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。
It’s time for the Music Alliance Pact, where blogs from more than 40 countries share a fantastic track from an artist in their nation. Make Believe Melodies decided to showcase Nagoya outfit CRUNCH and their Radiohead-inspired-but-so-much-more “Mori No Naka.” Listen to it – and a lot more – below. Click the play button icon to…
Indie-pop label Ano(t)raks plans on releasing a new compilation album in February, and have already revealed a list of artists who will be contributing to the sequel to the excellent Soon comp. The forthcoming release features a lot of familiar names – Post Modern Team, Boyish, The Paellas and many more…but also features a few…
I do not profess to being a guy who knows much about Japanese hip-hop. I have about as basic an understanding of the scene one can get, but that’s it – I don’t know the intricacies or the regional differences or even, like, the fashions (I think Yankees’ caps are popular?). What I do know,…
At their best, The Paellas…especially the lead singer…sound like they are in the same room as you as their music unfolds. The bulk of their material up to this point has sounded like the work of a doomed lounge band, the group’s words muffled by fuzzy recording. Everything is a little more clear on new…
Here is White Wear at his most stripped down to date, and quite possibly the most minimalist any track to emerge from the shadows of CUZ ME PAIN has ever been. “White Six Strings” is White Wear armed with only a guitar…and save for a few edits here and there (a hiccup at the start,…
Ano(t)racksというレーベルはまだ新しく、あまり多くをリリースしていません。大阪のグループThe Paellaの前作EPのリリースが記憶に新しいのですが、先週、Soon V.A.というインディーポップのコンピレーションをリリースしました。これは注目すべきアップロードでしょう。最近どのようなアーティストがインディーポップシーンで活躍しているのか知る事ができるので、シーンに詳しくない人にとっては、知る良いきっかけになると思います。今年リリースされたMoscow Club周辺のアーティスト達によるコンピ、C86を賞賛するようなリリースですが、大きく異なる点があります。C86ではシンセサイザーを多用するアーティストが多かったものの、Ano(t)racksではそうでもありません。BOYISHの”Couldn’t Remember”はシンセサイザーが使われていますが、他の曲ではドラムマシンくらいです。ギター、ドラムとボーカルのみの編成の、イギリスのバンドに触発されたバンドが多いからなのかもしれませんね。参加している大阪のPost Modern Teamの”In The City”はシンプルかつキャッチーで、The PaellasとTwangy Twangyは自分達の個性をさらに追求しています。 さらに、Ano(t)racksは女性を目立たせているグループが多いと言えるでしょう。京都のHomecomingsの”You Never Kiss”では可愛らしい女性の歌声に鋭いギターを重ねていてとても美しい世界観を演出しています。このコンピのハイライトと言っても過言ではないでしょう。Old Lacy Bedの”Coastlands”はとても楽しく、 大阪のFoodieは愛らしいグルーブでアルバムを締めくくってくれます。ダウンロード、視聴はこちらから。 Soon V.A. by Various Artists
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.
The renewed interest — both domestically and internationally — in city pop has caused a lot of ripples across many genres of music, but it’s also at times distracted from artists whose music sounds good with or without Bubble-era ties. Singer/songwriter UKO definitely takes cues from the aforementioned style — just listen to those horn…
Here’s a simple idea executed well — Lovely Summer Chan has made a song all about her favorite food and drinks, which she likes to eat all week long. Yet this song takes an easy and potentially goofy concept and makes it work via pure enthusiasm…well, plus a knack for writing catchy songs that turn…
Think of this more like one solid mini-album rather than two EPs teased as bookends (collecting and polishing up older songs from them). Duo HoneyComeBear have been one of the better projects in Japan at merging the business of “future bass” with an emotional delivery that often feels two clicks away from J-pop proper. Their…
Tokyo’s MPEG-7 has recently been creating tracks leaning more on the beat side of things, which while sounding fine also come off like they are lacking something. They sound like a frame looking for one final piece to complete it (mainly: vocals). “Tokyo Neon” isn’t the same case. While clearly influenced by the hazy vibe…
The latest in Polish label Outlines’ groove series — previously highlighting DJ Fulltono and CRZKNY — zooms in on Skip Club Orchestra, another long-running figure in Japan’s juke scene. The two grooves here allow an artist who mostly works in quick bursts to expand on their style, both tracks leaning towards the sparser side (especially…
The only thing I know about Skrillex is that he teamed up with Korn to release a dubstep song and that said track is as absolutely as dreadful as you’d expect from a Korn dubstep-laced song. So I’ve never listened to his “Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites” song before now, and overall it comes off…