Shibuya’s Scrambled Sounds

Hi everyone, I hope you had a nice, sweet week. Everything was pretty normal over here this week. I went to one DJ gig and one show over the weekend and both of them were really fun. If you ever come to Japan and want a list of recommended shows or venues, feel free to reach out anytime! 🎵

I only came across a few releases I liked this week. If I missed any or if there was any you liked that I didn’t mention feel free to let me know, but I’ve decided that in order to bring you more quality content, I’m going to write about older music sometimes too. So next week will be the first of a monthly series, and I hope you’re all excited for it 😄 

To make up for the lack of albums, there were lots of good singles this week so be sure to check them out. Now, on to the music.

🥧Fresh Out The Oven Albums🥧

Rating System

🥧 Pretty warm - for the hardcore fans of the genre
🥧🥧 Oh that’s hot - for any fan of the genre
🥧🥧🥧 We gonna need oven mitts - potential classic, highly suggested listen
🥧🥧🥧🥧 The kitchen’s on fire!! - modern classic, must listen

** I only talk about albums I liked in this newsletter so even the “Pretty warm” albums are still good 😉

SIGEMARU - US

Genre: Hip-Hop, J Dilla-inspired
Spotify | Apple Music

Sigemaru, also known as RYO-Z of RIP SLYME (a pretty famous Japanese Hip-Hop group), has already made a name for himself through his various projects as well as for having crossover appeal by guest featuring artists from other genres including Keiichi Sokabe of Sunny Day Service fame. This album is his 2nd album under this moniker, wearing his love for 90’s and 00’s J-Dilla-inspired East Coast Hip Hop on his sleeves.

While this is Sigemaru’s album, what really captures my ear on this album are the beats. Some of them feel like they were pulled straight out of the J Dilla playbook, yet they’re sometimes on a whole other level of twistedness. The perfect example of this is the snare hits on “kipple“, where the swing on some notes is swung so hard that it sounds unprogrammable on a drum machine.

While Sigemaru himself is a very talented rapper who has that 90’s flow and lyrical swagger, his rapping comes across as pretty standard with very little inflection or personality. While I feel he may not be a top-tier rapper, I feel that he and his team have crafted a silky smooth-sounding Hip-Hop album with highlights sprinkled throughout.

Rating: 🥧 Pretty warm

Favorite Tracks: kipple, Arrival, 反復と変容 (Track 8), Finale (feat. J’Da Skit), 琥珀色の真理 (Track 10)

Susu - Mitaiken

Genre: Synth Pop, Indie Pop
Spotify | Apple Music

*This is the vocalist of Tricot’s synth pop side project

Tomggg - superposition (Compilation)

Genre: Pop, Electronic Pop
Spotify | Apple Music

This is a small compilation of singles released over the past couple of years from Tomggg, an electronic music producer who came onto the scene known for his sugary pop sound.

This compilation has some hits and misses, but the hits are really good. If you’re a Tomggg fan, definitely check out tracks 1, 4, and 5.

🍵Piping Hot Singles🍵

satomoka - Peach Perfect
Spotify | Apple Music
Genre: Indie Pop, Sugary Pop

Fuki Kitamura - Secret
Spotify | Apple Music
Genre: Neo-Soul, R&B

Guiba - 恋の二段階挫折 (Koi no nidankai zasetsu)
Spotify | Apple Music
Genre: Indie Rock, Pop

OTOGIVANASHI - 美 (Bi)
Spotify | Apple Music
Genre: Post-Shibuya-kei

Downward - Glory Dayz
Spotify | Apple Music
Genre: Noise Rock, Hardcore Punk

Ohhki - UN POCO LOCO
Spotify | Apple Music
Genre: Experimental Pop, Weirdo Pop

xiexie - My Time
Spotify | Apple Music
Genre: Indie Rock, Indie Pop, Bossa Nova-inspired

Thank you!

Thanks again for reading this issue of Shibuya’s Scrambled Sounds! If you have any feedback or questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out by replying to this email, or the official Instagram page (click the icon below). If you like what you read, please tell your friends, like our Instagram, etc. I hope to eventually be a primary source of Japanese music for the English-speaking world because I want to share my love of music with as many people as possible, and you all would be the way that could happen.

See ya next time! Breakfast is ready.