Make Believe Melodies Logo

Tag Archives: LLLL

New LLLL: Chains “Phase 2: Remain”

Posted on by

New month means a new installment of LLLL’s “Chains” series, and we’ve reached the time for an EP. Which, in one writer’s humble opinion, is a welcome arrival after a busy five days. Chains “Phase 2: Remain” moves in a more meditative direction than the Phase 1 EP, the songs here featuring guest vocalist Yeule and the singer who has worked longest with LLLL. Opener “Seals” is the new track, and it is a mid-tempo reflection featuring Yeule, the heavy stomp countered by synth notes that give the song an airy, optimistic feel. Like the other two (previously released) songs here, it’s on the reflective side, which gives “Phase 2” an atmosphere optimal to soak in. Get it here, or listen below.

New LLLL: “Hollow”

Posted on by

The obvious hook is…here is LLLL, with the latest number in his “Chains” series, “Hollow.” Yet the deeper point of interest? After a stretch featuring a wide array of vocalists from Japan and abroad, the project returns to the voice that graced the earliest LLLL releases. It’s a nice, familiar feeling, but critically not a retreat into nostalgia — LLLL has long used a variety of vocalists to occupy his shadowy pop songs, and over the past two years the group has never been defined by a single one. Yet that said…this is the voice that introduced LLLL to the Japanese music community, and hearing her sing over sparse electronics and moments of sparkling escape feels comforting. Listen above.

New Dos・Ing Compilation, Featuring LLLL, Kosmo Kat, Electric Candy Sand And More

Posted on by

Artist collective / moving party Dos・Ing is back with a new compilation, gathering new songs from the producers orbiting them. It revolves around a loose techno-orientalist theme of sorts, the songs fixated on technology and “futuristic” topics while often placing them in a Japanese zone — which makes sense, given that this is a Tokyo-centered collective with many Japanese artists represented. It can be a bit too obvious at times — one song samples Blade Runner, which is a bit on the nose (it’s also called “Blade Runner”) — but at its best incorporates these far-future elements in a seamless way. See Electric Candy Sand’s contribution, a menacing bit of dance punctuated by sampled commands, or the jittery robo-hiccups of Bruno Uesugi’s “Plastic Memories.” Yet when artists aim for pure mood, it works just as well. LLLL creates hazy, practically falling apart music on “Rumors,” while Steffen¥oshiki ends the whole collection with an optimistic bit of synth neon on “A Sombre Hymn.” And for all the cyperpunk-leaning vibes, their is something like Kosmo Kat’s “Metallic Fur,” a playful electronic number that lightens the mood a bit. Get it here, or listen below.

New LLLL Featuring Yeule: “Memories”

Posted on by

The latest song in LLLL’s year-long “Chain” project is here, featuring Yeule on vocals once again, albeit this time coming through more clearly than in the very first installment of the series. On “Memories,” the song moves at a bounce, with Yeule’s voice coming through clearly, becoming the central element of the song. It’s the first moment in the “Chain” set of releases where the voice has come to the central, and fittingly it is the most emotional of the releases yet, Yeule’s singing ramped up by subtle shifts in the music itself (say, strings suddenly rushing in and upping the intensity). Listen above.

New LLLL: Chains “Phase 1: Resent”

Posted on by

Two of the three songs comprising Chains “Phase 1: Resent” have appeared over the last two months, one at a time. This advances Tokyo artist LLLL’s Chains project forward with the first EP in the series. We won’t dwell too much on “Dance & Kill” and “Loaded Gun,” a pair of songs we’ve written about. They are, as they were when they were released, well worth your time, and stand strong on their own. Here, though, they work in sequence (a more direct sequence, that is), with the newest addition “From The New World” serving as a necessary bridge between the two, LLLL’s latest being one where vocals are pushed very far back, barely there save for some stuttered bits in the back. “Phase 1: Resent” highlights the cohesion at the heart of this. Get it here, or listen below.