One of my favorite things is when an artist refuses to leave a song alone. I like seeing artists poke at their creations in an effort to find new angles to them — see Spange Call Lilli Line’s multiple versions of “Rio” or even Radiohead’s long-time-to-release “True Love Waits,” to name just a couple. Tokyo’s…
The city sits at the center of Japanese life in 2016, as the number of people moving to major metropolitan centers keeps growing while the countryside — and even mid-size cities — see populations dwindle, once bustling shopping arcades reduced to shuttered-up artifacts. Music, accordingly, has shifted towards a more urban crowd. This has been…
Poor Vacation went and gave last year’s already-grooveable “Long Goodbye” a warmer-months makeover with this “(Summer Version).” For the season, Poor Vacation adds more electronic touches to the song, giving it an easy-breazy disco vibe that still allows the longing at the center of the original “Long Goodbye” to come through. Now, it just shimmers…
The compilation album is where indie-pop netlabel Ano(t)raks shines brightest, gathering artists from all over the country to share a song highlighting their take on one of the most overpopulated genres in the country. Yet, critically, the label knows how to spot diamonds, and Azur features a strong set of indie-pop, from straight-up guitar numbers…
I’m not sure anyone can be truly nostalgic for a time that was about three years ago, but 2015 was the year I reminisced frequently about albums. Specifically, the commitment it took to go out and buy CDs back in the far-off time of 2010 (a point when physical releases remained the only way to…