Tentenko presents a dilemma. She’s one of the most prolific artists of this decade, releasing CD-R after CD-R of songs skipping across all kinds of genres — she experimented with juke recently, what the hell! But also, hell yeah! — and genuinely going off in whatever direction she wants to. She has one perfect song…
With Mitsume, it’s all about the moments happening away from the vocals. Which isn’t to discount what Moto Kawabe does while singing — his light vocal delivery adds a melancholy-tinged breeziness to the quartet’s music, and the head-to-the-ground style trumps the more dramatic flourishes of groups such as Suchmos and Never Young Beach for me…
Osaka-based producer Hiroki Yamamura has been one of the region’s most hyperactive footwork creators over the last few years, releasing tracks on the more frantic side of the tempo scale. The Butterfly Hour EP, released via London’s Moveltraxx, offers as concise a gateway into his sound as possible given how quick Yamamura can get. The…
Producer Kotetsu released one of the stranger — and, accordingly, one of our pleasant surprises of 2017 — mixtapes earlier this year with MAVTAPE 1. Now, the Picnic Disco member has upped the ante with MAVDISC, featuring woozy songs from the tape alongside a bevy of new ones. “Gloss” is a shimmering highlight, a bouncy…
SNJO is the solo project of the producer half of Kyoto’s Toxxies, a quick-moving electro unit that’s been on a good roll. SF, however, isn’t a simple exercise in instrumental tracks. The four songs often feature vocals, usually in the form of SNJO’s manipulated voice, or via guest Yuna Nakabayashi on the jittery “One,” a…