Quick quiz – what album was Make Believe Melodies most excited about coming into 2013? Even though this year has seen new full-lengths from Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, Moscow Club, Sakanaction, Tofubeats and a bunch of other artists I adore, someone else had me giddier than any of them heading into January. That would be Eadonmm,…
Plenty of bedroom-based musicians do not deserve your time, but when a good one pops up, they are special. Japan’s introduced a lot of good ones into the musical conversation over the last year, and even more continue to pop up online. Out of the digital ether comes Juliana Paris, a project whose latest track…
Maltine Records has released a lot of music during their existence – a few gems were bound to slip by. One really fantastic song I failed to write about, from earlier this year, was Pa’s Lam System’s “b00mb0x,” an absolutely thumping number that’s one of Japan’s best pure floor-fillers in 2013. Now here comes the…
Moscow Clubは本当に素晴らしい。最初に我々が注目した”Daisy Miller Pt. 1″ は、ヘンリー・ジェームスの物語からの引用で、作品同様の感情的な雰囲気を醸し出しています。今回SoundCloudにアップされた曲は、”火星年代記”や、”華氏451″等を執筆したSF作家、レイ・ブラッドベリ(レイ、 数々の素晴らしい作品をありがとう。安らかに眠れ。)へのトリビュート精神が。Moscow Clubの新曲は”華氏451″の英語タイトル、”Fahrenheit 451″で、”Daisy Miller”の曲のように文学的に攻めるのではなく、あくまでレイドバック。悲しい過去の物語を語るのではなく、ちゃんとダンスフロアにそぐうように作曲されています。シンセが良い味を出しているこの曲はMoscow Clubの今までの曲よりも打ち込みがメインになっていて、この3分程の遊び心溢れる作品は、Toro Y MoiやKissesを連想させます。コーラスが実に美しい。試聴は以下から。
Hey, summer going a little too well for you? Having too much fun in the warm weather? Welp, Kansai indie-pop outfit It Happens have the perfect bummer jam to make you wistful. “Track And Field” is an extremely lonely song, just some guitar strumming and downtrodden singing that’s near impossible to understand due to how…
Might want to give this one some time – producer Pa’s Lam System’s new album Virus Window went up on the Maltine Records’ site a little while ago, and everything seems to have crashed thanks to demand for it. I can’t even download it at the moment! But we do this album features his club-thumping…
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.
Japanese indie legends Bloodthirsty Butcher’s take things one frame at a time in the video for “OCEAN,” the first single from there (to this point unknown to me) new album out next week (!). Who says Tuesday has no good surprises? The video focuses on one doll taking his craft-store-and-bed-ridden buddy out on a wild…
Update: When you rush to get something up you just saw on YouTube, you’re gonna make mistakes! “Chain” came out a while back, so some of the below is a bit off. But the video, above, is new. Make Believe Melodies regrets the error, and thanks to @nsilvias for the heads up City Your City…
Think of the Juke Shiyouya series as a pleasant come down from the grittier Atomic Bomb Compilation. Whereas the latter uses juke music as a way to warn about the dangers of nuclear power and weapons — often by taking a darker, at times doomsday-ready tone — Omoide Label’s ongoing collections simply gathers tracks from…
Tokyo indie-pop unit Lake Michigan recently released a new EP, Frontier, and were gradually releasing each song off that set on to SoundCloud. Early returns looked pretty meh – the title track is a slow-burner that thinks a big guitar solo equals a payoff, while “Loveless” fares a bit better (the ending enters nice rush…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RxYmYsa3T4&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1] The still-bizarrely-named Mass Of The Fermenting Dregs have a new album out and, surprise surprise, also have a new video out. “Zero Comma, Irotoridori No Sekai” seems like one of the more bubbly songs the band have done, and it comes with an equally bouncy video full of bright colors and cloned band members….
Rejoice owners of cassette players and/or really old Toyotas. Cutesy lo-fi sirens Puffyshoes have a new full-length coming out on the supposedly outdated medium this month, March 15 to be exact. Finally The Weekend features 10 tracks, some sporting very Puffyshoes-appropriate names like “I Want A Boy” and “Backstage Pass.” They also have the intriguing…