The poorly named outfit HOT HOT SEX combines indie-rock staples with dance elements. Great opening sentence for an essay, right? Unfortunately, this isn’t 1985, so this statement needs to be explained a bit. They don’t do dancepunk, and you couldn’t label much of HOT HOT SEX’s music as “nu-rave” (though “655321” comes close). It’s really…
Fall a little behind on your blog reading and, yeesh, you find yourself totally out of the loop. Both JPOP Lover and personal-recent-discovery Neaux Clicked On It (it’s good, read it) recently big-upped JinnyOops! I think two makes a trend, especially in the tiny universe of Japanese music blogging. This Osaka five-piece plays a punk-tinged…
It’s tough to ignore a band named MASS OF THE FERMENTING DREGS, but I’ve somehow found a way to do so during my tenure in Japan. No excuses now: the newly three-piece have a video for their new single “ひきずるビート,” and the song is an absolute bulldozer. That extra member paid off, because this track…
Here’s a retro style not many bands are clamoring back to – ’50s lounge. It’s the type of stuff some people claim sounds great as background music but can actually be entirely captivating, even if you aren’t sipping on a martini. Osaka’s Sentimental Toy Palette chooses to embrace this oft-ignored style, and they play it…
For almost five minutes, Baby Loop Code puts most mainstream J-Pop idols to shame with “Secret (Piano Version.” With only a solitary piano backing her up, the Osaka artist tip-toes her voice around the key strokes. She swings from quiet-as-a-mouse to nearly bubbling over, her singing slowly rising towards some sort of emotional climax before…