Similar Posts
New Figure: “Make Me Dry”
Nagoya’s Figure pretty much exists outside of any current Japanese music scene going today. His music easily could be classified as DIY indie-pop, but dude’s work is both too dark and too gravely to match up with the rest of Japan’s sunny twee charms. Figure also isn’t particularly arty or wild, discounting him from the…
Elen Never Sleeps Previews New EP: “Shine On Me” And “Silver”
One of the tougher parts of putting together a year-end feature – like our “favorite songs of 2012 lists” – is cutting it down. This means some really great stuff gets left outside…and last year, one of the toughest omissions to make was Tokyo murmur-pop dude Elen Never Sleeps, whose “My Aquamarine/Spinning Wheel” single featured…
Music Alliance Pact February 2013
The Music Alliance Pact brings together blogs from over 30 countries, with each one sharing one artist from their respective location. This month on MAP, we’ve chosen Kyoto’s Hotel Mexico, one of the finest bands going in Japan today. Listen to their “A.I. In Dreams”…and a bunch of other good tunes…below. Click the play button…
Random Letter Generator: Imdkm’s Fischblut
At this point, trying to pin Japan’s booming indie electronic scene to one specific geographic region besides “the Internet” seems silly. Osaka – and, really, Kansai – used to be the go-to place, but now new branches of this community have sprung up everywhere, from Fukuoka to Hiroshima to Sapporo. It doesn’t really matter that…
Bunch Of Artists (Picnic Women, PARKGOLF, Osamu Ansai, Avec Avec) Remix Tofubeat’s Music
Do you feel that, hanging in the air? As chilly autumn winds start blowing in, so does the specter of year-end lists. Tofubeat’s first full-length album Lost Decade is a lock to land somewhere on Make Believe Melodies’ top albums list, and if you haven’t bought a copy yet, get on that. Maltine Records, who…
Out Of Dots Release Compilation Featuring Seiho, Madegg, Submerse And Many More
次の月曜日、渋谷のWombでOut Of Dotsというイベントが開催されます。三回建てのクラブを埋め尽くすべく、近未来的なサウンドを放つ多くのエレクトロ・アーティストが参加予定です。参加アーティスト達のコンピレーションもアップされているのですが、なんせ26曲もあり、全て聴くのは凄く時間が必要。もし週末お時間のある方は、是非聴いてみてほしいです。忙しい方には16曲以降を聴く事をオススメします。Maltine RecordsのSilvanian Familiesによる”Families Walks”はとても爽やかで、Seihoの新曲、”Blue Elegant”がそれに続きます。ここでFazerockのミニマルなポスト・ダブステップが流れ、Submerse、Madeggと続きます。でも勿論他にもハイライトがあって、例えばDub-Russelの”Nagwares 2 Me”なんかは彼等らしい飛び跳ねるサウンドになっていて、Fugenn & The White Elephantsの”Thunder”も、それを追いかけるような速いペースで進みます。追加で少しハイライトさせて頂くと、Acerola Beach、Himuro YoshiteruとQuarta 330がオススメ。視聴はこちらから。
New Seiho: “Underwater”
Here’s your Japanese future-pop summer jam of 2012. Seiho’s “Underwater” is another fine swirl of digitally manipulated vocals and wonky electronics, this one with a few clever seasonal touches (watery sounds!). “Underwater” also highlights two of the reasons Seiho has become one of the best young music makers in Japan today. First, his songs are never just excuses to show off what his cool equipment can do. These songs go places and have structures – “Underwater” features this great build towards a bubble-powered release, Seiho adding a dash of tenseness to his music. The other detail is the bass. It sounds so precise but also so funky…so fun…that it could have come from a Zazen Boys’ song. A friend compared it to Seinfeld, but I don’t think it’s quite slap-happy enough, but he’s write about it being laid back. Listen below.
Similar Posts
Satanicpornocultshop Visit ’70s Africa For Snack EP
Long-running Osaka outfit Satanicpornocultshop’s latest release, the Snack EP, features a strict unifying sonic theme — the group samples African funk tracks from the 1970s and turns them into wobbly juke numbers. The source material — warm, guitar-centered music — gives Snack an overall brighter atmosphere than many of the outfit’s previous juke releases (and…
Oldie But Goodie: Shugo Tokumaru’s “Rum Hee” (OORUTAICHI Remix)
Osaka’s OORUTAICHI takes “Rum Hee,” one of the most joyful rushes on Shugo Tokumaru’s bubbly Port Entropy, and mutates it into a strange, multi-headed electronic beast. He originally edges the song into skittering electro territory, putting Tokumaru’s sweet vocals against a slipstream of digital gurgles. After the first chorus, though, OORUTAICHI changes his mind mid-air,…
New Bedroom Tourist: “Saints Come To My Town 6.5” And “Always You Behind Me”
Gotta hand it to Bedroom Tourist…guy can work on several different levels. His two latest MySpace tracks collide with one another stylistically, butting heads like two goofy rams. “Saints Come To My Town 6.5” loops some electronics around before Bedroom Tourist comes into the track to “sing.” He uses what sounds like Autotune the entire…
New OOIOO: “O O IAH”
Yoshimi P-We’s OOIOO project has a new album on the way and here’s a first taste of the madness sure to be contained on the desk. The Muppet-like chanting going on throughout this all-over-the-place track becomes surprisingly catchy after a few spins, though you need to give this a few listens to catch all the…
New The Beauty: “Littlebig”
This one snuck out a couple weeks ago, but since we mark out for anything CUZ ME PAIN related in this corner of the Internet (with good reason!) let’s highlight the latest from The Beauty. “Littlebig” finds The Beauty continually pushing into more overt dance territory…the track gets slapped with the “disco” tag on Bandcamp…and…
New Maison Book Girl: “Okaeri Sayonara”
Idol music isn’t a field geared towards innovation. The challenge in approaching it is accepting that groups — especially in the 2010s — tend to occupy a very specific musical (if not visual) niche, and expecting change from them is kind of a hopeless pursuit. One I still fall for, but I digress! This is…
