Slow Beach are a Japanese indie-pop supergroup of sorts – they feature Kai Takahashi and Twangy Twagny (a.k.a. Dai Ogasawara), but find both of them making surf-leaning music (see – the name). They’ve released their first album, called Lover Lover and you can get it for free here. Go do that! I’ll write more on it later…for now you can also listen below.
I have just gotten back to Tokyo after going to the Fuji Rock Festival for four days. It was a hectic (albeit fun!) event, that involved a lot of running between stages and working areas, many times in the middle of rain. It was not particularly easy to focus on music at this music festival,…
Whimsy might not actually be the right word for what Nohtenkigengo does. Sure, the bulk of the music this solo project creates involves the sort of instruments that make one’s twee radar go off like mad, including xylophone, accordion and all sorts of other cutesy sounds. This sonic choice…along with the voice singing all the…
日本のジューク／フットワークって聞くと少し取っ付きづらいイメージがありますが、”Japanese Juke & Footwork Compilation“というそのまんまのタイトルのコンピは、シーンの入門にはうってつけ。様々なプロデューサーが、多彩なアプローチでこのシカゴのジャンルに挑戦しています。でも４５曲も収録されているので、もっと手軽にジャンルを知りたい場合は、食品祭り A.K.A. Foodmanの新曲、”Tantei Kun”がオススメ。切り刻まれたサンプルはジャンルの特徴を上手くとらえているのですが、テンポは比較的ゆったりぎみ(的確なのが聴きたい場合はPicnic Womenとか、アメリカのTraxmanをチェックして下さい）。でも、ソフトロック調の心地よさは素晴らしいです。視聴は以下から、もし気に入ったら、４５曲のコンピにも挑戦してみて下さい。
Time for the Music Alliance Pact! This is 2013’s last installment of MAP, where more than 30 blogs from all over the world share one song with everyone else. This month, Make Believe Melodies highlights Coffee And TV’s Prefab-Sprout-sample-boasting “Guess What? Summer’s Arrived.” Listen to it and a lot more below! Click the play button…
Due to shifting work priorities and a general time crunch (plus, still gotta burn through the new Arrested Development guys), albums tend to get lost in the shuffle around here. We make time for stuff like May.e and (as you’ll see soon enough) Moscow Club…but lots fall through the crack. Like Tokyo indie-pop darlings Boyish,…
Canadian cassette label Memory No. 36 Recordings is no stranger to showcasing great Japanese music flying under the radar. They released Elen Never Sleeps dreamy Silver EP earlier this year, and are working with Boyish on a new tape due sometime in the near future. They are releasing their first compilation this Friday (April 19…