Remember that new Madegg track we wrote about during this Madegg-intensive week? Turns out it’s part of a release called Teach, a release you can actually download for free right now. Get it here. It’s ten tracks long and features a tune called “Penguin.” I like penguins. Expect a review sometime in the near future.
With so many new releases coming down the digital pipelines that are SoundCloud and Bandcamp (among other online music platforms), it can be tough to keep tabs on the most important work Kyoto’s Madegg pumps out into the online ether. Dusty jazz-influenced beats crop up next to nine-minute space epics…and then get removed a week later, replaced by whatever sonic nebula the young producer thought up over his morning cereal. It’s a fun chase for sure, but also tricky at times to know the difference between a quickie piano loop and something heralding an imminent…in Madegg’s universe, imminent is the only form of time…EP.
“Zudon” jumps out as more important than a normal Madegg posting because he didn’t post it – the song appeared on the SoundCloud page of his new home Flau Records. It’s the world’s first glimpse at something that could be officially released on the imprint in the near future. “Zudon” and its jump-roping electric squirbles bring to mind Los Angeles producer Baths, particularly a track like “Maximalist.” Not surprising, since I saw Madegg himself at Baths’ recent Osaka gig. Yet where that American artist shapes these bleeps into something resembling a proper pop song, Madegg instead focuses on the small details. The central electronic riff of “Zudon” remains the same, yet Madegg subtly alters the surrounding static crackles throughout the song, transforming what could have been a simplistic sketch into a detail-rich number. This attention to small touches matches up well with Flau Japanese artists like Cokiyu and Neon Cloud, who use minor altercations to make their music more joyful or paranoid respectively. So here is Madegg showing he can hang with those two. I would say this is more important than the usual data drop. Listen below.
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/39903271″ iframe=”true” /]
When you read this, I will probably be in an airplane heading back to Japan. Thus, posts are still gonna’ be a little sporadic. Anyway, here is a new one from Madegg called “Float Ring.” Listen below!
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/40078813″ iframe=”true” /]
The Spring features a lot of great album releases, but the one I’m most excited for is Madegg’s debut album on Flau Records. The Kyoto beatmaker has been releasing songs at a rapid clip over the past year and has a few EPs to his name, but sometime next season the first proper Madegg album will drop and I will be very excited to see what he has in store. New song “So Far” probably won’t be on that album, but it’s a nice track that only wets my appetite for his Flau debut even more. After spending a while wrapping himself around jazzier sounds, Madegg returns to the more cosmic sound he first dabbled in extensively. “So Far” turns what could have been Christmas-time bells into star twinkles, new sounds creeping into the picture as the simple hand-clap percussion carries the song forward. Like his best work, “So Far” feels vast but never aimless, always moving towards something even if the surroundings feel massive. Listen below.
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/38745683″ iframe=”true” /]
[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCVxh_BaX08″]
That’s some guy dressed up as Jesus running in the Tokyo Marathon. You gotta feel for the dude dressed up as Pac-Man and Minnie Mouse who jog by early in the clip – they were probably thinking “man, I am gonna get so much attention, running in this silly outfit!” Then out comes the son of God running with a cross strapped to his back and suddenly that fifteen-dollar costume felt lame as heck.
Ikimono-gakari “会いにいくよ”
I can’t find a video or stream online…but I did listen to this song, and you aren’t missing much. It has a little more swing than the typical Ikimono-gakari slow burner, but otherwise it’s all twinkles and overly dramatic singing. This also feels like the third or fourth week in a row Ikimono-gakari has appeared in this feature, all because they have a new album out that sounds like everything else the group has released before. They sorta illustrate the malaise I feel about J-Pop…Ikimono-gakari aren’t close to being hateable, but sound so complacent it gets boring fast. Lots of other groups in Japan do this too – heck, at least AKB48’s sound is kinda confrontational.
TVXQ “Still”
[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97LkPOtowJs”]
Certain J-Pop fans hoist TVXQ as the Korean group “that did it the right way,” unlike those cads in KARA or Girls’ Generation who had the audacity to release older Korean songs first or, gasp, aren’t perfect at speaking Japanese. No, TVXQ “earned it” according to the comments section of sites like Seoulbeats and Tokyo Hive.
I think what these comment spewers mean is “decided to sound exactly like all the male J-Pop groups in Japan already.” Whereas Girls’ Generation, 2NE1 and even freakin’ Super Junior add clever little twists to their brand of pop that sound like holy revelation here in Japan, TVXQ pretty much just embraced the sleep-inducing style that guarantees high spots in the Oricon Charts. “Still” could have been a ballad written for any gaggle of young men hoping to star in a gum commercial, and the song does nothing to distinguish TVXQ from the pack. Which is exactly what they want. If this is doing it the right way, fuck the right way.
TOKIO “羽田空港の奇跡”
So how about that TOKIO song with a title I don’t feel like translating at the moment? It is bad, and sounds like the dumbest butt rock.
Know what isn’t butt rock? Madegg, the super-productive producer from Kyoto! He releases so much new music I mere mortal like myself can’t write about each new SoundCloud upload. His newest offering is the bell-filled “How Far Can This Boat Go Out To Sea In Miles” which imitates the very best parts of Gold Panda and adds Madegg’s personal touches. Great song, listen below.
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/38090592″ iframe=”true” /]
Masaharu Fukuyama “Ikiteru Ikiteku”
[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0m8iQsRS2mg”]
Based on the little intro before the song, I think this song will appear in the forthcoming Doraemon movie, in which Asia’s favorite robotic feline travels to some time in the past like he does in every Doraemon movie (and it’s unironically great, I like Doraemon). Given this context, it’s tough to hate Masaharu Fukuyama’s bouncy, silly song “Ikiteru Ikiteku.” Even the title sounds like the punchline to some joke, and that’s before it gets surrounded by horn burps and the cheese-covered guitar. This sounds like the sort of animated-parade music you would expect to appear in a movie aimed at kids. It does its job well.
Even then – compared to the above, non-Madegg songs, this is still miles better because it at least sounds fun! Sure, Wiggles-approved fun, but better than break-n-bake ballads or Johnny’s rock. Sometimes, kids know what’s up.
Mayu Watanabe “Synchro Tokimeki”
[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iILdAyGb-uw&ob=av3e”]
Do a YouTube search for “Mayu Watanabe” and the very first video that pops up is a photo tribute to the AKB48 member soundtracked by Massive Attack’s “Teardrop.” The Internet, everybody.
[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TRSX2W7R-w”]
So her actual song is basically just an AKB48 song with one critical difference – it is only her singing instead of an army of voices storming my ears. Surprisingly, this actually makes a huge difference in quality – this single still isn’t anything to really celebrate in anyway and still features all the musical touches that make me try to avoid Akihabara, but at least I’m not being barraged by voices. This is less annoying than musk AKB songs, and for that I salute you Ms. Watanabe.
Winner Of The Week – The Doraemon song.