Time for another one
Best of Aionline.eu 2011.1A personal best of indie music from January-June 2011
01. merpeoples – メトロポリスfrom: メトロポリス [2011.04.13]Let’s start of with one of the bigger and upcoming bands of this compilation. merpeoples released their second mini-album this year, and are ready to get acknowledged all over the world. Later this year they are featured in the Next Music From Tokyo-tour in Canada. Though I liked their first mini somewhat more, this release might be more for the public as they used a more poppy approach on メトロポリス.
02. ザ・シャロウズ – フローラーfrom: シャロウズの世界 [2011.04.06]Garage rock seems to be growing hot in Japan. THE SHALLOWS started activities back in 2008 already, but it wasn’t untill early this year they released something besides some demos. They have a very typical punk-garage sound with a lot of distortion and broken vocals in it, and although it nowhere sounds unique, it’s catchy as fuck.
03. folk enough – mariofrom: DISCO TAPE [2011.02.23]It’s not folk, it’s not disco, it’s not on a tape, but yet I can’t get enough. folk enough has a pretty cool unique alternative pop-style that isn’t coherent in any way. All songs on their album DISCO TAPE is different from the next one, but overall it sounds really addicting. Mario might not be my most favorite on the album (Bach is 10 minutes of awesomeness) but it is their most approachable one.
04. Little Go – Selfish Songfrom: これ (label sampler) [2011.xx.xx]I do not actually have a CD by Little Go, but on a free sampler I got by ordering something from the Kore Records label, I discovered this addicting band. The quality of the song may be low, and the track itself may be short, it all just fits with the overall sound of this sweet little song.
5. THEラブ人間 – 砂男from: 砂男 / 東京 [2011.05.11]My favorite discovery of 2010 and they keep on owning in 2011. They released a new single in early May, and even announced they got signed and are going major in August this year. Untill then I will keep playing their small discography over and over again.
06. Maria Hato – Troubled Mindfrom: THE LATTER HALF OF ALOHA [2011.04.20]Sometimes you just know when a release is going to be awesome. This certainly goes for Maria Hato’s debut release. Maria Hato is a project, comparable with 王舟 (oh shu). It’s a session band featured around the talented singer/songwriter mmm. She is assisted by multiple artists of the CGCG-label (like oh shu). Troubled Mind shows of perfectly what the band is capable of, with catchy rhythms, slow paced sequences and a mesmerizing vocalist to top it off. I wouldn’t be surprised if THE LATTER HALF OF ALOHA turned out to be my personal best release of 2011 in six months.
07. Toru Matsumoto – On My Way To Hiroshimafrom: and and [2011.05.01]To be honest, I never really cared that much for Psysalia Psysalis Psyche, but for some reason this solo-release by Toru Matsumoto (PPP’s vocalist) really caught me by surprised. A little bit of electronica, a little bit of folk, a little bit of pop, but most of all, one experimental compilation of three songs.
08. 洞 – 矢野from: まぼろし [2011.05.12]I already featured them before on a previous sampler, but this duo released something even more eargasming this year. 洞 (SHIBATA) just adjusted their sound a little bit more to the mellow sound but keeping it really great. I only wish the best for them and that they might just be as succesfull as the band is that I compare them with all the time (OGRE YOU ASSHOLE).
09. GELLERS – Guatemalafrom: Guatemala[2011.04.15]Ah, GELLERS is back. mostly known for their member Shugo Tokumaru this band shows again what their capable of with Guatemala. Four years after their debut, and after Shugo Tokumaru has visited about every country in the world the band is back with another catchy experimental song. Especially after watching the mind-blowing videoclip of this song, it really shows their weird view on the world.
10. sundelay – itzaes<from: stray light [2011.01.19]What once started of as a project of five individuals soon worked out in a real full-fledged band. Sundelay is an instrumental post-rock band with some electronical influences. Just close your eyes and let the music take you to an alternative world.
11. ナオミーポコ – ものまね茶会from: アダムとロビィ [2011.03.16]One of my favorite releases of 2009 was by pezite, a relatively unknown jazz-pop band that is still around, but hasn’t released anything in over 2.5 years. The band is currently working on a new album (according to the guitarist of the band) but in the meantime the vocalist has released her debut-album in March. Naomi-poco, as she calls herself is a sweet pop-album that would get no attention as it nowhere really stands out, but I am just in love with her voice.
12. オトハネコモレビ – 冒険心from: カタチないセカイ [2011.02.16]To stay in the sweet pop-section, I discovered otohanekomorebi in this year. Judging the pictures from this band, you would expect a high-pitched vocalist and sweet, sugarfull music. This however is completely different. Kiku has a more mature voice than she looks, and the sweet bassline featured with an good use of the piano makes this a better release than you would’ve suspected.
13. レコライド – サンデーサンディfrom: サンデーサンディ EP [2011.05.25]And now for something completely different here’s Recoride. A fairly new electro-band that released a first album last year. Just a month ago they released a digital only-single of which this is the first song. Again addictive with a sweet influence of electronic dance music.
14. KETTLES – つまんないからfrom: ビー・マイ・ケトル [2011.06.15]Though it’s originally a digital album from 2010, it got a physical release just a few weeks, and thus I got it in my possession. KETTLES is a very experimental band with every song jumping all over the place. Especially when halfway throught the album your being treated with a hiphop-track, you know this is something else.
15. THE DECEMBER – 種from: inner/outer [2011.05.15]No, it’s only July, but I’m already looking forward to THE DECEMBER. I came across this band on accident, but fell in love with them immediatly. It may not be the most talented or unique band out there, but they have some kind of flair, mostly thanks to the typical voice of the vocalist, which makes me think of THE JUNEJULYAUGUST’s release earlier this year.
16. 8otto – Generation888from: Ashes to Ashes [2011.03.09]On to some more hard guitars. Generation888 was already distributed some time earlier by this band, but was very hard to obtain. Luckily the track was featured on their latest album. They are also one of the few bands that already have a pretty large share of fans outside of Japan, but they remain quite under the radar. Time to put them in a small spotlight on this compilation.
17. the DARARS – ベストオブ匿名from: medaca [2011.04.13]The same goes for the DARARS. In April they already released their third album, but somehow they just won’t get noticed by the larger audience. This release however is somewhat more approachable than their previous releases, and this track even features a metal breakdown. Just showing how versatile these awesome guys are.
18. 緋と陽 – 風がつよく吹いた翡from: 燃えて泣く鳴る [2011.04.06]Awesome post-rock. These guys just don’t need more introduction. Just sit back, relax and let the music take you elsewhere.
19. 甲殻類 – 円from: 明日を [2011.02.25]Koukakurui is kind of hard to really get intoo, especially on a first listen, but the more and more you listen to it, the more and more it reaches the satisfaction-point. Relaxing pop-rock with two sax-players, resulting in a sweet summerbreeze feeling most of the time.
20. Your Last Chicken – Out Of The Woodsfrom: Your Last Chicken [2011.04.14]Yes, they are Japanese, though you would not expect it to be with such fluent English. Really one of my personal discoveries of this year. Sweet, catchy folk-pop, and even this time I can sing along with it without problems and even know what I am singing.
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