While still quite young, Local Visions has stood out among Japan-based labels in 2018 thanks to one of my personal favorite mish-mashes of recent times. They dabble in the same sound and (sigh) aesthetic of internet niche genres such as vaporwave or future funk, but owing to the fact the bulk of artists thus far…
Anyone can strike a cool pose, but it’s a lot tougher to let loose and embrace joy. The Feather Shuttles Forever project has used a lot of the same sonic palette as other bands of various stature in the Japanese rock scene — horns, lots of horns — but whereas many of them go for…
The past couple of years have seen plenty of Western artists drawn to Japanese sounds — from digging through city pop to seeking out rare Japanese “ambient” records. At times, it has felt a bit one sides, but recently there have been some encouraging signs of communication on both sides. See French producer Moe Shop’s…
Few activities are more fulfilling personally than wandering around aimlessly at night, with a bunch of heavy thoughts on your mind. And that’s the vibe coming through on Tenma Tenma’s “Yakou,” a tipsy electronic number that feels temporarily content with itself. While the music itself goes a long way to both being flat-out enjoyable (that…
The temperature rarely stops producers from putting out warm, summer-ready music, but now that the season actually reflects the sound, something like Tenma Tenma’s “Nettaiya” connects way more powerfully than if it was the end of February. The Osaka artist has put out some solid stuff before — see this winter’s Kitahama, though maybe that…