On the first Friday of every month, Bandcamp holds Bandcamp Friday. Today’s edition marks the official start of the monthly feature for 2025 — it was off in January, and February saw it turned into a special drive to support those impacted by the wildfires in Southern California earlier this year — meaning that Bandcamp itself waives all revenue share and instead lets artists reap all the money made off sales. It’s a great chance to help out creators, and a good opportunity to catch up on new releases.

Here’s some of our favorites from Japan over the last month, all available on Bandcamp!

Ichiko Aoba — Luminescent Creatures

Singer-songwriter Ichiko Aoba turns to the sea for inspiration on her eight album, building on the sweeping string-assisted sound of 2020’s Windswept Adan. She draws from time spent on the island of Hateruma — the southernmost point in all of Japan — and even covers a local folk song, turning her real-life experiences and dreams shaped by the archipelago into songs both epic and intimate. Aoba often uses her voice as texture, letting it wash over acoustic guitar melodies and more ornate compositions to create an enveloping atmosphere. Luminescent Creatures creates a fantasy built from our real world, resulting in one of 2025’s first huge highlights. Get it here.

Acidclank — In Dissolve

Yota Mori’s music under the Acidclank name leans towards shoegaze, but he has a knack for avoiding genre cliche. Latest album In Dissolve features moments of feedback-assisted zoning out — and one stunning bit of fuzzy indie-pop in the form of “Out Of View” — but it stands as Mori’s best moment to date thanks to its sonic versatility, whether explored via texturally rich soundscapes (opener “Enigma”) or acid-washed bedroom ravers (“Radiance”). Get it here.

reona — Machine heat dissipation EP

Producer reona draws from the sounds of throwback techno — specifically early Warp compilations — but puts a modern spin on them across the invigorating Machine heat dissipation EP. The tracks here find a balance between whirring rave-outs (“bl006”) and squiggly experimentation retaining a thump (“Pile of sound wave”). Touches of acid house come across frequently and it’s not hard to hear the nods to Aphex Twin throughout, yet reona also adds their own wrinkles to this. It appreciates the past but shows how vital the sound can be now. Get it here.

Koyasuko — Utsukemo No Ishi

Vocaloid technology is nearly 20 years old, yet part of the thrill of following the community built around the software remains seeing how creators find novel uses for it. Koyauko melds digi-singing with a math rock flurry on Utsukemo No Ishi. It’s hard enough to make human voices fit over the type of guitar arrangements found in this genre let alone computer-generated ones, but Koyasuko makes it work and creates a unique sound in the process, at times a touch disorienting but largely in a good way. Get it here.

Rhucle — Sakura To Kaze

Tokyo-based ambient creator Rhucle has been making some of the country’s most idyllic recordings in the genre since 2013. Latest full-length Sakura To Kaze offers a particular serenity. Guided by fragile piano melodies and an electronic hum, this set features a calming and ultimately reflective atmosphere built for the upcoming cherry blossom season. The best moments come when Rhucle incorporates guest vocalists, turning their voices into sonic breezes blowing over the tracks, adding a touch of human warmth to it all. Get it here.

Lo-shi — Moro-Q

You can always find something fascinating to listen to when you are in Tokyo’s Koenji neighborhood. The birthplace of punk in Japan and a longstanding space for left-field sound to bloom, some of my favorite memories of live shows come from simply showing up somewhere in this area and being wowed by whatever was in front of me. A great example of that from the 2010s was Lo-shi, a duo comprised of two French creators living in the capital, who created hypnotic blankets of sound by weaving synths and guitar melodies together. Call And Response Records compiles songs from their time together last decade on Moro-Q, creating a record of their output while offering a lovely glance at the thrills Tokyo’s live scene can house. Get it here.

Yuri Urano — New Earth

Field recordings of nature serve as the foundation for Yuri Urano’s radiant ambient works. New Earth stands out by adding a little bit of constriction to the formula. She adds slightly more aggressive elements to songs like “Uncertainty,” while also letting the synths of “Grown” tumble over one another to create a sonic sunburst, hardly harsh but still overwhelming. Get it here. 

downy — Untitled

Since forming in 2000, downy has offered an interesting angle on alternative rock, combining ferocious riffs with a vocal dexterity resulting in unique song structures. The band’s eighth album lacks a name, but finds them building on their time-tested sound, adding in electronic touches on “foundyou” and fragmented rhythms on “spectrum” to keep the project sounding fresh. Get it here. 

DJ SHIKISAI — Personal Disco Jam Vol.3

DJ SHIKISAI keeps busy, releasing dance tracks at a consistent clip via their own Diesel Disco Club imprint. A series spotlighting Personal Disco Jams might seem a bit redundant as a result, but the tracks appearing here do offer a bubbly dancefloor escapism done so well that SHIKISAI can name it whatever they want. The third installment features two club-ready heaters, both of which burn slowly but reveal dizzying melodies along the way. Get it here.  

Ecstasy Boys — Selections Vol. 1

Blurry ‘90s dance creators Ecstasy Boys were one of the first projects out of Asia to gain spins thanks to its merger of house and rave sounds. The Osaka outfit exists somewhere between niche and legendary, never turning into a huge name but also playing a massive influence on future generations (while also opening for Denki Groove back in the day). Spain’s Glossy Mistakes label is reissuing Ecstasy Boys’ music, starting with this three-track offering spotlighting some of their finest bits of dancefloor transcendence. Sampled vocals sound like mantra while the piano melodies on highlight “Chichichi Gankannon” build towards sonic ecstasy. Here’s a fantastic gateway into one of Japan’s most important dance projects. Get it here.