Make Believe Mailer 73: Bandcamp Friday Special May 2023
Lot of people revisiting the past in this edition
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 for May.
Reiterating — please support Bandcamp United, as they attempt to unionize despite challenges from the company itself. Having contributed to Bandcamp Daily since they pretty much started, I can tell you the people working there are fantastic and hard working, which I imagine extends to everyone at the company at every level. As staffers have stated, you should absolutely still take part in Bandcamp Friday this month — artists need support too, and today is the perfect day to do so monetarily — but I’d also urge you to check out what you can do to help them (starting by looking at the ally toolkit they’ve shared).
Kyogen — Awakening
“Pop” as adjective can be a dangerous tool for a writer to reach for. Can something certainly “not popular” in the way we understand mainstream hits and trends still be “pop?” What about when it is deliberately poking at what that even sounds like? A source of constant consideration for a big goober like myself, but also a point you have to grapple with when listening to Awakening. The songs — both instrumental hop-skips and the ones featuring vocals from various guests — fizz and fade around the edges, with Kyogen adjusting synths and beats like they are fog settings. Yet for these textural disruptions, the melodies and especially singing present here are among the most immediate and sweetest I’ve heard off of any Japanese release this year, closer to the zero-g pop of Emerald Four or synth-dazzles of SNJO than pure experimentalism. Whatever you call it, it’s a 2023 must listen. Get it here.
Guchon — GG
The world needs uptempo tracks to escape to, and Guchon continually steps up to deliver. The latest from the chameleonic electronic creator features some of his swifter cuts in recent memory in the opening one-two punch, before taking a turn for the dramatic on skittering EP highlight “C Kawa” and the fragile garage of “Leaf & Key.” Even when offering something a touch more melancholy, Guchon knows you need something to bounce with. Get it here.
Isiliel — Moonbow Genesis
Metal-leaning idol project Necronomidol might be on indefinite hiatus, but fans of the group have plenty to keep their ears occupied. Months after former member SARI embraced experimental electronic production en route to one of the year’s early highlights, technically-last-Necronomidol-member-standing Himari Tsukishiro shared her first full-length solo album as Isiliel. Less claustrophobic than what her idol outfit produced during their time together, the songs on Moonbow Genesis leave room for dramatic swoops, aided by the sort of horns you’d expect sneaking into an Ichiko Aoba cut except merging with a big ol’ guitar riff over which Tsukishiro belts. Letting a little of that old energy in, though, goes a long way, and the best moments come when the percussion pounds ahead and she picks up the pace, such as on “Seiha Sogyo.” Get it here.
Lil Namida — Mudai
This does not sound like other Lil Namida releases, and is more of a sketchbook of samples glued together into a big unnerving gloop ball. Saxophone blurts! People speaking in Korean! J-pop! Easy-breezy drum ‘n’ bass! It’s a mix for a particularly creepy…but still fun…lounge. Get it here.
Buffalo Daughter — “Chatbot Baby / Malfunction”
All hail our robot overlords! Now watch them melt down right in front of you. Buffalo Daughter always have one eye on the state of the world, and this new two-song offering appears to have emerged out of thinking about our AI-assisted (errr, powered?) future. Rather than take sides, it simply captures the headrush of thinking about this stuff, over whirring electronics on the first song and via something approaching meltdown on the second (complete with nod to the first case of synthesized singing ever). Get it here.
Colonel Hentonar — Again
Checking in on Okinawa juke crew v.o.c., a collective showing just how far the Chicago-born style has traveled. Their latest comes from collective staple Colonel Hentonar, with a swift five-track set focusing on straight-ahead floor numbers built around looped piano, synthesizer and skitters. Get it here.
tellur — artificial town EP
Meanwhile, for something hardly straightforward…producer tellur conjures up the soundtrack to a footwork battle in the Black Lodge. They puncture the familiar percussive jitter with backmasked vocal samples, video game beeps on the verge of fritzing out and like flute caught in a bass sandstorm. The central thrust remains, but just in a particularly unnerving setting. Get it here.
Seimei & Taimei — Unreleased Songs 2009-2013
Otherwise known as “Trekkie Trax and Carpainter in utero.” Here’s a fascinating and fun look at what the siblings and cornerstones of Tokyo dance music in the 2010s were up to before Trekkie Trax debuted — and before the pair introduced “NEO STEP.” Part of the thrill of Unreleased Songs — any unreleased songs, generally — is hearing future breakthroughs taking shape, and you can hear all kinds of ideas Trekkie played with in the years after bubbling up here, along with hints of where Taimei would go as Carpainter, especially with a lot of garage-clues pointing towards netlabel classic “Double Rainbow.” Get it here.
uami — Watashiyo De Kaeru
A sketchbook of melodies and textures from the Fukuoka artist, lacking the wispy vocals that make her songs so enchanting but showcasing an overflow of sonic ideas. There’s plenty of experimentation to soak in…but don’t miss the moments when she shows off her knack for groove, like on the laptop funk of “20 Sai Life.” Get it here.
Takuto Kinoshita — Hokisa Reta Idea 1
One day the Make Believe Melodies’ “Best Of 2022” list will come out…when it’s ready, and when you need it most…and the world will see just how much praise Takuto Kinoshita’s kinoue64 project deserves. Until then…here’s a bunch of abandoned shoegaze ideas from the creator. Get it here.
i-fls — new wave EP
Similarly, i-fls has been one of the past decade’s most consistent and emotionally knotty electronic creators, with a huge body of work to sort through while navigating your own emotions at a Jonathan’s somewhere late at night. The new wave EP is kind of a lost i-fls project — brought to light by the good folks at New Masterpiece — featuring the familiar heart-racing construction along with a few surprising touches (trap skitter???). Always good to fill in the blanks in a great artists’ songbook. Get it here.
Kawabe Moto — CASSETTE TAPE CORRECTION
Kawabe Moto, vocalist and guitarist of mitsume, has also kept busy with a solo project that…sounds a lot like mitsume, except slightly more stripped down (like, one less guitar) except for the times it sounds beefed up (like, a particularly twinkly keyboard). He’s mostly shared this material via limited-run cassette tape, but has compiled — and updated, hence the title — songs from this period, revealing a new angle on how he creates. Get it here.
COR!S — Night To Night
Those first two songs are practically pre-games for the main event, the title track, a dizzying bit of juke-adjacent nightclub ecstasy topped off by COR!S’ own vocal firecrackers come the chorus. Get it here.
Stones Taro — Ton Tan EP and “Count Dubwise”
Speaking of songs begging for the club experience, new Stones Taro! The Kyoto producer’s latest for Scuffed Recordings and loosie “Count Dubwise” offer slippery mutations on his club sound, using warped vocal samples to keep the energy high and the music unpredictable. Get the EP here and the song here.
Various Artists — Usi Kuvo Vol. 1
Consider this one coupled with WRACK’s latest release, which isn’t out at time of writing but which I’m sure bangs and is totally in creative matrimony with this compilation (plus, he’s released through Usi Kuvo before). One of the first Japanese labels to embrace and explore their own perspective on African electronic styles like gqom and amapiano, this label overview offers a glance at where they are at now, continuing to find out how they fit into the sonic conversation and present their own mutation on it without letting it drift too far from the origin. Get it here.
aus — Everis
Huge cop out here to say “want to write more on this one later” but…want to write more on this one later. Get it here.
Neko Hacker — Neko Hacker III: Atarashi
I guess Neko Hacker are actually a pretty good representative act to explain everything that has gone on in Japanese music since 2020? This set gathers releases from the last few years, and positions the project as at the intersection of a whole bunch of trends across the board. They break out Vocaloid at times, while also engaging in the sing-speak manic-anime-nightmare-girl energy bursting through hits of both the chart and viral type in modern times. This gets close to “hyperpop” at times, and even features a 4s4ki collab from 2021. And on top of all that…a bunch of super-cheery maximalist stuff built for anime. I guess this group knows what’s up. Get it here.
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Twitter — @mbmelodies