Tokyo got its first snowfall of the year today, and you best believe I haven’t stepped out of my apartment once today. Instead of braving several centimeters of snow on the ground — this has thrown the Tokyo train system into chaos — I’m going to catch up on some good electronic music that came out over the last few days.
– Tokyo producer Carpainter has a new album called Noble Arts out via Trekkie Trax next week, and he shared the title track, which you can hear above. His usual Technicolor take on on garage gets beefed up by an array of vocal samples, all of them amped up and focused on getting you, the listener, on the dancefloor.
– Snail’s House was far more inspired by the weather today than me, and he went and made a sweet little song to celebrate the city’s first snow of 2016. “[Snowlight]” leans closer to the delicate piano sketches he made on one of his last December’s releases, with fluttering electronics and a dusting of bells. Listen below.
– Could pick out many other Foodman songs released lately for this spot, but his newest, “Kitekudasai,” finds him edging a little closer to something that could be considered mainstream. It still sounds like a house song absorbing itself — thus making it way more interesting than most — but also isn’t as abrasive as a song built out of only bee buzzes and drum machines (but, again, great as hell). Listen below.
– Lastly, a bit of sweet reflection from one of Japan’s finest at looking back, Lullatone. “A Photograph From The Day You Were Born” lays out the emotional stakes right in the title, and the playroom meditation that follows is every bit as lovely. Listen below.