Saturday, October 25, 2014
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Shintaro Sakamoto - Let's Dance Raw
Shintaro Sakamoto is the genius ex-frontman/guitarist of Japan's recently disbanded Yura Yura Teikoku. 'Let's Dance Raw' is his new sophomore solo album, and starting to describe it is somewhere between sweet slide-guitar and choral computerized children. Children's vocals have been present on past YYT endeavours (mostly the amazing 'No Memai'), but Shintaro makes sure to switch the style, pitch-shifting to the point of auditory phantasm in some songs, namely the most abundant example "Birth of the Supercult". Still, it isn't the all encompassing sound of the album, though the methods of including it are noteworthy because no one has really done this similarly, which really sums up Shintaro's music in general -- you never know what you're going to get.
Wasn't even aware he had solo outputs (his first in 2011), so I'm glad I made my way back via an interview with him and the amazing Buffalo Daughter. Shintaro appears on a track on the latest Buffalo Daughter ("Love & Food"), the equally & wonderfully zany 'Konjac-tion' album.
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Hazel Nuts Chocolate - Cute
Hazel Nuts Chocolate is the electronic/pop mind-child of Japan's Yuppa (ゆっぱちゃん), formed in 2000 and later renamed to HNC in 2009 to solidify her solo-artist progression. She handles composition, lyrics, vocals, programming, concept design, and artwork. 'Cute' is the second (and final) full-length released by her earlier band (three members) in 2005, with accompanying programming help from Hayashibe Tomonori (from Plus-Tech Squeeze Box).
A carefree pop record that really has a lot of dynamic twists underlying its cheery vocals. Basically a great album where you don't have to overthink to enjoy, but are rewarded equally for doing so.
Thursday, July 17, 2014
Hosewheel - Through the Mill
My latest keyboard attempts. Probably could have trimmed out two or three songs for length/repetition but ended up enjoying enough moments in all of them to make it my largest session. Mostly jazz oriented, some Latin grooves, sad keys, chiptune, 80's soundtracks that never happened, etc. "Marimba Alley" might be the best thing I've accidentally done.
The album art is from some castle in Luxembourg...I figured the modern lighting plus the archaic knight is about the summation of my music in general. Plus it's just a cool picture.
1. Leviasons [4:10]
2. York [4:03]
3. Omni [3:30]
4. Torn Together [3:37]
5. Juice & Distant Death [3:07]
6. Call Me What You Want [3:16]
7. Mad Nomad [4:55]
8. Flutterer [3:25]
9. The Name Became Memory [4:26]
10. Bailey Cat [2:23]
11. Hosewheel [2:51]
12. Marimba Alley [5:00]
13. Razzmatazz [3:08]
14. Clocking In & Punching Out [3:15]
15. Miles Apart & Yet Crawling [5:42]
16. The Beast from the Sea [3:11]
17. Gangsta [2:59]
18. Quell Box [4:18]
19. Waltzing With Papa [3:38]
20. Influence Yourself [4:56]
21. Exhale Flows Around [3:11]
22. Port Bliss [2:12]
23. Space Aces [3:54]
2. York [4:03]
3. Omni [3:30]
4. Torn Together [3:37]
5. Juice & Distant Death [3:07]
6. Call Me What You Want [3:16]
7. Mad Nomad [4:55]
8. Flutterer [3:25]
9. The Name Became Memory [4:26]
10. Bailey Cat [2:23]
11. Hosewheel [2:51]
12. Marimba Alley [5:00]
13. Razzmatazz [3:08]
14. Clocking In & Punching Out [3:15]
15. Miles Apart & Yet Crawling [5:42]
16. The Beast from the Sea [3:11]
17. Gangsta [2:59]
18. Quell Box [4:18]
19. Waltzing With Papa [3:38]
20. Influence Yourself [4:56]
21. Exhale Flows Around [3:11]
22. Port Bliss [2:12]
23. Space Aces [3:54]
Hobosexual - Hobosexual II
Following up the no-frills, lo-fidelity, down n’ dirty jet-propelled blues of their self-titled debut CD in 2010, Seattle rock duo Hobosexual have finished recording their ultimate bombastic love letter to the forces that nourish them: honesty, robots with rocket launchers for fingers, dirt, empty carbohydrates, fire and hair. Perhaps a nice single-malt scotch as well.
Asked by writer Trent Moorman to describe Hobosexual’s sound, guitarist Ben Harwood summed it up as “Bearded glory… I also love the idea of the 1980s. Not necessarily the actual decade or reality of the 1980s, but more the one-liners, like when Schwarzenegger throws a steam pipe through the chest of his assailant at the end of Commando and says, ‘Let off some steam.’ That whole rhetoric, over-the-top Reaganomic banter will never be seen or heard again.”
Awesome album, sounds like Jack White singing through a hangover. Something like that. I first heard them through live vids on youtube, and as a testament to the band, their live vids match if not better their audio on the recordings. Check out the rest of their vids from this set and become an instant fan, every track is spot on with great energy. The album is great too but this is definitely a band I'd want to see live.
http://hobosexualmusic.bandcamp.com/album/hobosexual
Kikagaku Moyo - Forest of Lost Children
幾何学模様 (Kikagaku Moyo, meaning “geometric patterns”) is a psychedelic rock band from Tokyo, Japan, founded in the summer of 2012 by Go Kurosawa and Tomo Katsurada. Their first self-titled EP was released in September 2013 on Cosmic Eye Records / Sound Effect Records.
The five set make a nice psychedelic/ambient mix accentuated by the sitar on their 2014 'Forest of Lost Children', an album that seams song to song for an eclectic overall album. And as usual I was drawn in by the cover...
http://geometricpatterns.bandcamp.com/
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