“Pppppppp-picnicwomen-women-women-women”という強烈なタグの曲。Picnicwomenがジュークにチャレンジし、今年のお気に入りの一つになりました。このプロジェクトの最新EP、Stylusには、 “Ripstick Girl”という曲意外に、同じKool Switch Worksのアーティスト、Ahmad Jackson Jr.の曲も含まれています。”Ripstick Girl”はゆったりとしたギターで始まり、攻撃的なマシンガンのようなビートに、ググっても探すのが不可能に近いマニアックなサンプルが乗っています。その後、曲はテンポが速まり、他の要素が入ってきたりして、複雑になっていきます。Ahmad Jackson Jr.の”Done For You”も面白く、ホーンがや、泡がはじけるような音がふんだんに使われ、ミックスの奥には、J. Dillaがやっていた事で有名なサイレン・サウンドが聴こえます。購入はこちらから。
In case you didn’t know, Make Believe Melodies also has a Tumblr, where I write a bit more about J-Pop and non-Japanese music. A few weeks ago, I wrote about Desire, the new album from Los-Angeles-based artist spazzkid. Read that here. For those who aren’t going to click it – Desire has jumped up to…
Figureというアーティストはご存知でしょうか？この日本アーティストのBandcampのページを見てみて下さい。情報量の多いサイトですよね。どうやらアメリカツアーをするみたい！…ってそれは違うFigureでしたね。同じ名前を使ったインディアナ拠点のビートメーカーがいるみたいです。でも日本のFigureも新EP、”Come Down”でもっと注目を集める事でしょう。 このEP以前のFigureはどんな感じだったかというと、Teen Runnings登場後からすでに数年間も日本のインターネットを埋め尽くしている、やかましくファズの掛かったベッドルームサウンドを奏でていました。その過去の作品達は、厳しく言えば録音のクオリティが低かったり、ノイズの実験のような作品ばかり。でも今回の”Come Down”では、そんな遊び心とフックのあるメロディーが上手く調和しています。嵐のような轟音もバランスよく効果的に感じられ、”Soft Path”なんかがその「グッドバランス」を象徴してるんじゃないかな。今まで同様、いかつい生楽器の音が大半を占めているものの、やわらかいキーボードや、ノイズをくぐって出てくるボーカルが見事（洋楽で例えるならDIIVでしょうか）。”Place”は幻想的な曲で、ギターやベースもその雰囲気を崩しません。一方で”Come Down”は逆に歪んだドラムが印象的で、キラキラしたキーボード（木琴みたいな音）が上手く混ざっています。Come Downは凄くスローな”My Side”で終わるわけなんですが、この曲はギターストローク、キーボードと淡いボーカルのみのシンプルな構成。驚くほどの成長を遂げたFigureの自信作を締めくくるにはもってこいの美しい曲です。試聴はこちらから。
First there was a duo called Colorado Coronado, who seemed to fawn at the recorded output of Bradford Cox (Deerhunter/Atlas Sound) and set out to replicate it live, resulting in a few fantastic songs. At some point, their sound shifted from the ponderous to the ramshackle, as Colorado Coronado seemed to switch idols from Cox…
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…
In which Tokyo producer Kenie_T…who on SoundCloud now goes by knie with a block symbol between the “k” and “n”…realizes Vocaloid doesn’t have to be just a replacement singer. The productions released by this artist over the past few months have been warm and dizzying, yet it’s on “Papapa” in which the digi-voice of Sekka…
Look, I don’t want to take anything away from Izumi Makuro. She sounds just fine here, rapping in a relaxed way that sounds effortless and certainly isn’t as, shall we say, acquired as other pop-rap outfits in Japan. If anything, it is easily compared to Her Ghost Friend, except with a more hip-hop bend. It’s…
“Pppppppp-picnicwomen-women-women-women.” That sonic identification tag has become one of my favorite sounds of the year, not just because it’s a pleasure to hear but also because it means I’m about to listen to some sample-stretching juke courtesy of Picnicwomen. The project’s latest, “Ripstick Girl,” appears on the recently released Stylus EP, which also features a track from fellow Kool Switch Works’ artists Ahmad Jackson Jr. “Ripstick Girl” opens with some laid-back guitar before introducing the skittery beat and an especially difficult-to-Google sample (I think it might be from some sort of Christian artist?). Then the song launches off, the original beat speeding up and an extra one also dropping in as Picnicwomen bends the song in a bunch of different ways. Ahmad Jackson Jr.’s “Done For You” doesn’t slouch either, the producer creating a horn-heavy track also featuring what sounds like bubbles popping and, deeper in the mix, J. Dilla’s signature siren sound. Get it here.
Canadian producer Ryan Hemsworth has been one of the more vocal North American artists in regards to Japanese music – sure, plenty of people are shouting out Kyary Pamyu Pamyu (less mashing her up with Mr. Muthafuckin Exquire), but less give props to the likes of Seiho and Taquwami, or fit Hachioji P into a…
It’s tough to make music that manages to be emotionally evocative and barrier pushing, but producer MSS Sound System and Shiroro pull it off on Time Warp Love, one of the year’s best collaborations to date and a sorta-outta-nowhere contender for best Japanese album of 2018. MSS Sound System has been making music for a…
Information on Yogen Hayama is scarce, but Simplicity offers up maybe everything one needs to know about the artist. It is, indeed, simple — five songs featuring nearly zero words, constructed from guitar and electronics. This sparse arsenal forces Hayama to get the most out of everything, and the songs on Simplicity deliver straightforward energy….
It has been an indie-pop sort of week, which seems about right given the suddenly warm weather gracing Tokyo (just remembered a typhoon arrives tomorrow, alright). Special Favorite Music add to the week’s already sunny collection of Japanese indie-pop with the seasonally appropriate “Summer Serve.” Like a lot of the better indie-pop bands out there,…
Osaka’s Mountain has been creating some of Japan’s best drum ‘n’ bass over the last few years, and their most recent release through Soulvent Records marks a particular energetic high for the project. “Overheat” starts things off nicely, featuring a zippy pace joined by some vocal stutters of varying pitches. It’s a nice setter, but…
Nothing says “abnormally warm October day in Japan” like some ominous electronic music. Yet Nagoya’s House Of Tapes does it well, and “Dark Lands” pulls out yet another switch-up from a producer who was recently getting back into crowded sounds. Here, though, space is ample — “Dark Lands” moves along, letting the synthesizers and drum…