I’m trying to finish (errrrrr, start) the official Make Believe Melodie’s “our favorite songs” feature, so in the meantime, enjoy this new song courtesy of Osaka’s Seiho. “Clipping Music” starts off quite sensual – some lovely, lounge-ready electronics playing over the sound of waves reaching the shore – but soon enters territory we are more used to from Seiho, albeit with a rapid stream of hand-clap noises this time around. Listen below.
Ahhh Picnic Women, that jokester. The title to his latest collection of juke cuts comes off like the punchline to what he pulls off the title track, “II Women.” On that song, Picnic Women takes Mariah Carey’s and Boyz II Men’s “One Sweet Day,” specifically the vocals from Boyz II Men, and pitches them both…
Tokyo Jihen “Sa_i_ta” It might be hard to tell given the number of live DVDs and best-of releases that have packed store racks this year, but Tokyo Jihen called it quits back at the start of 2012. Assessing the group’s legacy ends up being a tricky task – lead singer Shiina Ringo’s solo albums remain…
New month, new MAP! Go on to see who we chose this month, and to hear a bunch of other great tunes from all over the globe. Click the play button icon to listen to individual songs, right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a zip file of the full 29-track…
東京のTeen Runningsが去年発表されたLet’s Get Together Again.を発売します。 去年彼らがLPを発表した時は彼らはFriendsと名乗っておりTeen Runningsと改名してからの新たな発売となります。彼らの昨今の海外ブログでの人気を受けブルックリンのFriendsとの混同を避ける為の変名に至ったという経緯もある様です。新作には新曲もいくつか収録される様です。 そのリリースにあたりTeen Runningsは8月8日にMake It Better．のビデオをリリースしました。このビデオはVideoTapeMusicによって制作されており80年代の映像のマッシュアップのミュージックビデオになっています。 80年代の映像を再構築してのミュージックビデオは決して見新しい物ではありませんが、VideoTapeMusicはこの古い手法で作られたビデオを新鮮に見せる事に成功しています。このビデオのリンクは以下から。
２０１２年に入って既に二枚のEPをリリースしているフットワークのプロデューサー、Picnicwomenが、続いて今年度三枚目を発表しました。”Super Freak”では新しい挑戦が聴ける訳ではないのですが、スピード感やスリリングなボーカルサンプルは健在です。”Again”はよりメローな方向性を模索しているのですが…結局は打ち込みのドタバタ地獄に突入し、彼の持つユニークなスタイルを主張しています。”Milk Man_s Wife”はエイフェックス・ツインの”Milkman“のカバーで、”I would like some milk from the milk man’s wife’s tits.” というフレーズが繰り返されます。試聴は以下から、購入はこちらから。 Super Freak EP by PICNIC WOMEN
Shunsuke Kojima doesn’t seem like he’s in any rush to get anywhere on Lost Spectacle. Despite starting the album with a clear-cut destination (“Airplane To Tokyo”), he spends the whole time creating instrumental tracks that bounce along, sure, but come off as more interested in exploring bright textures and beats. He really starts hitting his…
今必死にMake Believe Melodieの2012年ベストソングリストを終わらせようとしてます（というか始めようとしてます…）。なので今は大阪のアーティスト、Seihoの新曲をお楽しみ下さい。曲はレイドバックで穏やかな気持ちにさせてくれるエレクトロ・サウンドと波打ち際の音から始まります。そこから我々の知っているいつものSeihoサウンドに突入するのですが、ノイズのような手拍子が軽快で魅力的です。試聴は以下から。
Kyoto’s Maho Littlebear offers up a slow-burning house number with ‘Do It,” her third song in the span of 22 days, and the best of the trio. She seems to work in spurts — she sorta vanished after releasing a lot of new songs about eight months ago, counting this still-incredible collaboration with Soleil Soleil….
Gotta do this quick because I HAVE WORK but a few of the highlights of the Fuji Rock lineup: – Arctic Monkeys – Deerhoof (!) – The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart (!) – Warpaint (!!!!) – Atari Teenage Riot – Wilco – Yellow Magic Orchestra – Mogwai Full list here.
Simply embracing self-provided descriptions of music or, really, any art without any personal reflection on it is usually a fools game. But man…Bojou Tracks description of themselves really nails it, and is as good as you could ask for. “Bojou Tracks is a label for sensitive hearts,” and the compilation Bojou In Da Tracks delivers…
Man, high school me would be losing it right now. Despite being like eight months away, Summer Sonic has confirmed two acts who will be playing the two-day festival – the Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Strokes. Both groups have new albums planned for 2011 so what better way to shill them to Japan…
Genres are a tricky thing. People want you to reject them until they don’t — a lot of folks act like the concept of a genre is limiting until they need to fence others off from it. Yunomi’s “Sakura Saku” is a rare number where styles actually do get sucked up into a vortex, the…
Six-piece Lucky Kilimanjaro seem like a group poised to breakthrough to a weird level of mainstream notability, where an outfit can get decent placement at Tower Records and have concerts promoted above a convenience store ticket machine, but still be virtually unknown. Spurred by Japan’s massive gulf between top-level acts and legit indie artists, a…