Kobe’s Tofubeats made a mix for the BBC show Diplo And Friends, which you can listen to above! Don’t usually share mixes here, but this one is really good and features so many artists we love around here (Seiho! Avec Avec! Pa’s Lam System! Parkgolf! bo en! So many more!) that it seems like a nice one to drop in on Sunday evening.
Just know that’s not how you pronounce Kobe.
Mayumi Orion reps both Yokohama and Echo Park, Los Angeles, which makes me mostly want to learn her back story and if she ever took part in the big hipster scavenger hunt they have sometimes. Her hometown/town of operations certainly doesn’t seem up for debate via her actual music – the three songs she currently…
The difference between nostalgia and wistfulness can be miniscule. Artist i-fls has long resided in this crack between the two, creating simple songs packed with emotional weight. Commuter towns, family restaurants after last train, spacious parks just outside of Tokyo, longing, browsing the internet for hours on end — i-fls’ song titles have always helped…
One of the bigger embarrassments this blog has recorded so far in 2016 was completely missing out on Osaka producer Metome’s Feather. Released via LA cassette label Postgeography, it’s a study in texture, featuring the same sudden swerves defining releases such as 2013’s triumphant Objet, but with Metome deeply interested in how every detail sounds…
Osaka’s OORUTAICHI takes “Rum Hee,” one of the most joyful rushes on Shugo Tokumaru’s bubbly Port Entropy, and mutates it into a strange, multi-headed electronic beast. He originally edges the song into skittering electro territory, putting Tokumaru’s sweet vocals against a slipstream of digital gurgles. After the first chorus, though, OORUTAICHI changes his mind mid-air,…
Sapporo’s Bighead is one of the better producers in Japan going right now when it comes to creating flat-out electro-pop jams featuring Vocaloid singing. World Is Wide finds them in their comfort zone, utilizing the familiar digi-sing of Hatsune Miku to create energetic pop numbers. The music across these 11 songs features plenty of contemporary…
この曲は日本のインディペンデント音楽としては決して珍しいものではないでしょう。TaquwamiやSeihoのような素晴らしいアーティスト達を皮切りに、ヴォーカルのサンプルをピッチシフトするプロデューサーは2012年に多く存在し、活躍していましたから。でもWinona Hyperの”Promise”に至っては別件として捉えてほしいです。ヴォーカルのサンプリングを決して多くは使わずに、抜けが良く、かつ曇った音世界を表現しています。この”Promise”で最も特徴的なのは遅められたり速められたりするボーカルサンプルだというのは否定出来ませんが、本当に大事なのはそれ以外で何が起こっているか。Winona Hyperが奏でる美しいシンセはTaquwamiのBlurrywonder EPを彷彿とさせつつも、このグループが足す独特な輝かしさを持つ音が、この曲を愛すべき心地の良い曲にしています。このような作曲法もまだまだ追求すべき点が多いと認識させてくれました。試聴は以下から。