Look, I’m watching the second half of this Japan-Colombia World Cup game and it is stupid stressful, here is a new song from Osaka’s Soleil Soleil, it’s good. Back to sitting all scrunched up like seeing if Japan can score two goals….
Over at the Make Believe Tumblr, I put together a bit of an intro to Japanese indie-pop in 2012. Seems like twee-tinged music has been having a bit of moment this year, with more artists popping up online every week and new digital labels sneaking into the picture. Why this is happening I don’t know…
[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRSNKvc9NpY”] The cheapest shot I could take at Bump Of Chicken and their last few singles would be saying how they all sorta sound exactly the same. They’ve been doing this thing where they shoot for wide-eyed wonder that, coupled with accompanying videos, seems to scream “childhood nostalgia.” Though mostly solid songs…certainly not bad…the succession…
Many newer women rappers (but not all) in Japan today operate in a whisper-like voice, a topic most certainly worthy of an essay or two (quick aside: I mostly come back to MCpero telling me that she wishes she was a man, to rap better). Beyond thinkpiece-ready topics, it also means a lot of it…
Based on a recent posting on Flau’s site, it is tough to tell whether Kyoto’s Madegg recent rechristening as MDG…or, is it M/D/G?…is a permanent thing or just a temporary shift. What is certain — he has a new EP (also titled M/D/G) out in March, and he’s shared the first song off of it,…
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,…
About two weeks ago, Tokyo’s Shortcake Collage Tape posted a song called “Polaroid Full Of Kisses” that ended up being a far more craftly bit of indie-pop to pin down than the name implied. It was a fuzzy memory of a song, vocals ripped from anime and sampled flute dropped into a woozy downtempo gunk….