It has been a bit since the last Tanukineiri Records sampler, but here they are to feed the streets with two collections of music…all over the place. Tanukineiri Curry Sampler comes in two flavors — Cumin and Coriander — and all of the song titles reference the classic dish, while some of the songs go pretty literal in being about an easy-to-make item (that’s tough to master, take it from me, guy who sucks at making curry). But don’t get too caught up on the culinary theme — this is a chance for an indie label to showcase their artistic clientele. Cumin features a good mix of artists crafting odes to the food using guitars (see Johnnie The Bulgaria’s “Curry Rice”) to fidgety synth-pop numbers (AKR-FITW’s Vocaloid-assisted “Papa’s Curry” and Attic Note’s “Curry Walk”) to noisy affairs (House Of Tapes coming through with the throwback chaos of “Dark Spice”). Get it here, or listen below.
Coriander ventures into similar territory, kicking off with a singer/songwriter number with hints of Indian music mixed in via 163(g)’s “No Spices,” before going off in all sorts of directions (including another India-inspired cut, Hideki Takimoto’s “Space & Spice” which goes a little too far with this idea). The highlight here for me, though, is Guitarsisyo’s tipsy-turvy “Sisyo No Curry Udon,” which uses guitars and effects to create a disorienting number. But like all comps, you just gotta dig in and see what you like. Get it here, or listen below.