Radtown massacre!  Check out those sweet glasses.  FLOPPY is an electronic rock duo that formed in Japan in 2004 consisting of Sharaku Kobayashi (vox, guitar) and Hiromu Toda (synthesizer).  They released their first album in 2005, Protoscience is their fourth (almost, cuz it’s only seven tracks and one remix) full length record.  I would call this music “Post Polysics”, but Sharaku’s other band, Metronome, has been around since the late 90’s, making them contemporaries of my favorite hyper rock band, though Metronome’s style is a bit more visual-kei.  FLOPPY’s music has a lot to do with Polysics and other “Tokyo New Wave of New Wave” bands (Hi-Posi definitely!).  Their music flies by at breakneck speeds and each song is filled with as many different sounds, textures and rhythms as can possibly fit, but what sets FLOPPY apart is their commitment to a more austere feel that is less pogo punk Devo and more cyberpunk anime while still managing not to take itself too seriously (see above intro video).

What I really like about FLOPPY is, much like Brit electo punk rap rockers Hadouken!, they combine aspects of genres of music that should be awkward and awful in a way that is awkward and amazing. Take Protoscience album opener, Reimei.  It starts fairly reserved for a FLOPPY track, merely picopop break beats and a typical FLOPPY vocoder heavy vocal line.  Slowly adding club style kick drum and loud snare that is all cheesy rave, it then opens up into a chorus that is influenced in style and sound by late 90’s alt metal or something similarly awful…it almost sounds like early 2000’s radio rock?  I don’t know, I have trouble describing it because it ends up sounding so fucking rad.  The melody is impeccable and while the heavily pitch corrected vocals were off-putting at first, I did grow to like them and accept that they are definitely an important part of the FLOPPY post-apocalyptic club punk aesthetic.  Have a listen.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The album continues from there,  each track messing with a different genre but filtered through FLOPPY’s hyper yet cold take on maximalist post chip tunes electro pop.  Live horn samples that sound like a game show or a tropics vacation commercial (Harukaze), bossa nova inspired bass lines (Metairo Toiki), surf rock (Surftronica), and plenty of really cringeworthy rave (Papopi and Tetsugakudo Shinjyu) keep things interesting throughout the albums seven tracks before ending with an eight bit outro.  Tacked on to the end of the album is a remix of Metairo Toiki, which is the only place on the record where vocal effects, pitch correcting a vocoding have been removed.  Not what you would expect from a remix, but the mix is very inventive and is a great dub take on one of Protoscience’s most manic tracks.

4 // METAIRO TOIKI (album version)

As usual, I think you should support awesome music, so go buy this music now or die!!  Sadly, I have been having a lot of trouble finding any videos or songs from Protoscience to share with you, so to wrap this up, here are a couple of vids/songs from FLOPPY’s previous releases.  I really feel that FLOPPY gets better and better with each release, with Protoscience being their strongest record by far.  So check it out first then go for the back catalogue, which is still pretty bodacious.  001 out.

EVERYTHING // DEUS EX MACHINA

Click here to view the embedded video.

DEUS EX MACHINA // DEUS EX MACHINE

Click here to view the embedded video.

SENTIMENTAL SHOUNEN // SINE WAVE ORCHESTRA

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Post tags: cyberpunk, ELECTRO, Electropop, FLOPPY, Hiromu Toda, j-pop, Japanfiles, Metronome, NEW WAVE, picopop, Protoscience, Sharaku Kobayashi, Tokyo New Wave of New Wave, visual kei

While many of the “new wave of new wave” bands had their strongest influences in late 70’s and early 80’s American punk and new wave, several of my favorite J-pop acts transitioned very obviously from the bossa nova heavy music of the 90’s straight into electro punk.   Among these bands are Macdonald Duck Eclair, Hi-Posi, and one of my very favorite bands, Plus-Tech Squeeze Box.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here’s a couple tracks by Macdonald Duck Eclair.  Sorz, no real vids for these.  Both songs are off  their first full length, “Short Short” (2004).  They cite both french pops and Atari Teenage Riot as important influences.  You can hear this quite clearly on the album, and on these two tracks.  more after the break so click it dbag.I also recommend their second album, “The Genesis Songbook” (2005), which takes their strange combo of influences and further expands upon it in odd sonic ways.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Hi-Posi is also an important part of the move from cafe music to punk, as she spent her early years pursuing the same jazzy style as P5, but moved into fuzzy pop punk territory on her final album, “The View of Human Nature as Fundamentally Good”.  The new wave influence is apparent, and the second track on the album is actually a new wave cover.  I can’t find any vids to post, but I love this album and I think you should get it now.  For more info, check out the blog about her on Mutant Sounds.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Another rad electro music project rooted firmly to a french pops tradition is that of Miss Wonda.  Her sole album, “Wonderful Tangent” is not truly a punk new wave record, but more of an electro pop dreamscape that shares equal footing in the worlds of jazz pop and new wave.  I discovered her because she shares a label with Macdonald Duck Eclair.  Highly recommend it–the songs are simple and pretty, combining the breathy vox of Kahimi Karie with a sonic landscape somewhere between Freezepop and early Hi-Posi.

Pop pastiche one woman project, Yukari Fresh, also made the transition from pops to punk.  She debuted on Escalator Reocrds (Neil & Iraiza’s label, too) in 1997 with “Yukari’s Perfect” (1997) and released a string of cute bedroom cut and paste pop through 2003.  In 2004, however, Yukari moved on, declaring that french pops were over and that punk was the new thing; she changed her name to Yukari Rotten.  Below is a song by Yukari Fresh, but to hear Yukari Rotten, go to her myspace.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Of course, there are a couple bands that have taken the jazz plus punk aesthetic and run with it that I have talked about before–namely, Urbangarde & Plus-Tech Squeeze Box.  I’m reluctant to rave about them yet again, but that won’t stop me.  On both of Urbangarde’s records, “Girls Only Live Twice” (2007) and “Girls City Project” (2009) you can clearly hear how almost Neil & Iraiza style piano has been combined with a more hyper fuzzed out aesthetic to deliver a kind of jazz punk hybrid.  I’ll stop talking about how much I love them and leave you with a couple vids.  The first is “Revisionist” from “Girls City Project”.  The second is “Aprils War” from the first record.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Let’s finish this with the other fave band of mine, Plus-Tech Squeeze Box.  Releasing their first album, “Fakevox” in 2001, they showed themselves to be of a very similar ilk to “Fantasma”-era Cornelius, but louder and faster.  Less beach boys here and far more cartoon and television theme songs.  As I’ve said in a previous post, this record is my favorite of the last decade and shows perfectly the movement of the Shibuya-kei scene towards the Ramones flavored new wave of bands like Polysics.  First up among the vids is a “live” t.v. performance that PTSB did of “Early Riser” off of 2001’s “Fakevox”.  The second is a fan made vid for one of the intro tracks off of 2004’s “Cartooom!”  Third is a homemade vid by NIJIURA for my favorite song on “Cartooom!”, “(f)ake” (sorz…can’t actually embed it, so click and watch it on youtube!)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

So I think that about wraps up my post.  Not quite as epic this time, huh?  I hope you can see how my love of cheesy lounge pop transformed itself into an obsession with synth punk.  Anywayzzzz, good pop music is still good pop music.  So listen to something new for a change.

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Post tags: aprils war, bossa nova, cartooom!, Cornelius, early riser, Fakevox, Fantasma, genesis songbook, girls city project, Girls Only Live Twice, hi-posi, j-pop, jenny in a bad mood, macdonald duck eclair, NEW WAVE, Plus-Tech Squeeze Box, revisionist, Shibuya-kei, short short, the view of human nature as fundamentally good, Urbangarde, yukari fresh, yukari rotten

YES!!!  I’ve been super stoked all day cuz I am in love with this band.  I don’t think I’ve been this stoked about a band since I did that post on P-Model and Plastics… Most of the new music I’ve heard lately has taken me on a one way trip to frown town, but I discovered this band yesterday and i was ACTUALLY SMILING at work yesterday while i hummed these songs in my head.  And, unlike P-Model and Plastics, this band will be releasing another album sometime this year!

So anyway, Urbangarde’s sound reminds me a bit of Plus-Tech Squeeze Box, but they are not quite as eclectic.  Maybe even a little like MacDonald Duck Eclair… (Another current LYM fave).  The sound of Urbangarde relies on overstimulation and slightly dark, very epic sounding songs.  Ugh I cannot explain this at all.  Here are some videos.  DID I MENTION THE VIDEOS?!?!  Do yourself a favor, watch these.  Especially “Don’t Take Off Your Sailor Fuku”.  Gross.  and rad.

DON’T TAKE OFF YOUR SAILOR FUKU

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFHZ2SK-Chc

WATERDROP SYNDROMES

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ecwW7lPIKs

Also, check out their website for more ginchy stuff.

Or, you can do what i did and buy their record from japanfiles.com

© MODEL-001 for LAST YEAR'S MODEL, 2009. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us | Digg!
Post tags: j-pop, Japanfiles, pop, post pop, radical ninja, Urbangarde, Virginity