The preview collection for the Visitors 2 compilation sounds rather lovely, a collection of very talented producers offering up easy-going (but not meek) disco cuts. Yet this one, from producer Bazz, jumps out amongst the bunch. It is a sparkly number, one that paces itself just right and features enough flourishes coming in at the right times (those guitars deeper in the mix!) to sustain “Hydrogen” for all four minutes and 48 seconds. Listen above.
Kanagawa prefecture has been having a moment. Many of the most buzzed-about young artists of the last few years have hailed from the area just south of Tokyo. Thank demographic shifts for that, but it’s given a lot of Japanese music a relaxed, coastal vibe reflecting a growing interest in…well, relaxed, semi-coastal living. Not every…
I’m not a fan of making excuses for…anything really.* When I see a goofy disclaimer at the top of an article or a blog post, I tend to close the article. That said…I have been really out of it for the past week, and the coming week and a half is going to be equally…
This month’s Music Alliance Pact, wherein over 30 blogs from around the world share great music, struck me as especially difficult. I chose one of my favorite artists of the year so far, Occult You a.k.a. Taquwami, but narrowing it down to just one song proved difficult. After a long listening session, I opted for…
Lucky lucky Europeans…ignoring things like economic collapse and drug-resistant infections, folks in that continent have the chance to see Tokyo psych rockers Praha Depart play live for the next two weeks. Even more jealousy inducing, those who wisely head out to the group’s show will have the chance to buy a mini-album titled Dot. that…
Hiroshima’s CRZKNY comes up often around here, but mostly for his political, unfortunately relevant work with the Atomic Bomb Compilation series. He’s great in this mode, but dude can also just get down and filthy when he needs to. Every radical needs to let off steam, and Coke, Shitlife… is the juke producer cutting loose….
Ano(t)raks is probably best known for being a destination for new Japanese indie-pop (or, if the term fits for you, city-pop inspired cuts), but the netlabel-turned-physical-label also has a long history of highlighting electronic music, ranging from Kai Takahashi’s 80s-brushed numbers (which eventually morphed into the lounge pop of Lucky Tapes) to the minimalism of…