Far East Sweet: OMEGABOY

Osaka’s OMEGABOY shows an affinity for Asian imagery all over his official Bandcamp page, ranging from pictures of Hindu deities including Ganesha to Chinese images. Save for the above picture which, in my infinite wisdom, chose to represent this post, OMEGABOY plays up this continental angle to the point he tags several of his songs as “Chinese” or “China.” Sometimes this Far East feel bleeds into his music, traditional-sounding touches played on an especially chirpy keyboard. “Eternal Friend” shambles ahead on thrift-store drum machine and twinkling synth, a charming bit of DIY pop that probably should be sold on Etsy. “Me Can Not Be Found” matches synth popcorn with the sort of whirring sounds you would expect on an Oneohtrix Point Never to create a restrained number imaging what Peking opera would sound like in Blade Runner.

Those songs feature relatively normal vocals, mumbly at times but ultimately unremarkable. It’s when OMEGABOY digitally twists his voice into something alien, though, when his best music comes out. “Azteca” already would have been a highlight with its frenetic synth and dance-leaning percussion, but stirring his voice into a sonic porridge stands out as the most interesting element here, giving “Azteca” an out-of-body vibe. Similarly, the driving “Lindh” benefits from OMEGABOY muffling his voice up as he sings like The Teenagers. Listen to “Azteca” below, and listen to a lot more OMEGABOY here.

[bandcamp track=1745166342 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=venti]