Shibuya’s Scrambled Sounds

Hi everyone, I hope you had a nice week. While it’s not a Japanese band, I went and saw Wednesday on… Wednesday and it was great concert, I didn’t realize a lot of the guitar sounds was actually pedal steel guitar.

The most eventful thing that happened was a sprained my ankle on the way home from work. There’s something poetic (I think) about hobbling across Tokyo and seeing Tokyo Skytree in the distance. Was a real struggle to get home though and I think people were worried about me. However, I’m like 99% fine now and up and walking. It really made me appreciate walking, something that’s easy to take for granted.

I’m going to try a new format both this week and next week, where instead of writing one big writeup, I’ll write a little bit about each album. Let me know which you all like more!

🥧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, good entry point for the genre
The kitchen’s on fire!! - modern classic, must listen

kinoue64 - The Time Machine School

Genre: Shoegaze, Indie Rock
Bandcamp | Spotify | Apple Music

Not many artists can put out 8 albums within a 4 year time span. Takuto Kinoshita, the now 23 year old behind the project Kinoue64, has spent time more or less refining his craft. He stays within the Shoegaze genre, but isn’t afraid to challenge it in various way. This new album is very reminiscent of Parannoul in sound, but the songs are uniquely kinoue64. The perfect example of this is the glitched out “Pause menu”, a pop rock track that demonstrates his use of audio tricks, but it’s not just tricks and gimmicks, great instrumentation and melodies are there too. The Time Machine School might not hold up with the classics, but it might be this project’s best so far.

Rating: Oh that’s hot

Favorite Tracks: Computer Girl, Pause menu, Transparent Future

Yuri Miyauchi - Beta 2

Genre: Glitch, Folktronica, Ambient
Bandcamp | Spotify | Apple Music

Yuri Miyauchi is a very active and prolific artist. He’s been making the same brand of Glitch Folk Pop since his debut in 2006. This new release does not venture away from the formula, but the songs are well crafted and beautiful, painting portraits of beautiful Spring days. From the cutesy keyboards on “Tetf”, to the bouncing samples of “Foki”, there are a variety of layers that require your attention to peel back. However, when listening to the album in full, it begins to feel like ambient music, showing details when you focus but can also be suitable as a soundtrack for your day. By the time it gets to the last track, it just becomes full on ambience, which is where this album shines. In the end, it’s the same formula, but there’s nothing wrong with a little consistency sometimes.

Rating: Pretty warm

Favorite Tracks: Tetf, Foki, Hureli

🍵Piping Hot Singles🍵

And now, there’s a singles section! It might not be here every week, but this week there too many great singles to not talk about.

Summer Eye - 三九 39(Thank You) 
Bandcamp
Genre: Indie Pop, Bossa Nova-inspired

64DX, DaXx & 64controll - SINE FOOTWORK (Feat. Neibiss) 
Spotify | Apple Music
Genre: Hip-Hop, Footwork

Yuma Abe - Fuyu Goe (Haruomi Hosono Cover)
*Gonna be on a Hosono House cover album!
Bandcamp | Spotify | Apple Music
Genre: Folk Rock

Wednesday Campanella - TAMAMO-NO-MAE
Spotify | Apple Music
Genre: Electropop, Art Pop

Strip Joint - 武器なき世界 (Buki naki sekai)
Spotify | Apple Music
Genre: Indie Rock, Post-Rock inspired Chamber Rock

🙇‍♂️Thank you!🙇‍♂️

As always, 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 to either my email [email protected] , 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 for Japanese music for the English speaking world. This is because I want to share my love of music with as many people as possible, and you all would be the one’s that could make my dream come true.

See ya next time! Breakfast is ready.