Strawberry Machine another name for Akira Okabe, a laptop toting electro singer in the same vein as Sonic Coaster Pop, YMCK, The Aprils and MacDonald Duck Eclair. In fact, she works closely with many different producers on each of her albums, many of whom also grace the abcdefg*records label. This makes her something of an industry standard go-to-girl for super-cute whispery vocals. She then coats her words with mellow blips and blops, supported by pillowy beats and bass.
Her first album Zero Zero Five (a reference to it being abcdefg*record's 5th release) is predictably low-fi, full of rather muddy yet nevertheless catchy tunes. It's obvious that she's just playing around with a few drum machines and toy-keyboards. Crazy Kilt raises the bar significantly, though it still finds time to get a little too "bedroom producer" for its own good. It features a ton of other great twee-electro producers though, with the likes of The Aprils, YMCK, Macdonald Duck Eclair and Hazel Nuts Chocolates making an appearance. They all serve to elevate Okabe, lifting her out of her more obscure tendencies.
Her 2008 album Girl Friend is a similar leap forward, with full-on good production, almost to the point of sounding like a real pop contender. She even embraces the seductive AutoTune here and there, perhaps vying for a shot at the dance-pop charts. Then again, there are still plenty of zany, playful, childlike moments that bring things back to what passes for reality in the world of Strawberry Machine, proving that she really means business when it comes to the whole soft spoken, DIY aesthetic.
Melon Soda
Official Site
MySpace
Albums:
Zero Zero Five - 2000
Crazy Kilt - 2005
Girl Friend - 2008
Girl Friend Album Preview
