It’s year-end season, and I think one of the major trends that is going to get glossed over in lists and thinkpieces is how nostalgic everything felt this year. It’s unavoidable in Japan, where the biggest artist of the year was Namie Amuro and the biggest song resurrected Eurobeat. But it’s also playing out elsewhere — see the “Africa” effect, or the recent wave of videos just recreating old movies. This isn’t anything new, but does feel a touch more visible in 2018. So hey, Satellite Young covering A-ha’s “Take On Me” fits right in! Kind of, but not really actually. Satellite Young’s approach to nostalgia has always been delivered with a wink you don’t see in a lot of other memory-bait — their songs are about the failures of memories, and when they dress up like Steve Jobs its to poke fun at love in the 21st century, not imagine literally going back in time. I wouldn’t go so far as to say their “Take On Me” is subversive, but they at least mix it up enough to make it feel fresh. They sing in Japanese for one, and better still is the chorus, when the singing turns into a robotic squeak that’s just not possible from a human voice. It’s looking back, done with at least a little more flair than you’d expect. Listen above.
New Tentenko: “Animal’s Pre-Human”
For an artist thriving in the space between mainstream pop and dank experimentalism, Tentenko sure stays strong at making her pivots feel like surprises. All You Need Is Cat is a five-song collection about…cats, which is a cute enough exercise. But it’s also one of Tentenko’s more eclectic offerings to date, going from gentle piano-guided pop to a cover of “The Siamese Cat Song” to wonky collage built around a melody resembling the Meow Mix jingle punctuated by screaming. “Animal’s Pre-Human” offers the set’s most straightforward number, featuring a laid-back pace built around glassy synth notes (which remind that Tentenko is one of the contemporary artists best at actually channeling the whole “Japanese ambient” thing that continues to get love abroad) and sweet singing from Tentenko herself. The group Neconemuro helps out, but this is Tentenko’s world, and when you listen to the edges you pick up on small loopy details that remind even her most accessible moments conceal something unexpected. Listen above.
Tanukineiri Records Cooks Up Tanukineiri Curry Sampler Featuring House Of Tapes, Guitarsisyo And More
It has been a bit since the last Tanukineiri Records sampler, but here they are to feed the streets with two collections of music…all over the place. Tanukineiri Curry Sampler comes in two flavors — Cumin and Coriander — and all of the song titles reference the classic dish, while some of the songs go pretty literal in being about an easy-to-make item (that’s tough to master, take it from me, guy who sucks at making curry). But don’t get too caught up on the culinary theme — this is a chance for an indie label to showcase their artistic clientele. Cumin features a good mix of artists crafting odes to the food using guitars (see Johnnie The Bulgaria’s “Curry Rice”) to fidgety synth-pop numbers (AKR-FITW’s Vocaloid-assisted “Papa’s Curry” and Attic Note’s “Curry Walk”) to noisy affairs (House Of Tapes coming through with the throwback chaos of “Dark Spice”). Get it here, or listen below.
Coriander ventures into similar territory, kicking off with a singer/songwriter number with hints of Indian music mixed in via 163(g)’s “No Spices,” before going off in all sorts of directions (including another India-inspired cut, Hideki Takimoto’s “Space & Spice” which goes a little too far with this idea). The highlight here for me, though, is Guitarsisyo’s tipsy-turvy “Sisyo No Curry Udon,” which uses guitars and effects to create a disorienting number. But like all comps, you just gotta dig in and see what you like. Get it here, or listen below.
Simple Pleasures: NNMIE’s “Shiiteru”
Sendai’s NNMIE makes due with a small assortment of tools, but makes a charming little number in “Shiiteru” from them all. Using some breezy guitar melodies and some drum machine beats, they construct a rollicking indie-pop number apt for lazy afternoons or strolls under the sunlight. The detail that sells it — and actually gets me a little misty-eyed over the early days of like Boyish or Figure, other indie-pop projects still going but in slightly different form — is how the vocals have a slight echo on them, keeping them just out of reach and really adding some always-welcome melancholy to each line. Listen above.
Maltine Records Shows Off Vocaloid 5, Featuring Parkgolf, Tomggg, Pa’s Lam System And Pasocom Music Club
One of the niftier things Maltine Records has gotten up to recently is a series called Maltine Vocaloid School. Basically, a handful of trackmakers from the netlabel use a copy of Vocaloid 5 to create a new song, while documenting their process on video. Alongside that, all kinds of 2018 internet markers pop up, from virtual YouTubers to…well, a lot of sound effects. It’s a funny and deeply interesting video series…especially if you have a taste for the netlabel acts that appear around these parts all the time…so give it a watch.
Just as interesting to us are the final tracks to emerge from them, showcasing a wide variety of Vocaloid usage. Parkgolf opts to re-create this year’s (still great) “Hiyamugi” with some digi-voice flair, while Pa’s Lam System craft a short but pummeling number accented by complete phrases in “Day Dream,” a number also reminding of their knack for making really great bursts of energy (albeit here one that uses up its steam by the end). Listen to those two below.
Tomggg’s use of Vocaloid, meanwhile, fits in surprisingly well to his technicolor world, and he actually deploys it in a two-pronged way that is both cartoony and melodically delightful. Peppered with hip-hop details (see: the percussion and how it rattles off), it marks a slight departure for Tomggg while still being very much in his wheelhouse, showing just how good he is at stretching that sound out. Similarly, Pasocom Music Club’s “Bright” (above) uses the software as something to skip, creating an up-tempo number that eventually blooms open to reveal sweetly sung robo voices and an electronic glow giving the whole number a melancholy you might not expect from a synthesized voice program. But if there’s one thing Maltine is great at, its revealing new uses for familiar sounds.