Tokyo is still thawing out after a big ol’ snowstorm, so a high-energy like this feels fitting on a day where a little heat would work wonders. Capchii falls into that nebulous “kawaii” zone a handful of Japanese electronic artists have crept into, but “Let’s Build A Snowman” matches fluttering synths and shiny chimes with…
The Fogpak series of electronic music compilations has reached 20 releases with its latest — theme, “Adult,” congrats Fogpak you can buy cigarettes from a vending machine — and the newest set offers the same mission as the 19 that came before. It spotlights ten artists — in recent versions, Fogpak became more global, but…
Using just a little echo and some other effects, Tokyo’s Santa Dharma transforms a pleasant bit of bedroom pop into something with blurred edges. The duo utilize a small set of instruments to create a sparse but bouncy little number that then gets wrapped in the aforementioned echo, a few dub touches and a few…
Sampling Sea Compilation gathers ten house tracks from producers across Japan, all featuring a slight faded feel but ultimately forceful dance numbers on their own. While there’s a slight nautical theme running throughout, it never really comes to the surface, which is fine — delicate numbers like AFAMoo’s “Submarine” and Asazuke’s “Midnight Victoria Line” Things…
Had you told me the first great album to come out of Japan in 2018 would arrive courtesy a Saitama genre-skipper who seemed like Ano(t)raks strangest inclusion in some time, well you definitely would have surprised me. But that’s the joy of doing this, hearing an artist like Mom deliver something like Baby Like A…