By Steve Jones.
The Samsonite Samurai will be a weekly(?) column in which yours truly will highlight music from Japan. It ain't all sugary, doe-eyed pop or Visual Kei, so you best prepare yourself for an education.
Guernica's (ゲルニカ) album Kaizo he no Yakudo (改造への躍動) is a boon for anybody actively seeking uniquely strange music (as if I had to tell you that about a Japanese band named after one of Picasso's most famous paintings). I qualify "strange" with "uniquely," because there are plenty of strange artists you'll hear who still sound like other strange musicians, but I have yet to hear a band which goes about music quite the way Guernica does.
For ease of communication, I'm going to divide Guernica's sound into two facets: the arrangements and the vocals. My closest approximation to what the arrangements sound like are mostly synthesized reinterpretations of early 20th century cabaret and film soundtracks, but even that is lacking. The production is unmistakably eighties, but this is not your dad's synth pop. The nearest this album approaches a "marketable" single is during the second track (video below), and even that is somewhat undermined by the second thing I wanted to talk about--Jun Togawa's vocals. She is the lead singer, and her style is, ah, distinctive. Very high in the register, nasally, and with lots of vibrato. I know that sounds terrible in print, but trust me in that Togawa's voice is an asset to any band, not a drawback. Her theatrical delivery is especially appropriate for the narrative form that Kaizo follows.
I guess a good label for this record would be synth unpop. It certainly has the ingredients of a pop album, but the music is far too adventurous and unpredictable. There aren't many catchy melodies to be found, but it is nonetheless a wholly memorable and enjoyable experience. It's a nightmare to think of "similar artists," but I recommend this especially if you want a change of pace from modern sugary synth pop--the sounds used here are dated, harsh, and distinctive. Some kindred spirits might be Dirty Projectors and Joanna Newsom, but that is in terms of approach, not sound.
Oh, and if you can, check out the remastered edition with two bonus tracks. The instrumentals in those are actually fully orchestral and gorgeous, particularly the last track.
Listen to the remastered album on YouTube, starting here.
Do it RIGHT NOW, and let me know what you think.
For ease of communication, I'm going to divide Guernica's sound into two facets: the arrangements and the vocals. My closest approximation to what the arrangements sound like are mostly synthesized reinterpretations of early 20th century cabaret and film soundtracks, but even that is lacking. The production is unmistakably eighties, but this is not your dad's synth pop. The nearest this album approaches a "marketable" single is during the second track (video below), and even that is somewhat undermined by the second thing I wanted to talk about--Jun Togawa's vocals. She is the lead singer, and her style is, ah, distinctive. Very high in the register, nasally, and with lots of vibrato. I know that sounds terrible in print, but trust me in that Togawa's voice is an asset to any band, not a drawback. Her theatrical delivery is especially appropriate for the narrative form that Kaizo follows.
I guess a good label for this record would be synth unpop. It certainly has the ingredients of a pop album, but the music is far too adventurous and unpredictable. There aren't many catchy melodies to be found, but it is nonetheless a wholly memorable and enjoyable experience. It's a nightmare to think of "similar artists," but I recommend this especially if you want a change of pace from modern sugary synth pop--the sounds used here are dated, harsh, and distinctive. Some kindred spirits might be Dirty Projectors and Joanna Newsom, but that is in terms of approach, not sound.
Oh, and if you can, check out the remastered edition with two bonus tracks. The instrumentals in those are actually fully orchestral and gorgeous, particularly the last track.
Listen to the remastered album on YouTube, starting here.
Do it RIGHT NOW, and let me know what you think.
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