Red Sun

From smooth, bossa-tinged, ultra fashionable tracks to dreamy yet solid electro pop, the duo of Maiko Mogi and Naoya Yuda navigate through all sorts of twee bedroom grooves as Red Sun.

Formed around 2000, the duo has released a number of albums over the years. They mostly blend singer Maiko's mid-range, smokey voice with the equally muted and organic synths. If it wasn't for their total reliance on electronics, Red Sun might be almost bluesy or have a hint of a lounge vibe at times. They definitely like to work a groove rather than show off a bunch of flashy tricks or frantic tempos. Instead they just let the songs float along at their own pace.

The do ramp up the volume from time to time though, as seen most clearly on their newest mini-album Escape, Please. Three of the album's five tracks are indeed on the soft side, but the album opener "笑う泥棒" has a real stomp to it, and the title track is an instant hit that will glue itself to your brain after the very first listen. If ever you needed proof that good things can sometimes come in small, unassuming packages, then look no further than Red Sun.

BUY RED SUN RELEASES AT CDJAPAN AND AMAZON.JP

"Dada Blue"



Official Site
MySpace

Members:
Maiko Mogi
Naoya Yuda

Albums:
Escape, Please - 2009
R - 2008
Fragrance, Old Girl - 2007
Dada Blue - 2004
香るリンチ - 2002
落ちる話 - 2002
無能の画家 - 2001

800 Cherries

800 Cherries are a Shibuya-kei style duo made up of singer Manami Marufuji and producer Masayuki Takahashi. They started out in 1995 with an acoustic folk sound on the mini-album Manamidemonade, comprised of simple songs made up of effected acoustic guitars and Manami's incredibly tiny, breathy voice. While this basic approach would stick around through their career, it gradually developed into more electronic territory as the progressed.

Their first full album Piccolo is full of the sort of bedroom 4-track experimentalism one might expect. There are swirling organs, spaced out backing tracks and some shaky vocal performances. The chorused guitar remains in most of them, liking all the songs together into one unified sound. The songs are almost psychedelic in parts, blissed-out and very soft. Their second, self titled album showed very little progression over the intervening two years, being more of a continuation of Piccolo than a new album.

Their real break-out was with 1998's Romantico. This album even made it over to America for a brief time and is therefore their most popular, and rightfully so. While there are still plenty of examples of their original, slightly hesitant early days, there are almost more confident tracks with stronger production. They also stretch out a little with a few electro instrumentals and more fully fleshed pop tunes. They never really let loose and rock out or anything, but they do ramp up the volume a bit here and there. They also mange a few transcendent moments with the softly beautiful "Frozen" and their re-working of "Everybody Knows," original found on Piccolo.

This was followed up with their fifth release Opuscula in 2000. This is more of a mix of instrumental and a cappella, with Manami simply humming and "doot doo doot"-ing along to the atmospheric music. It's till twinkles and shines, but there is very little to hang on to and is a strange way for the band to exit the stage. After that, the band seems to have vanished from the face of the Earth.

While not quite as well produced as Takako Minekawa or as arty as Gutevolk, 800 Cherries walks along the same lines with songs that are cute and innocent with no real point other than to be cute and innocent. There's a warm, nostalgic glow around it all and there are a few really nice gems to be found.

BUY 800 CHERRIES RELEASES HERE

Frozen (fanvid)


Members:
Manami Marufuji
Masayuki Takahashi

Albums:
Manamidemonade 1995
Piccolo 1995
800 Cherries 1997
Romantico 1998
Opuscula 2000

The Aprils (エイプリルズ )

Effortlessly moving from electro-disco, to folky rock, to 8-bit chiptunes (with the help of YMCK,) The Aprils are a factory of cute, catchy and creative music. Switching between equally light male and female vocals, The Aprils conjure up electric Takashi Murakami landscapes full of gummy bears and happy anime aliens.

Formed in 1999, the trio quickly established their own unique sound. While they have elements of Shibuya-kei, namely the jazzy, upbeat bossa rhythms and crazy sampling a la Pizzicato Five, they mainly focus on electronic sounds. Classic 8-bit bleeps and buzzes from Nintendo's NES era are the most prominent element, along with other retro influenced sounds making up the bulk of their sonic pallet. Perhaps it's not surprising the they've worked along side other like mined artists like YMCK, Strawberry Machine and Plus-Tech Squeeze Box in the past. Still, they are far from your standard synth-pop band. They do incorporate actual guitars and drums, as well as well polished duel lead vocals, giving them a much more personal and “human” feel.

The tone of most of their songs is upbeat and bright, full of rainbows and Technicolor pandas, a toy box of musical ear candy. They temper the unabashed positiveness with a slightly melancholy mood from time to time, but it's a rarely used tactic. More a preciousness than a sadness. Their spaced-out tracks are more about a blissed-out quietness than an inward self-examination. Even their more obviously poppy tracks like "Cosmo '80s" seem to have a slightly darker edge. Their videos show that same art-school pop mentality with pandas and other cute, childlike animals playing a major role. (They do have both a song and an album titled “Panda” after all.)

After releasing three albums in three years, not to mention their various collaborations and touring, The Aprils have taken a much need break. They are currently working on their fourth album.

Kirameki Moon Diver


Buy The Aprils' releases here!


Official Site

Members:
Kentaro Imai - Vocal, Guitar
Miho Iguchi - Vocal, Synthesizer
Yuhki Shotokuji - Drums

Releases:
Astro - 2003
Pan-da - 2004
Space Dream Bathroom - 2005

Time After Time


Panda


Aprils In Stereo


Live


Live


Live


Kentaro singing live with Marino

Japanator Radio

Just in case you haven't noticed those shiny, candy-like buttons over there on the right, ZB's A-Z is affiliated with Japanator.com. In fact that's where this blog was born, in a way. I'm a writer and editor for Japanator, and obviously I focus on Japanese music. Make sure to check out the site every day for much more music news as well as anime, manga, culture and everything else Japan related.

I'm also the host of Japanator Radio, a weekly podcast featuring all genres of music from Japan. I try and dig up the bands that you might not normally hear from, much like this blog. In a way, Japanator Radio is the audio version of ZB's A-Z of J-Music. It should go without saying, but if you like the blog, then you'll like the show.

Right now, there are a few ways to get the show. The best way is to just add Japantor to your RSS feeds. There's a new Japanator Radio every Monday morning (U.S. central time.) You can also bypass the rest of the site and add just the Japantor Radio RSS feed. Finally, you can visit the Japantor forums and look for a new post in the Japantor Radio forum. We are also looking into getting the show in iTunes, so I'll let you know when that is finalized as well.

I'm currently working on show number twelve, so if you haven't checked it out yet, then you have a lot of great new music to catch up on! Here's a link to all the previous posts.

Enjoy!

Coltemonikha

Coltemonikha is yet another electro project from producer Nakata Yasutaka, the man behind Capsule and Perfume, among others. This time he brings along vocalist Sakai Kate to add the sugary frosting to the Daft Punk-like beats and Pizzacato Five sense of style. Coltemonikha is almost an exact replica of the aforementioned bands. In a blind taste test I would be very hard-pressed to tell the difference between songs like Coltemonikha's "Sora Tobu Hikari," Capsule's "Sugarless Girl" and Perfume's "Computer City." They are essentially the same song. Not that there's anything wrong with that. A good pop/dance/electro song is a good pop/dance/electro song is a good op/dance/electro song, and Nakata Yasutaka has the formula down to a science.




Official Site

Members
Sakai Kate (vocals)
Nakata Yasutaka (everything else)

Major Releases
COLTEMONIKHA (2006.05.17)
COLTEMONIKHA 2 (2007.09.26)

After you watch the Coltemonikha video above, check out the perfume and Capsule videos below to see what I'm talking about.

Qypthone

Qypthone are your standard Shibuya-kei group, featuring funk, lounge-tinged, up-tempo, big beat tracks full of horns and harpsichords and random samples. They are just a little more play and noisy than you average offering, but they stick to the formula of swinging rhythms and staccato vocals pretty closely. Most recently of note is their work on the live-action production of Sexy Voice and Robo.

Plus-Tech Squeeze Box

Plus-Tech Squeeze Box (sounds like Plastic Squeeze Box, actually) are a Shibuya-kei or picopop duo. While they have faint echoes of the bossa/lounge vibe, they are more of an upbeat electro outfit featuring cute vocals and a ton of heavily processed samples. Their second album "Cartooom!" is much heavier and faster than their first, and more of a departure from the languid P5/Fantastic Plastic Machine sound. It's still very poppy, just much more energetic and frenetic than usual, at times approaching programming levels rivaling those of Aphex Twin. Their sound palate is almost limitless, with "Uncle Chicken's Drag Rag" being a hyperspace trip through a country jamboree full of banjos and fiddles, "Starship.6" featuring the aforementioned spastic, distorted drum loops, and "Dough-Nuts Town's Map," a trip into a psychotic Toon Town. Something for everyone.

MacDonald Duck Eclair

MacDonald Duck Eclair are an electro/picopop duo (don't let that photo fool you). They have a much harder edged sound than other Shibuya kei-esque acts, probably a result of a DHR (Digital Hardcore Recordings) influence. The do retain the light, whispery vocal style however. A real whisper in a storm sort of vibe. They keep the fun, bouncy factor high throughout and have plenty of softer, spacey songs. There aren't any videos to be found, but you can check them out on their official MySpace page.

Kahimi Karie

Kahimi Karie has been bouncing around the Shibuya-kei scene since the mid-90s. Not surprising considering she was the girlfriend of Cornelius for a time (see below). She takes the soft, whispery vocal style to the extreme, often singing so softly that her voice completely breaks up and drops out. This is often contrasted with the typical jazzy, bossa backing tracks of the Shibuya-kei style. Karie also mixes things up by singing not only in Japanese, but French (mostly) as well as English. Gamers may know her best from the song "Blue Orb" on the "We Love Katamari" soundtrack. Her latest album Nunki drops the trendy lounge style completely and instead focuses only on her voice accompanied by gentle piano and guitar arrangements.

He Shoots the Sun (live)



Tiny King Kong


Candy Man


Elastic Girl


Le Roi Soleil


I am a kitten


One Thousand 20th Century Chairs

Hi-Posi

Miho Moribayashi has been making music under the name Hi-Posi since the late '80s. Along with Mitsuo Shindo as her producer, Hi-Posi creates a wide range of music, mostly a mash-up of styles from rock to jazz to dance (with two years of tap), all filtered through a computer and expertly electrified. Moribayashi's vocals are always light and whispery, often in contrast to the thickly layered music, though songs like "Atukai Nikui Koppu" and "Kaze no Kakudo ni" also show her dreamy, sleepy atmospheric side, which is a perfect compliment to her small voice. Moribayashi is also very active in creating music and voice overs for TV and radio advertising.

Chappie

There has been only one full-length album released by Chappie, but then again, Chappie is no regular artist. Chappie is in fact a huge collection of DJs and producers, along with the Japanese design team Groovisions. Groovisions is probably most notable to Westerners for their Chappie characters featured in Takashi Murakami's Superflat exhibit. (I'll wait while you Google that last bit. It's worth it!) The Chappie album, New Chappie, is predictably eclectic, but every song is upbeat and happy, with the P5-esque (Konishi Yasuharu is one of the producers) "International Chappie Cheerleading Team" being the obvious stand out track. It's sort of the Katamari Damacy soundtrack of the late '90s.