Kiiro Records Presents FOREVER SHOEGAZE Volumes 4 & 5

Since early 2014, Chiba prefecture-based indie net label kiiro records has been releasing music for free via Bandcamp.  In June of that year, the label put out its first FOREVER SHOEGAZE compilation.  Since then there have been two more FOREVER SHOEGAZE releases in addition to a handful of collaborations with the Japan Shoegazer Festival.  Just recently, kiiro announced the next installment in the compilation series, a double release of FOREVER SHOEGAZE volumes 4 & 5 that is set to drop on January 26th.

It’s been three years since volume 3 came out, and that long space between releases coupled with the large number of bands interested in submitting music for the project led label owner Tsuji to go the double release route.  What kiiro has done in the past is add another layer to the evolving Japanese shoegaze soundscape, curating these comps largely around bands whose sounds reflect the label’s tendency toward intimate bedroom pop.  There’s been a healthy blend of established bands and new and obscure artists.  That’s once again the case here.  You’ll find familiar names like Float Down the Liffey, Nuit, 土曜日と人鳥とコーヒ, and Happypills in the track list alongside a whole bunch of artists I’ve never heard of.  But kiiro records’ catalog has long been a place to spot impressive new bands before they take off – the label also notably gave Dots their proper debut in 2016 at its Chiba Shoegazer event.

The lineup across both albums offers some very cool, very fresh new music for you to check out.  I think that across the 24 total tracks, this is the most consistently strong FOREVER SHOEGAZE record to date.  Bands like Suisou No Kikyuu, Fuyufuyuu, and Juutaku Danchi are just a few of the really solid under-the-radar contributors to the comp, in addition to gaze//he’s me, whose submission, “mavorosi”, was basically presented as the lead single to the releases.  The track list has yet to be presented, so I don’t want to get too into the music itself here, but suffice to say that this release is loaded with shoegaze gems and there’s really no excuse not to grab it once it hits Bandcamp on the 26th.

Kiiro records did post the lineups on Twitter, which you can find below.  Here is the video for the aforementioned track from gaze//he’s me.

And the band lists, with Twitter links.

And here are links to FOREVER SHOEGAZE volumes 1-3:

Only one of kiiro records’ Japan Shoegazer Festival exclusive compilations is up on Bandcamp, but only for streaming unless you want to drop a cool ¥99,999 on it.

Nuit – “Solitude”

Tokyo shoegaze trio Nuit kicked off the new year with their latest track titled “Solitude”.  The song, which was posted minutes after 2019 officially rang in, features frontman Yasuyuki Ota’s trademark dramatic vocals shrouded in billowing waves of hissing guitar.  The stripped down verse is just there to set up for the explosion into the heartbreaking sway of the chorus.  It’s a very Nuit-sounding song, feeling like something out of the early to mid 2000s.  “Solitude” is the second single, not counting the band’s plant cell cover, that Nuit has released since their 2018 self-titled EP.  Makes you wonder if we’ll see a follow up effort at some point in 2019.

Once Grace Forever – “♭1”

Having just released a self-titled debut full-length last month, Tokyo’s Once Grace Forever wasted no time in putting out its follow-up single “♭1”.  The single’s A-side, “Ao” is the more impressive track of the two, transitioning back and forth well between clean lulls and big, wailing choruses.  “Flat” is a fuzzy guitar pop tune that doesn’t change much dynamically, relying instead on the vocal melody and melancholic chord progressions.  The single is pretty solid, but might have come out a little too soon after the record, which is a tough act to follow.  If you haven’t heard any of Once Grace Forever’s music, I recommend starting here and then moving on to the album.

 

LUCY’S DRIVE – “pair of sounds”

While all the talk recently has been about the emergence of younger bands in the Japanese scene, 2018 has also been a pretty solid year for comeback releases as well.  Sugar Plant returned with an impressive album before Coaltar of the Deepers put out a long-awaited EP.  But LUCY’S DRIVE – better known as the solo project of ZEPPET STORE bassist Yuichi Nakamura – made perhaps the most dramatic return of the year with TWO new albums this month.  Pair of Sounds marks the bands first proper release since it’s 2007 full-length debut, DEEP SEEKER.  As the name implies, the release was split into a pair of 7-track CDs, unofficially titled “red” and “blue”.

While bits and pieces of Pair of Sounds have been released via limited edition singles over the past couple years, the final product sees all of the material effectively split to create two pretty different vibes.  The red version offers a mellow dream pop feel with a more ethereal backdrop throughout.  The second half is especially dreamy thanks to electronics-driven tracks like “Sometime I Think” and “Ebb Tide”.  The album’s finale “Daybreake” is a really strong gazey pop number.

On the blue version of Pair of Sounds, Nakamura draws on a wide range of 90s UK shoegaze and britpop, from the Loveless-y lead track “Perfect” to the super danceable “Heavy Rain”.  While the red version relies more on softer textures to create its atmosphere, the blue version is much more driven by guitar noise.  “Shining Blue”, the latter’s closer, combines the two styles and could be the best song of the bunch.  LUCY’S DRIVE may not get the love of its late-aughts shoegaze contemporaries, but the quality was there on DEEP SEEKER and eleven years later it might be even higher on Pair of Sounds.

Both versions of Pair of Sounds are available via distro/label Testcard records.  Domestic purchase is available at their site, while international orders can be placed through their Bandcamp page.  LUCY’S DRIVE also contributed a song to the recently released Total Feedback 2018 compilation, which you can also purchase through Testcard.

Below you can listen to the trailers for both red and blue versions of Pair of Sounds.

kiwi – “Beautiful Back”

While going through the seemingly endless list of new bands who have release material this year, the debut demo single from Tokyo’s “Beautiful Back” really struck me.  It was the first I’d heard of the band, which formed in 2017 and appears to have been quite actively gigging in its home city.  “Beautiful Back” kicks off in a manner typical of gazey guitar pop, driven by a bouncy pop hook over a simple riff.  It’s a pleasant, catchy start, and while the beat remains unchanged as it transitions to the verse, the mood surrounding the song drifts to something sadder.  The vocal tone and melody create a dreamy melancholy pop sound that feels like a throwback to the late Ether Feels.  It’s a simple song, created using a formula that is by no means unique, but the end result is some feel-good nostalgia from yet another talented young Japanese group.

You can hear “Beautiful Back” on Soundcloud.  I also quite like the live version of a song called “Behind the Times” I found on the band’s YouTube channel, so I’ve included that below as well.

Hitori Pale – “SPiRAL”

Nagoya’s Hitori Pale flew under even the local radar this summer when the young three-piece released its debut track “SPiRAL” on Soundcloud.  An introductory track, “SPiRAL” is a bit rough around the edges in terms of sound quality, but the song has really grown on me since I first gave it a listen.  Musically, this is another track that feels like it would have held up well in the early 2010s, reminding me a bit of former Osaka shoegaze mainstays EUPHRATES with the dramatic, soaring chorus.  The vocals are the most unique bit, and while I am not the biggest fan of vocals being so present in the mix, there’s something really dramatic about the vibrating melancholic wailing in this track that combines well with the warm, fuzzy textures and gloomy chord progressions to really hit the spot.

AND LORELEI – “And Lorelei 0.2”

I regrettably missed the boat on the 2017 debut LP from Matsumoto, Nagano’s And Lorelei.  In retrospect, it probably would have easily made it into my best of the year list.  I’m only about five months late in discovering the band’s follow up EP, “And Lorelei 0.2”, which is yet another showcase of the band’s ability to write stunningly beautiful songs.  The best shoegaze song is the one that you can get lost in, and that is just the sort of sound AND LORELEI consistently produces.  Whether it’s via the sort of blissed out shoegaze you can hear on “Himitsu”, the slowly-evolving, dreamy haze of “Umarekawaru” or “Abraham”, or the minimalist ambient approach found in “Legi”, “And Lorelei 0.2” is a deeply immersive and emotional listening experience.

Both of AND LORELEI’s releases are currently available on iTunes and Apple Music.  The physical release is also available for purchase domestically via TTOS.  Here is a video for “Himitsu”.

plasmaclub – “14011”

It’s been sort of tough to keep up with all of the solid new shoegaze bands that have popped up in Japan in 2018, and the flurry of new releases from promising young artists over the last few months continues.  It’s especially cool to see new representatives from outside the Tokyo area, as is the case with Hamamatsu’s plasmaclub who just released a debut two-track EP titled “14011”.  Shizuoka prefecture’s largest city hasn’t yielded much in the way of shoegaze since the piqnic went more toward drony psych and post punk and changed its name to qujaku.  On “14011” plasmaclub gives a bit of a nod to early piqnic with a heavily-layered dark, moody brand of shoegaze, and not surprisingly the release was also produced by qujaku guitarist Soushi Mizuno.  The soaring guitar lead over hazy walls of guitar noise on lead track “dress” has the dramatic sound to it that was a lot more prominent in the Japanese scene in the early part of the decade.  It’s a straightforward track that relies on heavy textures and dramatic vocal melodies over simple beats.  “Veil of shine/(save me)” is similar, but a dreamier, wafting sort of track, highlighted by a sad, longing chorus.  Both tracks feel like they would be tremendous live.  Add plasmaclub to the ever-growing list of Japanese shoegaze bands to keep an eye out for.

The EP is currently available at Bandcamp.

tip top nap – “calm down”

Kyoto’s tip top nap put out their first single, “Yureru/Hakuchuumu”, in July, and just a couple weeks ago they followed it up with a new three-track EP titled “calm down”.  The band has added its name to the remarkably versatile 2018 roster of fresh faces in the Japanese shoegaze scene at a time when the Kansai region could use a little depth.  Tip top nap hops back and forth between bouncy post punk and slow dreamy psychedelia on the intro track “Dull”, slowing it down completely on the EP’s ambient, acoustic slowcore finale, “Hum”.  Sandwiched in between the two is the band’s strongest track to date.  “Moon” plays like the Kinoko Teikoku track that fans have been praying for for a few years now.  It’s a mellow, emotional song that builds slowly to an explosive, heart-melting chorus, carried throughout by vocalists Natsumi Yamamoto’s gorgeous, breathy vocals.  The song climaxes with a minute or so of roaring guitars and dreamy moans before dying down to an outro beat that gives you some time to catch your breath.

Check out tip top nap’s “calm down” EP on Bandcamp.

Once Grace Forever

While 2018 has seen plenty of new bands introduce themselves with singles and EPs, Once Grace Forever came out of nowhere with a well-assembled 8-track self-titled debut last week.  The Tokyo trio shows a couple different looks on the album, starting off with some deliberately-paced, moody post rock.  On the latter half they pick up the tempo a bit, transitioning to some pretty shoegaze tracks before a chilled-out electronic finale.  The period of the album spanning “Summer”, “∞”, and “Melody” particularly hit the spot, but the entire thing from start to finish is quite impressive, all things considered.  Once Grace Forever decided to forego the requisite “roughly-produced two- to three-track demo” phase and go right to putting together a really nice first release.

You can pick up Once Grace Forever’s debut at Bandcamp.