You call a song “Anorak,” you better deliver those twee vibes. And Kung-Fu Girl does just that by giving in to all the hallmarks of the style. The band has been around for a few years now and up until now have always felt like they’ve tried a little too hard to stick out from the crowded indie-pop field. But here they just embrace all the trademarks of the style, and thank goodness for that! Fast pace guided by guitars, easy-breezy vocals, a twinge of melancholy? You better believe it! No points for originality, but this is pure comfort executed well. Listen above.
New Woopheadclrms: Asaga Fu An Fumoragu Aria
We accumulate so much junk. The internet just overflows with forgotten content, gigabytes of “Damn, Daniel” memes and thinkpieces about Iggy Azalea. It’s funny, but also depressing. But from that social-media-age churn comes stuff like Asaga Fu An Fumoragu Aria, the latest from Nagoya’s Woopheadclrms. It’s an album somewhere between ridiculous and gorgeous, the electronic artist using a sample-heavy collage style similar to compatriots like DJWWWW and Mayor Kenji that often involves all kinds of online deitrius becoming the backbone of these songs. See what sound like beauty tutorials, ugly acoustic guitar strumming while someone asks “that’s going on YouTube, right?” and at its most surreal, a voice repeating “Guts, by Chuck Palahniuk.” Coupled with the often jarring array of beats and synths crashing against those, it’s another entry in the canon of “great albums where songs reveal themselves from seeming trash.” But then you get the moments of serenity, like the end of “W.a.l.l” with its cascading synth bursts or the downright angelic final segment of “I will not do I will not do I do it.” Even under layers of waste, something gorgeous can be found. Get it here, or listen below.
The Right Wave: nate And KUVIZM’s “Round Trip”
Somehow, the realm of “SoundCloud Rap” has turned out to be fertile ground for young Japanese artists in 2019. Some of the year’s most interesting music out of the country comes from creators taking cues from American acts like Lil Peep, but whereas other corners of hip-hop simply see imitation (or, worse, “experimental” rap that sounds like Scha Dara Parr left out in the sun) this new wave of kids use it as a template to find their own voices, whether that’s more reflective or downright giddy. nate and KUVIZM’s “Round Trip” offers another brief but memorable entry into this movement. The song finds a balance between more melodic singing and rap — all the while seeing nate’s voice coated in some electronic touches, numerous nate’s whirling around one another creating an effect that reminds me of Vocaloid more than anything else. KUVIZM’s beat, meanwhile, adds a slightly dreamy touch but leaves space for nate to their thing. Listen above.
New KiWi: “Uso”
Credit to KiWi — they gave a deadline to listen to their latest song “Uso,” which turns out to be a great motivating force to write up a blog post you’ve been meaning to get around to for a few days now. “Uso” is scheduled to go away…I think?…tomorrow, so give the latest bit of vibrant dance-pop from the pair a go. Whereas a lot of KiWi’s material in the last two years has leaned towards splicing modern EDM with something that sounds like it would fit in on a Tim Burton soundtrack, “Uso” feels like a throwback to the speedier creations of, like, 2016. Here, they tag-team in and out of the song over a galloping beat accented by some string notes. No sudden drops, no turns to the macabre, just uptempo energy. Listen above.
New Metome: “Cocoon”
Metome’s been in a jaunty mindset recently. “Cocoon” is the latest track from the Osaka artist to embrace swift rhythms and acid squeaks, as for at least half its run the number is just pure loose-limbed dance music, topped off by some vocal samples underlining that point. But midway through, Metome introduces a synth melody that washes over the whole song, adding a familiar melancholy to the track that was all over last year’s Dialect. But it doesn’t turn the song into a slog, but rather blends right in to add some welcome tension. Get it here, or listen below.