Flau recording artist Cuushe has a new album out this summer, and she has a European tour going on…right now. This is all great news, as Cuushe most certainly deserves it following the heck of a 2012 she had. But I really just want to talk about her new song “I Love You,” especially the…
So…vaporwave. It is (was?) one of those Internet-spawned genres that sounds interesting written down…accelerationists! Trash music! Capitalism!…but gets confusing fast when you start trying to figure out what vaporwave actually sounds like. Even if you settle on a sonic definition of what it is…to me, I consider it music built out samples taken mostly from…
At last, the latest installment in what has been the most intriguing body of work in Japanese music this year. It’s tough pinpointing what exactly bedroom producer i-fls does that has made the various free albums and EPs he’s released this year resonate so much. Part of it is how he’s able to use the…
“Parade” is a perfectly pleasant pop song, young singer YeYe handling her vocals well over the peppy music, the sort of thing that could be easily rejiggered into the backing sounds of a Broadway musical. It’s good…but what makes it interesting (and, disclosure, gets it a post here) is the backing vocals. Few songs this…
The guiding principal behind Make Believe Melodies, ever since I founded it all the way back in 2009, was to focus exclusively on music from Japan. Truth is, though, I have certainly broken that guiding principal every once in awhile – I’ve written about Japanese artists who currently reside in other countries, and have even…
One of the weirder things to happen…or, more appropriately, not happen…in the realm of Japanese music is the near lack of music relating to the 3/11 earthquake and tsunami or the Fukushima nuclear incident following it (and still going as strong as ever). I’m not talking about outright political songs addressing the government or TEPCO…
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.
Gagakirise would function well as the house band for a talk show in hell. Picture undead Paris Hilton walking out to torment Jay Leno as some of the most chaotic sounds that aren’t just random noise burst out from the stage. Just listen to the Space Ghost Coast To Coast on acid chug of “SpacesHip”…
Now going under her name Yuri Urano, Yullippe is expanding on her unsettling industrial-flaked sound on the first preview of an EP out on Central Processing Unit next month. “Autline” teases the same chilly atmosphere that has drifted through the bulk of her works up until now, the slow chug and rumble of the beat…
Though it lacks the shiny sheen big record label bucks can create, Yuhki Katagiri’s bedroom music serves as a reminder that pop isn’t the sole property of people who own multiple yachts. Sure, lots of Japanese pop sounds like the product of a conveyor belt and Yasutaka Nakata probably pulls most of Perfume’s music off…
Buddy Girl And Mechanicのデビューアルバムは寒い2月の気温以上にチルな気分にさせてくれます。このBuddy Girl And Mechanicはゆったりと始まり、全体を通してゆっくり。それによりこのバンドが得意な遊び心の効いた工夫が活かされるのです。オープナー”Ultra Witch Crafty Fab”なんかはクラウト・ロックを落ち着かせたような印象。7分以上もあるもののクライマックスなんかは無く、同じペースで進んで行くわけなのですが、左右に散りばめられた様々な音色によって飽きのこない曲に仕上がっています。同じく東京のMilla And The Geekの”New Age”に近いものの、Milla And the geeksはノイズ、Buddy Girl And Mechanicは空間と多彩な楽器を使って表現しているという点で異なります。”Buddy My Cloud”はさらにゆったり。シンプルなパーカッションとギターや、アンビエントなボーカルによるオーガニックなサウンドが心地良いです。逆に”Fenix”なんかではちゃんとドラムとベースがあり、キーボードもボーカルのエフェクトも多彩で良い意味で怪しい雰囲気に。3曲試聴可能ですよ。
Maltine appears to not be huge on celebration. The Internet label hit 100 releases recently, but skipped over it in favor of diving right into release number 101. Some labels probably would have celebrated such a moment with lists and look backs and all sorts of other features. Maltine had an unrelated live event in…
If, for whatever confused reason, you feel you need to appear on this blog in order to boost you’re popularity, let me tell you a secret way to definitely earn you’re way onto these hallowed WordPress pages. I’m a sucker for indie-pop. If it sounds vaguely twee and isn’t completely off-putting, it has a 95…