Tokyo’s LLLL make their music video debut with the above clip for “Drowned Fish,” from this year’s still-splendid debut EP. If you like bathtubs full of flower petals or jump rope…or really good music blurring the line between pop and experimental sounds…check it out.
It seems a bit ridiculous to use a post about a song as feather-bed-soft as Naola’s “Fufu” as a diary entry…but hey, I’m paying the hosting fees, so why not. My life is pretty good on a lot of levels, but geez has 2015 left me tired. In the most literal sense — I spend…
I wasn’t expecting anything special when I strolled on over to Osaka trio Saritote’s web page. I just wanted to check them out as they are playing at a show tonight featuring √thumm and Lady Flash. Harmless research, ya know? Anyway, the first two tracks I listened to failed to leave much of an impression…
Well here’s an exciting collaboration: Tokyo’s LLLL will release their proper full-length album through Zoom Len’s, the American label co-run by Meishi Smile and responsible for releasing music by the likes of i-fls, Yoshino Yoshikawa and more. The album, Paradice, can actually be heard in its entirety right now here, but I’ll hold off on…
On the one hand…”Peppermint Escape Plan” makes you wonder just what Maltine Records is up to in 2016. What made the netlabel so exciting over the last few years was how it gave fledgling Japanese…and eventually non-Japanese…producers a chance to stand in the spotlight, Maltine serving as detective and megaphone all at once. So far…
Second Royal Records seem to be on a little bit of an ugly-recording bender at the moment. Considering the Kyoto label houses Halby’s painfully blueprinted musical vacations, Handsomeboy Technique’s kempt dance songs and Turntable Film’s fragile folk-rock, it’s a little surprising to see them also embracing artist’s who love the sounds of bedroom recording. Hotel…
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.
Looks like it isn’t truffle season, but sad season. Whirilng producer Taquwami gets a bit melancholy with his new tracks, packaged together as “Japanese Sad.” All this despite first song “Wow” opening up with a Jay-Z sample. That first new song is actually a bit more upbeat than it leads on, as the vocals pop…
I recently had a chat with someone about music in Japan. One takeaway – and an observation I’ve heard many times before in bars up to Retromania – is that some fans in Japan get super into a niche sound, and become experts of it. And that’s true! And can lead to great music! But…
One of the weirder things to happen…or, more appropriately, not happen…in the realm of Japanese music is the near lack of music relating to the 3/11 earthquake and tsunami or the Fukushima nuclear incident following it (and still going as strong as ever). I’m not talking about outright political songs addressing the government or TEPCO…
Indie-poppish outfit The Insect Kids realize that one song just isn’t enough in this buys, music-stuffed world of ours. So here they are dropping two new tracks – in the form of one big night-cruising video – for your listening pleasure. It has been a wild since Make Believe Melodies checked in with The Insect…
Tokyo indie-rock quartet Mitsume’s third album Sasayaki comes out today, and all signs point to it being a bit of a breakthrough. It’s getting a decent push in stores…I saw the display at the Tower Records in Shinjuku this afternoon, and it is right in the front, and big! And it’s probably going to be…
Predawn’s music has always been ace at capturing the smallest details of life – on her last EP, she captured the span of seconds where relationships bloom and wither excellently – and new song “Keep Silence” does it again. It’s about a pretty common experience, waiting for someone to call you back on the phone…
