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New Photon Poetry (A.K.A Shine Of Ugly Jewel): Kaze No Oukoku

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Different name, same unnerving beats. Shine Of Ugly Jewel shared a new album under the name of Photon Poetry, but whereas sometimes a shift in moniker signals a mix-up in sound, Kaze No Oukoku offers an extension of the uneasy music they were already creating. There are a couple deviations, though the atmosphere conjured up is still pretty on-trend — closer “Kagerou” might be the single most upbeat track to ever come out of Ugly Jewel’s world, pushed forward by synth squiggles and warped voices that actually sound inviting rather than icy. “Sen” is similarly bouncier than most and not all that chill-inducing, though I also have to admit multiple sonic details made me think my keyboard was broken and/or possessed. The other two inclusions, though, are pure Ugly Jewel, slowly unfolding and full of samples of voices and swords unsheathing. And it still works wonders. Get it here, or listen below.

Trekkie Trax Shares :branch Vol. 01 Featuring Oyubi, Kai Shibata And More

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Trekkie Trax turns six later this month, and while the label still feels like a hot-bed of young electronic talent, they’ve actually stepped into a more mature role in the Tokyo (and beyond) community. This year they launched Trekkie Trax :branch, a kind of initiative to highlight young producers. And here comes the first compilation from this push, using Trekkie Trax’s standing as a way to shine a light on some younger names. And they chose some good ones! Like most electronic comps, I’d say that if you like what Trekkie Trax have done before that you should just dive in and find your favorites. But for me, highlights include a few familiar names, such as Kai Shibata’s rumbling “Error” and Oyubi’s slippery juke mutation “D-Train” (Trekkie Trax isn’t the only set of folks who love Oyubi, by the way). Get it here, or listen below.

Lumine Ikebukuro — A Specific Branch Of A Department Store — Shares Playlist Featuring Utae, AAAMYYY And Machina Among Others

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The real hook here is that Lumine Ikebukuro — a specific branch of a series of department stores in Japan — has its own SoundCloud page. Late capitalism, what a trip! But hey, that’s 2018 for you, and if a place selling handbags and shiny shoes wants to recruit promising young women artists from Tokyo’s electronic community to create disco-tinged songs for them, let’s try to look at the positives. It helps that the songs here are pretty good! Utae delivers the highlight via “Overwrite Dance,” a minimal dance-pop number blurred around the edges (the vocal effects!) that keeps it simple but does enough to feel just off in the best way. Machina — recently appearing on Foodman’s stellar new album — delivers another highlight with a rumbling floor-filler, while rising act AAAMYYY provides one of the more straightforward pop delights with her “Yellow Dress.” Check it all out, above.

New Tomatoism: Ahoge EP

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Call it a happy coincidence between my music writing and online-culture writing, but this week I’m (kinda) diving into the world of “moe” for the latter. And, at the same time, a new anime-sample-heavy EP from Tomatosim drops via Omoide Label. I’m not particularly into anime — I know most of the bigger names mostly by simply living in Japan, though I’ll still blank on names, like uhhh that one that’s just Osmosis Jones but Japanese — but working on the web piece has reminded me how uneasy anime samples (or visuals) can make many listeners. I think Tomatoism avoids that here by just covering them all in energy. This is the producer’s most energetic set yet, opening with the shuffling and skittering sample-rush of “Naruhodo” before picking the pace up more on the vocal-slicing highlight “Salt Powder.” Save for a slightly slower detour into rap on “Circulation” (who is the rapper here? They are great! Give credit!), this is one that always adds and rarely slows down, which hides anything that could put some folks off. Get it here, or listen below.

Correction — The rapper featured in “Circulation” — is not a rapper per se, but rather Kana Hanazawa…and this is a sample of “Renai Circulation” which was the opening theme to the anime Bakemonogatari, which I did not now existed. Make Believe Melodies regrets the error, though hey, told you I don’t know anything about anime, at least I delivered!

New Toriena Featuring Yunomi: “Time Capsule”

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It feels like Toriena has been prepping for a major-label debut for a while now, but the moment has finally arrived this October with her first major album. “Time Capsule” offers a glimpse at one way she can go with a larger spotlight on her. She teams up with Yunomi to craft a number in less of a rush to get to the busy part, but rather starting slowly and then reaching a big drop. It’s solid although it does make me wonder just what a major full-length from her will highlight that previous releases won’t (“Time Capsule” implies it will be her singing which…fine, but not a highlight), but it really gets good in the last end, when she breaks into some speedy spoken word and then a more impassioned singing style. That’s the energy right there. Listen above.