At this point, Hokkaido-based project Yunomi could (and should!) replace at least a mini-album of their squishy, cuddly electro-pop. “Akenai Yoru, Samenai Yume” is the latest entry in what is becoming one of the stronger runs of releases over the past 12 months, and it touches on all the elements that have made Yunomi stand…
The current increase in interest around older Japanese music — especially from the individual members of Yellow Magic Orchestra — has been a neat development, and makes the music electronic outfit Crystal has been making this decade look all the more ahead of the curve (errrr, by looking back). Crystal Station 64 found the group…
Expect a bit more on this one in the near future, but Nagoya’s Crunch followed up on the melancholy chill of last year’s “Blue” with the Blue Blue Blue EP, released this past Wednesday (and available on a lot of streaming services and iTunes). Don’t let the extremely adorable sea critter on the cover art…
Navigating emotions and then simply going for total release is a constant element of Harunemuri’s music. It’s part of the reason her Haru To Syura album from earlier in the year is among 2018’s finest — the constant tension between turning things over frequently and using words as a way to figure out what’s happening,…
Consider Mayhem a test. This collaborative album finds Okinawa Electric Girl Saya teaming up with another Terminal Explosion staple, producer AX, whose best work up to this point is probably the too-many-highballs-kicked-back stagger of the Purple Juke series. Mayhem is the first of two releases coming from the pair over the next couple of months,…
(Heh, talk about nice timing) Kobe producer Tofubeats’ latest single is here, and after two major-label songs where he hooked up with some older names, he’s teamed up with Hitomi Arai of Tokyo Girls’ Style for new single “Come On Honey!” It’s a shuffling number featuring some nice synth blurts right before the chorus and…
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.
関西のロックバンド、NOKIES!がデビューフルアルバム、”Between The Blinks”をFlake Recordsとタワーレコードからリリースしました。Los Campesinos!のようなインディーポップが特徴的な彼等でしたが、今作品では良い意味で幅広い層から好かれそうな雰囲気。タワーレコードからのリリースも違和感なく、これからバンドはどんどんメインストリームなロックバンドとして成長していきそうですが、ボーカルのクメユウスケはそのような方向性とは違ったものをYouth Genius(Youth LagoonとPerfume Geniusの融合みたいな感じかな？）として表現しています。 Soundcloudには、”All of the songs is inspired by peculiar atomosphere created by the streets and youth of Kyoto city,”(京都の若者やストリートが持つ独特な空気感が楽曲に影響を与えている。)と書かれているのですが、その通り京都の若者達は個性的なスタイルを表現していて、Youth Lagoonは少しばかりのエレクトロ要素を持つインディーポップと、跳ねるようなファンクを融合していて、哀愁とワイルドさのバランスを上手く保っています。”Explains”は直球勝負なインディーポップで、センターに配置されたキーボードがとても良い存在感。”Behind You”と”Stay Above The Clouds”は多くの打ち込みが使われていて、今年に国内でリリースされたインディーポップの中でも特に目立っています。そして”We Keep Kissing”はクラブ的アノラックサウンドが、The Brixton Academyが本気を出してダンサブルな楽曲を作ったかのような印象。Youth Geniusみたいなプロジェクトがあることで、NOKIES!の方向性もどんどん進化していきそうですね。
現在大阪で多くの素晴らしい音が誕生しています。今年の夏にも、現在の関西の音を象徴するといっても過言ではない、２つのコンピレーション・アルバムがリリースされました。最新のは”Yellow Print (Side-A)”で、”puredogma”からリリースされています。このアルバムを既に紹介しているブログ、Simon Saysによると、”puredogma”は、Solei Soleiいわく、”レーベルとかでは無くてこれを通してクリエイティブな事をやろう”というアイディアだそうです。Solei Soleiの”Olympic” は、ロンドンというよりはイビザのような雰囲気で、Outdoorminer(Cloudy Buseyの別プロジェクト)の “Love Has Them”は、現代版９０年代アシッド・ハウスのようです。Okaryu、watervehicleとchiccamagicaも参加していて、魅力的なトラックで溢れています。ダウンロードはこちらから。視聴は以下から。 Yellow Print (Side-A) by V.A. 大阪のDay Tripperも、アメリカのレーベルAstro Nauticoとタッグして、”7 By 7″をリリースしました。このプロジェクトではAstro Nautico所属のメンバー７人が黒澤明の七人の侍をサンプリングし、日本人のメンバー７人も同様に、ジョン・スタージェスの荒野の七人をサンプリングしています。お互いのカルチャーを分かち合うという意味で面白いコンセプトだな、と思ったのですが…それだけではありませんでした。楽曲の出来映えも素晴らしく、映画の台詞もふんだんに聴こえてきます…もちろん二カ国から。ダウンロードはこちらから。視聴は以下から。 7 by 7 – Astro Nautico x Day Tripper by Astro Nautico
Late on J-Pop superstar Ayumi Hamasaki’s new album, a weird little remix of her song “Melody” pops up. It’s the sort of rework one doesn’t typically find on CDs, a fidgety track unafraid to distort Hamasaki’s voice and let its beat burst out in all sorts of directions. It could be safely called “post-dubstep,” and…
I wouldn’t describe the music Elen Never Sleeps makes as being “dramatic,” at least in the sonic sense. That said, his songs often contain emotional push-pull, evidenced all over this year’s fantastic Silver EP. That collection of songs sounds dreamy and ennui-rich, Elen Never Sleeps always facing some sort of emotional obstacle even when his…
It’s about being surprised in the best ways possible. This, Metoronori’s third album, finds her continuing to occupy her own little, strange corner of the online music world. She creates fragile little sonic worlds…whirring synths, the occasional glance of something a bit shinier, a very annoying timer sound on “III”…that could seemingly collapse from a…
For Tracy Hyde has expanded a bit – they’ve grown in number of members, which I saw at a live show they played recently. Despite a rise in the number of folks in the band, new song “Small Town, Summer Rain” still sounds like For Tracy Hyde. It’s a peppy indie-pop song…crucially, sang in Japanese…accented…
