New Toyomu: Souda, Kyoto

a1932365033_10

Toyomu (or TOYOMU, probably should make a style guide for this blog) has been having himself quite a busy year. Souda, Kyoto is his fourth release of 2016, and that’s on top of live shows as far West as Tokyo (and not to mention that media attention). If each work of his has had a theme running through it — whether that be interpretations of other works or being built from older Japanese sons — Souda, Kyoto find Toyomu celebrating his hometown with a set of electronic music drawing from the sounds of the ancient capital. It includes samples of traditional music colliding with modern beats — see the elegant beatwork of “Azuma No Niji” – and instances where time gets blurred and the sound of children singing turns trippy (“Ma Ru Ta Ke”). Get it here, or listen below.

Similar Posts

  • |

    Bo En Remixes Negicco: “Let’s Meet At The Festival”

    No stranger to remixing for J-pop acts, England’s bo en remixed Niigata trio Negicco’s song “Let’s Meet At The Festival.” The original version is a solid bit of pop — better than the leak-backing group’s newest songs, but not touching the material on this year’s Rice & Snow, one of the favorites for 2015’s finest…

  • |

    New Vanilla Beans: “Non Section”

    Playing with irony is a dangerous game…one wrong move, and suddenly what sounded like a good joke transforms into something legitimately off-putting. Idol-duo Vanilla Beans have always tip-toed on the edge just fine, their winking brand of J-Pop managing to deliver catchy tunes alongside the smirks. New single “Non Section,” though, comes close to tumbling…

  • New UKO: “Spur”

    The renewed interest — both domestically and internationally — in city pop has caused a lot of ripples across many genres of music, but it’s also at times distracted from artists whose music sounds good with or without Bubble-era ties. Singer/songwriter UKO definitely takes cues from the aforementioned style — just listen to those horn…

  • Pleasant Surprises: Lil’ Yukichi’s Ghetto Pop Idol

    私はちょっとした理由からJ-Popのリミックスにはあまり興味を持てません。というのも、本来のJ-Popのままで十分なのでリミックスは必要ないからです。あと、J-Popがジャンルとして劣っていると示唆していたり、それを直接的に伝えていたりするから、というのもありますね。中にはチョップド&スクリュードやテクノ・リミックスやらなんやらをしないと楽しめない音楽だと思ってる人もいるのでは? でも最近Ghetto Pop Idol を聴いた時は驚きました。この5曲入りの作品ではLil’諭吉というアーティストが、有名なJ-Popの曲をヒップホップ・ビートで奏でています。嬉しい事に、私の好きなきゃりーぱみゅぱみゅとPerfumeが使われています。これにはついつい惹かれてしまいました。ただ、それだけじゃないんですよ!きゃりーのキラキラしたトラック”ぎりぎりセーフ”も、Lil’諭吉が切り刻んで手を加えれば幻想的なビートに一新。他のプロデューサー達が単にテンポを遅くして満足しているのとは訳が違い、原曲の良さを残したまま新しいものを作り上げています。彼がリミックスした“Plastic Smile”も個性的。Perfumeのボーカルを1秒程の長さにカットして、それを上に重ねたり、連続させたり。更なる目玉はAira Mitsukiの”ニーハイガール”のリミックスなのですが、オリジナルに使われている多すぎる電子音を強調してみたり、逆にメローにしてみたりして、曲の中に強弱を付け、上手く展開させています。これがJ-Popの本当のリミックスの仕方です。試聴はこちらから。

  • The Cabs: “二月の兵隊”

    [youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qsXxKawUos”] This one’s all about misleading first impressions. The Cabs open up “二月の兵隊” with geometrically-precise guitar and drum, the sort of math rock you envision being plotted out on graph paper. The lead singer’s voice sails in shortly after, and the single becomes a touch sweeter as The Cab’s frontman sways between the webs. Sparkplugged…

  • New IMALU: “Uh Uh”

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUQs_1BGskU&hl=en_US&fs=1&] One of 2010’s better J-Pop surprises has been IMALU. Her song “そんな名前 欲しくないよ” has been one of the best singles of the year thus far, it’s mix of feel-good pop rubbing against her rather ennui-rich voice. Now she follows that number with “Uh Uh,” the title track to an upcoming film I know nothing…