Digital Overload: Tokinomakina’s “Slave Sekai Ga Kishimu Oto”

We here are always fond of artists who can turn seeming chaos into something catchy and focused, so hearing Tokinomakina’s “Slave Sekai Ga Kishimu Oto” was a welcome treat today. Tokinomakina is a collaborative project between experimental artist Hiyu Nonaka (who sometimes make music using Pikachu toys, a must click) and Prototype-AI tied together by a story that I think is about an android of some sort, and last year released a solid set of electro-pop through Cyber Frog Recordz. The project melds pop with wonkier ideas, and their latest highlights this well, matching signal-interrupted vocals with glitchy beats, but without ever turning into IDM slop. Rather, the pair thread the disruption together to create a choppy but inviting number that sees just how many holes a song following a pop template can have. Listen above, and also check out the video for their “Yuria Type-D” below.