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 not sure whether Diorama Books are a bookstore or an independent book publisher (or…both!), but they have somehow made a collaboration between Kansai producer Okadada and the lead singer of the band Skirt a reality. It’s a nice bit of 80s-indebted pop, Okadada giving the song a warped electronic feel courtesy of his keyboards,…
今週日本のインディー界において大きな話題だったのはジャスティン・ビーバーでしたね。大阪のCloudy Buseyが曲をカナダのポップ・スターに歌わせたいと言ったのが発端で、今度はGive Me Walletsがジャスティンのヒット曲、”Boyfriend”をカバーしたみたいです。以下から視聴できます。Give Me Walletsはジャスティン・ティンバーレイクのようなミニマリズムを取り除いて、よりコンプレックスに、より速いテンポで曲を仕上げました。ジャスティン・ビーバーみたいなハイトーンは一切目指さない独自性がこのカバーを素晴らしい物にしています。
There are a few new few twists to be found over at Ano(t)raks, the online label specializing in Japanese indie-pop. The Upwards And Onwards EP, the follow-up compilation to last year’s excellent Soon collection, features sounds just outside of the collective’s usual twee leanings. Tokyo’s Canopies And Drapes shows up with her bouncy, Night On…
Incorporating natural sounds into one’s work isn’t a new trick – artists have long been doing that, many of them recently and many of them in Japan. Magical Mistakes jumps immediately to mind with his bird and bug sounds sneaking into his songs. So Kindan No Tasuketsu shouldn’t be praised for her use of nature…
