Shibuya’s Scrambled Sounds

Hi everyone, I hope you had a nice week. I’ve started to really appreciate taking time for myself again recently. I had a period where I felt like I always needed to be doing something on the weekends, whether it was going to concerts or meeting with friends, etc. But this weekend, I decided to chill at home and kinda do nothing. I think having days like that is important.

Starting next month, I’ll finally be able to take some days off from my new job, so I’m hoping to bring y’all some new content in the near future. 😊

🥧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 😉

Yuta Orisaka - 呪文 (Jumon)

Genre: Indie Rock, Chamber Rock, Singer-Songwriter
Bandcamp | Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

Yuta Orisaka could have been the most popular musician in all of Japan. His track “Sabishisa“ from his album Heisei was on a commercial that felt like it came on every 30 minutes on TV over here. In addition, that album received a ridiculous amount of accolades from both underground and popular presses.

So what happened? Well, his next album State of Mind was quite the digression from the previously mentioned song and was far from an attempt at mainstream success. State of Mind comes from a darker place, with most of the lyrics being… well depressing to say the least. He also continued to experiment with a variety of band-oriented sounds on that album, sounding grittier, perhaps due to the stress of being slightly famous. While of course there were poppy singer-songwriter tracks as well, sound-wise they didn’t have the same youth, vibrance, or hope Heisei had.

This brings us to Jumon which sounds like the logical next step to the more band-inspired direction of State of Mind. It sounds more refined and more controlled. There are still its genre-bending moments such as the no-frills, unrestrained jamming of “Never”, but it’s then followed by the subdued, frail plucking of “Sane”. It’s this duality that makes the album unique. You can best describe it as refined insanity. He isn’t afraid to make bold steps in any direction, even if they are complete opposites of each other. For example, take the song “Calmly” with its chorus featuring uniquely angled guitar sounds, paired with some Bossa Nova/MPB-sounding nylon acoustic guitar. I can already tell that it will be one of my favorite Japanese tracks of the year.

With Orisaka’s heartwrenching lyrics and melodies pairing perfectly with songwriting and sonic experimentation, this is a must-hear album and yet again, he’s made another AOTY contender.

Rating: 🥧🥧🥧 We gonna need oven mitts

Favorite Tracks: People, Calmly, Never, Lotus

Strip Joint - 飛ぶという行為 (Tobu to iu kōi)

Genre: Indie Rock, Post-Rock, Chamber Rock
Bandcamp | Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

This is the second album from Tokyo's local band Strip Joint. The biggest difference between the first and second albums is apparent, it’s the lyrics. The first album was notable for being completely in English, with great lyrics about loving yourself and dealing with personal demons. They’ve now made the transition to all Japanese lyrics, this time it deals with similar themes of loneliness and being hard on oneself.

While I think there is a consistent level of quality throughout, this album is just like their first in the sense that some tracks stand taller than others. I think both “スプリント (Sprint)” with its intertwining melodies and beautiful trumpet playing, as well as the self-titled track 5 (飛ぶという行為), consisting of a stellar Peter Hook-sounding bassline are not just great songs, they’re amazing songs (or maybe I’m just a sucker for piano/guitar harmonies).

While I prefer the more raw, slightly aggressive sound of their first record, there’s no denying that they have become master arrangers. I think they know how to put all of the right textures in the right places and everything feels so expansive yet so tight. I will also say that I think as far as a front-to-back album, this one is better.

Even though this album has its moments where it doesn’t quite keep my attention, I still feel that they are one of my favorite bands to watch at the moment. The potential for this band is huge. When I saw them live for the first time, I felt they were a Japanese version of Black Country, New Road. I’m rooting for them and can’t wait to see what they do on their next release.

Rating: 🥧 Pretty warm

Favorite Tracks: Tracks 2, 3, and 5 (Golden Days, スプリント, 飛ぶという行為)

BLANK BLANK STRUCTURE - Unfinished EP

Genre: “Experimental Electro Band”
Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

*Why is this band so unknown?? Seriously the glitchy guitar bits in “Chia Chia” paired over the groovy, slightly ambient background is mindblowing.

Eiko Ishibashi - Evil Does Not Exist Soundtrack

Genre: Ambient, Jazz, Soundtrack
Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

This is the soundtrack to the newest Ryusuke Hamaguchi film 『悪は存在しない』, known in English as “Evil Does Not Exist” (2023). This is their 2nd film/soundtrack collaboration after the highly revered Drive My Car (2021). While Drive My Car’s soundtrack is one of the most straightforward pieces Ishibashi has done in a while (well, as straightforward as she gets), this one goes off the rails, featuring a more free jazz crossed with ambient sound. I won’t go into too many details, but this is still an amazing listen and recorded by her partner in musical crime, the legendary Jim O’Rourke. (One of the best improv sets I’ve ever seen in my life was those two, if you get a chance to see them, do it)

🍵Piping Hot Singles🍵

エフエムTOWNS and DE DE MOUSE - パステル☆Night
Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube
Genre: MODERN CITY POP BOP, Future Funk Recreation

BLUEVALLEY - own
Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube
Genre: Slow-burn Indie Rock, Minimal Rock

Ålborg - The Way I See You
Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube
Genre: Singer-Songwriter, Another Indie Rock Slow-burner

路地 (Roji) - スロウ (Slow)
Spotify | Apple Music
Genre: Funky Indie Pop

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.