インディー・ポップ・アーティストMemory Girlsによる”Our Freedom, Our Darkness”については、公開された２０１０年の６月に紹介させて頂きましたね。２年ほど経った今、なんとその曲がダブリンのThe Choir Invisibleとのスプリットとして、Dufflecoat Recordsからのリリースが決まったようです。なんで見つけるのにそんなに時間がかかったのかは分かりませんし、いつリリースされるのかも確かでないのですが、嬉しいニュースですよね。Dufflecoatのバージョンは確かに丁寧にプロデュースされているのですが、当時聴いた時と同じ気分にさせてくれます。「晴れた日にツリーハウスで聴くのに最適な、童心に戻らせてくれるインディー・ポップ」と紹介させて頂きましたね。
Figureというアーティストはご存知でしょうか？この日本アーティストのBandcampのページを見てみて下さい。情報量の多いサイトですよね。どうやらアメリカツアーをするみたい！…ってそれは違うFigureでしたね。同じ名前を使ったインディアナ拠点のビートメーカーがいるみたいです。でも日本のFigureも新EP、”Come Down”でもっと注目を集める事でしょう。 このEP以前のFigureはどんな感じだったかというと、Teen Runnings登場後からすでに数年間も日本のインターネットを埋め尽くしている、やかましくファズの掛かったベッドルームサウンドを奏でていました。その過去の作品達は、厳しく言えば録音のクオリティが低かったり、ノイズの実験のような作品ばかり。でも今回の”Come Down”では、そんな遊び心とフックのあるメロディーが上手く調和しています。嵐のような轟音もバランスよく効果的に感じられ、”Soft Path”なんかがその「グッドバランス」を象徴してるんじゃないかな。今まで同様、いかつい生楽器の音が大半を占めているものの、やわらかいキーボードや、ノイズをくぐって出てくるボーカルが見事（洋楽で例えるならDIIVでしょうか）。”Place”は幻想的な曲で、ギターやベースもその雰囲気を崩しません。一方で”Come Down”は逆に歪んだドラムが印象的で、キラキラしたキーボード（木琴みたいな音）が上手く混ざっています。Come Downは凄くスローな”My Side”で終わるわけなんですが、この曲はギターストローク、キーボードと淡いボーカルのみのシンプルな構成。驚くほどの成長を遂げたFigureの自信作を締めくくるにはもってこいの美しい曲です。試聴はこちらから。
東京のNight Vision が２曲のダンスフロアチューンをリリース。I Decide は切り刻んだボーカルサンプルの上をグルーヴ感あふれるホーン、キーボード、ベースサウンドなどが流れるスムーズなディスコサウンド。Miami people もI Decide と同じ流れのディスコサウンドですが、こちらは７０年代ディスコの雰囲気の強い楽曲になっています。この夏らしいサウンドの詰まった楽曲は以下から。
Why release an album in December???? Don’t you know it won’t appear on year-end lists???? Nobody who is anybody would release an album at the end of the year, right???? Oh. Two great Japan-based artists released new albums this past week, and the only real loser is me, as neither of these could sneak onto…
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”…
It’s tempting to excuse the relatively lukewarm “Mirai No Museum” because of its commercial obligations. This, maximalist-pop-trio Perfume’s newest single, serves as the theme song for the upcoming Doraemon film which seems to involve some sort of “future museum” (which is what you get when you translate the title). After a string of songs in…
Sapporo seems to be having a moment right now. Electronic artists from that northern city have been getting more and more exposure as of late, names like Ninja Drinks Wine and Jealousguy popping up on electronic-leaning comps regularly over the past year. Osaka’s INNIT held a special event in the city recently, and producer PARKGOLF…
Indie-pop outfit Memory Girls originally posted “Our Freedom, Our Darkness” back in June 2010 – we wrote about it then (remember that design?). More than two years later, that lovely little song will be released on English imprint Dufflecoat Records, as a split with Dublin band The Choir Invisible. Not sure when the actual record comes out…or why it took so long for someone to notice the song…but exciting news nonetheless. The Dufflecoat version (listen below) sounds better produced than the song I remember from 2010, but still retains the elements that prompted me to write that the song was the “stuff of childhood naivety, skippy indie-pop perfect for soundtracking the construction of a treehouse on a clear day” a long time ago. Treehouses, really? Geez I hope I’m doing better at this now.
New Masterpiece’s latest compilation, Imaginary Dinosaur Landscape, doesn’t set out to identify any new trends or solidify around any specific sounds. Rather, every artist brings something different to the mix, which might ultimately be more reflective of the label than if they coalesced around a theme (a theme beyond “every track is named after a…
[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-haZ2I6ywis”] So is this what it sounds like when the often glee-oozing Sebastian X tackle a ballad? Not quite…they aren’t Ayumi Hamasaki-ing it up for the song “Rose Garden, Baby Blue” from forthcoming full-length Futures (say that really fast). Yet the group’s standard-operating kitchen sink sound has been slowed a bit here, sparkling piano coupled…
Shoegazers Texas Pandaa offer the world a (very tiny) peek at a new tune in this YouTube video. Check out the band between the 5:15 and 7:35 marks. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqKzJp_fcbQ&hl=en&fs=1&]
Music has been pushed to the background more than ever in 2018. It isn’t a new development exactly, but generally speaking songs often get treated like wallpaper. See mood-centered playlists on streaming services, or how contemporary soundtracks to YouTube influencer videos sound, or the seamlessness between commercials and original works. Changing times, but as it…
Nagoya’s House Of Tapes has been pretty busy in 2017, thus far. He’s established Sleep Jam Records, put out a tour-only album and prepping a release with his other project Swamp Sounds. Yet he still drops songs on to SoundCloud under the House Of Tapes name, such as the fluttery “Rosemary,” which is a “limited…
Japanese indie creators ongoing interest with throwback styles and genres associated with the Bubble era might have reached a logical end with Wai Wai Music Resort’s first collection of songs. Released via Local Visions, WWMR1 embraces the most chilled-out elements of retro music culture, creating something breezy but with an emotional aching still present (to…