Young producer Maidable has teamed up with New York label Rubik Records for a two-song set of skittery, energetic cuts. Maidable turns to drum ‘n’ bass on each number, surrounding drums breaks with synth notes and bits of singing on uptempo opener “Chilly Dawn,” while keeping things a bit more spacious — but still pretty snappin’ — on “Trudge.” A good showcase of the burgeoning artists’ skills. Get it here, or listen below.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZ0bpOGqi4M&hl=en_US&fs=1&] I’ve already speculated on how howly rock group The Bawdies seem poised to be pop hits in Japan. Turns out I was one song off – the band’s latest “Keep You Happy” sounds like a true stab at mainstream acceptance. All the rougher edges found on “Hot Dog” get sandblasted clean for a summer…
In one of those cruel-not-really-cruel moments a music fan faces more than they’d like, I discovered LSD March were playing in Osaka last night only, oh, four hours before the show. Though I flirted with the idea of throwing all my responsibilities to the side for the night, I chose to be responsible and miss…
“Winter Valentine”を説明するにはいくつかのアプローチ方法があります。ボーカロイド好きのアーティストmus.hibaとBrightonを拠点とするゲーム音楽プロデューサーCalum Bowenのコラボレーション作品なのですが、国内外でのコラボでは最先端と言えるのでは（例えばi-flsとmus.hibaとZoom LensだったりCokiyuとBathsだったり)。この曲ではmus.hibaによる雪歌ユフの声と、(おそらく)人間の歌声がデュエットしています。こういう事もボーカロイドの持つポテンシャルと言えるでしょう。が、そんなうんちくを抜きにしても”Winter Valentine”は素晴らしい。9-Bit Blizzardというコンピに収録されているのですが、mus.hibaの “Magical Fizzy Drink”と同様に、ゲームぽさを匂わせつつも、それはほんのディテールであって全てではない。始まりは愛らしい子供時代のような雰囲気で２人のボーカルが交互に歌います。まるで星のカービィのような世界観なのですが、ここからは素晴らしい展開が。mus.hibaとBowenの両者が多くのアイディアを出したというのが聴いていてわかる程アイディアに満ちていて、１つのネタに留まらず、様々な方向に移行していくメロディが圧巻です。コラボレーションとはこういう事でしょう？試聴は以下から。
Osaka’s Twinkle Twinkles have finally wised up to the Internet game. After spending a long stretch of time operating with just a MySpace page (note to all Japanese bands – GET OFF MYSPACE IT IS DEAD), the trio recently got in on SoundCloud and have posted three of their energetic gushes of twee rock to…
In an effort to reflect the dominant trends in Japanese indie music, we chose Osaka indie-pop outfit Wallflower to appear in the May 2012 edition of the Music Alliance Pact. There “Cure Your Heart” is one of the peppiest songs with twee DNA to pop out of the country this year…and there have been many….
We didn’t put together a favorite songs list this year, but if we had, you better believe that iivvyy would have gotten on there. The combo of HVNS and Kosmo Kat made some of the more mind-bending electronic tracks to come out of Japan in 2017. Part of the project’s charm comes from how it…