Music @ja

New Cuushe Music Video: “Do You Know The Way To Sleep”

ByPatrick St. Michel August 23, 2012

Music @ja

Electronic Weekend: New tofubeats, Obutsudan-Sumino And OKLobby
ByPatrick St. Michel January 17, 2014

Three songs to take you into the weekend (oh thank goodness it is here!). Let’s get into it: – Kobe’s tofubeats had a really busy 2013, and he appears to not be slowing down as the calendar turned over. “CHNGEYRHRT” though finds him stepping away from the nearly all-original sounds that dotted his music last…

Read More Electronic Weekend: New tofubeats, Obutsudan-Sumino And OKLobby
J-Pop @ja

New Nanba Shiho: “Music”
ByPatrick St. Michel October 2, 2012

南波志帆が新しいシングル”Music”をリリースし、彼女らしさを取り戻して帰ってきました。彼女の前作は髪を切る事を主題とし、つまらないピアノが永遠と続く作品だったのですが、新曲”Music”は、エネルギーに満ちていて、彼女の本来のスタイルを上手く表現していると感じます。速いペースで進み、展開も多いものの、聴く耳を離さない、興味深い物になっています。”少女、ふたたび“のように打ち込みが主導権をもっているわけではなく、曲にやわらかさを与えるべく、後ろでクッションのような役割を果たしています。志帆さんの囀るような声も、曲に愛らしさを足していてとても素敵。ビデオもすごく上出来です…志帆さんはでていないのですが…優れたJ-Popアーティストが良い曲とともにカムバックしてくれてとても嬉しいです。

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J-Pop | Music @ja

New Perfume: “Koi Wa Zenkeishisei”
ByPatrick St. Michel November 25, 2013November 25, 2013

I did not like Perfume’s “Sweet Refrain” at all. Well, the video is cool…but I think the song itself just isn’t particularly good. What makes that song interesting (at least in theory) is how it sets the bass-wubs of brostep against a relatively skippy pop melody. Whereas most pop songs around the world featuring Skrillex-aping…

Read More New Perfume: “Koi Wa Zenkeishisei”
Music @ja

New Talking City 1994 (right?): “We Can Ride The Boogie”
ByPatrick St. Michel January 21, 2014

Cool journalistic work on display: I googled “Talking City 1994 SoundCloud” and this song came up! Boom, hire me New York Times. The Osaka outfit (probably, or at least someone associated with them) is responsible for “We Can Ride The Boogie,” which dips into one of the pop music’s finest tracks…Michael Jackson’s “Rock With You”…to…

Read More New Talking City 1994 (right?): “We Can Ride The Boogie”
Music @ja | Review

Fufillingy Stuffed: Tofubeats’ Lost Decade
ByPatrick St. Michel May 10, 2013

Tofubeats doesn’t really bother introducing himself on Lost Decade, his first original album out on a major label. He’s been kicking around the Japanese music scene since 2006, grabbing attention for his indie-level beats and his work with mainstream J-Pop idol groups like Lyrical School (formerly sex-toy-sponsored Tengal6) and 9nine. Even though this will be…

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Music @ja

New Diane Halls: “A Pain That Is Felt”
ByPatrick St. Michel March 11, 2014

Diane Halls don’t release too much, but when they pop back up on the radar, it’s always with something pretty solid. “A Pain That Is Felt” offers a pretty good hint of its mood from the title alone – its a guitar-centric drifter featuring very, very little vocals (the ones that do show up mumble…

Read More New Diane Halls: “A Pain That Is Felt”

Music

New Cuushe Music Video: “Do You Know The Way To Sleep”

ByPatrick St. Michel August 23, 2012August 23, 2012

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.

Music

New DYGL: “All The Time”
ByPatrick St. Michel January 29, 2015

Another year, another 12 months where I initially add a “W” to the end of this band’s name. Anyway, DYGL…not Leather, DYGL…have a new song called “All The Time” up on SoundCloud. It’s a driving rock number, featuring some of the most intensely delivered vocals the young outfit have recorded to date (so throaty!). Listen…

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Music

Make Believe Melodies’ Favorite 2018 Japanese Albums: #20 – #11
ByPatrick St. Michel December 28, 2018December 28, 2018

#20 Hikaru Utada Hatsukoi At their best, pop stars turn the personal into the populist — they make songs for everyone, not for themselves, even if the inspiration comes from inside. Hikaru Utada’s 2016 comeback album Fantome stands as one of the 2010s most fascinating album, wrestling with loss and maturity in a way few…

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Music

Right Prescription: Amino_CH’s “Pi11” And “Mr.Blue”
ByPatrick St. Michel August 18, 2019

Amino_CH’s “Pi11” popped up on YouTube a little over a week ago, and has been bouncing around in my head ever since it first appeared in the ol’ feed. The style this Tokyo artist embraces is becoming quite normal, at least among more online-centric musical communities. She raps, but also plucks elements from indie-pop, dance-pop…

Read More Right Prescription: Amino_CH’s “Pi11” And “Mr.Blue”
Music

Strange Spell: Uffun Magic Works’ “Walking With Corpse”
ByPatrick St. Michel February 26, 2018

Uffun Magic Works finds Tamao Ninomiya teaming up with NNMIE for a new project of wonky bedroom pop. So far, they’ve released a solid albeit wobbly cover of Stereolab’s “Ping Pong,” and a lovely bit of seasick pop in the form of “Walking With Corpse.” At its core, there is a catchy little song sung…

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Music

Not Quite Post Postrock: Sgt.’s “Cosgoda”
ByPatrick St. Michel August 24, 2011

Lost amongst the talk about the revival of the saxophone or how Kreayshawn managed to become something more than the next “Friday,” 2011 has seen a small upswing in postrock. Godspeed You! Black Empire reunited and played some shows, while Mogwai and Explosions In The Sky released new albums (even if the latter ended up…

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Music

Drowned In Sound: BlackGlassG’s With U/Take Time
ByPatrick St. Michel March 30, 2015

An issue that still leaves a bad feeling in many people is when an electronic music producer — often referred to dismissively as “SoundCloud producers” because absolutely zero famous people use SoundCloud, no sir — samples or reworks an R&B song into a fidgety electro number (criticism includes a use of R&B vocals as ironic…

Read More Drowned In Sound: BlackGlassG’s With U/Take Time

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