Shibuya’s Scrambled Sounds

Hi everyone, I hope you had a nice week. I start my new day job tomorrow so I’m as excited as one could be for that. The hours are slightly less than my previous job (such a Japan problem amirite?) so it should be easier for me to provide y’all with more “quality” content on the newsletter side.

My mood this week:

Other than that nothing too much over here. What have y’all been listening to recently? Feel free to let me know by replying to this email or sending me a DM on the Instagram page. I’m also considering opening a community Discord at some point so let me know your thoughts on that too!

Anyways, got a big write-up this week (oops), so let’s get on with 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 😉

Tempalay - ((ika))

Genre: Psychedelic-pop, Indie Rock, Soul-inspired Pop
Spotify | Apple Music

If this is your first time listening to Tempalay, probably the first thing that you’ll notice is yeah, they have hooks and stuff… but why are they putting all this random shit in the songs? What the hell are they doing? These are thoughts that rushed through my head many times the first time I heard their 2019 album 21世紀より愛をこめて. Honestly, when I first heard it I wasn’t into it, I thought they were just a goofy cero (one of my favorite Japanese groups).

I’m here to tell you I jumped to conclusions and I was wrong. I mean, it’s normal for music fans and musicians to be critical. It’s actually easier to be critical and be that old man in the corner with his arms folded rather than appreciate what’s in front of you. This band is a grower, and when you get past some of the goofier “world music” textures, you can see that they’re amazing songwriters with great taste in music. Few bands are a culmination of many genres (you could even argue every genre in this case), but Tempalay is one of them. Also, a small addition, but I respect the fact that they like messing with their fans. For example, the Japanese and English titles for this album are wayyyy different, with the English ones being just food names. I’m here for it.

As for the music, there’s nothing too different or new to their sound. One main difference worth pointing out is that this album is pretty long. 1 hour and 11 minutes. So how does it keep it interesting throughout this duration? With a roller coaster of different sounds and genres. From the straightforward (as straightforward as they get) pop of APPALE!! and SOBA to the soul and video game sound-tinged ballad of Room California, the only glue holding everything together is their melodies and Soul/Psychedelic fusion leanings.

It’s hard to argue what their best release so far is, but this might be it. While there are some tracks I’m less fond of, the album ties itself up at the end by bringing back the melody of the 2nd track and then closing out with a backward recording of the first track, or at least I’m pretty sure that’s what it is. A highly recommended listen, give it a shot!

Rating: 🥧🥧🥧 We gonna need oven mitts

Favorite Tracks: ODEN, APPALE!!, Drive My Idea, SOBA, Room California, Superman,

自由ヶ丘 & 三月 (Jiyugaoka & Sangatsu) - Syndrome

Genre: City-Pop Revival, New Wave, #80sthrowback #borninthewronggeneration
Bandcamp | Spotify | Apple Music

In this second collaboration between musician Jiyugaoka and vocalist Sangatsu, the first noticeable comparison is the clearness of the mix for this album. This album sounds ssssslick, with its semi-goofy keyboard sounds and the occasional “Seinfeld-worthy” keyboard slap bass. But let’s be real, the slickest part of this album is the guitar lines and chorus tones. I mean, I can be a sucker for that kind of sound, but listen to track 3 (シグナル) and TELL ME that the guitar part doesn’t rule. I double-dog dare you.

As for the songs themselves, they’re a bit hit or miss for my taste. But the good tracks are great, I particularly love the semi-Sega sounding keyboards that come in at the 0:25 mark of track 6 (お天気ワンちゃん), as well as the general bouncy vibe of that song. I really do love the Portable Rock vibes this album has (great band featuring Maki Nomiya on vocals before Pizzicato Five), and this feels like a genuine attempt at making something a little new and challenging, but I can’t help but compare it to the last release they had together called トワイライト (Twilight). While I like the focus of the sound on this one, I liked the effortless quirkiness of the first album a little more. Still, I can’t wait to hear what they put out next.

Rating: 🥧 Pretty warm

Favorite Tracks: Tracks 2, 3, 6, and 8 （異界探偵、シグナル、お天気ワンちゃん、エメラルドスプラッシュ）

monomouth - タベにかえる調べ EP

Genre: Indie Pop, Electronic Pop, Experimental Pop, Soul-inspired
Spotify | Apple Music

🍵Piping Hot Singles🍵

moka & canon - maimai
Spotify | Apple Music
Genre: Indie Pop, Sugary Pop

Masato Omi - 猿吠え (Saru Ho-e)
Spotify | Apple Music
Genre: Indie Pop

スカート (Skirt) - きみはきっとずっと知らない (Kimi wa kitto zutto shiranai)
Spotify | Apple Music
Genre: Indie Rock, Pop

Uilou - Brew
Spotify | Apple Music
Genre: Drum and Bass, Pop

i-dep - flowers in the park (RE: i-dep Ver.)
Spotify | Apple Music
Genre: Experimental Pop, Electronic Pop, Shibuya-kei influenced

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.