This is a very fun album. I liked a recent Pipettes track called Thank You, which I heard on Fluxblog, so when I saw this earlier album I picked it up. The Pipettes are a girl group in the style of ’50s or ’60s vocal groups. This album is full of perky pop gems, mostly… Read more »
Posts By: Bennett
New NZ Music Dec 2010
Here’s some more NZ music for my wish list. If I can pry open my wallet I will purchase one or more of these and write a bit more for this website. These were all reviewed in New Zealand Musician magazine, Oct/Nov 2010. Wai: Ora — Ancient rhythms merged with modern technology. I heard some… Read more »
Aira Mitsuki — ???
Peppy and punchy, and that’s just the drum track. Nice techno hoover sounds too, and a heavily vocodered vocal from Aira. My feet are tapping right now. This is the title track from her confusingly named new album. I’m glad Uneasy Listening isn’t a podcast because I have no idea how to pronounce it. Source:… Read more »
Kahimi Karie — Time Travelers
A soft and wispy whispery song from one of my favourite artists of the last decade.
Perfume — Nee
The Perfume ladies sound slightly less robotic than usual in this pleasant pop romp. The best thing is the title, a very popular Japanese word often tacked onto the end of a sentence with a similar meaning to the English “Right?”. Speaking of popular words, I keep hoping somebody will come up with a J-Pop… Read more »
Spitz — Polar Bear
I haven’t even listened to my extensive Spitz collection for months, but their unique sound grabbed me as soon as I heard this new track. It’s a gentle pop-rock number, tuneful and tasteful as ever. It’s great to hear that they’re still making some noise. Source: Japanator Radio 152
Zowie — Broken Machine
Vocodered or Autotuned vocals from Zowie, remixed by Pete Wiggs from Saint Etienne. Her flat delivery style works well in this song, which made me think of Kraftwerk, the Ting Tings, Depeche Mode, and any number of J-Pop singers. Zowie is from my hometown of Auckland, New Zealand, and I like her accent in this… Read more »
Zoe Keating — Zinc
Cellist Zoë Keating’s strings-based “remix” of Terry Riley’s classic In C is fantastic. The Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble invited a number of artists to remix their performance of this minimalist piece. They released the results on an album called In C Remixed. In the case of this track, I don’t know how… Read more »
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.
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 »