Category: new release
Song Of The Week April 22
Seeing as we’re fans of dreamy pop over at the blog, this remix of The Kaleidoscopes song featuring Swiss Music Awards nominee Shuttle caught my attention recently. Remixed by Corserine, this is an unusually jazzy take on the original vapourwave:
I think it’s a song about a boxing match, or a failed relationship though I’m not sure which, either way fans of Japanese band Night Tapes, Tame Impala and even M83 would be well served by giving it a spin. It’s great!
We wish Shuttle the very best on his nomination now voting is closed.
Song I Randomly Heard Recently
Mathmoth – Tais-toi (feat Jason Critter)
Tais toi just means shut up. No you shut up! I digress. I heard this on a Twitch stream and it got me all thinking “you just don’t hear many songs like this these days…sigh….”. The production may need a wee bit of love and attention but the intent is there: a really strong song in the tradition of early Marillion or heavier version of early 80s Dio. Oh to hell! Let’s fling Rush in there while we’re at it!
Super interesting stuff. Oh do tais toi!
Songs I Heard And Liked March 18 2023
So back once again with a roundup of some cool songs I’ve heard recently.
Kamelion – Happy
And I think it will be fair to say after hearing this slice of rare groove infused nu-disco you will be too. Vocals are lovely although it’s hard to say who they remind me of – perhaps Charlie Puth? But whatever, fans of Metronomy and the Weeknd will be most satisfied.
Waves_On_Waves x Sonic Shades Of Blue x Tommie Sunshine – Coming By Your House Tonight
Following in a similar vein from Kamelion we have Waves on Waves with a solid electro pop song coming about after a chance meeting when the various artists met backstage at Ultra Music Festival in Miami; sometimes great things can come from happenstance! If you like The Midnight or even John Waite (from way back) you’ll probably like this too.
Tonal – Flutter Bond (feat. Kanako Takatsuki)
Well, this is a Japanese music blog and this is robust City Pop with a neat, updated, sound. Alas, Tonal doesn’t write that much in the way of a band bio on Submithub so I really have not much idea about who they are. Still, this is a nice wee number.
Eliza Roe – Ethereal Junkie
This collaboration between LA-based Eliza Roe and New York-based artist Kevin Kim is about a good a definition of Dream Pop as one could hope for. Lush vocals drift in and out of an excellent production by our man Kevin and it’s all backed up by one of the best bass lines I’ve heard in a very long time.
Brandon Liew – ILOVEYOU (feat. xiinya)
It’s hyperpop of the Japanese style from Brandon Liew! Yay! There are quite a few Jrock bands that are tangentially similar – Scandal or maybe Hatsune Miku. I dare say a fun song to dance to but I don’t dance so much these days.
Amir Ekbatani – Tell Me You Love Me
A strong vocal here and a very good song too. It takes a while to get going and the verse is maybe a bit pedestrian to my ears but the chorus builds and builds into something super duper melodic that will hook you right in. Fans of A-Ha or even Ultravox will identify.
Song Of The Week March 1 2024
Pa-Pa – Liminal Pop Up Shop
Ticking all my boxes of Jpop, Synthwave, Vapourwave, Raregroove; Liminal Pop Up Shop is just a joy to listen to. There are nods to early 80’s City Pop like Sadao Watanabe and The ABs or even modern acts like FM84 or The Midnight, with with it’s infectious synth lines and that oh-so-Japanese chordal arrangement. I’m also reminded strongly of the work Vaughn Oliver of Oliver fame is up to from time to time.
A really strong track this one and I hope to hear more from Pa-Pa very soon with their album due March 2024.
Songs I Found Recently And Liked
I’m back from a most excellent trip to Taiwan so have had not too much time to blog. But! I did find some pretty cool music on my travels which I shall regale you with now…
PARIS x Keepa – Only You
A class production here and as a struggling electronic producer myself I greatly appreciate the talent. This is progressive house with a twist of the deep house. It’s the chordal modulations around the 2:50 mark that raise this track to a darned high level.
湯ノ山かがり – 自意識過剰撤廃委員会のテーマ
Theme of the Committee to Eliminate Excessive Self-Consciousness is what the Google translate tells me the song means; a maxim for us all! This is pure Jrock silliness but still catchy nonetheless.
Tuudi – Just Like Before
I’m not a big fan of the song per se but the reason I’m including it is for Tuudi’s voice which is magnificent – think a slightly innocent Lana Del Rey. I have my eye on Tuudi for some good things in the future.
Subway Rat – Corner Cafe
This is a very acquired taste this one but I do write a food blog where I ate cat food so there is that. David Polanco AKA Subway Rat is an autistic rocker from Queens, New York City and judging by the 11 submissions they sent, quite prolific!
Furami – Villian
To round off our list it’s Furami who says on Submithub “Hi, it’s FURAMI here! I make J-Core music!”. You go girl! This song makes the list not least because of solid production but a neat key change in the chorus which keeps things ticking along nicely.
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If you have any music you’d like me to hear send your tracks here.
Songs I Heard Recently And Liked
Urban Hane – Natter Utan Drommar
Nattan Utan Drommer translates to ‘nights without dreams’ and I can’t really segue neatly into anything logical at this point apart from the fact this track is relentlessly 80’s and mixes together The Damned, The Scorpions and some uber obscure Polish banned called Kombi which I shall post here because I fricking love this song:
Jake Huffman – Highs and Lows
Highs and Lows is the first single of an upcoming EP and has very British sensibilities: The Verve and Razorlight spring to mind immediately. A really solid track that bodes well for what I’m sure will be a good EP next year.
darkDARK – Ghost Complex
This one does take a while to get going but by the time the vocals kick in at 30 seconds you’ll be hooked. A lovely pared back production really lets the track breath and flow as every good production should and I am reminded very much of Feist or Imogen Heap – surely a good thing.
Guggenheim Bilbao / Koki Nakano – MONUMENTAL: Ep. 2
A real adventure this one. Starting off as slightly circular piano piece and then evolving into performance art courtesy of Tess Voelker’s intimate dancing, this is a highly unusual and involving body of work.
Tiger Del Flor – Living In The 90s
All I can remember from the 90s is being miserable and hating pop music and listening to nothing but heavy metal. Pop music in the 90s was terrible. Change my mind. However, Tiger Del Flor makes good pop music and this is like a very laid back Lana Del Rey or – oft quoted in these blog pages – Miranda Lee Richards. This is some great Americana.
Christian Loffler – Roused (Ft Malou)
When reviewing songs for the blog often times you’re struck by the occasional production that is utterly flawless and our Christian delivers a huge but very understated track. If M83 were a bit more grown up it might sound a bit like this.
Dual Aeon – Tokimeki Christmas
And what better to round of this selection with a very silly Xmas song by Dual Aeon. Don’t know what else to say – it’s gloriously happy and Santa San will be sure to add this band onto the Nice List this year!
Ridiculous House Song Of The Week
Era Wadi – PRPL FREESTYLE REMIX ft. ARDLAP
As many visitors to my once world famous not-cooking-blog know I do like the odd bit of off-kilter house music and this week provides zero exceptions in the shape of Ardlap’s remix of Era Wadi’s track PRPL.
Era tells me he was a massive Prince fan and wanted to pay his respects to the wee guy by writing a song about the colour purple (not the film, ha!) and then have it remixed by someone certifiably insane. Et voila! Voici le résultat! Une chanson house vraiment dérangée! No idea why I’m speaking French but this song made me do it.
And you will be speaking foreign tongues too once you wrap your ears around this gorgeously deranged, very fidget-y, musical gem.
And if you want to send me stuff YOU’VE made, you can do so over on Submithub.
Songs of the Week October 17 2023
Hey ho another round up of songs I found recently and rather liked. Some via Submithub and some on random travels on Twitch.
The Kites – Drunk In Japan
Well, this being a Japanese music blog (mostly) these young scamps make the blog by virtue of singing about ‘being drunk in Japan’ which I have not done yet, although I have been trashed most other places.
The band tell me “[we] have followed the trusty formula of releasing unrelenting guitar bangers that sound custom-made for radio airwaves, festivals, headline shows and everything in between”.
Quite. And Drunk In Japan is a great song. It does remind me very slightly of a band called The Milky Tangerine in terms of jangly guitars and composition. Vocally, this is very reminiscent of Simon Neil from Biffy Clyro, as is the whole song. So if your fans of the latter and want to get drunk to the former over sake, I say go for it. But drink responsibly, unlike, er, me.
Bobbi – One Fine Day
I imagine a video for this might run with small kittens or tiny talking flowers. Listen, I don’t come up with these comparisons, my random other self does. Enjoy!
Lumero – Dreaming
Not a style of music I feature often times on the blog but this progressive house masterpiece fits in with the minimum of fuss.
While I may not be all about Dat Phat Bass I am about massive drops and this track has a belter that will melt your face. Lumero tells me “Dreaming manages to encapsulate an emotion whilst delivering a melodic; thought-provoking soundtrack to drive the audience to move and feel the music”. It sure will, Lumero, it sure will!
James Joseph Brown – Fly
Last up on this weeks list and bringing the drinking circle to a close is this gorgeous slice of Balearic deep groove from JJ Brown of Scorpion Music Group, utterly perfect for that pool side cocktail.
Not much to say, except when I heard it over on Twitch I sat up and took note and contacted the artist who told me the inspiration for Fly is John Milton’s book Paradise Lost. I would never have guessed that but I’m glad this is paradise found (I’m so sorry about these terrible puns).
Et c’est ca! Verily, you can hear great music everywhere and if you fancy giving me a heads up on something you’ve heard, the can do so here.
Song of the Week Louie Rubio – Echo
Louie is “a one stop shop, [who] writes, engineers, and mixes his music at his full-fledged studio in LA” and ‘Echo’ is a song that has such and interesting chorus – it doesn’t resolve per se but flips modally into something I can’t quite pin down; all I can do is feel and I feel happy and sad at the same time. This is a good thing.
Watch out for this guitarist. Ps Louie – I have a Flying V, although I can’t play it as well as your Strat/Tele xx
Random Song Of The Week Sept 15
I aimed to write this blog post ages ago but life events got in the way – namely a very hot and humid trip in Taiwan.
Ahead of that journey I meant to write about a really interesting new singer called Dune Moss and her excellent new song Eyes Inside My Walls which came out September 1.
Dune is no stranger to the industry and in 2021 auditioned for American Idol and made it to the top 40 although she has no idea why she auditioned in the first place “I have no idea why I thought that would be a good idea…”. Hard agree.
Eyes Inside My Walls is a deceptively powerful song but it’s sound is rather hard to pin down; a weird abstracted version of M83 mixed with Miranda Lee Richards when she really gets going.
I wrote about Liz Fraser of the Cocteau Twins waxing lyrical about Jeff Buckley and I’ll draw more parallels here: Dune’s voice is quite the thing, especially when this song engages light speed around the 2 minute mark and she pushes her voice to the point it begins to break and crack.
I’m looking forward to hearing more from Dune but if you want to send music me your music for my fickle ears to wrap around, you can do so here!
Najinsan!!!!!!!!! 