Make Believe Melodies Logo

Local Visions Presents Mega Drive Featuring Pasocom Music Club, i-fls And Many Morey

Posted on by

Mega Drive takes a lot of expectations and flips them around. The compilation serves as fledgling label Local Visions’ first release, and gathers artists from Japan and abroad together to dabble primarily in styles that would be seen as niche genre by most — and with arguably the main sounds being touched on across Mega Drive being pretty internet centric. But the jumble of artists here makes for the most interesting perspectives. Vaporwave signifiers appear frequently, and tracks such as Cat System Corp’s “iColluseum YamaDew” (it’s a pun!) opt for the laziest form of that sound, slowing some forgotten Japanese number down and…hit upload. Yet other artists — many actually from Japan — hit on something different, or even strange. Toyohirakumin manages something more dramatic on their contribution, while Pasocom Music Club manage a different kind of exotica on the jaunty synth number “Jogae,” stylized in Hangul and featuring Korean vocal samples. Boogie Idol slows things down on the dusk-ready “Compass Point,” while i-fls conjures up emotional elevator music on “Eventide Blue.” There’s a lot going on here — I could write a post entirely about the album standout courtesy of AOTQ, a breezy slow burner that just makes me want to rent a car and drive along the coast — and offers a nice rounded perspective on a lot of now-familiar ideas. Get it here, or listen below.

Floating Free: Swan High’s Islands

Posted on by

Sendai band Swan High mostly take it easy on Islands, though their sort of laid back ultimately translates as a chance to try out whatever they want. Across the eight songs here, the group dabble in a variety of rock stylings, most of them on the softer side of the spectrum. “Find A Way” channels ’60s pop and prom staples to create a melancholy number brightened up by electronic squiggles, while “Kousaten” takes a similar set of sounds closer to ballad territory. Their best modes, at least here, are either downcast synth-pop that lets their heart sit proudly on their sleeve (the dewey-eyed “Late June”) or simplistic indie-pop skipping (“Ramune Kashi”). Get it here, or listen below.

Beat Machine: Dale Nixon’s Hello EP

Posted on by

Hello! Project turns 20 this year, and everyone celebrates in their own way, I’m sure. If you are Japanese artist Dale Nixon, you call up your Tokyo rapper friend Valknee and you record a hip-hop EP celebrating the agency behind Morning Musume and many others. Hello comes advertised as “HelloHop,” and Dale Nixon exclusively samples H!P songs for the beats, including some ballads based on the piano-centric inclusions (I’ll cop to not having a deep enough knowledge of the Hello! Project discography to pick up on what specific songs they draw from — I’m more of a “Want!” era man, myself). Anyway, go beyond the gotta-hear-this packaging, Hello stands as a solid rap EP. The highlight comes right away on the confident “Super Ultra Hyper Sayumi Time,” which bounces forward and allows Valknee to deliver her strongest verses here, touching on food…a lot of it…before swerving into a more melodic hook. The remaining two songs are more sentimental — those piano notes! — and finds Valknee in a slightly more reflective mood. Love those idols or not, listen above.

Valknee also recently collaborated with Nagoya’s J Gryphin on “Nice Pic,” a slightly warped number that places her rapping against a dreamy beat that feels like it is slowly deteriorating. If the cute stuff doesn’t do it for you, this six-shots-deep-after-midnight number should. Listen below.

International Connection: Hiro Tadomatsu Teams U With Tenma Tenma For “Perfectblue”

Posted on by

The past couple of years have seen plenty of Western artists drawn to Japanese sounds — from digging through city pop to seeking out rare Japanese “ambient” records. At times, it has felt a bit one sides, but recently there have been some encouraging signs of communication on both sides. See French producer Moe Shop’s recent release, one I want to write more about but which finds the artist teaming up with Japanese artists to create an irresistible set of dance numbers. Or “Perfectblue,” a collab between Kansai’s Tenma Tenma and an artist named Hiro Tadomatsu, who seems to actually be Swiss. Potentially eye rolling (more details needed!), but they are at least involved in one of the best city pop tribute songs I’ve heard all year, and now working closely with a Japanese producer. And coming up with something solid in the process. “Perfectblue” is a strut-worthy production, featuring a fair amount of electronic flourishes but emphasizing the beat. Tenma Tenma sings over it, melding just right with the music. More team-ups like this, please. Listen above.

Sweet Tomorrow: Tomatoism’s Sugar Water EP

Posted on by

All good series have three parts! One and two here.

Nagoya’s Tomatoism isn’t a completely fresh face in Japanese underground electronic scene. The producer contributed to this late 2016 compilation, while also releasing this anime-centric set under the name Tomato Chan around the same time. But in 2017 they started dabbling in a sound closer to the current crop of “kawaii” producers — while venturing beyond that tag plenty, too. The Sugar Water EP is Tomatoism’s most refined release to date, finding just the right balance between more fragile instrumentation and more jacked-up sounds. Opener “Recall” matches bells and pianos with synth wooshes, building up towards a drop, albeit one that still has a lot of heavy thoughts on its mind. The other two Tomatoism originals — two remixes round it out, alongside a piano take that feels like an inessential bonus — pick up the pace, the cicada-accented “GF From The Countryside” breaking into a sprint while “Hyper Urban” just jackhammers away from the start. All the while, bass and hard-hitting beats crash into it, never knocking the songs off but adding new layers to it. Get it here, or listen below.