葛生千夏 - The City In The Sea

this album is . . . a masterpiece. it's become a regular (daily) listen for me. it's such a completely magical and majestic album. when i finally heard this album after playing her St. Agnes' Eve EP perhaps too many times (which of course is bullshit; i fully intend to continue to listen to that wonderful, wonderful, wonderful album), it was like a revelation. it was a breath of the purest air.

while the songs on the aforementioned EP are beautiful, there was always something lacking there for me. on The City In The Sea, the songs go beyond the two minute mark, and this gives them room to reach their full potential. i suppose i always thought to myself (about St. Agnes' Eve) that the songs would sound much better if only she had allowed them to breath! and on this album she does just that. in fact, the entire reason this album is so beautiful to me is the way each song builds up to the climax.

the highest point for me would most certainly be the luscious "The City In The Sea §1". the lyrics (taken from an E. A. Poe poem) speak of a watery realm inhabited by the dead, and presided over by Death himself. this song sums up the entire album for me. after a melancholic instrumental interlude, the song really begins, and starts to rise and rise to the beautiful ending of the song. the things this song does to me are indescribable. really, the whole album sounds like an ancient kingdom that has long been lost to the waves.

1. The May Queen
2. Nature Rewards Me
3. A Recent Letter
4. Fairy-Land
5. The City In The Sea §1
6. The City In The Sea §2
7. The Voyage
8. Since I Left You (Sonnet 113)
9. Eldorado
10. Eulalie - A Song
11. 真珠

ENJOY

マサ子さん - つちのこ男爵

okay, so here's another album by the always wonderful マサ子さん. this is probably my favorite album by them, as is the most concise and consistent in sound and quality. it's a beautiful masterpiece of kawaii~ chaos. this is the album that really defines マサ子さん for me, and was the very first album i ever heard by them, annnnnnd it's the album that solidified them as my favorite nagomu related band. they are the perfect combination of punk, pop, and new wave, and i don't know why i haven't spoken more about them, to be honest.

this album is fantastic from beginning to end, but the tracks that i replay the most would have to be "雨にヌレテモいーや", which is a really strange "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" homage, and "PSYNOMEY" which is just a really fucking catchy song. it kinda sound sinister, but not in a really threatening way. more in a cute way? i dunno, it's hard to explain.

anyways! grab this album ASAP, because it's one of my favorites.


0. マサ子さんのテーマ
1. LOVE:LOVE SONG
2. 花梨(リーフォア)
3. DEVO
4. Nonsense Song
5. 雨にヌレテモいーや
6. PSYNOMEY
7. 知らぬ世界
8. PUNK 花梨
9. フルーツ オレ ヨーグルト
10. 夜の都会(まち)に眠れ
11. 車からみてね


ENJOY

有頂天 - GAN

this 19988 album by the beyond legendary 有頂天 has recently been my favorite album by this prolific band. on this album they finally became everything i'd wanted them to be; stream-lined pop with heavy post-punk influences (as well as influence). indeed, this album was even put out by a label that specialized in punk and post-punk (Captain Records, which was responsible for an LP by The Willard, an LP by Lipcream, and an LP by the legendary 遠藤道郎).

this album is certainly less awkward than their previous entries, but this does not take away from their appeal. this is still 有頂天, through and through.


1. 君はGANなのだ
2. B.C.
3. 壺
4. トーテムポール
5. キーマニア
6. GAN
7. 大失敗'85
8. Sの終わり
9. 大失敗'85(Most Failure Mix)


ENJOY

The Castle

This post is to redirect you to Habit Of Sex where you can download Tomo Akikawaba's epic, The Castle. i have to say this may indeed be the best album i've discovered from another blog all year.

i won't say much about it except that if you don't download it then i feel really bad for you. this is the album. also, the dudes over at Habit Of Sex sum it up much better than i could. they've clearly been looking for this album for a while, and they make it clear through their review of this flawless album.

the best part, for me, is the sincerity and utter sadness of the vocals. if he puts across one emotion in his singing then it's desperation. complete, crushing desperation.

チャクラ - さてこそ

さてこそ is チャクラ's (chakra, चक्रं, what have you) masterpiece. i can't tell you much about this band because, like many other albums on this blog, not much info exists for them on the western internet.

essentially, though, these dudes were making music that sounds like a mix between Picky Picnic's later childlike cute pop and SHI-SHONEN's lovely new wave synths. they've become one of my favorite bands.


1. めだか
2. シュンシュン
3. おちょーし者の行進曲
4. You Need Me
5. これから死んでゆくすべての生命体に捧げる詩
6. いとほに
7. Free
8. 3
9. 微笑む
10. ちょっと痛いけどステキ
11. おはよーみなさん


ENJOY

SilhouetteNewRomance - STOWAWAY TO PARADIS

STOWAWAY TO PARADIS is a split between goatbed and SilhouetteNewRomance. goatbed has quite a few other albums, but the five songs that SilhoutteNewRomance offer up here (covers and tributes to well known western songs) seem to be the only songs in their entire discography. a real shame, because they're almost as good as the songs that goatbed offer on this split.

both bands are snyth-pop of the highest order; danceable beats, androgynous voices, and mutated guitar riffs fill up this split. of course, i can't imagine you'd hear these tracks on the dancefloor of a club in Shibuya; they're too strange to ever appeal to a mass audience.

for fans of oldschool synth-pop like 細野晴臣 (Hosono Haruomi), Yellow Magic Orchestra, and 土屋昌巳 (Masami Tsuchiya), the sound that goatbed produces will be very recognizable. it is impossible that goatbed wasn't influenced by at least the first two (and their image looks like 土屋昌巳's). their track "Vogue Man" even reminds me of 細野晴臣 masterpiece, "Sportsmen".

the two highlight tracks on this split are goatbed's "Vogue Man" and SNR's "Never Mind The Boutique (Who's that no Futurist)".
here's a spectacular performance of the goatbed track in question. if that doesn't convince you then i don't know what will.


ENJOY

ＺＥＬＤＡ - CARNAVAL

ＺＥＬＤＡ was an all girl rock band. curiously, they got into the Guinness Book of Records for being the longest lasting all girl rock band to ever exist. a very admirable achievement, i guess.

this is a truly beautiful album. it reminds me of After Dinner (the operatic wailing on 私の楽団（オーケストラ） is very reminiscent of the live performance of "After Dinner"), or perhaps Togawa Jun, whose wailing opera voice is what made her famous (though, the music doesn't sound much like Togawa's music).

really beautiful, jazzy music that has become one of my favorites ever since i discovered them over at Female Trouble.


1. うめたて (this track appears to be missing.)
2. 私の楽団(オーケストラ)
3. サラブレッド~ソナタII
4. アー・ユー・“ラッキー”?~ラッキー少年のうた
5. スローターハウス
6. 天鵞絨(ビロード)の島
7. セイレーン
8. 東京タワー
9. Z-JA-Z
10. 遊糸飛行

ENJOY



(ps. if you want a hint about who my new account is on last.fm, just look for a user who has AMPPEZ and Zelda as top artists. but don't say "OH HEY, IS THIS YOUNGHATE'S NEW ACCOUNT? just add me. be cool.)

土屋昌巳 - RICE MUSIC

土屋昌巳 (Tsuchiya Masami) was a pop musician from the 1980s/90s. he is perhaps best known as the leader of the band synth-pop act 一風堂 (IPPU-DO). Tsuchiya's most obvious influence is David Bowie. in fact, his androgynous appearance has often been compared to Bowie.

this album, Rice Music, was his first solo album. his solo work was still very experimental at the time. since the Bowie comparison has already been made, i may as well compare Rice Music to Bowie's Heroes, Low, or Lodger; his albums with Brian Eno. this makes sense, considering the album is filled with strange pop songs, but also ambient instrumentals (like the spectacular "Silent Object").

CHINESE REVOLUTION

有頂天 - AISSLE

Uchoten (有頂天) were a very strange new wave band from 1980s japan. it's very difficult to describe Uchoten, because there's not much else that sounds like them. perhaps the best comparison could be the pop albums that Picky Picnic did, or the albums that Togawa Jun did with her band Yapoos. the vocalist's voice is very angelic and often childlike (much like the vocalist from picky picnic), very gentle on the ears.

another thing picky and Uchoten have in common; they were both signed to the same label, NAGAMU RECORDS.

edit: i'll post another album by Uchoten later tonight. look forward to it!

AISSLE