This long song is all spacious live drums and nice deep buzzing basslines. Female vocals wash through the mix. It’s immersive and just great if you like that sort of thing. And I like that sort of thing. This tune is from the game soundtrack for Katamari Forever. I don’t have time to play games… Read more »
Posts By: Bennett
The Hidden Cameras — In The NA
This very catchy track, heard on KEXP, has me singing “In the na! In the na-a-a-a!” all day long. My 2-year-old son was following me around asking me “What does in the na mean?” I wasn’t able to give him a satisfactory explanation. Was it something to do with the mysterious Cafe NA, down the… Read more »
Nobuo Uematsu — Coconut Castaway
A lovely! perky melody with shuffling drums, strummed guitar and dual female vocalists (actually it sounds like the same multitracked singer). So far so predictable. But a couple of minutes in, things get odd with a fairground waltz rhythm and a pervading melancholy air. Then gradually, as a bird tweets, the original melody hesitantly reappears… Read more »
MOL. — Highsense Nonsense
This sounds like a quirky chiptune pop song, played at approximately double speed. It makes hyperactive seem comatose. Zac, the Japanator Radio presenter, called it insane. He’s probably right, but it’s good insane, not bad insane. Source: Japanator Radio 103
Perfume — Electro World (Omodaka remix)
The usual vocals layered over a better-than-usual rhythm. Initially it’s slow, half the speed of the usual frantic Perfume beat. In parts it shuffles into a dub rhythm, sounding a lot like Dubstar (one of my favourite pop bands). Later on the beat heats up, as opera themes and jungle animal noises spice things up…. Read more »
Swinging Popsicle — Go On
Sweet, well-produced pop, with real instruments: guitar, bass, drums. And a clear female vocal. Very summery and melodic. Hey, I’m smiling! It’s from the album of the same name. Source: Japanator Radio 103
Nancy Elizabeth — Feet of Courage
A thoroughly modern folk song that sounds as if it could have been written anytime in the last thousand years or so. Beautiful and haunting, it takes me off to another place.
Rad Wimps — Order Made
This is very easy on the ear without quite being easy listening. It builds quietly to almost-crescendos a few times, but stays quiet and pleasant enough to remind me of Jose Gonzales(?) and even Jack Johnson. (I have heard JJ’s soundtrack to Curious George about a hundred times as that DVD is a family favourite.)… Read more »
Susumu Yokota — A Flower White
A Flower White is a hypnotically folky piece with a nagging guitar line running throughout. It combines beautifully with Nancy Elizabeth’s clear yet artless vocal. Jim from On the Wire called it a “kind of ’90s goth metal ballad”, and I would agree apart from the metal part. From Yokota’s album “Mother”. Source: On the… Read more »
Sweet Vacation — Why Don’t You
Clean and jaunty electronic pop with an uplifting chorus that asks, “why don’t you believe that pop will save the world?” I do believe, I do! And this song is a good argument. Well, the chorus is, anyway — the verses fail to soar to the same stratospheric heights. It’s the autotune — I love… Read more »