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Home And Away: Metoronori’s Mawari
To some extent, Shibuya-based music maker Metoronori’s Mawari reminds me of fellow Japanese artist i-fls. Both are painfully DIY, recording simple electronic tracks on their own, both artists defined by chintzy keyboard and synth sounds. Their music also evokes youth gone by, mostly via the simplistic sound they lean on. Yet one thing separates the…
New Hotel Mexico: “A.I. In Dreams” (Live At Home Version)
Welcome back! We are back from sorta vacation, and kick off 2013 with a new song from one of our favorite musical outfits going in Japan right now, Kyoto’s Hotel Mexico. They released a new single, called “A.I. In Dreams,” near the end of December, but the official recording can’t be found online at the…
Music Alliance Pact November 2013
This month’s edition of the Music Alliance Pact is out now! Among the 30-plus acts from around the world on display below, we’ve highlighted Nagano’s Boe Oakner and her barely-there wonder “Cherenkov.” Check it and everything else in MAP below! Click the play button icon to listen to individual songs, right-click on the song…
New Fraqsea: “Trippin'”
Thanksgiving is almost over here, but we are going to go on vacation for the weekend. Before we leave, here is a new video from Fraqsea, for teh song “Trippin.’” Watch above, and have a great holiday/rest of your week.
Gigandect, Yoshino Yoshikawa And mus.hiba Remix Meishi Smile
Los Angeles’ Meishi Smile is one of Make Believe Melodies’ favorite artists who technically falls outside our area of coverage (though when Maltine Records released a collection from him, we broke the rules because…why not?), and you should definitely get a copy of his album Lust, out this week via Attack The Music (it’s a…
Solid Alright: Miu Mau’s “Monochrome”
This just slithers, all icy synths and vocals. Miu Mau are a new-wave trio, and on “Monochrome” they have created a prickly number that’s both catchy and a touch mysterious. It is a relatively sparse song – some leading guitar and synth bouncing, which gives way to just drum and woozy synth notes. This backdrop…
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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Grown Something Violent: New JinnyOops!
Osaka’s JinnyOops! originally attracted attention from the teeny-tiny Japanese music blogosphere by introducing horns into punk-tinged rock. It was a cute little touch to a type of music always in surplus, a move bordering on gimmick-ness save for the group’s ability to not sound like a novelty. JinnyOops! easily could have held onto this clever…
New Baroque: “Feel So Good”
Man Baroque, think about timing won’t you. I was already to switch into weekend mood and ignore WordPress for two days, until I noticed you went and posted a new track – from the forthcoming Waste Your Time EP out on the 17th – and I had to go blog about it. At least you…
New Boyish: “Sketchbook”
Sunday afternoon seems like the optimal time to share a new song from Tokyo indie-pop outfit Boyish…”Sketchbook” is an unhurried number from a group usually operating at a far skipper pace. What it lacks in urgency it makes up for in nailing a certain type of fuzzy sound. “Sketchbook” could ultimately shave off a minute…
Making The Most Of The Summer: Villa!!’s “Diablada”
Tokyo’s Villa!! are in no rush on “Diablada.” The band, in some way connected with fellow acoustic-leaning outfit William Wilson, make the most of this fading season, all lazy guitars and lyrics about summer festivals, trying to make the most of whatever is left. RIYL: feeling wistful for things that might not even be over….
Review: Perfume’s “Spring Of Life/Communication”
“Spring Of Life,” Perfume’s 20th single and first for Universal Music Japan, sold 49,448 copies on the day of its debut, giving the techno-pop trio their highest first-day sales ever. The song also saw digital release in 50 countries, and coinciding with “Spring Of Life’s” release, Universal gave Perfume their very own label, Perfume Records….
New Le Makeup: “CNNISSEUR”
Osaka’s Le Makeup has dropped a few wonderful club mutations in the past few months, but “CNNISSEUR” comes off as the most energetic one next from the emerging producer. It merges a back-and-forth beat…one that manages to slightly unnerving in how it gets punctured by sudden bursts of percussion…with looped rapping, which eventually collapses in…
