タイムマシーンに乗って2009年の秋に戻りましょう。私は日本に来てまだ数ヶ月。大阪の郊外に住み、たまに好奇心から、誰が演奏してるのかもわからずライブを観に行っています…退屈なバンドも色々観てきましたが、そんな経験からCubismo Grafico FiveやLove And Hates(後にHNCとMiila And The Geeksを知るきっかけになりました!)等、素晴らしいアーティストを体験する事ができました。そんな中でもWednesdayはかなり早い段階で観る機会に恵まれたのですが、そのギター中心な楽曲と、時折レトロなロックに完全に夢中に。次の年にリリースされたアルバムは凄く堪能していたのですが…それからWednesdayは何処へ?
Let’s step into the way-back machine and travel back to the autumn of 2009. I’ve been living in Japan for only a few months, out in the countryside outside of Osaka. Sometimes, for kicks, I’d just go to shows in the city randomly without knowing anything about the group’s playing. Although this resulted in seeing a fair share of bad outfits, it also resulted in me stumbling across the like of Cubismo Grafico Five, Love And Hates (which led to HNC and Miila And The Geeks) and many more. Wednesday were at one of the first shows I ever saw in person in Osaka, and I was won over by their guitar-centric, sometimes retro-leaning brand of rock. They released an album the next year and I really enjoyed it…and then they sort of just went away.
Turns out they released a new EP at the very end of last year, and the above song is the single from it. “Mr. Free” finds the band exploring the same jaunty territory they were traversing back in 2009, although this one starts slow and then barrels ahead as things progress. Structurally, it’s far more patient than most of their older stuff, which found a catchy idea and ran with it. What’s surprising about Wednesday in 2013 is how they sound like a group who could, conceivably, be lumped into Japan’s indie-pop boom – only their relatively crisp sound quality really makes me think twice. Regardless, nice to see these guys still kicking around. Listen above.
Rare are the times when you stumble across a SoundCloud or Bandcamp page unironically tagging itself as J-Pop. Even rarer…finding an earnest stab at the outright poppy through these sites that isn’t terrible. There are certainly exceptions – everything on Maltine that goes by that, mostly – but try spending some time with that tag….
Sapphire Slows’ has a new album out in November called Allegoria, and here’s the first track to come out from that album, “Dry Fruits.” It’s a slinky number, a reminder that she comes from a scene every bit as interested in dance music as they are more shadowy sounds. Just listen to that particularly wet…
Do the jubilant opening seconds of “Koto Bopping” serve to soundtrack the joy we (errrr, I guess I, but hopefully you too) feel knowing hip-hop-leaning, BenZel-bashing production duo Mioriyuri are back? Welp, the sun-breaking-through-sheets-of-ice sounds of the pair’s first new material since last year’s chilly Plastic Feather accomplishes that, and leads into a great beat…
It has been one of those weeks that has ended up being so busy, I have barely been able to pay attention to much new Japanese music this week. Thanks a lot work day! Anyway, next week will maybe be a bit lighter (and all things willing, this weekend can be a chance to hear…
Look, it is far from perfect – no compilation with 41 tracks from 41 different producers can go perfect – but the eighth edition in the Fogpak series comes off as particularly strong, esepcially compared to the more hit-or-miss recent entries. This series, which gathers new music from electronic producers all over Japan (and, sometimes,…
Moscow Clubは本当に素晴らしい。最初に我々が注目した”Daisy Miller Pt. 1″ は、ヘンリー・ジェームスの物語からの引用で、作品同様の感情的な雰囲気を醸し出しています。今回SoundCloudにアップされた曲は、”火星年代記”や、”華氏451″等を執筆したSF作家、レイ・ブラッドベリ(レイ、 数々の素晴らしい作品をありがとう。安らかに眠れ。)へのトリビュート精神が。Moscow Clubの新曲は”華氏451″の英語タイトル、”Fahrenheit 451″で、”Daisy Miller”の曲のように文学的に攻めるのではなく、あくまでレイドバック。悲しい過去の物語を語るのではなく、ちゃんとダンスフロアにそぐうように作曲されています。シンセが良い味を出しているこの曲はMoscow Clubの今までの曲よりも打ち込みがメインになっていて、この3分程の遊び心溢れる作品は、Toro Y MoiやKissesを連想させます。コーラスが実に美しい。試聴は以下から。