Reviews written by NipponRock.net
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SA-KA-NA Electric Device (Japan Version)
SA-KA-NA Electric Device (Japan Version)
(1)Our Price: US$30.75Usually ships within 7 daysRelated promotions:September 7, 2009 Nipponrock.net review - SA-KA-NA Electric DeviceAhito Inazawa was the drummer for Number Girl and then Zazen Boys before he started Vola & The Oriental Machine in 2004. Since he left Zazen Boys, both that band and Vola & The Oriental Machine have been making new wave inspired dance-rock with wildly different approaches.
Zazen Boys has focused on a tight rhythm section, improvisation, and math-rock time signatures. Vola, on the other hand, has been more conventional in their song-writing, and have experimented with jagged textures. With each album they've gotten better at combining incredibly catchy melodies with fuzzy synths, dirty basslines and tight rhythms. Vola's new album, SA-KA-NA Electric Device sounds like a blend of Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party and Polysics.
'Weekend Lovers', the first single on SA-KA-NA Electric Device is a glossy synth powered anthem about living for the weekend. It's got a great melody, but only hints at the energetic chemistry of 'Turning Turning', the bongo groove of 'No Dream' and the strength of Inazawa's falsetto on 'Future Days'. This album rarely enters unexplored territory, rather classic songwriting conventions are used to great effect.
While Vola & The Oriental Machine's previous albums have had highs and lows, this one is consistently great. There's nothing on here that reaches the noisy highs of 'Mexico Pub' (my favourite Vola song) but this remains their best overall album regardless. Additionally, much of the album is in English - so hopefully it will help Vola win over fans outside of Japan.Did you find this review helpful? Yes (Report This) -
Even Kick Soysauce (Japan Version)
Even Kick Soysauce (Japan Version)
(1)Our Price: US$21.75Usually ships within 7 daysRelated promotions:September 2, 2009 Nipponrock.net reviewAfter a bit of time away from the site (moved apartments and have just gotten internet access again) I’m back in action to talk about a band that HearJapan calls “completely bonkers”, which is a perfectly correct way to describe Neconemuru. They are deeply influenced by Damon Albarn, sounding like a Japanese take on his best work with Blur, Gorillaz and the Monkey soundtrack. In fact, if Damon Albarn collaborated with Cornelius (which would be awesome!) it would probably sound like this album (thus, it follows that this album is pretty awesome).
Almost all of Neconemuru’s album Even Kick Soysauce is instrumental, the only exception being album opener (and highlight) “Neco Ga Nya Te Inu Ga Wan!” which features the amazing Kazumi Nikaido. It’s an infectiously fun song and Nikaido’s childish vocals fit perfectly.
I was a little suspicious that the rest of the album wouldn’t hold up without Nikaido’s presence, but fortunately my fears were unfounded. Neconemuru have a wonderful sense of melody and fun. Every song has a bouncy rhythm laden with retro synths, trebly guitars and warm basslines. Melodies are clear and simple (and usually based on Japanese pentatonic scales). These are the kind of songs that get stuck in your head like peanut butter on the roof of your mouth.
Just like me writing about peanut-butter-stuck-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth in an album review, Neconemuru never take themselves too seriously and Even Kick Soysauce is the type of album that’s a joy to listen to start to finish. There’s no deep meaning, just fun.
The only negatives about this album are that the instrumental version of “Neco Ga Nya Te Inu Ga Wan!” is superfluous next to the superiour vocal version and that the two live songs at the end of the album are a little muddy sounding.
If you like Gorillaz, Cornelius, or the Flaming Lips then you will probably love Neconemuru.Did you find this review helpful? Yes (Report This)
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Shinshoku Dolce (Normal Edition)(Japan Version)
Shinshoku Dolce (Normal Edition)(Japan Version)
(1)Our Price: US$33.49Usually ships within 1 to 2 daysRelated promotions:July 30, 2009 nipponrock.net reviewKanon Wakeshima is a classically trained cellist turned pop singer. She’s a poster-girl for the gothic-lolita subculture which heavily influences both her music and fashion-sense. Featuring heavy orchestration, her debut album Shinshoku Dolce is very cinematic sounding – If one imagines a pop-music rendition of a Tim Burton film it might end up like this.
Shinshoku Dolce features a heavy dose of Wakeshima’s cello mixed with electronic pop production. The production is excellent, and helps to enhance Wakeshima’s unique sound with a mixture of synthesizers and classical instruments (including harpsichord, piano, glockenspiel and strings).
‘Shinku No Fatarythm’ is a standout track. The song combines all sorts of sounds and everything falls into place. Wakeshima’s cello playing and vocals are at their best here, and the rest of the instrumentation is a shifting web of textures that serve the song perfectly.
‘Ennui Kibun!’ brings Wakeshima’s vocals to the foreground. The instrumentation is fairly minimal and this song features some of the best harmonies of the album.
It’s followed by ‘Suna No Oshiro’, which is much more atmospheric. During the verses Wakeshima sings in a whisper to great effect. The orchestra is very heavy and foreboding and includes a massive sounding church organ. Probably the most epic song on the album, and one of the best.
The area where I can find fault is that the production is sometimes too clean. There are moments during ‘L’espoir – Mahou No Akai Ito’ where live drums would have conveyed much more energy than a drum machine. This could have been a great song, but without an energetic drum performance it doesn’t reach it’s full potential.
This isn’t an album that I really expected to enjoy all that much but I am glad to be surprised. Shinshoku Dolce features great songwriting and a really interesting sound. I’d like to hear Kanon Wakeshima come out with something more live sounding, featuring less electronic sequencing, but Shinshoku Dolce is a strong debut and she’s definitely an artist to watch.Did you find this review helpful? Yes (Report This)
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Andymori (Japan Version)
July 27, 2009 nipponrock.net review:Andymori are a young band, signed to youth records, who perform urgent music that expresses a youthful sense of abandon. A stripped down three piece, Andymori consists of Sohey Oyamada on vocals and guitar, Daiki Gotou on bass and Hiroshi Fujiwara on drums.
Half of the album is frantic and urgent as if every moment must be filled with action. Singer Sohey Oyamada fits so many syllables into each phrase that he sounds like he’s afraid of being cut off. During ‘Everything Is My Guitar” Oyamada sings with a breakneck urgency – the one-long-shot, recklessly performed music video for this song is a good visual indicator of the sound. The video is very much influenced by Weezer’s video for ‘Undone’.
The other half of the album is much more melancholy. “Life is Party” evokes a sense of weariness and the band seems aware that their youth can’t go on forever. When Oyamada sings the phrase “Life is party” in this song, it sounds like a mantra to get through slow days, rather than a call to action as in “Everything is my guitar”. This sense of melancholy is reminiscent of Nada Surf, expressing a sort of resignation – but maybe rather than resignation, it’s better to call it a sense of acceptance. Like, “This is how it is and I’m going to have to deal with it anyway, so I guess I’ll make the most of it”. Even in these slower moments, there’s a sense of youthful urgency – this is not a band that naval gazes and dwells on their defeats.
Andymori is a great pop band in the same way that Phoenix is a great pop band. Their songs are succinct and melodic, and the band uses their considerable musical sense to write simple, memorable songs. Like Phoenix, however, the songs have a considerable amount of depth under the surface – ensuring that the album stays interesting after repeat listens. A perfect summer album – Highly recommended for fans of guitar based indie rock.Did you find this review helpful? Yes (Report This) -
EGO-WRAPPIN' And The Gossip Of Jaxx (Japan Version)
EGO-WRAPPIN' And The Gossip Of Jaxx (Japan Version)
(1)Our Price: US$32.75Usually ships within 7 daysRelated promotions:July 27, 2009 nipponrock.net reviewEGO-WRAPPIN’ is made up of two members, singer Yoshie Nakano and guitar player Masaki Mori and their five piece backing band on this album is dubbed “THE GOSSIP OF JAXX”. They mix retro jazz with modern alternative pop/rock. It’s hard to definitively describe this band’s sound, as it changes from song to song, but through those changes everything fits into a retro American jazz aesthetic. Masaki Mori wears a fedora and two-tone shoes and Yoshie Nakano wears flapper dresses. I try not to focus on image so much, but… friggin’ two-tone shoes! C’mon!
The second single from this album, ‘Go Action’, is probably the best place to start. It’s full of pop hooks, strong melodies, and retro overdriven guitar – The horns in the chorus will get stuck in your head for days. But it’s certainly not a straightforward pop song. Just over halfway through ‘Go Action’ the song takes a brief detour into a palm-muted punk rock guitar fueled frenzy, then goes back into the retro jazz chorus like it was nothing. Curve balls like this are all over the album.
‘Darui’ is the other single from this album – the arrangement is generally quite spare, and focuses on Yoshie Nakano’s supple voice. Nakano’s vocals are uncommonly soulful – she sounds a bit like a less experimental UA – and the arrangements of this album help to bring them to the front.
There are a couple of weird places on this album – statring with the first track, ‘Red Shadow’. Wild drums, a deep bass groove, atonal saxophone blips, and Yoshie Nakano screaming through a megaphone all build into a frantic ending that even I think is over the top noisy (but in a very good way). It’s a very ‘Soil & “Pimp” Sessions’ style song – chaotic and noisy.
The rest of the album covers a lot of ground – ‘Kagen no Zuki’ is centered around accordion, ‘Whammy Kiss’ features a bassline reminiscent of The Beatle’s ‘Day Tripper’, and closing ballad ‘Dear Mama’ has a 60’s pop influence that fans of Advantage Lucy should be all over. When a band tries to tackle a lot of different sounds at once there’s a risk that they’ll miss the essence of each of them. EGO-WRAPPIN’ succumbs to that in places – I’m not going to pretend that ‘Whammy Kiss’ is a masterpiece – but they do a good job of keeping their core intact even when stretching out a bit.Did you find this review helpful? Yes (Report This) -
ATTA (Japan Version)
July 27, 2009 NipponRock.net reviewATTA combines some of the best elements of UA’s most accessible songs with the most successful experiments from her albums Sun and Breathe. The end result can be likened to Radiohead’s In Rainbows: Instead of stepping into a new direction with ATTA, UA demonstrates all the things she’s learned from her past work. It’s an incredibly self-assured album, and perhaps the best of her career.
UA is often compared to Bjork, both due to the production style of much of her work and due to her breathy, rich vocals. The production on this album wisely places that voice at the front of the mix. UA’s voice can be very soothing, and is particularly highlighted through the use of harmonies in ‘The Moon Is Fading’, one of ATTA’s strongest tracks.
Much of the instrumentation is based upon percussion. It’s clear that a lot of attention was paid to the rhythms, with the drums being significantly different each song. Stylistically, this album combines subdued electronica, jazz, soul and alternative. Rather than coming across as a particularly eclectic album, however, common elements such as abundant horns and UA’s voice tie ATTA together into a cohesive whole.
UA’s confidence on this album is especially evident on ‘picnic_20c.’, which has wild dynamic shifts, constantly swelling and suddenly shifting in intensity. It’s one of the busiest tracks on the album, with swirling acoustic guitars, strings, various types of percussion and a stream of different vocal melodies throughout the song.
The strength of this album is based on how subdued it can be. There is quite a lot going on, and for most artists it would be a wildly ambitious accomplishment. It’s a very mature album and unlike many artists who attempt to combine genres, UA never sounds indulgent, or as if the genre is controlling her. With ATTA, UA is completely self-assured. A great album.Did you find this review helpful? Yes (Report This)
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