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。
We’ve reached the point where idol music – usually an area reserved for AKB48 and Momoiro Clover z – has become really sonically smart. Not always at the top (though sometimes for sure!) but the lower rungs of idol-dom have resulted in some really interesting music. One reason – a lot of young producers are…
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…
Kansai producers doing things. Metome has been having a busy January, having released the fantastic Objet album (this year’s early frontrunner for album of the year…note, it has been eight days into the year). Before that, though, he released a song called “Paper Moon” as part of an EP called Phreatic Surface released through Canadian…
大阪を拠点とするAnd Vice Versaのアルバム、”E. Tender”は４月に発表されていましたが、まだそれについて書けていませんでした。しかし聴き続ける事で、今では私の2012年度のベストアルバムの一つになりました。 And Vice Versaは単音を好むアーティストだと感じます。そして”E. Tender”で使われているノイズはまるで触る事のできるような質感を持っています。 And Vice Versaの新曲、”Its Me”は、E. Tenderには含まれていないものの、そのスタイルはとても似ています。アルバムでも使われていた素晴らしい音が多く使われていて、その特徴的なシンセや、エフェクトが加えられたボーカルは何重にも重ねられ、幻想的なレイヤーを生み出しています。更に、And Vice Versaは曲中に、見つけたら嬉しくなる、細かい工夫を多く盛り込んでいます。”Its Me”とアルバムの曲の違いと言えば長さでしょう。アルバムの曲は３分程なのに比べ、この曲は６分半近くあります。でも、この曲は一瞬たりとも興味を離さないよう、上手く工夫されています。
For Tracy Hyde has expanded a bit – they’ve grown in number of members, which I saw at a live show they played recently. Despite a rise in the number of folks in the band, new song “Small Town, Summer Rain” still sounds like For Tracy Hyde. It’s a peppy indie-pop song…crucially, sang in Japanese…accented…
Is it an ode to times that have passed, or a celebration of a period in one’s life that will soon be history? The beauty of “Younger Life” is it leaves that a little bit open-ended…it could be a memory or it could be in the moment, but Ykiki Beat’s strutty number about the joys…
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.
This one is all about the building moments. Following an electronic fake-out, guitars and drums join hands in creating a continually rising force that serves to set the scene, the whole thing looping until the main vocals creep in. The verses do their job, delivered in a slightly nasally way, although it isn’t quite as…
So this popped up online last week and is…something. Picnic Women, who has spent the last few years slowly releasing some of the best juke-inspired songs in Japan, released Picnic Women Only Live Twice, which is like his arty indie film following a few blockbusters (uhhh, relatively speaking). It is one 15-minute-long song that constantly…
I talked to Mitsume for The Japan Times this week in regards to their very nice new album A Long Day, and now they’ve gone and shared another new song from the full-length (out today). “Objet” is one of the sparser songs from the album, the band making the most of space (nothing makes a…
Turns out the 2-Step push in Japan goes a lot further than just Goth-Trad. Quarta 330, out of Tokyo, creates a similar kind of dance music, though his version works in more fractured 8-bit noises. He’s landed a coveted spot on the Hyperdub label, and if luck should have it he should get a little…
Duo Frasco’s music has always been relatively laid back, avoiding easy city-pop-revival trappings in favor of something a bit more out there (but still limber). So this group — which describe themselves as a “meta pop project?” I don’t remember that from last year, is this a commentary on…something? — creating a smoothed-out beat for…
Whereas Perfume has always served as his gateway to the radio stations and Pino commercials of Japan, Yasutaka Nakata’s Capsule project seems to work as his in to the cooler circles of the country. With Capsule he could edge away from the pure-pop chewing gum of his highest-profile gig to make songs ready for the…