Noah: “You’ll Come”
April 11, 2013
0
Archive
Reviews
It’s rarer than you’d think that a split EP contains two artists who truly complement each other, but Noah x SELA., a collaboration between Nogaya-based singer/producer Noah and nineteen-year-old California beatmaker SELA. does a great job uniting two like-minded voices from disparate corners of the globe. And hey, at International Tapes, that’s basically our bread and butter.
Noah’s contribution to the EP, including standout track “You’ll Come,” shows off the talented Japanese artist’s range as both a producer and vocalist. Using her own voice as a key element to her tracks, Noah mixes subtle piano, southern hip-hop, static loops, and dream-pop melodies, weaving her sonic threads into a delicately gorgeous tapestry of sound. As with her excellent contribution to Cokiyu’s Your Thorn Remixes, the first six tracks on Noah x SELA. offer a comforting entreaty to her pillowy world.
SELA.’s contributions to the EP feel right at home following Noah. While the Vallejo-based artist is probably best known for his production on tumblr-wave rapper Kitty’s D.A.I.S.Y. Rage EP, his work on the second half of the split sees his music tending toward more abstract, less hip-hop oriented compositions. Freed the constraints of beats meant for an MC to ostensibly rap over, SELA. creates ambient compositions whose cavernous, patient aesthetic contains only hints of the codeine haze he brought to D.A.I.S.Y. Rage. Off-kilter, often surprising samples color his tracks with splashes of brightnes and his use of repeated phrasing recalls The Field’s circuitous looping clogged with molasses. Together, both sides offer an immediately pleasing half hour of bedtime-ready soundscapes.
Noah x SELA EP will be released on April 15th via the consistently wonerful flau
Written by Nathan Reese
Tags: Japan, nagoya, noah, Reviews, sela, you'll come
Reviews
“I loooove Diane Keaton<3” is among the only information known about new Japanese project Diane Halls, along with a few YouTube links hinting at a similar interest in Woody Allen (or perhaps just kangaroos). We’re not sure how to connect those scant clues to the project’s debut track “Stolen Kisses,” but it doesn’t matter, because the track makes enough of an impression. It’s a guitar-heavy number where the notes and strings overlap into one lightheaded cloud of sound. Only a minimal beat and some vocals interrupt the woozy guitar party, and the latter only to make “Stolen Kisses” even more unsteady. It bears a resemblance to the music of Hotel Mexico, but whereas that Kyoto band focuses every guitar note towards a destination, Diane Halls is more content to let their music drift around all lovely like. Stay tuned for more stuff from this… and maybe a few more details beyond Annie Hall clips.
Watch for more from Diane Halls on Bandcamp and Soundcloud
Written by Patrick St. Michel
Tags: diane halls, Japan, Reviews, stolen kisses
Reviews
Over the course of her career, Tokyo’s Cokiyu has mostly been creating dreamy, nature-evoking music on her own. She’s released two excellent albums, highlighted by 2011’s gorgeous Your Thorn, which found her creating her best electronic compositions to date and engaging in collaborations for the first time. With the follow-up single Haku, the bedroom artist has begun opening herself up to larger scaled collaborations, as the three original songs boast prominent “featuring” tags, without sacrificing the swirling sound she’s developed over the years. Opener “Twinkle Way” includes a guest appearance from Los Angeles beatmaker Baths, but his contributions never overwhelm the track, instead ebbing in alongside Cokiyu’s to create a lovely, charmingly solid track. Same goes for “Pulsation,” which features work from Flau-label-mate Geskia! Only the nearly-ten-minute-long “Fluorite” with LASTorder sees Cokiyu enter new territory – the song finds Cokiyu’s vocals unfolding slower than usual, while the music around them skitters and builds toward an especially epic climax. Yet that’s the exception here – despite some well-known names, Haku is a great example of one of Tokyo’s best musical dreamers at work.
Cokiyu’s Haku is available on February 18th, 2013 from Japan’s Flau Records
Written by Patrick St. Michel
Tags: baths, Cokiyu, haku, Japan, Tokyo, twinkle way
Reviews
Over the past two years, Osaka’s mostly been grabbing attention for its forward-thinking electronic music scene, highlighted by the only-growing INNIT party. One artist floating around that scene is house-producer Soleil Soleil, who also appearsin the more rock-tinged outfit Talking City 1994. That group just released a new EP titled “Roll Dance She Take,” and it finds the young outfit finding a new identity for themselves. Last year, Talking City 1994 released the EP I Can Feel Your Soul, a good collection of songs but one boasting a very lo-fi sound that could at times muck up the otherwise welcoming tracks.
The two primary songs on Roll Dance She Take find the group sounding clearer than ever, as they move in a more dance-friendly direction. The title track boasts slinky bass and an overall more relaxed vibe than anything they’ve made before. “Shine” sounds a touch more sinister – the group’s vocals lurk a bit in the distance, and the sounds aren’t quiet as high fidelity as on “Roll Dance She Take,” but is overall a step in a groovier direction. It doesn’t quite match up with the electronic dance community, but Talking City 1994’s latest shows there is more happening in Osaka than meets the eye.
Roll Dance She Take is now available on Bandcamp
Written by Patrick St. Michel
Tags: Japan, osaka, Reviews, Roll Dance She Take, talking city 1994
Reviews
For fans of the ever-growing Japanese indie-pop scene (or just regular readers of this here blog), Elen Never Sleeps has become something of a cult favorite. After a string of digital releases including a nice split with Super VHS, the Tokyo-based artist is now readying a cassette EP entitled Silver, set to drop “sometime in January” via Memory No. 36 Recordings. “Shine On Me” is the first bittersweet taste from that release, and sees project-mastermind Kaji crooning his typically woozy melody over a circinate blend of sepia-toned synths. While the Tokyoite‘s high-sung baritone is well honed, “Shine On Me” is particularly vivid with a lively upswing and naively romantic lyrics. It’s the sort of track that’s an immediate comfort heard on headphones beneath well-insulated caps, and makes one think of warm nights and young lovers.
Cassette orders for Silver go live on January 10th
Written by Nathan Reese
Tags: elen never sleeps, Japan, Memory No. 36 Recordings, SUPER VHS, Tokyo
Mixtapes
El Fog’s Reverberate Slowly has just been released on Japan’s flau label. Please enjoy the mix he has prepared.
1. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – Can’t Stop
2. Yoshihiro Hanno – Kirin’s Theme
3. Taunus – Concepts & Beliefs
4. Takako Minekawa – DESTRON
5. SJQ – Pico
6. Popo – Toumei Kousoku
7. Nobukazu Takemura – une mort tre’s douce (+Rod Freeman & The Blue Men / I Hear A New World)
8. Bun / Fumitake Tamura – Africa
9. Bun / Fumitake Tamura – Kite
10. John Convertino – Museo
11. Masayoshi Fujita & Jan Jelinek – IA_AI
Submitted by El Fog
Tags: berlin, el fog, flau, Germany, Japan, Reverberate Slowly, Reviews
Reviews
Japan’s Möscow Çlub continues to perfect their personal brand of manic new wave and express their sci-fi obsession, with their new 2 track Bradbury, as in Ray, EP. “Fahrenheit 451″ manages to incorporate some Buddha Records R&B affectations into the florid synth lines and restless rhythm section. The accompanying video explores the strangely enduring sex appeal of the sports mullet, along with the pool party and electrical tape. Yeah, just watch it. Anyway, despite what the preceding descriptions may lead you to think, Möscow Çlub remains awesomely schlock-free. There’s an 80s revivalism aspect, sure, but it’s an idealized image of the 80s that lacks the toxic self-importance or winking self-reference. And that’s nice! So enjoy.
Download the Bradbury EP on Möscow Çlub on Bandcamp
Written by Luke Carrell
Tags: Japan, möscow çlub, ray bradburry, Reviews
Reviews
Beginning last spring, unpronounceable Tokyo synth-pop outfit LLLL (we’re going to go with a singular phonetic “el,” until we hear differently) has dropped a string of digital EPs to their bandcamp, each more fully-realized than the last. Their new video for “Drowned Fish” comes to us from May’s self-titled collection, and contains beautifully-shot scenes of a young woman running, jumping rope, and bathing (drowning?) in both a floral-garnished pond and simple bathtub. While that may not sound like much of a narrative, set to the LLLL’s glitchy pop, which oscillates between M83’s maximalism and Air’s lounge-y quietude, the glossy digital footage becomes an uneasy window into our urban Ophelia’s life.
We also highly recommend downloading the rest of LLLL’s music, including the just-released Mirror EP, which sees the band broaching new arenas with their beat-heavy formula
Written by Nathan Reese
Tags: beats, Drowned Fish, glitch, Japan, LLLL, pop, synth pop, Tokyo
Reviews
Elen Never Sleeps and Super VHS, two of the best young artists in the Tokyo music scene right now, have teamed up for a late-summer split EP. The prior’s “White Surrender” finds Elen Never Sleeps stepping out of the shadows slightly, the vocals clearer on this track than at any other point in his young career. The rest of “White Surrender” is more in line with what Elen Never Sleeps has done before – a minimal musical backdrop accented by some lovely wordless vocals. Super VHS’ “Stuck On You,” meanwhile, is guitar-powered garage rock sounding appropriately rough. Unlike Elen Never Sleeps, Super VHS’ contribution strays more from the synth-heavy style they usually rely on. The EP also features remixes of each track courtesy of another buzzed-about Tokyoite, Taquwami. His take on “White Surrender” veers closer to what Elen Never Sleeps usually sounds like – Taquwami muffles the vocals more than on the original – save for a few instances of slowed-down vocals. His remix of “Stuck On You” adds more synths and takes the song in a more dance-friendly direction.
The White Surrender/Stuck On You EP is available on BandCamp
Written by Patrick St. Michel
Tags: Asia, elen never sleeps, Japan, Reviews, Taquwami, Tokyo
Reviews
Osaka-based band Talking City 1994’s name explicitly references the ‘90s, but their music is rooted in a sound that’s ten years older. “My Jennifer” is a particularly pleasant piece of indie pop, with a buoyant chorus and an immediately catchy synth-line. The bright keyboards and lisp-y, heart-on-your-sleeve vocals recall early Primal Scream, with a dose of The Smiths and an extra side of twee. It’s the type of a song where repeat listens aren’t so much an option as a necessity, and humming along before your first listen ends is a given. The video (like others on their YouTube page) features the song set to Japanese television – in this case a marathon race – filmed by what appears to be a handheld Hi8 camera pointed at the screen. Whatever the meaning, the flood of images sticks with you and feels both quaint and optimistic alongside “My Jennifer”’s starry-eyed nostalgia.
For more on Talking City 1994, check out their Bandcamp and Soundcloud
Written by Nathan Reese
Tags: indie pop, Japan, my jennifer, osaka, talking city 1994, twee
