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。
Kobe-based producer Tofubeats says he’s working on a new album, which is very good news for us. While he’s finishing the final touches on that full-length, he’s given the world a preview from it in the form of “Time Thieves,” a fast-paced track from one of the best music makers going in Japan right now….
Wow, has it really been two years since this? That was the moment Merpeoples – an up-to-that point good band who had a few solid tracks but seemed like a perpetual “pretty good” outfit – jumped to a new level, showing they were capable of not only turning a lame-as-hell ‘80s cut into something wonderful,…
Some jittery goodness coming your way from Sapporo’s PARKGOLF, who has been having a very nice 2013. “Kiss Me” is his latest display of herky-jerky electronic music, a hyperactive blast that opens with handclaps before zipping off into the main part, a disorienting passage anchored by some manipulated vocals singing the titular phrase. The best…
When The Brixton Academy announced that they would no longer be recording under that moniker but instead as Nile Long, one had to wonder if it would also mean a change in sonic identity. The EP the group released last year seemed to signal that, yes, this wasn’t going to be the same collection of…
I have just gotten back to Tokyo after going to the Fuji Rock Festival for four days. It was a hectic (albeit fun!) event, that involved a lot of running between stages and working areas, many times in the middle of rain. It was not particularly easy to focus on music at this music festival,…
このEPは日本インディー・ポップ界のとても強力なタッグから生まれています。”Heartbreak”や”Never Let You Down”等、2012年度最高峰ともいえる曲をリリースした大阪のPost Modern Teamと、元Candy EyesのDai OgasawaraによるTwangy Twangyが、Canata Records(BOYISH, Elfs In Bloom)からスプリット・EPをリリースしました。 Post Modern Teamの”She Does Something To Me”では、彼らの普段のスタイルから離れ、新しい手法を模索しているようです。Sloppy Joeに近いテイストを感じます。ザ・スミスやザ・キュアー等のインディー・ポップとも比較されそうですが、曲を通して細かいディテールが詰め込まれていますし、コーラスも決してアンセムのような物ではありません。 Twangy Twangyの曲は電子楽器とアコースティック・ギターで構築されています。つぶやくようなボーカルにもう少しヴォリュームが必要かな、とは感じますが、とても美しい曲で、暑い八月中旬にはもってこいでしょう。ダウンロードはこちらから。また、視聴は以下から。 Where The Action Is EP by Canata Records
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.
Tokyo indie-pop unit Baby Fire is back with “Seoul,” a skip-ready number nudged forward by an acoustic guitar melody and breezy drum beat. The backdrop is pleasant, but primarily works because it allows vocalist/guitarist Akko’s singing to be the highlight, and she turns in a strong performance. Her voice hits the right balance of melancholy…
Kyoto’s Madegg dropped another EP over the weekend, the quickie Crawl EP. It’s a just-under ten minute collection of the youngin’ doing what he does best, which is roll up the universe into a cosmic joint and blast off. The highlight is the at-times-ambient cell splitting of “Fallen Color,” a song imagining what would happen…
Staring at a to-do list…planted in front of a computer working on something or other…riding a train across the city for a meeting…maybe its a big city thing (or, god forbid, a Tokyo thing), but time always seems sparse. Most of what I listen to in 2016 rarely lasts for all that long…I either listen…
Time for the Music Alliance Pact, where over 30 blogs from all over the world share great music from the country they reside in every month. For July…Japan isn’t part of it! Whoops! I’ll save you the LiveJournal details (feel free to donate money for this juicy bonus content) but basically I got a new…
Tokyo rock trio Perfect Piano Lesson’s new album Wanderlust hit shelves yesterday. The group plays fast-paced rock focused on guitars, but avoid rigidness by playing around with other elements of the song, like the vocals. If you need a comparison, imagine American Football playing faster and embracing the guitar solo. Lead-off track from Wanderlust “(leaving…
Tokyo got its first snowfall of the year today, and you best believe I haven’t stepped out of my apartment once today. Instead of braving several centimeters of snow on the ground — this has thrown the Tokyo train system into chaos — I’m going to catch up on some good electronic music that came…