Spandau Ballet once sung a song about gold that was used in the 1984 Los Angeles games and it was all like “GOLD! Always believe in your soullllaaahhalll! You’ve got the powah to KNOW you’re indestructible woah” etc etc and it was fun at the time.
However, Gold by The Infinity Chamber (TIC) is nothing like that but is a deceptively technical finger style arrangement a la mode du Donovan with maybe a small side dish of Nick Drake. When I asked TIC what the song is about he tells me:
[The track was] finished in the hot summer of 2004 when I was living in Yildiz, Istanbul. I’d been listening to some early Bowie recordings. It’s a song essentially about how now – right now – although it may not feel so – is tomorrow’s Halcyon time. We will look back one day upon now with soft sentimentality and longing. It’s a strange notion, that we’re walking in tomorrow’s dream
Now at this point I’d hilariously be trying to bend the corners of Spandau Ballet, Nick Drake, TIC and Donovan to some kind of cogent point, but I can’t be bothered quite frankly, so I’ll shut up and let you enjoy the song.
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
This is a curious one. Really charming wee song from our Bobbi here and with very Japanese proclivities. Gorgeous intervallic vocals meld against a simple piano motif or as Bobbi says when I ask her “the instrumental construction of this song “One Fine Day” is rare for me ; its sound is simple and light. The remarkable phrase as the vocal’s “Ahh, Ahh, Ahhhh,” is some times used for short movies”. 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.
“I collect guitars haha” intones Louie and in this song we can hear some great Stratocaster rhythmic lines (sorry Louie if it’s a Telecaster – my fickle ears are waning) as gorgeous falsetto vocals lend an ethereal dimension to an absolutely gorgeous song.
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
Over on Submithub I often peruse the Hot or Not charts and every now and again I find a song that piques my interest.
And Some days ago I happened across this song by Lifeboats:
This is a massive song with huge production, crushing drums and a deceptively uplifting chorus.
Comparisons to Linkin’ Park or System of a Down will suffice but these guys lend an interesting blend of melody and melancholy I don’t hear often.
The band lends more detail over a brief chat:
[We are] a kind of powerful and modern rock’n’roll fed by a chaotic assembly of 5 guys, a gang of friends with very different backgrounds but who finally meet to do what they really enjoy.
And it really sounds that they know what they’re doing and I firmly believe they’re going places. Add them to your Spotify playlist right now.
As many folks of this once world famous Japanese music blog know I often times find great music at the back of my sock drawer and will write about awesome new music I find!
So without further ado, lets jump in and see what we have!
Reality Addiction – Grow Up
When I write about music I’ll often find inspiration from lots of sources, one of which is perusing the Popular Charts over at Submithub. And that’s where I found this really cool song which caught my attention with the minimum of fuss. A super melodic pop-rock song very much in the vein of Keane (of whom I’m not a particular fan, but production and stylistically this is similar).
I hope to hear more from these guys in the future, some talent here.
B.Miles – Separate Rooms
Fans of Feist will love this. B.Miles has a lovely soft, lilting voice and the song has strong echos of another independent artist called Dresage whom I found via Bjork’s producer, Damian Taylor.
A lovely slice of summer pop to accompany a trip to a baseball game. And she clearly loves popcorn, but who doesn’t?
Kid Phenomenon – Wheelie
It’s JPOP! Yay! Been a while since I’ve covered Japanese artists, which is strange because this is a Japanese music blog. Ho hum.
This song is a super well produced track that could easily pass for a male version of FEMM but exists fine as a punchy pop-rap track all on its own.
But here’s the kicker – this 7 piece boy band has an average of 17! They have a long future ahead I am sure.
Nervous City Nervous Self– Stories of Our Names
Nervous City Nervous Self is the English language debut of Swedish singer/songwriter David Josephson and he tells me this and other songs “portray a wandering singer’s delightful doom, and are the expression of an artist staying committed to his path”. Which segues nicely onto my comparison: Jon and Vangellis once had a song called Find My Way Home from waaaay back in the day of which this reminds me. And while about obscure comparisons, see also Justin Hayward and Jose Gonzales for your vocal mood board.
Dance Yourself Clean – 2 Late
I almost typed Dance Your *Elf Clean, hey ho; early morning typos lend well to hilarity I guess.
Dance Yourself Clean started in Seattle (2013) as an indie dance party that grew into the first touring dance party in North America and the band produce high quality indie electronic music of a highly melodic nature.
Not sure what 2 Late is about but it’s a very M83 inspired track with shades of Years of War. Solid vocals and epic synth work blend together to form a highly expansive and involving production.
I look forward to hearing more from these *elfs 😉
*I know it’s spelled elves, but typos are funnier-er.
Todd Binder – Alameda
Pitched against a backdrop of somewhat country-esque or Americana instrumentals, Todd’s Damien Rice or even Daniel Bedingfield inspired vocals make my final choice, Alameda, a really compelling track.
When I asked Todd about the song, he tells me:
I drew inspiration from this song from a visit to Forbidden Island Tiki Lounge in Alameda, CA. The patrons there pin dollar bills with personalized inscriptions to the ceiling above the bar — a practice started by sailors, who would do the same for good luck before shipping out. I wanted to continue that story, writing about a man searching for validation and acceptance in his circumstances. It’s also fair to say the song as a whole walks a divide between — on one hand — that character, and — on the other — my own internal struggles as an artist searching for the same
Anyone that’s been to a Tiki bar in the bay area can probably relate – yes, that means YOU Trad’r Sam.
Anyway, that’s this week’s roundup and if you have any songs, do send my way and if I like it, I’ll write about it!
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!
The final sections of Dream Brother by Jeff Buckley use guitars playing a heavy ‘down beat’ chordal melody which is very much like the Cocteau Twins. It turns out he was a massive fan. This would be why then!
Over to Liz Fraser from the band who explains a wee bit more:
To all the fellow producers reading this blog, a great way to meet new artists is to hang out on Twitch feedback streams where all the other producers send in their tracks for analysis by those watching and the stream creator. And so it came to pass as I was hanging around streamer Todd Champ‘s channel, a young chap called Yi pitched in with this absolute gem of a song. Clearly inspired by M83, FM84 and all your face synthwave greats, this is a very strong tune with a seriously infectious chorus. I really really rate this one.
It’s nice to get some more Jrock through to the blog as a lot of folks seem to think I like listening to RnB and hip hop, which is fine n all, but that kind of music isn’t why I started Najinsan. ウィアグリーバーcomments “how luxurious is the freedom we have taken for granted? I wrote this song while thinking about that.” It’s a fairly predictable pop song but a really nice listen, nonetheless.
Turbo Knight x Sonic Shades Of Blue x Castles Made Of Sky x Waves_On_Waves – Healing Hands
Wave on Wave are collaborators from Finland, Sweden, and the US and this is a track from their up-and-coming album Miami Arcade Vice Parade. This is a great slice of Synthwave with rolling basslines and big drums but the excellent vocals are what really stood out for me.
Salad – Too Good To Be True
I like a good salad, given my other blog is a food one. What’s your favourite salad? This song could be a salad with leaves by Neil Young, Dressing by Miranda Lee Richards, sprouts and beans by Joanna Newsome (did you see what I did there?). The last time I’ll use salad references to review tracks. Maybe.
Femke – Love Somebody Else
This reminds me a lot of Shawn Colvin and has it’s roots firmly in late 1990s Americana. Femke has a lovely voice and has used her musical talents to win a Latin Grammy with her contribution on the Transformacion album of Beto Cuevas. I expect to hear more from her in the coming months on the back of her new EP.
Louie Rubio – Find Your Light
Louie is a multi instrumentalist and when I asked him what the song was about he told me “Thematically the song follows a disenchanted protagonist escaping the Escher-like labyrinth of workaholic careerism and the status quo” then he went to great pains to lovingly describe the various instruments and musical themes running through the track, which I won’t go into here, but which tell me he’s really passionate about what he does. Great song.
Seeing as I’m now a curator on Submithub I get sent loads of cool things. This week I’m distilling down five of the best. Enjoy!
NAMESAKE – In Different Cities ft Jewel Owusu
A fairly harmless slice of feel good bubblegum pop to play as you drive down to your local cinema to watch Barbie, which like the film, “explore[s] the delicate balance of seizing opportunities and embracing the transient nature of relationships”. I’ve not seen Barbie yet but I’m 100% sure this is what it’s about.
Sumer Nights – John Fox
When John sent this over I was probably going to pass because of the somewhat abrasive rhythm guitar during the introduction, but the more I listened the more I began to like it. John’s voice seems to have been transported – hot tub style – from 1986. Loads of Journey, Boston, Rainbow in this one folks (yes, I know they’re from the late 70s but I don’t really care).
Autodidactic Studios x pftq x Waterflame x Diana Garnet – Genshindou
Always great to get some Jrock submissions through to the blog and this features some very solid vocals from Diana Garnet. It kinda reminds me of a darker version of Doll$box although Tom over at JPU Records may have better comparisons.
Hoax – Into The Blackhole
Although the verse is slightly prosaic and plodding – a slow dance jam – the chorus soars into space (obvious reference). Lovely use of major and minor 7 chords throughout and some neat falsetto vocals. Not to be confused with the music to the 1978 film The Blackhole, which was by John Barry and erm, I am rambling at this point.
ZUSO – Aurora
I’m not sure what the story behind this is; I did reach out to the singer, but like the Aurora Borealis, they were somewhat elusive. It reminds me of something you may hear on the Sunshine soundtrack by Underworld: transient, ephemeral, atmospheric, yet more uptempo. A nice deep house song for cocktails under the, er, sunshine.
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So there we are folks, a diverse selection of songs for you to enjoy. And if you have a song, why not send it over and I’ll have a listen? Pro tip: if you do, include a short bio about the track so I have some background; you wouldn’t believe how many folks just don’t bother.
Najinsan!!!!!!!!! 