Omodaka / Far East Recording (沢瀉)

Omodaka and Far East Recording are both names used by one Soichi Terada.

Soichi has been producing a wide variety of electro/techno music since 1989. Browsing through his extensive discography is much like taking a lesson in electro history. He started out like many others in the early 90s with bare-bone, sample filled dance tracks. He gradually shifted into jungle/drum and bass territory with his "Sumo Jungle" series of albums. Much of his music featured bossa rhythms and other more sophisticated elements, propelling his tracks slightly further than the usual stagnant underground house and jungle tracks.

He continued to evolve his sound into a much more lively house realm, pushing the vocal element to the forefront. With his "Monkey Turn" single, he fused his older jungle style with a new, vocal-centric sort of cyber-house, with its robotized traditional style Japanese vocal track. After that he jumped straight into a Daft Punk style of upbeat house tracks with more traditional Japanese folk vocals courtesy of Kanazawa Akiko (I highly recommend checking out the video diaries on her site.) He also slowly incorporated the current trend of using modern/retro 8-bit sounds, eventually creating songs made entirely of vintage video game music tracks. While these songs would be great on their own as instrumentals, the addition of Kanzawa's anachronistic traditional vocals makes for a truly unique mix.

So far Soichi has released only one full album and two EPs featuring his new sound under the name Omodaka. The album CANTATA No.147 is basically a collection of singles (including his excellent version of Bach's Cantata No. 147.) The Favorite Games EP is a natural evolution, pushing the vocals to the bleeding edge and even including some acoustic guitar among the retro-bleeps. Plum Song follows suit, with the same pop sound with a bit more experimentation mixed in.

Omodaka has made a very strong showing at live shows in America. As part of the otherwise all-girl Japan Nite tour, Omodaka has wowed audiences with his odd stage show featuring recorded video of Akiko singing and his own version of shrine-maiden clothing, compete with a spooky mask.

With the amount of attention his work is getting, and (perhaps) more notably the excellent videos that accompany much of his music and a growing number of high profile remixes for the likes of Ram Rider, YMCK and Perfume, we can be sure that we'll be hearing (and seeing) a lot more from Omodaka / Far East Recording in the future.

BUY OMODAKA RELEASES AT AMAZON, HEARJAPAN AND ITUNES

[Photo by Ace0fClub5]

Kokiriko Bushi



Far East Recording
Power of Terada
Twitter

Major Releases
Omodaka - Plum Song EP (2010)
Omodaka - Favorite Games EP (2008)
Omodaka - CANTATA No.147 (2006)
Far East Recording - SUMO JUNGLE GURANDEUR
Far East Recording - SUN SHOWER REMIXES
Far East Recording - NEWS AND OLDIES 1996
Far East Recording - FAR EAST RECORDING 2
Far East Recording - FAR EAST RECORDING

Plum Song


Yosawya-san


Kyotei Zinc (video mix)


Kyotei Daiski


Cantata No. 147


Fortunate 1 Mark


Live


Live @ Holy 8bit Night 1/4


Live @ Holy 8bit Night 2/4


Live @ Holy 8bit Night 3/4


Live @ Holy 8bit Night 4/4


[update 4/28/10]

FLOPPY

FLOPPY is a chiptune/8-bit/electro project from Sharaku Kobayashi of Metronome and Hiromu Toda of Shinjuku Gewalt. Since 2004, they've been producing some of the best and craziest chip-fueled electro mayhem around. Their somewhat retro-futurist sound is highlighted by their goofy no-budget sci-fi costumes and the music's dreamy yet chaotic atmosphere.

Their songs are mostly made up of fast beats and stuttering lo-bit bleeps, burbling with video game blasts and arpeggiated bass-lines. FLOPPY has always put a little extra effort into their programing, never relying too heavily on loops and factory pre-set sounds. This serves to give their songs a more organic feel, though it can be hard to hear through all the electronic cross-talk. They are able to restrain themselves at times, occasionally achieving something along the lines of a grand Susumu Hirasawa epic. Most often though, they stick to their usual cartoon cat chasing a cartoon mouse sort of vibe. Stompy, silly and fun. Of course thought it all Sharaku Kobayashi's voice adds another level of geek-pop, what with his whiny pitch and pouty delivery.

FLOPPY managed to transcend the usual chip-tune stereotypes. They make genuinely good music using tools more often used to make much more trendy and obviously niche tunes. It proves its members are actually songwriters and musicians, rather than gamers who just happen to be able to mash a few notes together.

BUY FLOPPY RELEASES AT JAPANFILES, HEARJAPAN and CDJAPAN

"Everything"



Official Site

Members:
Sharaku Kobayashi - Vocals, Programming
Hiromu Toda - Programming

Albums:
PROTOSCIENCE - 2010
Deus Ex Machina - 2009
Sine Wave Orchestra - 2006

Miki Furukawa (フルカワミキ)

Miki Furukawa was the bass player and backing vocalist for the incredible indie rock band Supercar. For almost ten years the band churned out some of the best stuff anyone could ask for, including their crowning achievement (in my humble opinion at least) the electronically tinged Highvision. More than just a bass player standing in the background, Miki was almost a second front-man for the band, often singing lead or taking a duel role on vocals.

As a solo artist, Miki has room to breathe and stretches out a little. While she does hit on familiar Supercar territory from time to time, she also has her own style. Her songs have a dreamy quality, but are solid and a bit more on the pop rock edge of the spectrum. She also uses a lot of electronic elements, adding to the swirling psychedelic feel. On the other hand, she does bring plenty of indie-rock jams to the table, stripping things down and simply rocking out.

Her live performances, unfortunately, are often a little shaky. As we've seen and heard from her Supercar days, the studio is very nice to her. (This was actually the case for both Miki and Koji.) That's not to say she can't hold her own live, but her singing voice is a little weak and doesn't translate very well in a loud live setting. Still, she is making some great music on her own, and has managed to step out of the considerably huge shadow cast by her previous band.

Buy Miki releases here! | Buy Supercar releases here!

B.B.W.




Official Site
MySpace

Releases:
Mirrors (2006)
Bondage Heart (2008)

Coffee and Singinggirl!!!


Candy Girl


Psycho America


7 Stars


C.Stereo


Like A Starberry (w/ Chocolat)


Sunrise (Live)


B.B.W. (not-at-all Live)


Supercar - Strobolights


Supercar - Lucky (Live)

Fullarmor

Fullarmor is the side-project of Straightener front-man Atsushi Horie, along with three other members of other bands. Their first self titled album is very much like Atsushi's main gig, namely guitar heavy emo-esque indie rock, centered around his vocals. That first album is the only time that Atsushi sings along with playing guitar, just as he does in Straightener. The two following albums find him sticking only to keyboards and guitar.

Once the band went instrumental, things changed drastically. The songs became much more complex and flowing. It's as if taking out Atshushi's vocals allowed them to flex their muscles a bit and breathe some jazz into their compositions. The funky jazz elements remind me very much of the video game cover band The Advantage, or perhaps an upbeat Downey. The songs are rather game-like, sounding a bit like crazy boss themes or space adventures. This may be because the songs are locked into one main riff or basic idea rather than the usual verse/chorus structure. The production is very open and loose, giving them a very live feel as well, again much like the way The Advantage approaches their covers.

The band also has two bass players, which also adds a unique sound to the mix. Along with Atshishi's piano and keyboard playing, the band has come a long way from their indie-rock origins and moved into their own new territory.

Money & Game


BUY FULLARMOR RELEASES HERE!


Official Site
MySpace

Members:
Atsushi Horie: Vocals, Guitar, Synth
Hinatch (ex.Zazen Boys): Bass
Jun Izawa (LITE,SEABARA): Bass
Oniy (The Zoobombs): Drums

Releases:
Fullarmor (2003)
Zion (2007)
Cataract (2008)

Fra-Foa

Fra-Foa is quite similar to The Brilliant Green. Fronted by Chisako Mikami, they have at times an epic/melodramatic sound that's quite a bit heavier than BG's lighter rock style, though Fra-Foa certainly have their fair share of girlie ballads. They broke up in 2005, but each member has since gone on to form their own bands and solo projects.

Foot Stamp

Foot Stamp are you basic safe-rock band. They're sort of a mix of The Pillows style melodic rock with Husking Bee's strong, low register vocals. Namely, nice, simple rock songs that occasionally find an edge. I would not be surprised in the least to hear these guys in many anime closing themes.