Plenty of people have come around to producer Yunomi’s maximalist mix of gumball-bright synthesizers and traditional touches, and 2018 has already proven pretty busy. The most notable project he’s undertaken was more or less architecting the debut album from future-bass idols Cy8er, seeing him add in a few more dramatic touches (alongside big dumb drops)….
“Last Romance” marks a bit of a throwback for idol unit Tokyo Girls’ Style…even if the marketing materials accompanying it try to tap into current trends. The description coming alongside the above clip busts out everyone’s favorite two words — city pop — in talking about “Last Romance,” trying to continue the group’s slow-burning evolution…
Siblings Yu and Rima Kato comprise Family Basik, a project offering up intricate chamber pop. It’s far busier than Rima Kato’s sparse solo work, and often features lyrics with a slightly darker bend (see 2014’s A False Dawn And Posthumous Notoriety, a generally chipper collection speckled with lyrics about death). The duo have a new…
Tokyo duo Frasco tend to operate in two modes. One style veers close to what some have labelled “city pop revival,” though it is just as indebted to acid jazz, AOR cuts and American funk. It’s good and often times bump-able. The second though, which ends up on display in new song “Sleepwalking,” is far…
Idol music — like most pop music — can be something that easily gets twisted too much when you think too much about it. I’m not a believer in the “just have fun!” camp of pop, which often rejects all critical thought, but I also think you can get too academic with the stuff (and,…