Plenty of people can make beats, but a sign of an artist to keep an eye on is someone who can make a beat feel like a story. Firemj — “fire emoji,” if I’m reading closely enough — pulls that off on “Night Coast,” a number that uses pacing to its advantage and shows that…
Kobe’s Tofubeats is a child of the internet, and the EPs and albums he’s released thus far in his career…both as bedroom uploader and major-label signing…have reflected this attention-deprived upbringing, one where you are always a “related video” away from falling down some new hole. His full-lengths jump all over the place, zipping from synth…
Plenty of people have come around to producer Yunomi’s maximalist mix of gumball-bright synthesizers and traditional touches, and 2018 has already proven pretty busy. The most notable project he’s undertaken was more or less architecting the debut album from future-bass idols Cy8er, seeing him add in a few more dramatic touches (alongside big dumb drops)….
Sometime in the past month and a half, the CUZ ME PAIN label went from three established artists joining forces to also incorporating a slew of upstarts dabbling in the same sound. We already looked at THE BEAUTY the other day, so now we turn attention to Melancholic Masculinity. Splitting time between Tokyo and New…
The artist formerly known as Athena continues to piece together a great run of music. Following the icy electronica of Diamond True, the producer is back with “CH3COOH,” which Google tells me refers to acetic acid. It is a song that feels like it is dissolving at times, with noises skittering off and leaving slight…
Recently, I watched a debate unfold over Twitter about the quality of Japanese author Haruki Murakami’s work, the majority of those jumping into the fray tearing into his style, in particular his reliance on “magical realism.” I get why some would be turned off to this, but that ability to make the everyday seem special,…
Tokyo’s Ningen OK are a group that demand to be seen live. I lucked my way into seeing them this past weekend, knowing nothing about them, but leaving thinking this duo put on one of the better live sets I’ve seen recently. They play surrounded by what appear to be homemade white pyramids. Guitarist Takurou Yamashita stands in front of a board littered with effects pedals, while Ken-ichi Sakaguchi looms over a drum kit which he soon hammers away at. They play very precise, wordless rock that always seems an inch away from tumbling into chaos, but always manages to hold together. Between songs, Sakaguchi leans towards a Vocoder and creates trippy segues featuring his robo-tized voice. Then they launch off again. It’s captivating stuff.
Their music manages to still sound good away from a live house – “Taion No Yukue” highlights Ningen OK’s precision-centric nature while also introducing elements of chaos (listen to that radio feedback). Listen to that below. It comes off their recently released first album of the same name, which is also probably full of good moments. Still, Ningen OK seem like a live band first, one that you should certainly make time for. Bookmark this page.
We spent last week yacking about all the great music we overlooked throughout 2012…and, in the process, missed out on a lot of great new tunes that popped up during those critical five days. Ironic! The rest of the year here at Make Believe Melodies will be spent talking about the best music of the…
It hasn’t even been a week since I went into a tizzy writing about May.e’s album Mattiola, one of the year’s most stunning releases and one rich in FEELINGS. Turns out May.e is a restless soul, and also capable of churning out high-quality music at will – you can hear a new song of bare-bones…
Quick quiz – what album was Make Believe Melodies most excited about coming into 2013? Even though this year has seen new full-lengths from Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, Moscow Club, Sakanaction, Tofubeats and a bunch of other artists I adore, someone else had me giddier than any of them heading into January. That would be Eadonmm,…
I’m trying to finish (errrrrr, start) the official Make Believe Melodie’s “our favorite songs” feature, so in the meantime, enjoy this new song courtesy of Osaka’s Seiho. “Clipping Music” starts off quite sensual – some lovely, lounge-ready electronics playing over the sound of waves reaching the shore – but soon enters territory we are more…
Bandcampから無料でダウンロードできるCassettevision Samplerは、決して音楽ブログから注目を浴びるべく作られた、レーベルのデビュー作品ではありません。レーベルは２０００年からあり、「不思議な魅力や毒、ひっかかるなにかしらがある音楽を紹介。」というコンセプトで、２００３年以降、数々のアルバムをリリースしています。このサンプラーはCassettevisionの歴史のような物で、過去にリリースした１３曲が収録されています。 Cassettevision Samplerの大半はミニマルなエレクトロニカで、冷ややかな実験性はありつつも、暖かくポップな印象が強いです。２つの作品を同レーベルからリリースしているLemの、”Story Of Surf For Young People”で聴けるボサノバ調のサウンドからは、とても温もりが感じられます。他のトラックはというと、engの作品は、跳ねるようなチャイムのような音やノイズ等、一見形のないように思えるサウンドを、ポップソングとして見事に再構築しています。Kiwako Kanedaの曲は、インディーポップやフォークにエレクトロニカが足されたような作品。Hot Fudge Sundaeの”New Walk”はストレートにポップ、Apartmenの”Hand Me Down”は直球ガレージロックなのですが、ちょっとしたクセや工夫が足されていて、レーベルのカラーを象徴しています。Cassettevision Samplerはミニマルなエレクトロニカが多く、レーベルのイメージを知るにはもってこいの作品と言えるでしょう。 cassettevision sampler by cassettevision
In a Japan Times’ story about her label Flau, the head of Flau reveals that Cuushe’s last EP was intended to get the artist pegged as “dream pop” rather than “electronic pop.” Mission accomplished I believe – who knows how many times I’ve referred to her songs as “dreamy.” Yet newest cut “Twilight,” in advance…
