I saw a recent Japanese film called Still Walking, which lead to this song running through my head.

Sleepwalking. Still walking. Sleepwalking. Still walking.

That metronomic digital CV-funk just won’t get out of my head. And I don’t really mind.

The film was brilliant, in a quiet and understated way.

Heard some remixes of Matryoshka tracks. They made me think of Enya, which is something I don’t do very often. Not that they sounded like her, but they were certainly lush, stately string-driven synth tracks with strong yet dreamy female vocals. More stark and spooky than that Irish lass though. You can download quite a lot of their music from the Matryoshka website, so off you go then.

Aira Mitsuki’s track “Change My Will” is another relatively tough techno pop workout from her. High energy with lots of drums and high-pitched mumbling. It’s on her album Plastic and is not called “Chained My Will” as I first thought on hearing it.

Pretty Sound by Molice is a chuggin’ slice of guitar-led pop with an insistent beat and vocals. Pretty sound indeed. “Cover Me Shakespeare” by Noodles is a more straightforward pop stomper with their lovely harmonies. (via Japanator Radio 88)

Imagine Sigue Sigue Sputnik covering Kraftwerk with Deborah Harry on vocals. Fun, isn’t it? As far as I know that particular combination was never recorded, but by way of compensation there’s always Akira Yamaoka’s “Love Me Do”. The breathy vocals at the beginning sound quite suggestive, but it’s hard to hear clearly, even if you listen again several times with the volume turned up, as I did for research purposes. The track certainly gets the toes tapping though. (via Japanator Radio 84)

I have heard a few tracks by Saori@destiny recently. “Stainless Starlight” is a pretty straightforward synthpop thing, with heavily process voice and slightly retro synths. Apparently she’s seen as a successor to Aira Mitsuki. She’s got a way to go before she gets there.

Japanator Radio 83 included an old Buffalo Daughter track, “Discotheque du Paradis”. Very light and dreamy with a toe-tapping, head-nodding beat and a soft clear female vocal. For some reason I thought BD were a bit rockier than this — I don’t know if it was atypical. I shall have to investigate further.

Susumu Hirasawa’s “Lounge” sounds quite a lot like Enya with a synth. Quite a good combination, I must say. It comes from the Paprika soundtrack, whatever that is.

I love the name Hangry and Angry, for some reason. The band has a vis-kei sound (and look — that hair is, frankly, ludicrous) but I did like “Sadistic Dance”. The two female vocals work well, and this song has a slight edge that makes it more compelling that most tracks in that style.

Ayumi Hamasaki’s “Rolling” from Next Level is just a solid chunk of synth-pop. Unstoppable. Lots of synthetic noises and beeps and processed vocals. Some of the sounds remind me of Erasure, which is never a bad thing.

Browsing on Grooveshark, I noticed a Peter Gabriel track I didn’t recognise called The Book of Love. Imagine my surprise — no, go on, see if you can imagine it — when I realised after a few seconds that it’s a cover of the Magnetic Fields’ song from 69 Love Songs (the best album ever made). PG’s voice makes the song into something else — it does have a mournful air that suits PG’s oeuvre perfectly.

A few years ago Stephen Merritt of the Magnetic Fields was interviewed on Mixing It, the now-defunct experimental music show on BBC radio 3. He said that he thought his song It’s Only Time (from the excellent album I) was the most likely of his songs to become a classic, probably in a cover version. But I think The Book Of Love could do it, especially with the final lines about wedding rings. I can almost hear PG’s version echoing over a million soulful couples’ nuptials.

Today I heard the most ridiculous track. “Ocha Ska” by Tsushi Mamire, from the Pregnant Fantasy album. A girly vocal on a peppy ska beat punctuated with… death metal growling. Death metal?! Awesome. Ridiculous. In a good way. Thanks, Japanator Radio 81.

I heard a couple of Susumu Hirasawa songs. I like his strong, powerful vocal. Works well with the understated electronic instrumentation.

I loved “I Can’t Help It” from Honey Sac. Clean guitar power pop with lovely harmonies in the chorus. I could listen to this stuff anytime.

Perfume’s new single “One Room Disco” is disappointing. It sounds like a remix of “Chocolate Disco” from Game. Really. I listened to it and then was amazed to discover that it’s meant to be a new song.

All these songs were on Japanator Radio 79. Thanks, Japanator Radio!