#20 Suntra Oblivion Summer Coast There were plenty of chances to escape to the sea if you followed Japanese music in 2017. Suchmos broke big with their Shonan-inspired smoothness, while slightly more ragged bands such as never young beach and Yogee New Waves laid out what to expect from their names even before hearing their…
Nagoya trio Crunch wisely lead off their first brush with major-label life with their finest moment to date. “Blue” isn’t new — it originally appeared on last year’s short-but-sweet Blue Blue Blue, serving in the lead-off spot and delivering one of the year’s most emotionally wrenching numbers out of Japan, building slow and growing in…
And now the final list begins…here is part one of our “best albums” list, featuring our favorite Japanese releases of the year. #30 Wata Megumi Blindman Wata Megumi’s nervy pop has always felt just off, regardless of whether she was taking aim at society as a whole or otherwise. Blindman aims for something more ambitious,…
Here’s a collab that bucks the usual pace of things. Nagoya’s Crunch make driving (and sometimes downtrodden) indie-pop, so if you were to imagine the types of collaborations they could do with international artists, it would be fair if your mind focused on twee acts. Yet on “Murasaki” they’ve teamed up with Charlotte-based producer Alex…
Expect a bit more on this one in the near future, but Nagoya’s Crunch followed up on the melancholy chill of last year’s “Blue” with the Blue Blue Blue EP, released this past Wednesday (and available on a lot of streaming services and iTunes). Don’t let the extremely adorable sea critter on the cover art…