Monthly highlight:
Quruli- Twelve Ephemeral Variations
Genres: Indie Rock, Art Rock
Quruli’s latest album, Twelve Ephemeral Variations, sports 12 songs, all very distinct from each other. This creates an eclectic collection of songs with different moods, instrumentations and directions. Yet, the album is not messy, as everything inside flows very seamlessly. On the album, Quruli spend their time studying what happens in the quiet moments of life with care. It is a perfect album for this season, with winter ending and spring starting, with the compositions being very light. The instruments feel natural, and the entire album feels organic, ephemeral, just as the title suggests. Even the denser cuts like ‘La Palummella’ and ‘C’est La Vie’ carry a bright undertone and evolve without a sense of urgency. The percussion on the record feels soft and lightly brushed, and the guitars don’t concern themselves with the impact they may create, but rather with the color palette they’re bringing into the record.
The album starts with a spoken-word ‘The Drunken Philosopher’. The instrumental is serene and it evolves in a really calm way. The song itself reminds me of some output from Cornelius, but without all the sugar and glitch. The second track, ‘Regulus’, is the clear highlight of the record. It features guest vocal performance from Ayaka Tatamino of The Homecomings. The song itself is serenely fast-paced, but never aggressive. Its music video features a father and daughter trying to connect, which makes sense in the interpretation of the track, as the male-female vocals are overlapping, but never interacting. Their voices might be aligned, but their hearts aren’t. The title, Regulus, follows a pattern of mentioning celestial objects in the album.
The track that follows it is ‘Venus’, probably the most atmospheric song on the album. Its nocturnal mood is amplified by its title too, and the track’s gentle instrumentation feels like it’s been tinged with a single frame of moonlight. The song drifts upon itself, and brings forth visions of stargazing, at least for me. Again, the celestial motif is present here, and the track glows with a gentle light, akin to one from a distant star. Another highlight of the album is ‘La Palummella’, which brings a really distinct tonal shift from the previous tracks. Mediterranean in vibe, with strong guitars and dancing horns creating the track’s sound. La Palummella can be translated to “little dove”, and is also the title of a famous Neapolitan song, giving the track a cross-cultural edge. It works well in the album’s concept of a kaleidoscope.
Then, we have a metal song. You might be thinking, what? How does that even work? But well, it works. The title, ‘C’est la Vie’, might have you thinking, okay, another light song about impermanence. But when the track actually starts with a heavy guitar and a low vocal growl, the shift becomes apparent. A shift, once again, this time even more striking than ‘La Palummella’s’. But what Quruli achieve with this track is showcasing an emotional density in a controlled frame of the album’s narrative. And this album is one about different aspects of life and music, all creating one constellation. Even heaviness can be transient and gentle. It also curiously features a sample from Yellow Magic Orchestra’s ‘Absolute Ego Dance’, which uses chants taken from Okinawan Eisa dance, performed during Obon festival to honor the spirits of ancestors. Just this small sample takes us on a journey to another culture. The album ends with ‘Wandering’, which incorporates quite a lot of different genres and arrangements (even a hip-hop verse is present!), again enforcing the album’s eclectic tone. It was released as a single, and it didn’t quite land for me back then, but in the context of the entire album, the song works perfectly.
Another thing that deserves praise is the beautiful album cover featuring different birds (plus a butterfly). It might be one of the best album covers of the 2020s, and I would love to have it on my wall. The album unfortunately loses a bit of its steam in the 2nd part, but the first one is incredibly strong.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Favourite tracks: Regulus, Venus
Sora Ichikawa- The View from the Foothills (麓の景色)
Genres: Jazz Pop, Indietronica, Glitch Pop
Sora Ichikawa, a young, eclectic composer, released his sophomore album and it’s an incredibly strong and gripping output. His music carries both senses of young energy and masterful craft. The album, despite its energetic and fluid instrumentation is very organic and intimate, made apparent by the lyrics that are very human, simple in vocabulary and personal, despite the abstract jazzy sound. The album’s title as well suggests a humble and clear worldview, not from above but below. This solidifies the album’s angle of abstract meshing with the everyday. Despite the chaotic and disjointed instrumentation, the lyrics of the album point towards fresh air and everyday life. Ichikawa, initially a jazz pianist, turned his gaze towards more abstract and electronic sound at some point in his life, and it works really well. The hooks are melodic and memorable, the songs, despite the glitches and chaos at the surface, are well-structured and polished. JP ALT is very excited to see how his career will evolve.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Favourite tracks: ‘われわれのしま’, ‘軸受たち’
Widescreen Baroque- Easy Listening
Genres: Electropop, Art Pop
With their initial EP easy listening, Widescreen Baroque delivers a playful fusion of art and pop that belies its casual title. The collaboration between Shuuichi Mabe (of Soutaiseiriron fame) and vocalist Hinano draws on a sophisticated musical lineage. The project echoes the theatricality of Soutaiseiriron alongside Mabe’s varied history of musical works. The project is breezy and elegant, carrying a ton of material to be immersed into. Functioning as a brief but impactful exploration of their sound, the record highlights various sides of the group’s style and serves as a statement of intent for their future career.
Sonically, easy listening exists on an intersection of electropop and art pop, occasionally fusing with baroque pop tendencies. The opening track, ‘Pretty Young’, establishes a groovy mood of the album, with Hinano’s vocals flowing over a bouncy technopop instrumental that is supported by a set of strings. ‘NO.5’ and ‘UFOLOGY’ depart from the opener’s lush formula into more dramatic arrangement, widening the frame of the record with theatrical colors. The album then becomes increasingly dramatic, with each song being more theatrical than the previous one. ‘meka meka’ starts in an almost ominous manner, and the pounding drums become the track’s spine, with everything else revolving and dancing around them.
However, Hinano’s vocals become the album’s central instrument. Her soft and cool voice works in perfect unison with the album’s sound and atmosphere. Her vocals can be compared to those of Etsuko Yakushimaru from Soutaiseiriron- innocent, deliberately affectless, intimate and distant at the same time. Hinano’s voice is a component that ties the calculation of techno and sophistication of orchestral elements that make up the album’s instrumentation. It is a perfect mix.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Favourite tracks: NO.5, UFOLOGY
Gateballers- Gateballers
Genres: Shimokita-kei, Indie Rock, Garage Rock
Gateballers are back after a 7-year old break with a bang. The band, that previously was all about dream pop, go full on rockstars on their self titled record. The album starts with a car engine starting and then accelerating, vanishing into the silence that is later broken by a groovy guitar. The first track, ‘Get Back’, really encapsulates the garage rock soul; it is simple, biting, and raw. It is great that albums that revolve around this vibe still exist. The opener’s chorus is simple, but catchy, perfect for screaming it out at a gig.
‘Spread Love’, the track that follows it, is another highlight of the project. This one is less standard rock in vein, more dreamy, especially the beautiful chorus that kind of sounds like it belongs on a shoegaze track. The long gap between the band’s last album and this one shows that the band has quietly matured and accelerated their style. The atmosphere on self-titled shifts from the coldness that was at the center of their previous projects to warm and organic, and this temperature works really well with what the band is trying to achieve here.
‘Tシャツvs雨’, track n0. 5, features orchestral arrangement from Quruli’s Shigeru Kishida. The legendary Kishida’s appearance here gives the album additional weight and places the band close to the Kyoto indie lineage. The song itself is an ambitious and emotional piece, a definite pinnacle of the album and perhaps Gateballers’ career, and the additional orchestral pieces enhance the warm style of this album. The album does not dip in quality after this song though; ‘Why 愛 I’ is catchy and emotional, ‘Diamond Cactus’ sounds like something Sakanaction could be proud of (that chorus is divine), and ‘Destiny’ is wonderfully warm, supported by bossa rhythms. The album ends on ‘Period.’, a quiet, introspective end to a project full of fun.
While Gateballers’ self-titled album does not achieve anything grand, it positions itself in the canon of essential garage rock albums of the 2020s, strengthens the band’s credibility as incredibly skilled rhythmmakers and in general, simply, is an incredibly fun project.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Favourite tracks (x2): Why 愛 I, Diamond Cactus
タデクイ (Tadekui)- MOTHER
Genres: Blues, Indie Rock
This album really appreciates space and liminality. Despite the tension and underlying anxiety that this album is tinged with, MOTHER is still a gentle project. The album was produced by NOT WONK (Shuhei Kato), and his influence can be heard throughout the project. MOTHER opens with ‘舟’, a brooding track that unravels beautifully during its runtime. It starts as a simple ballad, then explodes with emotion and a barrage of guitars, both electric and classical, hard-hitting drums and a dramatic vocal performance. Then, a bossa track, ‘灯台’, takes the stage. Its sound is warm on the surface but Kanto Shimokura’s frail vocals and minimal instrumentation give the track a very delicate edge. These two tracks encompass what the album is about and give it a clear direction from the very beginning.
What this album excels in is its aquatic imagery. The music on MOTHER swirls around like gentle waves crashing into a surface, the sand of early spring that hasn’t been warmed by hot rays of sun yet. Occasionally, the band takes the listener deeper beneath the surface, and the same gentle waves become an overwhelming darkness. This creates two layers for the album- the surface layer, which is spacious, fragile and calm, and the deeper layer that is full of emotional pressure. The layers overlap sometimes, most notably on the opening ‘舟’. This creates a general atmosphere of patience, thanks to which MOTHER can sometimes feel like a subtle post rock record masquerading as indie. This imagery is further supported by the album cover, which features seashells spread on the floor of an empty room.
The long moments of silence on the album act as a part of the instrumentation themselves. The tracks are simultaneously tight and spacious, and the tension feels intentional here. It never overwhelms the listener, and the album is mostly a rather relaxing one. The real pressure comes from the fact that on MOTHER, you never know when a calm bossa tune might shift into an emotional piece.
Star rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Favourite tracks: 舟, 灯台
Enfants- Bedford Hedgehog
Genres: Indie Rock, Post Punk Revival
Bedford Hedgehog is the full-length debut from Enfants, a group active from 2022, until now releasing only EPs. So, how are Enfants faring on a full distance? The answer is: they’re doing really well. Bedford Hedgehog is largely urban in sound, and as Enfants stated in their Spotify bio, the band aims to be an anthem to those struggling to live and a quiet revolution for the youth. This one sentence describes the album’s sound perfectly. The youthful tinge of rebellion paints this album in vivid and memorable colors, structured around warm guitar tones, steady movement and a buoyant atmosphere that is determined instead of overly enthusiastic.
The project sometimes boasts a more dreamy palette, but still is left in the punky vein that never stops. Enfants, instead of delving into maximalism, focus on clarity and relatable topics and warm sounds, even on the harsher cuts. In general, it is subtly nocturnal, but not in the overwhelming darkness” vibe, but rather in the “looking at neon lights and contemplating it all”. That is the project’s greatest strength, and I can see how Enfants became so recognised and relatable to the youth. This keeps the album anchored at all times, ensuring that it doesn’t drift into unfitting sonic polarisation. It’s stable, as Enfants don’t reach for dramatic peaks, but they also don’t get too boring or habitual. It’s a comfortable state.
Star rating: ⭐⭐⭐½
Favourite tracks: Play, HYS
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