宅録ミュージシャンのトクマルシューゴが、2010年の作品”Port Entropy”に続くシングル、”Decorate”をリリースしました。今までの楽しいおもちゃ箱のような曲以上を望んでいる人にとっては期待はずれかもしれませんね。今回も、遊び心に満ちた曲に仕上がっています。ベル、木管楽器とアコースティックギターが曲の多くを占め、目覚まし時計のような茶目っ気のある音も面白いです。彼のスタイルは全く損なわれていないです。視聴は上から。シングルを購入すれば、トクマルシューゴによる、かつてMTVで大ヒットしたバグルスの、”ラジオ・スターの悲劇”のカバーも聴けます。シングルカットがどうなっているかは知りませんが、ライブバージョンは以下から視聴できます。
I spent two years living in Mie Prefecture, a stretch of land nestled between Osaka and Nagoya that was part mountainous and part coastal. Caught in the middle of those topographies, sits Matsusaka. It is as suburban-rural as it gets in a place where both those terms are flexed to the maximum – it’s a…
It’s a nice occurrence that Tokyo producer Taquwami’s mix for the website SSENSE, featuring a new song called “Hate Winter,” dropped during a weekend that featured Spring-like temperatures in Japan’s capital. “Hate Winter” closes out his almost-40-minute mix and is a lovely comedown, a slowly unfolding track full of layered vocal samples and some nice…
日本のインディー・ポップ界は今年も素晴らしい曲を多く生み出しているのは確かですが、男性アーティストが大半を占めているというのが気がかりです。女性メンバーのいるバンドも多いのですが、彼女達は中心的な存在とは言いがたいでしょう。大阪のTwinkle Twinklesを除けば、女性のみのバンドというのもレアでしょう。私の記憶が正しければ、数ヶ月前にリリースされたC86のテープでさえ、多くの新しいアーティストをフィーチャーしていたのにも関わらず、女性メンバーのいるバンドはSlow Maricoのみでした。いったいPuffyshoesは何処へ行ってしまったのか？ でも最近結成したJolie Joliはtwee的な可愛げのあるインディー・ポップを奏でています。現在女性二人でドラマーを探しているみたいなのですが、タイガー・トラップ、ヘブンリーやカブといった90年初期の北米インディー・ポップ、それも女性メンバーのみのグループから濃く影響を受けています。Jolie Joliはまだ持ち曲が少ないものの、”Dreaming Girl”を聞くと、秘められた大きな可能性を感じます。シンプルな曲は明るく楽しいギターやドラムをフィーチャーし、その上で遊ぶボーカルとコーラスがとても可愛らしく、このような女性メインのバンドが増えるといいな、と思わされます。視聴は以下から。
There are an abundance of hip-hop beatmakers in Japan right now. Lidly belongs in the upper echelon of these types, creating instrumental music that is not just the result of somebody listening to a few J. Dilla CDs and calling it enough of an education. His stuff is far more abstract, far stranger than the…
At long last, Osaka’s Cloudy Busey is back with a new song and video. “A Spring Fuck You” breaks a bit from the last few songs this Osaka-based artist released to the world. Those songs set far-from-positive lyrics against pop-oriented backdrops. Now, similar words are being set against music that practically lurches, and at times…
(Editor’s Note: I’m moving to a new apartment in two days, so posts might be on the briefer side. Gotta pack!) Footwork producer FOODMAN already released one great off-the-wall album of music recently…and now he’s back with another on Hiroshima’s Dubliminal Bounce. Are Kore opens on the harsher end of the spectrum and along 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.
Tokyo’s Call And Response Records will put out a new compilation album, titled Throw Away Your CDs And Go Out To A Show, on August 16. It shines a spotlight on the country’s best “modern Japanese postpunk, no wave and noise-rock,” anchored by relative notable names in music geek circles such as Melt-Bananana and (ok,…
A bit cruel for a song like this…one called “Week End” even…to pop up closer to Monday than Friday, but what are you going to do? Ghostlight craft a skippy electro-pop number here, one with male-female joint vocals that builds up to a woozy little finale. A few off-kilter percussive beats pop up here and…
These dudes, balls of titanium I tell you. That band name isn’t politely asking for a single wallet – they are demanding you give them wallets as if the average person has three extra chain purses on them at all times. The testicular fortitude doesn’t end at the aggressive moniker – new song “Amneasia” clocks…
The latest from Lulu details a scene that sounds lovely, but delivered in a way hinting at how even the best times are bound to slip away at some point. “Hot” features lyrics about pools and warm nights, but delivered over a sparse beat marked by faint keyboard notes that mostly put the focus on…
Island… builds off of the song of the same name that Ryoma Sakoh released earlier this year. That song created a soft, billowy soundtrack to an imagined archipelago, and the new full-length builds on that theme explicitly, with Sakoh himself writing that this is “memories spent on fictitious islands.” The bulk of the album builds…
Ano(t)raks is growing up a bit. The indie-pop focused netlabel has seen its profile rise in recent years, and has been moving into a more physical direction as of late. To cement this, they’ve more or less split the Ano(t)raks brand in two — one side focusing on physical releases, while the newly minted +Ano(t)raks…