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.
Teen Runningsが何とカリフォルニアのインディーポップバンドのSea Lionsとスプリット作品”Home Recordings”をリリースするみたいです。彼等を”purveyors of indie and bedroom pop”（インディーとベッド・ルームポップの供給者）と紹介するNeotomic Records!がこの”Home Recordings”を限定版のカセットとしてリリースするとの事。Teen RunningsはMaroon 5の”Won’t Go Home Without You”のカバーや、ネットに出回ってたりする過去２年のデモ・トラック等を収録する模様。今は”We’ll Never Stay Together” が聴けるようになっていて、これはTeen Runningsの長所だけを強調した名曲です。さびれたボーカルをフィーチャーした爽やかなサーフ・ロックで、全てはフィードバックで崩されています。試聴はこちらから。
Old Lacy Bed – Coastlands from Old Lacy Bed on Vimeo. “Coastlands” has been out in the wild in a different form for about a year now, but Old Lacy Bed recently posted a new video for featuring a fresh take on the darty song. You can watch the indie-pop-lifestyle clip above. Weirdly enough, “Coastlands”…
No nonsense here – here’s a Japanese outfit out of Sapporo that provides info but not too much information about themselves. They put on a party every once in awhile, and have a few songs online that came out prior to “Queen Anne.” But man oh man, “Queen Anne.” This is direct, bouncy pop, no…
Honestly, I’m still not sure how this grabbed my attention. Was it the name of the band and song, neither of which really make any sense? Was it their minimalist Bandcamp, featuring just this one song and with a header that’s nothing more than an e-mail address? The track at the center of all this,…
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…
