10. The Mornings Save The Mornings The past year saw a lot of Japanese bands trying to fill one of two molds – some groups tried to capture youthful exuberance via a lot of yelping in an effort to be like early Los Campesinos!, while another batch tried fast-talking over math-ey guitar patterns like they…
20. Kido Yoji Call A Romance On his debut release, Kido Yoji makes dance music for people who like spending significant amounts of time staring out on bright0lit cityscapes. Call A Romance certainly moves – check the easy-breezy disco shake of the title track, or the irresistible pop of “Hot And Cold” – but beneath…
The past year saw plenty of worthwhile releases from Japanese artists, from the sort of stuff highlighted at major music stores in Japan to free albums posted on Bandcamp with little fanfare. Yet all 30 albums on this list were special to us here at Make Believe Melodies in some way or another – whether…
10. Avec Avec “Kuzuha No Sunday” I’ve been told the Kansai region of Japan has always had an electronic music scene. Yet 2011 felt like a beginning, or at the very least a boom, for forward-thinking electronic sounds. Gravitating around several labels and events, artists like Madegg, Seiho and And Vice Versa started flooding SoundClound…
20. The Brixton Academy “Two Shadows United” The Brixton Academy have always played the role of overly earnest nightclub crawlers, guys who love evenings out on the town but also aren’t good at bottling up all those icky emotions, prone to letting them shoot out like just-uncorked champagne. Whereas Kido Yoji distracts from his ennui…