expect delay
The first post from Tokyo proper – Kon’nichiwa! – should be the band that kick-started this whole J-pop/J-gaze obsession that’s been going on hereabouts for over a year, and is in no small part one of the reasons I’m here right now (don’t tell my family) – the dear departed For Tracy Hyde. I’ve celebrated […]
Nagoya duo Blurred City Lights are one of the newer Japanese dreampop artists to have caught my ear, with their debut album 天使のいない街で (In A City Without Angels) one of the genre highlights of the year so far. Though quite fresh-faced and with an unabashed bedroom studio aesthetic, they’ve crafted a debut that demonstrates both […]
Get yourself ready for some J-gaze/adjacent goodness as I head to Japan tomorrow for a two week jaunt across Tokyo and Osaka. In lieu of any sort of in-depth content, I’ll just stretch the equivalent of a playlist out over the duration, starting with one the godheads of the scene, Kinoko Teikoku. This tune, fitting […]
Is there a German word for “regrets for missing out on something that you had no idea existed at the time”? Or a Japanese one? Welcome to peak FOMO, a decade-plus ago edition. Specifically, Japanese indie rock legends Kinoko Teikoku and their two Toronto gigs way way way back in May 2014, presented by Next […]
As mentioned before, the conventional wisdom around Tokyo’s Kinoko Teikoku is their first two records were the ‘gazey ones, and after that they went more conventional indie rock or broadened their sonic palette, depending on how you want to look at it. But whatever your perspective, their later albums still had some great material – […]
Shoegaze and J-Pop don’t initially seem like the most obvious of bedfellows but it turns out that loud, churning guitars and the super-saccharine sound of Japanese idol groups can be like chocolate and peanut butter. At least that’s the case for the premier – and maybe only – J-pop idol/shoegaze crossover act I know of, […]
