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。
“In The Sun” falls somewhere between the pleasant shoe-staring of “I Don’t Know” and the holy fire that was “Someday.” Berserker Children Club here embrace loud guitars and vocals that blur into the noise around it on “In The Sun,” resulting in a strong shoegaze song with a pop center. It is a marked improvement…
Ahhhhhh, hip-hop beats that would actually be expert-level setting to rap over. Tokyo producers Lidly and Canooooopy aren’t strangers to the type of heady music that would leave even Lil’ B scratching his head about what to do with it. The two have teamed up for a new EP of heady stuff titled Geomysteric Psyborg,…
Kansai outfit Post Modern Team’s first song made available to the world’s ears was a little ditty called “Never Let You Down.” It was one of 2012’s finest tracks, a breezy song featuring one of the sweetest hooks to come out of Japan’s indie-pop scene – “never let you down,” they sang, like whispering into…
Soft As Snow But Warm Inside continues to avoid falling for the predictable trap laid out in their name – on new EP Asymmetry, they continue to not sound anything like My Bloody Valentine. Unless you count the fact the duo keep their vocals relatively low in the mix (and even that is a stretch),…
I wouldn’t describe the music Elen Never Sleeps makes as being “dramatic,” at least in the sonic sense. That said, his songs often contain emotional push-pull, evidenced all over this year’s fantastic Silver EP. That collection of songs sounds dreamy and ennui-rich, Elen Never Sleeps always facing some sort of emotional obstacle even when his…
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。
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.
It’s here, the October edition of the Music Alliance Pact! Hopefully you know the drill by now but if not…more than 30 blogs from around the world, sharing songs from their representative country. For Japan, the spotlight falls on The Somedays and their lovely digi-glazed “Remember Me.” Listen to it…and more…below. Click the play button…
The world X-Files inhabits on Wall Street is a depressing, at times constricting one. The project’s music…jumping between lonely ambient to more unhinged noise…has always brought to mind empty city streets, bathed in a little neon from nearby signs but ultimately feeling empty. Wall Street ups the solitude up significantly, featuring some of X-Files’ most…
Uh oh, take a look at the calendar and brace yourself…2014 is almost over, and that means the barrage of year-end lists is imminent (the backlash against them has already started!). One of the Japanese artists who will be populating our hypothetical top-tens is Metronori, a Tokyo bedroom producer who made a huge leap forward…
At their best, Kyoto’s Emerald Four make music that sounds optimal for people stranded in deep space. Last year’s fantastic Nothing Can Hurt Me was a slow-moving, reflective album where every word dripped forward. “Tameiki,” the duo’s newest song, bursts to life — synths squiggle forward, but only seconds later that familiar feeling of slow…
[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_L1YM40U2Fc&”] Live, OGRE YOU ASSHOLE pummel audiences with volume, sometimes placing such a premium on loudness that their songs suffer as a result. It’s a strange sight, seeing as the foursome have been slowly becoming slightly softer…in a good way…on record. Previously, the jaunty “Pinhole” appeared to be OGRE embracing pop and letting song structure…
Quick personal update – I’ve started contributing to fabulous music site Tokyo Indie, writing about noteworthy Japanese artists in the country today. The first installment focuses on MBM favorite Nu Clear Classmate, which you can read here. Coolest of all – now my posts can be read in Japanese! I’m strangely stoked about that.