by David Wilikofsky
In a world of information overload, how can you reliably discover great new music? For us, the answer is record labels. Great labels act as a stamp of quality; for the best, any album they put out is well worth your time. Labels need our support now more than ever, so if you like what you hear please head over to their site and order some music!
I first discovered Call and Response Records via an article and mix that label head Ian Martin wrote and curated for NPR. After listening to it I was instantly hooked and knew that I wanted to hear more. Unfortunately, that was hard to do here in the United States; a few bands signed to the label had uploaded music to Bandcamp, but by and large the catalog of the Tokyo based label was only available in physical formats via mail order from Japan. Luckily for global ears that has recently changed. Much of the label’s catalog (which stretches back to 2005) has been uploaded to Bandcamp in the past few months and is now available to hear and purchase in digital format. The label covers a lot of ground stylistically, from glistening post-rock to synth pop, but there’s a consistently high quality to anything they release. Our picks represent a wide variety of sounds, but I highly recommend checking out the entire catalog at the label’s site for mail order and Bandcamp for digital. As a bonus, you should also check out Ian’s book Quit Your Band; it’s one of the best (if not the best) primers on contemporary Japanese music history available in English.
DICTIONARY (HANDWRITTEN) | SEA LEVEL On their debut album, Sea Level turn out some of the most interesting contemporary post-rock I’ve heard to date. Tracks like “(Alan Turing_s) Tuning Test” and “Downhill Slope to the Sea”) are achingly beautiful; shimmering melodies slowly unfurl like wisps of smoke. Other tracks (“Rage Against the Drum Machine”) experiment with vocal and percussive textures but manage to maintain the same dreamlike qualities as the more straightforward ones. It’s a record that continues to offer new discoveries on each listen.
ENTEMOLOGICAL SOUVENIRS I | VELVET ANTS Entemological Souvenirs I starts out with a squall of feedback and never lets up. The six track record shows off the band’s versatility. Opener “Centipede” displays the band’s classic rock chops, with an insane guitar solo mid track. Later cuts like “Mantis” and “Wasp” show a more angular and abrasive side, with jagged rhythms and bursts of noise. Closer “Cicada” is maybe the most interesting thing here, a ten minute track that builds slowly and introduces vocals into the mix. This is heavy music with riffs for days that will appeal to any rock fan.
ICHIJIKU | NAKIGAO TWINTAIL Based on this record, I’d imagine Nakigao Twintail are a force to be reckoned with live. The band walks a hire wire across six tracks; impassioned vocals soar above searing instrumentals that often feel on the verge of collapse. There’s a ramshackle quality to the music that has the same ineffable magic of DIY greats like Television Personalities or Beat Happening, but also a ferocity to the band’s approach. As far as I can tell the only recorded document of the band, it’s a flash of brilliance.
LOVE SONG DUET | JEBIOTTO We’ve seen critical consensus on the music of the 1980’s shift over the years. Once reviled as an era of substance-less studio production, it has finally begun getting its due in recent years. Listening to Love Song Duet feels like 80’s pop music viewed through a funhouse mirror. Opener “Sequential TomTomCats” could easily soundtrack a movie montage. “Pa Pa Pa Emotion” contains subtle nods to Kraftwerk and Yellow Magic Orchestra with its distorted, robotic vocals which still keeping that epic 80’s spirit. Perhaps the most deliriously fun record on this list, it’s bound to delight anyone that comes across it.
DO DO DO A SILLY TRAVEL BY BICYCLE BICYCLE | PIPLE This debut mini album by Tokyo based P-iPle is riot-grrrl on their own terms. You can hear echoes of forebearers like Sleater-Kinney and Bikini Kill throughout, especially on tracks like “Madagascar”, but they’re not afraid to pull in different sounds; for instance, “Starbucks Curse” has a chorus that wouldn’t feel out of place on a classic Nirvana album. The whole album is shot through with an irrepressible energy that never lets up as it hurtles towards an end. Once you reach that end, I guarantee you’ll start it from the beginning again. Highly recommended.