Similar Posts
Glowing Corners: Sakasa’s Coin Bender EP
Tokyo might be an urban labyrinth, but the Kansai region of Japan hides just as many nooks. Most tend to define this part of western Japan by the cities of Osaka and Kyoto, both of which have seen a boom in electronic music over the past two years. Right near those two, though, sits Nara,…
New Wednesday: “Mr. Free”
Let’s step into the way-back machine and travel back to the autumn of 2009. I’ve been living in Japan for only a few months, out in the countryside outside of Osaka. Sometimes, for kicks, I’d just go to shows in the city randomly without knowing anything about the group’s playing. Although this resulted in seeing…
New It Happens: “Going Outside”
First off, apologies to It Happens, as I will take one paragraph to vent a little, distracting from this perfectly serviceable indie-pop song. It has only been one month into 2014, but already I’m wondering what has gone wrong with this year. I have gotten extremely cynical about music of all types, and even moreso…
Connected: Bo En’s Pale Machine Featuring Avec Avec And mus.hiba
Ho hum, another Maltine Records from an artist not based in Japan, another opportunity for me to come up with some weak excuse to write about it anyway. But wait! English artist Bo En’s Pale Machine features collaborations with two of Japan’s finest producers going – Avec Avec and mus.hiba. Jackpot, no need for excuses!…
Taquwami Makes A Mix For SSENSE, Includes New Song “Hate Winter”
It’s a nice occurrence that Tokyo producer Taquwami’s mix for the website SSENSE, featuring a new song called “Hate Winter,” dropped during a weekend that featured Spring-like temperatures in Japan’s capital. “Hate Winter” closes out his almost-40-minute mix and is a lovely comedown, a slowly unfolding track full of layered vocal samples and some nice…
Slow Wonder: Ikebana’s “Rose,” “Kiss” And “Alone”
It takes nearly two minutes for Japanese duo Ikebana’s “Rose” to really reach…somewhere. Before that, for all those seconds, the pair create a slowly unfolding iciness that sounds like it might never thaw out. Only when voices…unintelligible, virtually humming…enter into the scene do things start to warm. And even then, it still takes time. Eventually,…
New Cuushe Music Video: “Do You Know The Way To Sleep”
Flau’s Cuushe has a new video for her song “Do You Know The Way To Sleep” off of this year’s Girl You Know That I Am Here But The Dream, and it matches up well with the slow-motion feel of the song. The clip slows down found footage of ballerinas to emphasize the beauty and weirdness (that neck on the one dancer jutting out) of their movements. Watch above.
Similar Posts
New Tominaga: Limbus And Songs
Electronic artist Tominaga highlights two sides of her sound on a pair of albums that came out at the end of May. Limbus gathers several of her ambient, often wordless, creations from 2016 to now, highlighting her approach to constructing sound exclusively. The revelation is she’s capable of squeezing a lot of feelings out of…
Norihito Ogawa Remixes Skrillex’s “Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites”
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…
There Is ANew Label From Kyoto: Dear Ear Records Vol. 1 Featuring There Is A Fox, Kosmo Kat, Liquid Sunshine And More
Dear Ear Records is a new label from Kyoto, one that has just appeared this past month. Which makes sense because – at the moment it feels like a fledgling imprint. Beyond being from Kyoto, they haven’t had time to shape out an identity. They have put together a lovely compilation, though, and even if…
New Youthmemory: April Kisses
Twee-as-it-gets band Youthmemory return after almost a year away with April Kisses, a two song set of straight-ahead…but done so very well…indie-pop optimal for anyone who loves standing on their balcony during the afternoon and just stare off into the distance. The title track is the stunner, a driving guitar number with a hazy quality…
Inner Nutrients: Nazoyama Meisoun’s Mineral
Nazoyama Meisoun’s work on Mineral makes for a nervy, at times disorienting listen. The 11-song set highlights the producer’s approach to beats, but it is not a simple collection of skeletons begging for something more. “Quartz” rumbles ahead, adding in metallic sounds that seemingly lower on to the song (like…a docking bay from Star Wars?),…
New CRZKNY: “Hong Kong”
Editor’s Note: Hello, long time no see! After a break from blogging due to family issues, I’m starting up, though it might still be infrequent. Thanks for your continued support. Hiroshima juke producer CRZKNY has been political since the very start of the decade, kicking back at Japan’s nuclear power industry and the government in…