If They Are To Bloom: A Canata Records Compilation Featuring Atlanta Girl, Little Ripple, Lake Michigan And More

On the surface level, Canata Records seems like a pretty rigid netlabel sonically. “We believe that freedom is pop,” goes one of the slogans on their Bandcamp page, and a cursory look at the artist names, album and song titles indicate the label deals mostly in twee. Yet what has made them one of the best places for music in Japan over the last few years – besides offering it all up for free – has been the variety present on their releases. They’ve featured indie-pop done entirely by Hatsune Miku, shoegaze, chillwave-leaning electronic music and whatever you want to call Shortcake Collage Tape’s still-excellent Spirited Summer. Their new compilation album, though, leans a bit toward the indie-pop side, with the majority of the bands playing it relatively safe. Yet each act on this collection does bring something different to the digital table. Tokyo’s Atlanta Girl has been bringing a slightly demented edge to indie-pop for awhile now, and there two contributions hide a sinister side – “Are You Lookin’ For My Eyes?” is the more straightforward of the pair, though his singing and the general jangliness of the song seems like it might fall off the edge at any second. The other, “South Carolina,” has been written about before. Not all of it is good, though. An Incline And The Door’s brand of pastiche turns out be more aggravating than interesting, a jumble of ideas that never really form into anything memorable. Little Ripple’s “Prism” does a lot better, by introducing electronics and a driving beat that give an otherwise shaky twee number a level of intrigue. The best stuff, though, ends up being the most forward. Corsage’s driving “Outward,” Magao’s noisy “Mashiro No Sora,” both contributions from the outfit Lake Michigan, who are probably the best new name to come off of this (and this comp is made up mostly of new names who are quite good). Get the compilation here.