- Shibuya's Scrambled Sounds
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- š§ Issue #47
The wind blew you right in into this weekās issue of Shibuyaās Scrambled Sounds !
Hi everyone, I hope you had a nice couple of weeks.
The weather has really picked up and been super nice over here and I hope itās the same wherever you are.
š„§Freshly Baked Albums š„§
Reviews of the best new-ish albums
Rating System
š„§ Pretty warm - for the hardcore fans of the genre
š„§š„§ Oh thatās hot - for any fan of the genre
š„§š„§š„§ We gonna need oven mitts - potential classic, highly suggested listen
š„§š„§š„§š„§ The kitchenās on fire!! - modern classic, must listen
** I only talk about albums I liked in this newsletter so even the āPretty warmā albums are still good š
Skirt - Special
Genre: Indie Pop, Indie Rock
Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube
While Sawabe AKA Skirtās songwriting has become more refined over the years, you know exactly what youāre going to get with a Skirt release. Literally, an artist who does the same thing with every album.
Whether this is a good thing or not is debatable, however there is no denying that Sawabe has an amazing taste in chord progressions and melodies that bring out your emotional side. Is āGoose Bump Musicā a genre yet? If not, this is the forerunner of the sound.
As always, there are tracks that stand there with the best songs in Sawabeās ever-growing discography. The sugary melancholic pop of track 3 and the tasteful funk of track 7 (that bass!) are two examples of the quality you can expect from an underground veteran.
While āSpecialā isnāt really that special in the scheme of things, if youāre in the mood for really solid, Jazz inspired mostly upbeat Indie Pop, Skirt is literally the perfect place to go in my opinion. While Sawabe doesnāt change up too much, you have to admit itās impressive heās been so consistent throughout the years.
Rating: š„§š„§ Oh thatās hot - for any fan of the genre
Favorite Tracks: 1, 3, 7, 8, 10
Chappo - a one & a two
Genre: Boogie Woogie, Happy End-era Rock Revival, Chamber Rock
Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube
*Haruomi Hosonoās grandsonās band! Still young sounding but I think there is a lot of potential here.
xiangyu - Enryo no Katamari
Genre: Art Pop, Hip-Hop, Hyper Pop, Charli XCX-core
Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube
š±Mystery Bentoš±
An older album you should check out
Clammbon - Re-clammbon 2 (2009)
Genre: Art Pop, Indie Rock
Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube
This might be one of the only times in history (please correct me if Iām wrong) where whatās generally considered a bandās best album is a self-cover album. Not only their first, but their second self-cover album. All of the songs here are from their previous albums, however theyāve been torn apart and reassembled to create not only a greatest hits of sort, but arguably the best versions of all these tracks (sometimes reworked for a second time).
What are usually pretty straightforward tracks have been twisted into semi-experimental sound adventures, dazzling and surprising at every turn. To me, this album is one of the perfect balances of both grotesque and beauty, shown perfectly by the juxtaposition of the melodies and fuzzed out bass on track 5. There are also moments of pure beauty, such as āRe-Folkloreā and track 8, an emotionally vulnerable one-two punch in the middle of the album. Also, you canāt forget the auto-tune use on track 10, sounding pretty ahead of the curb in 2009.
I really think the production, mixing, drum sounds, and piano sounds are what makes this album stand out to me. Absolutely stunning performances and recordings. A classic often missed out on, and if any of this sells you at all, check it out!
Favorite Tracks: Tracks 1, 2, 5, 8, 9, 10
āØļø Steaming EPs āØļø
Some good EPs that recently came out
Dos Monos - Dos Moons EP
Genre: Experimental Hip-Hop
Bandcamp | Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube
*My favorite new release in this issue! Another step up from their album that came out last year.
Fellsius - Fellsius Rhythm Lab Vol.2 EP
Genre: Electronic Dance Music, Wonky, Footwork
Bandcamp | Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube
šµ Piping Hot Playlists šµ
A collection of tracks from all the new albums and EPs Iāve talked about so far this year.
Shibuyaās Scrambled Sounds official Spotify and Apple Music playlists below!
Playlist Links:
Spotify
Apple Music
ā¤ļøāš„ Thank you! ā¤ļøāš„
As always, thank you thank you sooooo much for reading this issue of Shibuyaās Scrambled Sounds! š„¹
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See ya next time! Breakfast is ready.
All SS Sounds logos and images were created by local Tokyo artist Mai Moroe.
https://www.instagram.com/maimoroe/
https://www.moroemai.com/
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