我々の”favorite songs of 2012 lists”のような年末特集を組むのは非常に難しいです。限られた数を選ばなければいけないので、結果選べないアーティストもいるからです。去年でいうと”My Aquamarine/Spinning Wheel”をリリースしたElen Never Sleeps。このシングルは素晴らしい曲を２つも収録した、ENSがアーティストとして急成長した作品です。そして2013年を迎え”Silver”をリリースしたENSは、今年もさらに彼らしさを発揮させています。新曲”Shine On Me”は去年の”My Aquamarine”を彷彿とさせるものの、ビートがENSの今までの曲の中で一番ダンサブル。コーラスの部分では、風変わりなボーカルやストリングスを始め、さまざまな音色が飛び交っているものの、互いを殺しません。こういった細かいこだわりが光ります。
One of the tougher parts of putting together a year-end feature – like our “favorite songs of 2012 lists” – is cutting it down. This means some really great stuff gets left outside…and last year, one of the toughest omissions to make was Tokyo murmur-pop dude Elen Never Sleeps, whose “My Aquamarine/Spinning Wheel” single featured two great songs and marked a jump forward artistically for Elen. It’s looking like ENS won’t be facing a similar dilemma in 2013, as he’s just released two tracks in advance of his new Silver EP, and both find the solo artist making further artistic strides. “Shine On Me” initially resembles last year’s “My Aquamarine,” but features a livelier beat that is the closest ENS has ever come to being dancey. The real development, though, is greater attention paid to sonic details – the most catching element of “Shine” is the almost-meowed noises that make up the chorus, but equally as strong are the strings that rise up throughout the song.
The title track from the EP, meanwhile, is more reflective, but features ENS adopting a slightly deeper voice for most of the song. It’s the less daring of the two tracks, but refines the Elen Never Sleeps sound further. Listen below.
I’m trying to finish (errrrrr, start) the official Make Believe Melodie’s “our favorite songs” feature, so in the meantime, enjoy this new song courtesy of Osaka’s Seiho. “Clipping Music” starts off quite sensual – some lovely, lounge-ready electronics playing over the sound of waves reaching the shore – but soon enters territory we are more…
Seiho has let people rap over his music before…but it would be best if we didn’t talk about the last time that happened (don’t call on cheeseball rappers). This, a song from the Osaka producer’s forthcoming album Abstraktsex, which takes an old Seiho instrumental (“Evening,” which is peak Seiho in all its nervous twitches and…
Seiho just wrapped up a tour of Japan with LuckyMe artist Obey City, and in support of that tour/because why not take the opportunity to do so the pair released a four-track album called Shochu Sounds. You should get the whole thing over here, but for now let’s focus specifically on the Osaka producer’s “Double…
This last year has seen a handful of electronic-heavy acts, outfits unafraid to mess around with vocals and tempo to create something that a few have labelled “future pop” because of how left-field it sounds for something capable of topping charts. English acts like AlunaGeorge and Disclosure, Scotland’s Chvrches and Canada’s Purity Ring have been…
The titles of i-fls’ albums always seem like clues to what’s going on, but strangely enough his latest throws me for a loop. It has a title within a title – he is referring to a cassette named “Awareness To The Winter,” although I have no idea what that really means. Actual relic of the…
I wouldn’t go as far as to say Kai Takahashi’s remix of French outfit Phoenix’s “Entertainment” is better than the original…but it is definitely more consistently good. What bugs me about the Phoenix cut is how the hook just sort of hangs in the air, the driving energy of the verses gone in favor of…
