Make Believe Mailer 64: Bandcamp Friday Special March 2023
A New Batch Of Music To Check Out!
I used to write a feature for OTAQUEST rounding up some Japanese recommendations for Bandcamp Friday. I’ve decided to keep doing that for the remaining installments of this campaign. Here’s a dive into Japanese releases worth your time, attention and money.
Various Artists — We Love Hair Stylistics!
As someone who has spent cumulative months browsing the “Japan” tag on Bandcamp, let me tell you — you encounter Hair Stylistics a lot. The experimental noise / electronic / rock / sounds-blended-into-disarray project of Masaya Nakahara (previously known as Violent Onsen Geisha) has kept busy over the years, releasing a steady stream of original material (including…today!). In one of those “spoiled by surplus” moments, the constant amount of Hair Stylistics’ music has always made me less eager to highlight the project because…well, he’s always on to something new. It feels more like a ride always in motion rather than a product signaling the end of the road. Yet Nakahara has been at this for pretty much all of the 21st century, constantly (like, truly) fiddling with sound and seeing what his mind can come up with next.
Given the length Hair Stylistics has been going, it isn’t a surprise to find so many artists influenced and inspired by Nakahara. So when he went into the hospital for complications from diabetes recently, friends and collaborators came together to share material in order to raise funds for his medical treatment. We Love Hair Stylistics! is part feel-good effort to help a prolific Japanese artist, but also a reminder of how powerful art can be, demonstrated by who it touches. Contributors to the comp include Foodman, Eiko Ishibashi, Jim O’Rourke, and Shintaro Sakamto, names with domestic and international sway who all boast some connection / artistic tie to Nakahara. That’s just the most immediate names, with other names from all levels of Japanese music coming together to help a friend…and nod to a project with a lot to say and a lot of reach, helping shape the sounds of today over the last two-decades plus. Get it here.
kinoue64 — Anata Dake Ni Akiraite Hoshi
Continuing where one of 2022’s best albums leaves off, the latest from shoegazing Vocaloid artist kinoue64 sets the digi-sing of Hatsune Miku against layers of bittersweet feedback. I’m still most impressed by how well they program Miku for this backdrop — a lot of “Vocaloid meets indie!” endeavors sound jarring, but kinoue64 smooths Miku’s delivery out in a way where it flows naturally alongside the guitar squall. Maybe it has something to do with electricity colliding with electricity. Whatever the reason, kinoue64 squeezes some very real emotions out of the singing-synthesizer software, and continues showing new dimensions to both genres. Get it here.
Shigge — Tch_U
Following up on the delirious dancefloor cuts of 2021’s Silver Smoker, Shigge keeps the energy up and the mood wavy on the bleary-eyed Tch_U. Dabbling in house smoky (“Gogo”), ecstatic (“Morphis”) and limber (the title track), the Yesterday Once More founder lets a smudged sense of reality bleed through all of these tracks, via synthesizer smears and vocal samples rippling over it all. When all those elements hit just right, the songs on Tch_U turn in to some of the young year’s most rapturous dance tracks yet. Get it here.
Fellsius — Fellsius Rhythm Lab Vol.1
Part of the thrill of Fellsius’ 2022 opus Monoeye lies in the maximalist bend the producer takes, letting synths and vocal samples and machine-generated beats coalescing into club ready Rude Goldberg machines. It’s easy to forget the importance of individual parts when swept up in Monoeye, but Fellsius Rhythm Lab Vol. 1 pulls the frame apart to focus on one element of their music. As the name suggests, this is all about the rhythm, with Fellsius exploring what they are capable of using only just percussive elements over these three tracks. Turns out they can get just as busy even when playing with one layer of sound, with these songs building up from skittering minimalism to full physicality. Get it here.
Fetus — Lose EP
Rattling set of songs from producer Fetus via Kool Switch Works, wherein the rough-and-tumble rhythms play out underneath icy and downright disconcerting electronic touches (“Disconnection” in particular growing more anxious as more details ring off overhead). Get it here.
Oblongar — SPEEDER
Enough of these cold dance beats! Give me something loose-limbed and upbeat, maybe with a few Kirby sound effects thrown in for extra sparkle. Oblongar delivers with a U.K. garage set emphasizing speed and energy. Get it here.
Pasocom Music Club — DEPOT Vol. 2
Another set of Pasocom Music Club loosies reminding of how damn good they are when operating as electronic wizkids and don’t have to worry too much about pop demands. The duo can excel in that space, but they also sometimes sound a little constricted by commercial demands, with the overly sugary “KICK&GO” being a good example of them feeling off in that context. There’s nothing but freedom here, whether that’s to indulge in the careening pace of “Gemini Stab” or layer skippy samples over one another to create a cartoon whirlwind on “10K Pitch Select.” You can tell they are having a blast, and just enjoying themselves. Get it here.
i-fls — liminal detail
Longtime readers will probably know everything I have to say about i-fls…and that all holds on this release, go get it! What’s new? The little surprising touches that add richness to i-fls’ bedtown sketches, like the 8-bit warps opening up “structure” or the slower atmospheric longing of closer “blue format” or even the softness of something called “hyperpop maki.” Even when the suburb feels memorized, something new emerges among the sprawl to change perception. Get it here.
Lomax — Gangsta Acid EP
NC4K co-founder goes fully acid on this release courtesy of Kyoto’s 85acid. Get it here.
Rave Racers — Overtake EP
Rave Racers are a group, but they are also an idea, one happy to let others come and play around in their uptempo grounds. Overtake largely finds the core members of the collective showing off their delirious new ideas, but guests yonige (not the bang) and KZMT offer some welcome diversity to the party. Get it here.
sad okinawa — SEVDAOKINAVA
I guess warmer climes don’t equal positive vibes. Whoever sad okinawa is, they sound pretty stuck in their own misery, murmuring about feelings of loneliness and longing. What stands out is how raw it all is, sad okinawa delivering lyrics in a sing-speak style somewhere between “Nosferatu Man” and “overmedicated SoundCloud rapper.” At least until “torn pages.” where he steps back from the mic and just screams through it…which, damn, really going through it. It’s the guitar haze around it that makes it all work, though, including on the downright pretty instrumental “dream diary.” There’s something more in these bedroom recordings than just pure emotional release.
Also, it ends with a cover of Fall Out Boy done in the style of the vocalist from Slint. What else could you ask for? Get it here.
Boys Age — “Monna Lisa”
Music for a melancholy, tipsy stroll through the streets. Get it here.
Smany — Nagisa
Electronic artist Smany returns with two fragile piano-guided songs dappled by electronic touches. More heart-on-sleeve than before, she offers up minimalist songs using layers of her own voice over record crackles and synth ripples. Get it here.
seaketa — What do you remember?
The modern state of Japanese experimental music thrives on stuttering, and here’s an excellent example from producer seaketa. Samples, synths and beats trip over one another to create dizzying numbers always on the verge of collapse, but holding together to form something thrilling. Get it here.
Anobuta — Ah Pah Ee Pee
A very different kind of experimentalism, but still a hoot (and a bit wackier, in a good way). Get it here.
Bailefunk Kakeko — Cho Climax
“Featuring Haruko Tajima.” “Featuring BBBBBBB.” “Featuring valknee.” I don’t really know who My$ter is, but they sound great destroying their throat here. The guests alone make this a must have. Get it here.
TOYOHIRAKUMIN — 5
I’ve been spending more time in public baths (sento, if you need a new Japanese vocab term for the day) this winter, part of a “new hobby” initiative to make the colder months more tolerable (baseball occupies this slot in the spring, summer and autumn). One of the best parts of going to a new-to-me establishment is soaking in the BGM playing in the lobby or inside the main bathing area, a sonic effort to promote relaxation. One place I love loops Hawaiian music, while another plays traditional Japanese songs, while one en-vogue place in Koenji features a lobby looping…bubbly (pun intended) new age in the area where you can sip on milk post dip.
The latest from TOYOHIRAKUMIN would probably kill in some of these cool-down areas, but really, it offers the audio equivalent of listening to barely-there music after submerging yourself in a “craft cola bath.” This is one of the strengths of vaporwave not built around vocal samples — whereas some songs force you to turn phrases over and over again as they repeat, these sort of songs simply mist over you and present a mood (as the producer here would say, “music in the air”), sometimes an unsettling. That’s the experience I have going through 5, fuzzy and relaxing and drifting, often comforting but occasionally off (“gate”). Get it here.
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Twitter — @mbmelodies