.
It’s that time of the year, where we start looking slightly back on the good releases of 2018’s first half. Producer Haruno’s Vocaloid-powered set Filia is one of the last six month’s nicer surprises, and it’s great to see them checking back in with “Currant.” What starts as a pleasant-enough bit of pop quickly turns…
The band Yüksen Buyers House has been around for quite some time, at least in the context of Tokyo-based bands. They’ve played shows alongside the likes of Jesse Ruins and Moscow Clubs…which is to say, they were kicking around five years ago. And for the most part, they were deeply alright, a fine enough opener…
私たちがmus.hibaに興味を持ったきっかけは彼の”Magical Fizzy Drink“というトラック。ボーカロイドという、キャラクターをシンセサイザーのように操り歌わせるプログラムを曲に使ったのが実験的かつ印象的でした。彼は雪歌ユフというボーカロイドを使っているのですが、ありのままでは不可能な、個性的な使い方が面白いです。”Slow Snow”という新曲にもまた細部に至るまでこだわりが。”Magical Fizzy Drink”では様々な音色が左右に飛び交い、暗くも暖かい雰囲気を演出していたのですが、”Slow Snow”ではそのような物は逆に陰に潜み、キラキラしたシンセが前へと出てきています。メインの音色は瞬間的なピッチ・ベンドによる、まるで波紋のようなエフェクトが掛かっていて、輝かしい世界から一瞬現実に取り戻されるような、一筋縄ではいかない工夫が施されています。雪歌ユフの声も凍えるような寒さの中マフラーを介して歌っているような、少し冷たく、くもっているような印象。途中でピッチが変わり、曲の流れを上手く展開させていく手助けをしたりも。この組み合わせが不思議と不気味さを演出しています。試聴は以下から。 引き続き「雪」というテーマを追求しているmus.hibaは、Singing In The Snowという、雪歌ユフをフィーチャーした冬／クリスマスがテーマのコンピレーションアルバムにて更なる新曲を発表するみたいです。”hidamari”という曲で、一部分だけ試聴できますが、フルで発表されるのを楽しみに待つのも良いかもしれませんね。ここで情報を読む事ができますよ。
A lot of artists in recent memory have tried to sound uneasy as a way to stand out from the often-clean sound of mainstream Japanese music, but Utae’s “Supersonic” really makes the wobbly touches worth it. It starts with twinkles and a heavily filtered voice, before letting in a slightly more inviting set of vocals…
America’s Orange Milk recently wrapped up a tour of Japan and, despite a few setbacks — mainly, the lack of Giant Claw — they put on a great set of experimental loopiness (well, at least at the Tokyo leg at WWW I attended). As they are central to the label as a whole, the performances…
Kyoto-based electronic musician Rei Harakami has died at age 40. According to music website Natalie, he died of a brain hemorrhage yesterday. Harakami made his debut in 1997, releasing a self-titled EP on Sublime Records. The following year they released Harakami’s Unrest, his first full-length album. He released seven albums over his career, along with…