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Valentine’s Day Specials: Neon Cloud, HNC, The Eglle, A Bunch Of People Covering Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid”
Lots and lots to love today…so lets dive into all of it. Way better than chocolate, yeah? The biggest news of the day comes courtesy of Flau, who’ve released the follow up to mysterious outfit Neon Cloud’s stunning debut Knit. Scar finds the group…and it is becoming more and more clear Cuushe is involved somehow…
Lidly Teams Up With American Rapper Kubes: “Not Human?”
There are an abundance of hip-hop beatmakers in Japan right now. Lidly belongs in the upper echelon of these types, creating instrumental music that is not just the result of somebody listening to a few J. Dilla CDs and calling it enough of an education. His stuff is far more abstract, far stranger than the…
It’s All A Blur: Gigandect’s “ᔤᙈᙜᙜᙓᖇ” (“Summer”)
Try listening to the latest Maltine Records release while dozing off. Doesn’t matter if it’s during a lull in the work day, or right before bed, or even after taking a handful of cold pills and a cup of Nyquil (ahem). Something interesting happens when you just let this play, taking your eyes off the…
Jolie Joli: “Dreaming Girl”
日本のインディー・ポップ界は今年も素晴らしい曲を多く生み出しているのは確かですが、男性アーティストが大半を占めているというのが気がかりです。女性メンバーのいるバンドも多いのですが、彼女達は中心的な存在とは言いがたいでしょう。大阪のTwinkle Twinklesを除けば、女性のみのバンドというのもレアでしょう。私の記憶が正しければ、数ヶ月前にリリースされたC86のテープでさえ、多くの新しいアーティストをフィーチャーしていたのにも関わらず、女性メンバーのいるバンドはSlow Maricoのみでした。いったいPuffyshoesは何処へ行ってしまったのか? でも最近結成したJolie Joliはtwee的な可愛げのあるインディー・ポップを奏でています。現在女性二人でドラマーを探しているみたいなのですが、タイガー・トラップ、ヘブンリーやカブといった90年初期の北米インディー・ポップ、それも女性メンバーのみのグループから濃く影響を受けています。Jolie Joliはまだ持ち曲が少ないものの、”Dreaming Girl”を聞くと、秘められた大きな可能性を感じます。シンプルな曲は明るく楽しいギターやドラムをフィーチャーし、その上で遊ぶボーカルとコーラスがとても可愛らしく、このような女性メインのバンドが増えるといいな、と思わされます。視聴は以下から。
New House Of Tapes: Trip Science
That Nagoya’s House Of Tapes’ debut album Trip Science is an enjoyable experience at all is a small miracle. That sounds harsh, the darkest shade one could throw, but I don’t mean that in a dismissive or ironically surprised way. House Of Tapes’ music has always sounded like a sonic endurance test, the dance-music equivalent…
Music Alliance Pact March 2013
This month’s MAP is here, and we feature Buddy Girl And Mechanic, who put out one of 2013’s first great albums. Check all this stuff out ya’ll. *collapses from South By Southwest schedule* Click the play button icon to listen to individual songs, right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a…
New Elen Never Sleeps: “Slow (Neu)”
“Slow” originally appeared on Moscow Club’s C86 compilation back in the spring, but has now been touched up a bit (hence the “Neu” in the title) and sounds a lot crisper than Elen Never Sleeps’ original version. Well, it sounds as crisp as something so hazy can sound – the song title is almost an understatement, because “Slow” practically crawls, the guitars and drums sounding glacial. It’s all intentional, though, a decision meant to match up with Elen Never Sleeps repeated cries of “but you slow down/slow down/slow down,” delivered in a dejected-but-pretty voice that this project has gotten so good at utilizing. The original version was good, but this slightly fleshed-out version shows what can happen when an artist spends time perfecting their creations. Listen below.
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New Perfume: “Flash”
Sharing a “short version” of anything feels like cheating…why not just wait a week until the full video hits YouTube…but we’ve bent the rules for Perfume before so why deviate from that path. “Flash” is the first non-single to emerge in the run-up to Cosmic Explorer, out worldwide in about two weeks, and finds the…

New Young Juvenile Youth: “Her”
Young Juvenile Youth’s debut album mirror arrives today, and to celebrate the electronic duo shared a sparser cut from the album. “Her” moves away from the more delirious dance-pop of “Slapback” in favor of space. “Her” revolves around seasick electronics, a slowly mutating beat and some squiggly electronic touches lurking beneath it all. Yet the…

New Rayons Featuring Predawn: “Waxing Moon”
Remember that one month I had a “things we missed post?” And said I’d do that every month? Good times, please move forward. If I had managed to keep that going, Rayons September release The World Left Behind certainly would have made an appearance. Rayons is a project helmed by one (semi mysterious) woman composer,…

New Tomggg Featuring Bonjour Suzuki: “Tick Tock Skip Drop”
Tomggg isn’t an immediate contender for “most influential Japanese electronic producer of the last few years,” yet looking over the sea of SoundCloud players and Bandcamp offerings tagged “kawaii” reveal he might just very well be worthy for consideration. Powered on by songs such as “Popteen” and (especially) “Butter Sugar Cream,” his cutesy take on…
New Candy Collection: 4 Plug-in Songs EP
4 Plug-in Songs EP by Candy Collection Electro-pop outfit Candy Collection returns with a brief but affirming set of songs on the 4 Plug-in Songs EP. This style of pop — criss-crossing synths, bouncy drum machine beats, a copious amount of digital filter for the vocals — has been popular to varying degrees over the…
Warm Fright: HelloHowLow’s “Menhera Girl (Summer Nightmare Mix)”
Aiming for outright catchiness in the summer is too easy. Sapporo-based electro-pop duo HelloHowLow released a song caled “Menhera Girl” about a year ago, and it’s an upbeat bouncer featuring digitally manipulated vocals, the sort of catchy number that fans of Perfume probably can get into easily. Yet it’s also a little too breezy, save…