Halcali — Roman Hiko

Wow. A sweetly melodic ska(!) song from Halcali. Their voices are upfront, with no trace of autotune, and they suit the peppy backing track nicely.

Posted by .

pal@pop — Zipper & Yasashii Kimochi

pal@pop’s Zipper is a lovely lightweight synth pop texture, sprinkled with piano, chugging along under a gentle female vocal. The singing is by Makino Yui, who uses the classic J-pop nasal little-girl voice. The verses have a fast two-note melody and the chorus is lovely and simple. Quietly uplifting. Yasashii Kimochi is very slightly tougher,… Read more »

Posted by .

Halcali — Endless Night

This new single sounds like a slowed-down and pitched-down Perfume song. Listenable, enjoyable even, but not much fun — the production is so smooth that any individuality or quirkiness is polished away. Their old stuff was much better than this — Endless Night almost admits this by quoting Twinkle Star, the title of an earlier and… Read more »

Posted by .