For that reason, Catalystrock was a little hard to get into for me – truthfully my first hope was for an album full of bangers like “Ms. Panic”. But, the upshot of this change is a much more consistent album, with no filler and more variety. They combine punk rock with 60’s group sounds in a way that betrays their debt to Shonen Knife, use disco rhythms on “Romancer” then hit you with the in-and-out before you know it “Still Alive”, which explodes with lo-fi, punk-rock basement-show energy with reckless abandon for 90 seconds before collapsing in on itself.

Where Molice has gained the most traction is with a better handle of their softer side. “Fine Wave” is the best example. The pixies influence remains, but this time is more in line with the excellent “Slow Surf” version of “Wave of Mutilation”, with spare, echoing guitars creating a much heavier atmosphere than any of the faster songs on the album.

Really, it’s towards the end of Catalystrock that Molice really starts to shine. The untitled “Inori” has more surf guitars and a steady but slow rhythm and the final track “The Haze” combines a “Secret Agent Man” espionage verse with a screeching, feedback-laden bridge and and a wonderful “Tegan and Sara” meet “The Ramones” chorus.

Catalystrock is not what I expected from Molice, but I’m happy that it’s what I got. I could definitely do with dirtier production, but the improvement in songwriting makes that complaint seem feeble. Molice has evolved, and their progression demonstrates that they’ve got the potential to stick around for a long time.

Listen: Inori –

Molice Website | MySpace

Blue Rondo is a fresh look at the sounds of the 60’s, with reverb dripping vibrato guitars, roomy drums and warm upright basslines accompanying Kojima’s vocals.  While Kojima’s vocals can sometimes lean too far towards the ‘childish’ side of the spectrum, her singing on Blue Rondo sounds supple and mature.

“Paper Moon” is a lively gypsy jazz tune with a wonderfully bouncy acoustic guitar driving the off-beat rhythm and a wispy Farfisa organ filling out the melody.  The highlight of the album, though, is the slinky “Suspiria!” with features Kojima’s cooing vocals at their best.  With just a hint of a coy whine in her voice, Kojima knocks this one out of the park.

While there is much to be gained from exploring new branches of music, Kojima demonstrates that there is plenty of substance left in the roots.  A retro treat, Blue Rondo is one of the best records I’ve heard so far this year.

Video: Arabesque

Buy Blue Rondo at HearJapan

While they don’t take many risks on Fanfare to Nekkyou, Andymori expand their sound with horns on “1984″ and with a harmony-laden capella break during “Zutto Groupie”. Regardless, if you didn’t like their first album, you won’t find anything revelatory here.  Fanfare to Nekkyou is ultimately a refinement upon Andymori’s sound – which is a good thing in my books.

Andymori’s music is imbued with a sense of melancholy that always draws me back to one of my favourite American bands, Nada Surf. Both bands are fairly modest in their sonic ambitions – sticking to simple instrumentation and a focus on vocal melodies – and both bands create striking songs that get better and better with each listen.

Andymori’s strong songwriting and an incredible sense of melody push Fanfare to Nekkyou above the masses of indie-rock bands in Japan. I’ve been pleasantly surprised to see them getting prominent displays at Tower Records and HMV and I think they could be on the verge of having a big hit. This success comes without any artistic compromise, though,as Andymori’s music is as potent as ever. Highly recommended.

Andymori on MySpace | Buy Fanfare to Nekkyou at HearJapan.

Andymori will be touring Canada in May as part of the Next Music from TOKYO!!! vol. 1 tour!

Here’s the schedule for the tour:

May 22   Vancouver @ the Biltmore Cabaret
May 25   Montreal @ il Motore
May 28   Toronto @ the Rivoli
May 29   Toronto (venue tba)

July 9  Tour finale in Tokyo, Japan @ Shibuya O-nest !!

Audio: “1984″

Videos:

SuiseiNoboAz’s debut album has managed to tug upon the deep range of emotions that this year has brought me so far.  I only picked up this album at all because Mukai Shutoku (Number Girl, Zazen Boys)  produced it, and at first listen I felt that SuiseiNoboAz was good, but perhaps unambitious.

Clearly my first impression was flawed!  Further listens have allowed the band to gradually reveal their powerful depth of emotion.  It’s to their credit that SuiseiNoboAz don’t immediately come across as ambitious and far-reaching.  They make their music seem effortless, which is only possible because there is a deep well of honesty behind their ambitions.

Sakurai Nori’s drums strike with a clarity that pulls at your heartstrings.  He is a driving force behind the album, injecting funk into “from suisei with whole lotta love”, Arcade Fire-esque movement to “poolside murder case” and simple honesty into “Happy 1982″.

My Japanese language comprehension is quite poor, so I rarely comment on lyrics, but when Ishihara Masaharu sings “Sayonara Girl.  Sayonara Pixies” during “poolside murder case” (referencing two of my favourite bands – Number Girl and Pixies) I can’t help but feel a swell of excitement – it’s a bit early to make comparisons to either of those bands, but the potential is there.

Ishihara’s vocals and the rest of the band’s melodic sensibilties are expressive enough to transcend the language barrier and “Happy 1982″ draws out waves of nostalgia (though I’ll admit that I wasn’t even born until two years after 1982).  My time in Japan has been amazing so far, but of course there’s plenty that I miss from back home, and this is the first new music I’ve heard this year to successfully tap into both my excitement and anxiety’s at once.  The best art can help people understand their emotions in ways that weren’t possible before, and that’s what this album does for me.

Although Mukai Shutoku’s involvement with the record was the reason I first heard about this band at all, I’ve spent remarkably little time talking about his production.  There are lots of his signature sounds, and fans of Zazen Boys will definitely hear some familiar engineering tricks, but his production fits the band so well that it’s transparent.

Consider this album highly recommended.  This is a potent debut that makes SuiseiNoboAz a band worth watching.  SuiseiNoboAz make music with a casual sense of clarity and honest intentions that add up to a uniquely powerful album.

SuiseiNoboAz Myspace

Listen: “poolside murder case”

Watch: “from suisei with whole lotta love”

Omodaka’s violet brew of Japanese traditions (traditional music, of course, and another famous Japanese tradition – videogames) says a great deal about Japanese culture.  As I settle into my new apartment in suburban Japan, I’m become more accustomed to the mixture of modern and traditional lifestyles.  Many Japanese balance shrine visits and holidays like Setsubun  – where family members throw roasted soybeans at the head of their household, who dresses as a Demon – with an addiction to mobile phones and playstations.  Old houses with clay-tiled roofs exist alongside concrete apartment buildings.  Plum Song expresses this quintessentially Japanese union of old and new with a casual offhandedness.

Of course, most important is the quality of the music, and Omodaka delivers.  Soichi Terada, the man behind the Omodaka mask, has been making music since 1989, and has picked up a few tricks during his twenty year career.  While chiptune synths lack the dynamix flexibility of live instruments or even modern synthesizers, Omodaka is an expert in his field.    Each blip, bloop and beat is well placed, and the bit-crushed synths never sound like a novelty (I’d argue that getting music inspired by Nintendo games to be more than a novelty is something of a feat unto itself).

Ultimately, if you like electronic pop, Plum Song is well worth a purchase.

Omodaka will be playing various USA dates this march as part of Japan Nite 2010 – check out the dates at  SXSW Asia website.

Buy Plum Song at HearJapan.

Omodaka  MySpace.

Musically, Jupiter Jupiter is a danceable indie-rock record – in line with Vola & The Oriental Machine and with the usual list of influences (Franz Ferdinand etc.).  Lyrically, this is a space-nerd’s dream album.  With song titles like, “Universe Universe”, “Hyper Space Music” and “Ursa Minor” how could it be anything else?

The highlight of Jupiter Jupiter is the boundless enthusiasm of the band.  Each song is imbued with a sense of joy and wonder.  Perfect harmonies belt out, “Universe! Universe!” on the lead single, then grow into a shouting chant of “Space! Space!”

Alongside all the nerdy stuff, Avengers in Sci-Fi make some very solid indie-rock.  Nothing wildly original, but the hooks are fantastic and each song is memorable and distinctive.  “Monkey Bites The Sun” sounds, from moment to moment, like Number Girl, Art-School, Blur and even Polysics while  “Symphony Of The End” is softer and features Cornelius like harmonies and a church organ.  Avengers In Sci-Fi’s influences are easy to see, but they sure know how to make a great album.

Did you want to be an astronaut when you were ten years old?  Did you have glow-in-the-dark solar-system stickers on your ceiling?  If so, this album is for you. Even if you think you’ve grown beyond your space-dreams, I bet you can’t watch the video for “Universe Universe” without grinning like a kid again.

Video:Universe, Universe

Avengers in Sci-Fi Official Website | MySpace

Buy Jupiter Jupiter from YesAsia | CDJapan

Modest Mouse’s influence is clear throughout Fog Lamp, alongside the influence of other American indie stars Built To Spill.  Rather than aping their American influences, Ogre You Asshole succeed in capturing their spirit, and have become their peers rather than pupils (Smiths/Modest Mouse guitarist Johnny Marr has said he’d love to play with them)

Ogre You Asshole have been active since 2004, and have released a steady stream of recordings – Fog Lamp is their third album, but they’ve also released a number of mini-albums and singles, making this their seventh release.  There’s no sense of urgency on this release, but rather a self assured modesty.  Ogre You Asshole aren’t out to challenge your sensibilities, and that’s just fine.

Simplicity is key on Fog Lamp – there are places, such as the intro for “Hako” (箱) that are minimal to the core – but Ogre You Asshole add to those simple chord progressions with clever, but still spare arrangements that demonstrate their expertise.

Ultimately, Ogre You Asshole are good enough that they don’t have to try and be flashy to impress.  They place every note, beat, and chord is in its right place and Fog Lamp is one of the best records of the year.

Audio: Hako

Video: Headlight

Buy CD from YesAsia | CDJapan

Ogre You Asshole Official Website | MySpace

The title track, “Arabesque” is slinky and satisfying, with Kojima’s voice deftly maneuvering along a supple melody line.  Upright bass and a warm set of drums drive the track, with a tremolo guitar creeping up to create a serpentine tension.  “Kuroneko no Chachacha” has some of the same tension, but eschews slinkyness in favour of a bouncy marching rhythm.

Through it’s four tracks, Arabesque’s arrangements more and more minimal, ultimately leading to “Placer D’amor”, a solo piano and vocal track.   Kojima harmonizes with herself  on this song in a style that fills my head with memories of Christmas caroling at my elementary school.  It’s actually very poignant, capturing sweetness without resorting to saccharine.

Kojima’s playful side dominates much of this release. In fact, this album could do very well as a children’s album – not the Raffi Banana-phone variety but rather with the same strengths as something like Nada Surf’s Meow Meow Lullaby (no offense Raffi, but Banana-phone drives me crazy).  There is great musicianship on this album, it’s just used to create something simple and innocent sounding.

Arabesque is not a meaty or ambitious release, and it’s not perfect by any means, but its whimsical playfulness is a welcome addition to Kojima’s catalogue.  Her new full length album is coming out in the new year, and I’ll certainly be picking it up promptly once it’s released.

Arabesque is available for download from HearJapan.com

Mayumi Kojima Official Website

Video: “Arabesque”

Abrasive is the best word to describe Hyacca’s sound.  They are noisy, sloppy and on the brink of being a complete mess.  But, they manage to navigate this precipice with a savant-like precision and have created a consistently great album once you get past the initial shock.

Hyacca’s chops are, in fact, tightly refined, but their style is so loose and organic that it takes time to realize that they’re doing more than just making noise.  Music that takes an honest-to-goodness effort to appreciate is a hard sell in the days of mp3 downloads and iTunes.  It’s very easy (and tempting) to sample a band’s myspace page for two minutes, make a snap decision and either hail them as heroes or slam them.

Hanazono reaches its peak towards its conclusion.  The penultimate title-track and the closer ‘Stress’ reach the best balance of grit and order, with the break at the half-way point of ‘Stress’ creating a triumphant climax.

Ultimately, Hanazono is full of math-rock grooves, intense guitars and a lot of great hooks underneath a gritty cover of distortion.  The effort it takes to uncover those strengths is well worth it.  Hopefully, when it comes time for their next album, they’ll have a higher recording budget, but this is an excellent and ambitious album.

Hanazono is available through Call & Response Records throughout Japan.

Hyacca MySpace | Official Website

Audio – “Stress”:

This is anything but live-off-the-floor or raw sounding.  The production is mathematical in it’s precision.  Every beat is quantized and every note is in perfect pitch.  However, almost every song has multiple tempo and rhythm changes that come out of nowhere.  Rather than trying to duplicate their live sound on disc, Polysics has opted to use elaborate production to capture the frantic mayhem that is the real driving force of their music.  The sonic theme of this album is high-strung unpredictability.

Even when the band slows down (relatively) on ‘Eye Contact’ there is a bizarre tension that prevents you from letting down your guard.  Absolute Polysics feels like a three-year old kid is running wild with crayons around the inside of your brain.  My first listen was so jarring it felt annoying, but on a repeat listen this album just clicked and now I can’t put it down.

Really, I don’t think I’ve ever liked a Polysics album on first listen, but I’ve grown to love most of their catalogue over time.  Even though they’ve only changed their sound incrementally throughout their career, their music has never become predictable.  Every album they release sounds out of left field

It’s taken a little to grow on me, but this is the album that reminds me the most of just how energetic Polysics’ concerts are.  Listening to Absolute Polysics gives you the same rush you feel exiting a show at two in the morning – exhausted but still buzzing with excitement.

Audio: First Aid

Video:
Polysics – Young OH! OH!

POLYSICS | MySpace Video

Buy Absolute Polysics from .