Friday Night Fun Post: Ryuei Kotoge And Sima Kim, Boys Age And Maho Littlebear

What are you doing with your Friday night? If you are as cool a dude as me, you are spending it in your apartment getting mad at the New York Times and catching up with just-released Japanese music. Let’s listen to some new music together, shall we?

– The cross-country duo of Ryuei Kotoge and Sima Kim have created some great tunes together in the past, and now they are back with the rumbling “Collinear.” Instead of existing in the shadows like their previous efforts, this one is a relentless drum ‘n’ bass track. Listen at the top of the page.

– Now here’s an excellent idea – Boys Age, the prolific duo who release songs and EPs and albums at a constant clip, plan on putting out their first anthology collection (!) next month…which is great, because they are one of the Tokyo area’s most intriguing acts, but also super tough to keep up with. In advance, they’ve released the prom-dance-recorded-under-the-ocean “Skyrim,” which you can hear below.

– Last, a bubbly techno track from the versatile Maho Littlebear, still putting together one of the better 2014 resumes of any indie act in Japan today. “&” delivers on its techno tag, though it is accented by the wordless singing of (presumably) Littlebear herself. That one is below.

Similar Posts

  • Puffyshoes Prep New Cassette, Finally The Weekend

    Rejoice owners of cassette players and/or really old Toyotas. Cutesy lo-fi sirens Puffyshoes have a new full-length coming out on the supposedly outdated medium this month, March 15 to be exact. Finally The Weekend features 10 tracks, some sporting very Puffyshoes-appropriate names like “I Want A Boy” and “Backstage Pass.” They also have the intriguing…

  • New Shortcake Collage Tape: Spirited Summer

    ヴェイパーウェイヴは(かつては?)インターネットを通して普及したジャンルで、こんな楽しい記事がありますので良かったらご覧下さい…Accelerationists! Trash music! Capitalism!みたいな…でも実際にヴェイパーウェイヴがどんな音楽なのかはややこしいですよね。たとえ結論が出たとしても、また「あれっ?」ってなりそう。私が思うヴェイパーウェイヴとは古くさい日本のコマーシャルとか企業ビデオとかをサンプリングした音楽で…楽曲自体はあまり良くない物が多いように感じます。そのコマーシャルとかのボーカルを少し歪ませたりして…こんな感じのを。この手法からは良い音楽も生み出されていますが、その反面に駄作が多いのも事実です。 東京のShortcake Collage Tapeはそんなヴェイパーウェイヴに近い音楽をやっていましたが、初のフルレングスSpirited Summerではそんな手法からは少し離れていて…というよりは単純にサンプリングを上手く使った完成度の高い作品になっています。例えば“Meet Me In Your Dreams”では昨夏YouTubeでよく観るハメになったあのコマーシャルをネタにしていて(あの広告に嫌な思いでがあっても今となっては面白く聴こえるはず)、他の曲でもコマーシャルやアニメのサンプルが曲自体を殺す事なく、上手く新しさを生み出しています。Shortcakeのベストトラックはやっぱり“Polaroid Full Of Kisses”で、ぼんやりとした記憶をさまよっていると曲の後半ではアニメのサンプルが。タイトルが示唆する通りこのSpirited Summerは暖かい季節の思い出への執着心から生み出されていて、“Summer School”や“Waiting In The Afterlife”なんかでは彼自身が“is ideal for midsummer chillouts”と説明する通り、日差しの強い日々を淡く表現しています。が、もう過ぎ去ったチルアウトみたいな感じも。最も夏っぽい“Empire Beach”と“Painted Ocean”ではシンセとホーンのサンプルが海岸を連想させます。重要なのはビートがしっかりと曲を進めて行くという点。Spirited Summerは単にノスタルジックな気分を表現しているだけでなく、サンプルを見せつけるだけでもなく、しっかりと音楽を通して感情が表現されています。2013年に入ってから初の傑作と感じています(もう2週間目に突入してしまいましたね…早い早い…)。無料ダウンロードはこちらから。

  • Member’s Only Jacket Required: Dorian’s “Morning Calling”

    One glance at the t-shirt racks of a Hot Topic or the recent film work of Michael Bay should convince you…if you didn’t already notice…that the 80s remain uber hip. Plenty of other junior pop-culture writers have already pointed out how a lot of people babbling about the Reagan years didn’t actually exist during them,…

  • Triple Trouble: Blacklolita, Oshirijima And Ryuki Miyamoto Team Up For #LΛNCHR EP

    Hashtags in album titles? What a world, I tell ya. Via Trekkie Trax, the trio of Blacklolita, Oshirijima and Ryuki Miyamoto have teamed up for #LΛNCHR, a high-energy set that starts off with each contributor sharing a solo number. Those veer towards the uptempo sort of track one would expect from a Trekkie Trax release,…

  • Just Beachy: Subtle Control “Too Young”

    Second Royal Records really has flipped for beach-ready music. The latest sorta-chillwave artist to find sanctuary at the Kyoto label is Subtle Control, who appears on the forthcoming Second Royal Vol. 6 compilation with his song…and his only one at the moment…”Too Young.” It features the same stretched out guitar notes that have become synonymous…