“Kawaii” music in Japan tends to embrace a sugary maximalism, aided by bells and whistles…literally. It’s a hit or miss approach, and one extending beyond SoundCloud producers who love anime girls as art — when it works, it’s a dizzying mutation on modern electronic music, but when it misses it gets really cloying. TsubusareBozz avoids the latter on “Blue Fairy” by letting a stutter into the song. The self-described creator of “cute” sounds avoids full-on cotton candy in favor of something splitting the difference between Avec Avec and a chill hip-hop beat. The key addition is a fractured vocal sample, a touch that never lets any chime or synth note get comfortable, and makes it all a little more tipsy. Listen above.
