🎧 Shibuya's Scrambled Sounds - Issue #38

Step off the plane into this week’s issue of Shibuya’s Scrambled Sounds !

Hi everyone, I hope you had a nice Christmas and New Years! What was your new year’s resolutions? I don’t have one quite yet, but I wanna release an EP by the end of the year and also want to read more books.

Although this will be a normal episode, the next one will be a top albums list of 2024! It should be out in the next week or two.

This week’s episode includes:

• A already revered band’s first album

• Lots of heady dance music

• Comfy pop

• A legendary Indie Rock album

• Too many singles and a Hyperpop inspired EP

🥧 Fresh Out The Oven Albums 🥧

Reviews of the best new albums that came out recently
*with some exceptions

んoon - FIRST LOVE

Genre: Indie Rock, Soul
Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

んoon (pronounced hoon) have consistently remained one of the more interesting bands in the Japanese underground music scene. It’s really hard to pinpoint their sound, but the closest I’ve ever gotten is a more Soul-inspired Radiohead, and as appealing as that sounds, it still doesn’t do them justice.

Despite being around since 2018, this album is their first full length release. Although they generated a lot of hype around their first 2 EPs, they still didn’t record an album until now, a bold move made by a band that obviously do things how they want to.

Rating: 🥧🥧 Oh that’s hot

Favorite Tracks: Kaiya, Age, Forest (feat. ACE COOL), Conversation Piece pt.3, Pillow (feat. Yuan-Keng Ling)

uku kasai - Lula

Genre: Art Pop, Electronic Dance Music, Bedroom Pop
Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

This is the soundtrack for small hip house parties. The tracks hit hard, but are still way too lo-fi and sparse to be club bangers.

While songs on this album can vary in quality, kasai’s most impressive trait is the unique sound that she has crafted for herself. It’s familiar, yet fresh and easily recognizable.

Some favorite moments of mine are the fluttering pianos on “Clouds” and the glitched out samples of “Silver”.

Rating: 🥧🥧 Oh that’s hot

Favorite Tracks: Lula, Clouds, Silver, Track 5 (ほつれて), Track 7 (製図)

Shinichi Atobe - Discipline

Genre: Minimal Techno
Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

This album sounds like the perfect soundtrack to a late night drive back home from the club.

A veteran in the Japanese electronic dance scene, not much is known about Atobe. He released what is now an arguably classic EP in 2001, then disappeared until 2014, which is when he released his album titled Butterfly Effect.

While I’ve not heard every album in his discography, “Discipline”, his 7th album, is full of tracks that slowly unwind and only reveal their details to those who seek out repeated listens. Through the repetitive beats and occasional vinyl hiss, Atobe aims to simultaneously please and challenge the listener.

Rating: 🥧🥧 Oh that’s hot

Favorite Tracks: SA DUB 1, SA DUB 2, SA DUB 4, SA DUB 7

satomoka - ERA

Genre: Sugary Pop, Singer-Songwriter
Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

satomoka is back with her first album in 3 years. While that’s not an unusual amount of time for some albums to take, her first 4 albums all came out one year after the next. With the passage of time, her songs have taken on a level of maturity that was only alluded at in her previous albums. The goofy quirky songs are gone in favor of more heart wrenching ballads and songs about her personal struggles, a trade off I’m pleased to hear.

While respected and relatively popular in the Japanese Indie scene, personally I find her material to be extremely hit or miss. There are never bad songs per say, but some are just way more forgettable than others. Despite being my favorite album of hers so far, I wish it didn’t continue with this unfortunate trend in her discography, but it did. However beggars can’t be choosers, there is still plenty of great material to be found here.

Rating: 🥧🥧 Oh that’s hot

Favorite Tracks: Tracks 1, 2, 7, 11, 14

🍱Mystery Bento🍱

An older album you should check out

Quruli - Goodbye Stranger (1999)

Genre: Indie Rock, Singer-Songwriter, a hint of Grunge
Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

Along with their peers Supercar, Quruli would become known for their blend of Electronic bleep bloops and Indie Rock in the early to mid 2000s. However, before that, they were a straightforward band intertwining pop melodies together with raw rock soundscapes.

And I like this era the most. The songs are less expansive, but feel more tight and focused. This is also one of the most consistent albums I’ve ever heard, with every song presenting new ideas while still maintaining an overall “vibe” to the tracks.

This album is an absolute classic in Japanese Indie Rock and is often overlooked in the west. Definitely check this out if you haven’t yet.

Favorite Tracks: Tracks 2, 3, 6, 9, 12

♨️ Steaming EPs ♨️ 

Some good EPs that recently came out

4s4ki - 慈愛equal自愛 EP

Genre: Hyper Pop, Pop Rap
Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

🍵 Piping Hot Singles 🍵

Here’s where you find the newest hottest singles on the planet from Japan

For Spotify and Apple Music, check out the official playlists!

Playlist Links:
Spotify
Apple Music

*17 tracks added to the playlist… so just go listen to em already!
*Remember to sort by date added if it doesn’t display that way.

❤️‍🔥 Thank you! ❤️‍🔥 

As always, thank you thank you sooooo much for reading this issue of Shibuya’s Scrambled Sounds! 🥹

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See ya next time! Breakfast is ready.