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.
Finally, Tokyo trio Jesse Ruins’ debut album will come out on May 21 via Lefse Records. In advance of the album A Film, the imprint has released a new song called “Laura Is Fading” from the group, which you can hear below. It’s more immediate than many of the songs Jesse Ruins has played before,…
Neon Cloud Neon Cloud Neon Cloud Neon Cloud! Sorry for the excitement, but this is the first new output from the mysterious Tokyo project since 2011’s excellent (and only getting better with time) Knit EP. This isn’t quite an original work, but what Neon Cloud does to Brooklyn outfit Blue Foundation’s (really good on its…
Up to now, Tokyo’s Elen Never Sleeps (sometimes written in all-caps) been making music almost too easily described as “dreamy,” intimate pop covered in a haze that makes the whole track sound like it could vanish into the air any second. Yet he’s accomplished an unlikely feet with his new pair of songs – Elen…
Monday morning huh? That’s no good. Here’s some new music from Japan to get you through this day. – Nagoya producer House Of Tapes has been expanding sonically from his original, punishing take on dance music. New track “Mellow Days” isn’t the acoustic hammock-jam that would signal a total about-face, but it is certainly one…
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…
Dude releases tons of new material all the time but…I don’t remember Osaka’s Soleil Soleil sounding this crisp before. “Sun” sounds clearer than most of songs this producer has made before, the synths shimmering and the percussion clanking clearly, to the point that this actually sounds a lot like neighbor-to-the-north Madegg. It’s a bit more…
