Every month, scrmbl highlights some of the most noteworthy releases from Japanese artists available on Bandcamp. Sometimes, this coincides with the platform’s own Bandcamp Friday —an event where the company itself waives all revenue share and instead lets artists reap all the money made off sales — but not this April, as the next installment happens in May. Instead, let’s spotlight works worth your time.
inu — mobpop
Humanity intersects with technology across creator inu’s melancholy mobpop. The latest release from angelic post-shoegaze label Siren For Charlotte centers around the concept of a human and AI machine crossing paths, with inu both offering criticism of the development while extending sympathy to machines just trying to learn about people. There’s a tension between the warmth of inu’s singing and guitar touches mixed up with the digi rumblings powering the songs of mobpop forward, reaching a moment of singularity on penultimate number “c (with the machine i trust),” where robo-voices become shrouded in synths and turned wrenching. It’s a testament to how the two sides can coexist, and result in resonant art. Get it here.
Snail’s House — Alien Pop V
Producer Snail’s House excels at kawaii-adjacent sounds, often approaching lo-fi places. He’s at his best, though, when going maximalist. The Alien Pop series of electro tunes takes the pastel hues of his other releases and turns up the brightness, using Yasutaka-Nakata-indebted production details along with digitally manipulated vocals to create dancefloor jams. That continues on the fifth installment, with a touch of rock elements (see opener “Meteorgirl”) and a detour into slower tempos (“Discovery). The cuteness remains, but it’s just blown up to something bigger and better. Get it here.
nagareyama righteye — behind faint echoes
It’s always tempting to turn a Vocaloid shoegaze album into a jumping off point to write about the weird way the internet influences long-running genres or the intersection of technology with rock. Scroll through the archives, you can find plenty of pontificating. With behind faint echoes, I’m mostly left just impressed by nagareyama righteye’s chops at writing a great feedback-coated song. The digi-voice at the center often blends with the sound as not to create tension but rather a wave working well together, whether on slower numbers like “departure” or swifter cuts like “iranai.” Moments where the unreality emerge, but they simply become heightened on a collection going straight ahead. Get it here.
Various Artists — SPRAYDEPOT Vol. 3
Venerable Tokyo dance supplier SPRAYBOX collects an assortment of high-energy tracks begging for a lot in your sweatiest of DJ nights with the latest SPRAYDEPOT compilation. This one leans towards speedier UK garage cuts, full of tipsy synth lines and sliced up vocal samples over beats refusing to take a break (or if they do, such as on Genick’s “Wub Rush,” it ultimately serves to help the song rev back up for its final dash). Get it here.
Shirome — Love hallucination
Multiple indie sonic trends collide on Omoide Label’s Love hallucination. The result of a collaboration between a member of alternative rap trio DRUGPAPA and a member of rising rock outfit the bercedes menz, Shirome’s first album offers a raw interpretation of multiple styles that have been blooming up in the Japanese underground for the last few years, running from scuzzier guitar-centric cuts to internet-damaged hip-hop to a cameo from digital rock-raver Taochy on the hyperactive “seikatsu destruction.” Yet for the sonic barrage present here, Shirome offers a messy pop core to all of it in the style of similar alternative J-pop creators Mom or PAS TASTA. Get it here.
Hiroshi Ebina — It's Always Autumn to Say Goodbye
Ambient composer Hiroshi Ebina’s latest album is a tribute to his grandparents, both of whom passed away in recent years. A sense of melancholy over their loss hangs over the minimal drones here, which hover like a light breeze in the countryside. Yet alongside that hint of pain comes something comforting within these numbers, in what feels like memories being captured by more tactile sounds (the nervous percussive details of “What Would They Say If They Were Still Here” or the warm piano line helping to end the album on an upbeat note). Honoring loved ones you’ve lost requires facing some pain, but finding a way to beauty from it. Get it here.
Various Artists — Hokkaido University Light Music Omnibus 2024
A compilation gathering student music projects from Hokkaido University is going to feature hits and misses…they are but undergrads after all, giving it the old college try. The highs, though, are really fascinating looks into the young-adult soundscapes of Japan. Check the staggering rock of willows “Neko No Theme,” or the dreamy karaoke-room laments of rusty’s “pompeii,” or the sweet jazz-tinged slow dance courtesy of momdadmefriends’ “Rayquaza.” Get it here.
DJ Keshigomuhanko — LO-FI ELEGY
Not one to relax and/or study and/or chill too. This set of “lo-fi” songs plays out more like a slightly haunted beat tape, with grooves turned unsettling by rumbling details and warped electronics that add some nervous energy to every track. Get it here.
Charles.A.D — Urban Nights
The first thing to understand about producer Charles.A.D is the releases he shares online vanish after a bit. There’s something kind of beautiful about the fleeting nature of how he chooses to share his house tracks, especially when listening to something like the nocturnal leaning ephemera of Urban night’s. These tracks capture the sort of hazy vibe one has when out walking late, perhaps back home from a busy day or leaving a show or even splitting from the club early. There’s something very pretty about the fleeting nature these synths and drum machine ticks conjure up…so make sure you grab it before it goes away. Get it here.
luca — Lost Halo
This two song set from creator luca starts as a near vaporous meditations, with luca’s singing rising above a fever-dream arrangement of synths to create a swirling effect. What makes it really work is how wonderful their voice sounds as it rises up like incense smoke, expressing longing and hurt in equal measures. Second number “pupa” adds a little more rattle rhythmically, but the bell chimes playing off over it still push it towards the dreamy. Get it here.
