1/31/11

dip in the pool - DIP IN THE POOL


dip in the pool's 1986 album is certainly something different. for the most part, dip in the pool's albums are corny smooth-jazz and funk wankery. i don't dislike them, but they can't compare to their ST. their ST is minimal (yet well produced) synthpop, so it boggles my mind when i hear their later works. this music is absolutely soothing, and naive in the same way that much of the pop on this blog is; innocent in its outsider attitude.

download it if you like more accessible minimal-synth.


1. Rabo del Sol
2. Facing The Sea
3. はすのえにし
4. Sur le Pois
5. Silence
6. ひなまり
7. View
8. Again
9. Spring from the Surface
10. Dormir


ENJOY

1/29/11

あにー - サクラツナギ



this is an album by touhou tribute group あにー. i guess it's pretty great. a friend (akihavermillion of last.fm) just shared this with me. i liked it quite a bit (i guess it's like shoegaze + post-punk or something, but it sounded like Plastic Tree or something so that works for me) and have been recently getting into touhou music more (because i've recently started playing). anyways, this is an awful lot different from IOSYS or Silver Forest's stuff; it's, as i already said, shoegazey, so it's all guitar based. it's sick.


1. 嵶偄慄
2. Violet Fuzz
3. 愮愗傟傞孮惵
4. 傟偰偂傟偰偂傟偰偂
5. 僔儍儃儞僈乕儖
6. OINORI-GIRL
7. 嶗宷偓



ENJOY

1/23/11

WHITE HOSPITAL - HOLOCAUST


Holocaust is an alum by industrial act White Hospital. if you dig the other japanese industrial that i've posted already, then you'll enjoy this. it's like a mix of Dissecting Table and S·CORE.
my favorite track is probably the first and the last. they're incredible.

1. Hymn of Heaven
2. Robotomy Operation
3. Body & Flesh
4. Transfer 15
5. Holocaust (live)
6. Ginny Voice
7. Fair Warning
8. White Hospital


ENJOY

1/18/11

D-Day - GRAPE IRIS



D-DAY is a hard band to describe. they're somewhere in between G-SCHMITT and ゼルダ, but only superficially. there's something else going on here that i can't quite place my finger on. so, while there's a clear post-punk thing going on here, they also sounded like idol pop (most clear on tracks like "Memory"). but then, that's not quite it, either. there's something else happening here that gives this whole album a rather uncomfortable, almost sickly feeling.

this is most clear on the tracks "Dust", "Nostalgia", and "Sweet Sultan". "Dust" has a slow, muffled drum-machine sound, which is eventually accompanied by an electric guitar. the vocalist sings along in broken english. i'm not sure what she's going on about, but near the beginning i can make out "drinking some drugs . . . " whatever the fuck that means. her vocals remind me of tomo akikawabaya on this track. completely sincere in her vocal delivery, but completely unaware of how bad her english pronunciation is. later i think i can hear something like "give him, give him the cure, the cure . . . " overall the track is very mellow, with a certain murky element to it.
early on in the album, "Nostalgia" brings an entirely different feel; upbeat, cute (maybe), and bright as a sunbeam. on this track the "strangeness" is much easier to notice. perhaps it's the fuzzy synths and mock-chimes, or perhaps it's the strangely atonal guitars. either way, there's something off here.
"Sweet Sultan" is something else entirely. somehow the quasi idol-pop from the previous track is followed up by a heavy goth-rock track. the vocals are spoken, and they're often distorted here and there, or echoed, giving an entirely uneasy feeling to this track. slowly they distort almost entirely until the vocalist's little girl voice is unrecognizable.

download this for sure. most likely you won't like it at first, but it's most certainly is worth it if you give it a listen or to.

ENJOY

1/10/11

AUTO-MOD - BIBLE



Bible is an album by legendary goth-rock act AUTO-MOD.

the opening of this album really sets the tone for the entire album (if not the entirety of AUTO-MOD's discography). A low droning synth opens the track. after that, a choir (led by Genet) boom over the speakers, pronouncing what i can only assume to be a malediction. their (or perhaps just his; this very well could be Genet's voice effected to sound like a full choir) slow moaning suddenly changes pace as string instruments are introduced. tragically, the track is only three minutes in length.
the track after this (解法への道 -Light-) is a complete change in pace. it's a catchy Christian Death-esque (Only Theatre Of Pain era, obviously) punk track. the beat is catchy, the chorus is catchy, the lyrics are singable . . . everything about this evokes "Romeo's Distress".
the rest of the album pretty much switches up between songs like these two, keeping a nice balance.

really good shit if (somehow) you don't already know about them.


1. A Prayer
2. 解法への道 -Light-
3. Tabula Rasa [I&II]
4. Realize
5. 子供たちへ
6. イースタニア幻想
7. Love Generation


ENJOY

1/7/11

赤痢 - PUSH PUSH BABY




kyoto's 赤痢 are a simplistic punk-rock band from the late 80s/early 90s (my favorite era of music, as this blog would suggest). there's nothing terribly new or exciting about 赤痢's music. most of it is fairly standard punk-rock. the part that is absolutely fucking amazing, though, is the vocalist's completely dry vocal delivery. it's fascinating how she manages to sound bored the entire record.

that almost sounds like a bad thing, i know, but you really have to check this out. it's incredible.

1. PANCH
2. GORILLA
3. VERY GOOD
4. HAPPY NEW YEAR
5. ORE NO DOJI
6. DABA


ENJOY

1/5/11

REBECCA - TIME



REBECCA was an incredibly popular pop-rock group that lasted from 1984 to 1989. they played synth-tinged pop-rock that was almost borderlining the sort of pop that the idols were making (which is a-okay as far as i'm concerned). REBECCA's music was tinged with the most delicate, softest emotions. a personal favorite of mine (not on this album) is their legendary "Friends" track. that shit fucking blew me away the first time i heard it, and then the accompanying video really brought the whole thing home. absolutely crushed. that may be because i know the lyrics; though the video ends with Nokko reuniting with her band, the lyrics do not come to such a conclusion. instead, she sings, "we can never go back, oh, friends / you seem further away than everyone else / we were always running, oh friends / i loved that look in your eyes . . . "

this album is another spectacular piece of emotionally poignant pop. the best track for me is the longing ホワイト・サンデイ (or "White Sunday"). the delicate acoustic guitar strumming away under the synth line is so somber, so gentle. incredible.


1. ホエン・ア・ウーマン・ラヴズ・ア・マン
2. ロンリー・バタフライ
3. タイム
4. (イッツ・ジャスト・ア)スマイル
5. ガール・スクール
6. ボス・イズ・オールウェイズ・ボッシング
7. チープ・ヒッピーズ
8. ホワイト・サンデイ
9. ネヴァー・トールド・ユー・バット・アイ・ラヴ・ユー


ENJOY

G-Schmitt - LSD




LSD is a single by G-SCHMITT. the a-side of this single is possibly my favorite song by this incredible band. mostly it's syoko's masterful vocal delivery (her low, breathy, moaning just drives me up the fucking waaalllllllllll). the best part, as far as i'm concerned, is her frantic repetition of "L S D, L S D, L S D!" at the end. incredible.

the b-side is pretty great, too, but it can't compare to the a-side.


1. LSD
2. Rudy II


ENJOY

1/4/11

LOOKING BACK (intro to sex revisited)

while this blog has yet to reach it's first anniversary, it's still the beginning of a new year. time for retrospection.

in my first post on this blog i stated that i would focus on noise, power electronics, and pop. while i have fulfilled the latter of those three genres, this blog is severely lacking in noise and power electronics. this is due to the fact that i'd rather not post something that i was able to find with a simple google search. that doesn't really help you, and certainly doesn't make this blog very useful. instead, i have focused on pop and post-punk (and new wave, if you believe that is indeed an actual genre, and not just a movement) from the deeper annals of japan. i'm certainly satisfied with what i've shared so far.

enjoy another year of Softly Sleeping Rose.

all my best to you, with love
- Loser Knife

Still - REAL TIME 7"



Still (if you use last.fm then scrobble it thus {in unicode}, that we may bump up the listeners from just two) were a synthpop/post-punk act from the 1980s. they only made like one EP and then this 7". i've heard they also appeared on a compilation.

anyways, this is really great stuff. kinda reminds me of G-SCHMITT if they were more pop inspired.


ENJOY

1/3/11

奇形児 - PLASTIC SCANDAL



PLASTIC SCANDAL is an EP by early 1980s noisy punk band 奇形児. their brand of punk reminds me of Gauze, but also The Stalin's FISH INN album. you should enjoy it if you're into obscure, lo-fi punk from 1980s japan.


1. Plastic Loves
2. 1983
3. 煩悶
4. 孤独のワルツ


ENJOY