Shibuya’s Scrambled Sounds

Hi everyone, I hope you had a nice week. There were festivals all around my neighborhood today. I love this time of the year in Japan because seeing everyone’s excitement and hard work inspires me to put that same energy out into the world. If you’ve never seen a traditional Japanese Festival where they carry the お神輿 (Omikoshi), I highly recommend that you check out the video below.

This week there are no EPs, however, there are 3 great albums worth talking about so let’s get to it!

🥧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 😉

COR!S - TAKE FAKE LAKE

Genre: Drum and Bass, Pop, Synth Pop, City-Pop Inspired
Spotify | Apple Music

What makes this record particularly interesting is that despite the fact that there are both pop-leaning tracks and atmospheric synth songs, this album is at heart, a dance album.

The best part is that these excursions don’t take away from the journey, they just add spice to it.

Describing COR!S sound is tough to describe. Imagine the perfect balance of Techno, Drum and Bass, and Footwork and I guess that’s the closest you can get. But there’s also YMO and City Pop influence (maybe even video game music?) in the synth sounds.

The chaotic extremities of the vocals and drums in Floating display her talents in making bold moves that dazzle the listener.

Rating: 🥧🥧🥧 We gonna need oven mitts

Favorite Tracks: Floating, Water Recreation, ROOM303, Boy meets SS, Constellation

marucoporoporo - Conceive the Sea

Genre: Ambient Pop, Singer-Songwriter
Bandcamp | Spotify | Apple Music

marucopororo is the perfect fusion of both pop and ambient. Synths weave and whirl in the distance while her voice peeks its head out whenever the wind calls for it. Just when you begin to relax and lose attention, she starts demanding you to come back.

It nearly impossible to believe that this is her first album, as her sound is clearly formed and uniform. The album acts as a journey, taking you through what feels like her ups and downs, struggles and triumphs. I say “feels like” because she actually doesn’t sing that many words, preferring the textural/instrumental approach of woos and ahs.

The one-two punch of As I Am and Reminiscence, the final two tracks on this album, result in the perfect amalgamation of an ending, begging you to give this record another listen.

Rating: 🥧🥧 Oh that’s hot

Favorite Tracks: Conceive the Sea, From a Distance, As I Am, Reminiscence

Le Makeup - 予感 (Yokan)

Genre: Pop, Hip-Hop
Spotify | Apple Music

Le Makeup is a Kansai singer who isn’t new to the scene. He’s spent the past 10 years honing his craft, dabbling in various synth and dance-related sounds. This album feels less of a progression, and more of a refinement, taking what made his previous records interesting and bringing more cohesion and excitement to the mix.

This record really starts pumping out the hot tracks at the end of the album. The three-song run of tracks 9, 10, and 11 are a standout on the record, featuring plucking guitars, scattering synths, and drum and bass, ingredients to the perfect song sandwich.

The one thing that I can’t help but notice is that while Le Makeup has a knack for recording, performances, and sounds, he tends to use a very similar palette throughout the album, especially in terms of chord progressions. But the diversity he sprinkles around these chords makes up for this flaw, creating an album that brings its own surprises to the table.

Rating: 🥧🥧 Oh that’s hot

Favorite Tracks: Tracks 2, 4, 9, 10, 11 (26、忘れられなくて、まぼろし、なんで、天王寺)

🍵Piping Hot Singles🍵

Hakushi Hasegawa - Boy’s Texture
Spotify | Apple Music
Genre: Experimental Pop, Electronic

Cape of good hope - Travelogue
Spotify | Apple Music
Genre: Indie Pop, Lo-Fi Beats

ONJUICY and Guchon - You Know What
Spotify | Apple Music
Genre: Techno, Hip-Hop

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.