Azusa Suga, who already released one of the year’s best albums with his solo project Shortcake Collage Tape’s Spirited Summer, returns in time for the spring with a new EP titled Satellite Lovers from his indie-pop band For Tracy Hyde. In advance, he’s posted a new video for the song “Another Sunny Daze,” which appears…
Boys Age are a duo who force you to not make snap judgements. The first few seconds of “I Wish For God’s Sake’…like the first few second of a lot of the songs they’ve released…challenge thanks to the lead vocals. They are far from polished, sounding like a Muppet gurgling water. But give it a…
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…
It has been awhile since we’ve heard anything new from Tokyo’s Merpeoples…last time was last June with the song “Silent Sleep,” a good tune albeit one that faded quickly. Looks the group are ready to give it another whirl, and they’ve got this blog’s full attention with the hopping “Tinkle.” Merpeople have always been good…
There are words on Tokyo electronic artist Exoskeletone’s “Chimera” – in fact, the above video features them – but it’s best to not pay much attention to them. They work better as texture than lyrics, the digi-mumble at the center of this song the closest thing to a sweet escape from the walls-closing-in-feel of the…
Bedroom-whizz Shugo Tokumaru has released his first glimpse of the follow-up to 2010’s Port Entropy in the form of new single “Decorate.” For those expecting his whimsical, toy-instrument heavy music to morph into something new by now, prepare to be let down because “Decorate” is another solid example of his playroom pop. Tokumaru’s usual assortment of bells, woodwinds and acoustic guitar dominates this song, and at one point he even works in the sound of an alarm clock ringing off. Also intact – the same sense of wonder the majority of Tokumaru’s tracks possess. Listen above. You can buy the single in stores now, and if you do, you also will get the chance to hear Tokumaru’s take on The Buggles’ MTV-launching “Video Killed The Radio Star.” I don’t know what the single version sounds like, but watch Shugo deliver a cutesy live cover below.
For the purpose of space, I’ll spare you my thousand-upon-thousand word essay about celebrated Japanese artist Tatsuro Yamashita for the moment and just say that few singer / songwriters anywhere are as skilled craftsman like Yamashita, whose legacy still looms large over the Japanese music scene. His best songs revolve around longing and hoping, and…
A new label…whether they be net-centric or capable of producing physical object…isn’t a particularly newsworthy development. Imprints start up all the time, so Kyoto outfit Neo-Mo-De Records initially look like yet another bunch of people with wi-fi and musical ambitions, even if they are planning an event in Yokohama this January. Yet Neo-Mo-De demands attention…
Every region surely has something interesting going on…but man, I honestly think Kansai always has the highest volume of intriguing music going on (whereas Tokyo just has a lot). Onsen Records is based out of Osaka, and leans towards the beat music side of things…apt for the region…and the tracks on Onsen Compilation 2 exemplifying…
– Nagoya’s The Moments posted a new song a little bit ago, and if you dig guitar-lead ditties leaning towards sunny-afternoon indie pop, you’ll probably like “Shining Eyes.” This new one lacks the multi-voiced hookiness of previously released “Short Trip,” instead opting for a fragility that seems like a gust of wind could knock it…
One of the best new(ish) names to pop up frequently this year has been Lovely Summer Chan. So far, she’s released a collaborative EP with producer Yoshino Yoshikawa through Maltine Records, joined up with For Tracy Hyde and now collaborated with Uchu Nekoko on one of the better shoegaze songs I’ve heard as of late….
Erik Luebs (formerly Magical Mistakes) has kept up with his Cycle project, and the results have been solid — I’m a particular fan of Cycle 2.4 / April — but have also kind of just slipped by the ol’ blogging schedule. Let’s change that with this installment, focused on the song “Wavering.” Luebs finds a…