Some of the earliest groups I listened to when I moved to Japan were techno-pop outfits. I mean, yeah, but also a lot of smaller outfits primarily hailing from Kansai, highlighted early on by Root Thumm and BangBangBalloon (eventually rechristened Nuxx). A lot of what drew me to those outfits also pops up when listening to Osaka outfit Andriiland’s “Owaranai Dance Wo…,” the rare song labelled a “demo” where whatever perceived imperfections are blessings in disguise. The duo don’t over complicate anything — this is a shuffling techno-pop number accented by a few “hey!” samples and coated in a nice electronic glaze (especially the lead vocals). Yet every element clicks just right and the end result is a swift number that milks every emotion possible from its digital frame. Listen above.
