Nothing says “abnormally warm October day in Japan” like some ominous electronic music. Yet Nagoya’s House Of Tapes does it well, and “Dark Lands” pulls out yet another switch-up from a producer who was recently getting back into crowded sounds. Here, though, space is ample — “Dark Lands” moves along, letting the synthesizers and drum…
All good series have three parts! One and two here. Nagoya’s Tomatoism isn’t a completely fresh face in Japanese underground electronic scene. The producer contributed to this late 2016 compilation, while also releasing this anime-centric set under the name Tomato Chan around the same time. But in 2017 they started dabbling in a sound closer…
Didn’t White Scooper hear, Inception’s the new Sci-Fi buzz film! Bah-duh deeesh! Sorry, I’ll show myself out, but not before writing a little about this demo. Various vocal samples that sound like they were taken from news broadcasts sit at the center of “Matrix,” some unknown lady talking about “Matrix films” while also mentioning murder…
Tokyo band Extruders, behind one of last year’s best albums to come out of the country, have a new summer project that just kicked off. Until August 31, the group will share a new song…or a music video…every Sunday. Two weeks have gone by, which means two tracks are already out there in the wild….
Let’s get the disclosures out of the way — Looprider is fronted by Ryotaro Aoki (contributes to the Japan Times, is someone I bump into while jogging near Koenji) and the band’s My Electric Factory is out via Call And Response Records, which is operated by Ian Martin (Japan Times, someone I have seen in…
Twee-crunk duo Love and Hates have posted a new song to their MySpace page and…it’s a curveball. The band trades in the club bangin’ beats for a tropical vibe courtesy of The PEGASUSS. I’m not sure if this is a remix or a collaboration, but I’m leaning towards the latter based on how Love 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.
I’m still getting over my SXSW-induced hangover (both mentally and physically), so I’m happy Osaka’s Magical Mistakes released a new song that’s perfect for someone who involuntarily woke up at 4:30 this morning because of jet lag. Like a lot of Erik Luebs’ previous songs, “Fashionable Thumb Pianos” leans closer to the meditative rather than…
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…
This isn’t the first time Nagoya’s POP-OFFICE have covered a song…but these two latest renditions highlight what they do so well better than what they’ve done. First, they take out Sparklehorse’s “Gold Day,” itself an understated, sadness-tinged number that’s best described as very pretty sounding but with a frown hidden deep within. Well, POP-OFFICE blow…
The first Music Alliance Pact of 2014 has arrived! To kick off the new year, over 30 blogs from around the world have selected a track to share with the rest of the globe. For Japan, Make Believe Melodies is highlighting the fidgety “Bishop’s Rising Sun” courtesy of Osaka’s Metome. Listen to it…and a lot…
If you happen to be in Tokyo Monday night (maybe some of you are, I don’t know!) and have no plans for Tuesday, which is a national holiday, you should go to this event at Unit. It features a lot of artists Make Believe Melodies, and should be lots of fun. Say hi to me!…
Old Lacy Bed – Coastlands from Old Lacy Bed on Vimeo. “Coastlands” has been out in the wild in a different form for about a year now, but Old Lacy Bed recently posted a new video for featuring a fresh take on the darty song. You can watch the indie-pop-lifestyle clip above. Weirdly enough, “Coastlands”…
