Make Believe Melodies Logo

Electronic Round-up Featuring Hiroki Yamamura, Toccoyaki And Kloni

Posted on by

Busy weekend as usual — electronic artists love dropping new tracks on days off, huh? — so let’s dive in to a few highlights. Osaka juke creator Hiroki Yamamura ventures into more elastic and funky territory with “Mimosa,” his latest. The familiar skittery beats come through clearly, as is the persistent energy that defines his best tracks. But everything also comes off as a little more laid-back, maybe a few drinks down in the day (those tipsy keyboard notes!). It’s playful, even as it rumbles forward at a familiar quick tempo. Listen above.

More bubbly is the latest from Toccoyaki, providing something a bit more busy, even if it takes a little more time to get there. “Yume No Ato” features vocals from Yuzuki, who adds a nice counter to what ends up being pretty heavy — albeit carbonated — electronic drops from the producer. It works in tandem to create an energetic cut that takes a second to build up, but then delivers when everything starts popping. Listen below.

The energy only increases via Aichi-based producer Kloni, who delivers a dazzling rush with “Magic.” Fans of artists such as Amunoa should definitely check out the young creator — SoundCloud description, “beginner” — who uses hiccuping vocal samples practically tripping over one another to add to the thrill of the already swift music beneath it. For those who like Technicolor whirlwinds, keep an eye on this one. Listen below.

New T4CKY: I / II

Posted on by

Producer and roman-numerals-aficionado T4CKY created one of 2017’s more promising debuts in the form of XIX. Now they continue flashing their potential with two new songs. “I” is the one that is more readily available to all, as it is up on SoundCloud (and you can hear it above). It’s a touch more restrained, opening with bell twinkles and slowly adding in elements, from a head-bopping beat to Spanish vocal samples. It’s more about showing off texture than necessarily cutting back, and feels more like a display of production skill than anything else. Which is why you should hunt down “II,” available on streaming services, if you can. That one pulls a lot of similar tricks, but morphs all those samples and machine-beats into a woozy dance number that just gets steam as it goes along, losing itself in its own sound and inviting the listener to come along.

New There Is A Fox: After Image

Posted on by

Let’s call it spring cleaning, if you will. Kyoto-based singer/songwriter There Is A Fox’s album After Image has been out for a whole month now, but today feels like the right day to write about it, with the weather feeling warm and pleasant (and, uhhhh, I remembered I made a note to write about it…but didn’t see until today. Nice.). After Image offers intimate and sparse numbers guided by acoustic guitar, the key element being There Is A Fox’s vocals, soft and at-times near-whispered, which add a sweetness to numbers such as “Sun Shower” and “Good Bye.” Critical to the album, however, is its pacing. Between this folk numbers are instrumentals that add in other elements — music boxes on the aching “Day Break,” a slight electronic fuzz on “After Image 1” and “After Image 2” — that keep things compelling. Perfect for a warm day. Get it here, or listen below.

Nyankobrq Teams Up With Snow Smile For “Utopia”

Posted on by

Sometimes, artists — in Japan, but really anywhere — get good at something, and kind of just pluck away at that for a long time and end up not moving in any direction. Producer Nyankobrq appears to not be one to settle, as they’ve teamed up with the rap duo Snow Smile to provide them a fizzy beat. For Nyankobrq, it’s a chance to adjust the kawaii-embracing maximalism they prefer in a way to allow for two MCs to work over. Nyankobrq maintains their busy sound (similar to what Yunomi did with them too), but allows just enough room for the pair to tag team over (something Yunomi couldn’t do, his song feeling more like a split). Yet it goes the other way too — non-pop-oriented rap in Japan tends to either embrace a throwback boom-bap sound or a watered-down trap approach that just makes you want to listen to Migos (or they venture down a more recent third path). Snow Smile go for something totally different, opting for near electro-pop, and it actually works for them and the way they tag team over it. Listen above, or watch the video below.

New Paperkraft: Here With You / S Act

Posted on by

Three releases deep now, and Kyoto’s NC4K label now looks like a legit player to keep an eye on when it comes to electronic music in Kansai. Their latest comes from Osaka’s Paperkraft, a producer who is often associated with the “lo-fi house” style. That term can be a bit divisive — the main argument against it being it is just house music that sounds a little more roughed up — but I personally like it, possibly because it feels similar to other internet-centric micro-genre from the last few years. Anyway, Paperkraft does it well, with opener “Here With You” offering one of the more ecstatic numbers in their catalog, marked by a sweet, cathartic vocal sample soaring above the beat. More familiar is the bleary-eyed shuffle of “S Act,” with distant 808 hits and faded vocal samples drifting about the ether. Get it here, or listen below.