Grand⁑Jukebox②

December :: A list of recommendations from the worms.

Dear friends,

it is now the ㉔th of december and some of you are about to spend Christmas with family, friends, or stay alone at home. So we decided to offer you that new list of songs and albums we listened to in the past weeks. May it gives you some joy during these overwhelming times.
We are now in Fujinomiya, a small city overlooked by Mount Fuji, and about to get KFC to perpetuate the immutable Christmas tradition here. We know that we remained silent in the past weeks, focusing on what comes next. It’s getting closer and closer, so much that it’s a bit scary !

See you all (very) soon ⏰

————————— ✈

3776 - The Birth and Death of the Universe Through Mount Fuji

The Fuji-based idol project is back again with another masterpiece, celebrating Fuji-san, life, death, community, individuality and all the wonders of our world. Conceived as a total art piece, this new album can feel almost too broad, intricate and rooted in japanese culture to be fully understood. Going from ‘birth of the universe’ to ‘death of the universe’ with everything in-between (atom, oxygen, earth, japan and mount fuji), the songs are simultaneously crossed by a narrative concept telling the thoughts and doubts of a teenage high-schooler, probably inspired by Chiyono’s (singer and lyricist of the project) own daily life. It helps giving a micro/macro dimension to the project. Quick to celebrate even the most tragic fate of our existence, the album is never gloomy and remains optimistic. Musically, the main composer Akira Ishida goes all the way, exploring j-pop, new-wave, dub or hip-hop in order to celebrate music, artistic expression and the big mess that is life.

Pas Tasta - Grand Pop

The japanese superband is already back with a new album. Following the glorious pop deconstructivist of ‘Good Pop’, they kept pushing their maximalist vision but tamed some aspects of their production to create a more focused collection of songs. Filled with featurings with some of the best artists of the modern japanese music scene, ‘Grand Pop’ reaches new highlights for the band throughout the relatively short 26min run.

Fellsius - Blue

TREKKIE TRAX are constantly proving they are the coolest club music label. The new Fellsius album is no exception to the rule, blending club music, jersey, shoegaze into something that will make you feel alive. It’s a bold move from Trekkie Trax to propose something not radically different from their other productions, but that definitely feel like a step aside. Fellsius is proving that he’s capable of crafting a diverse array of sounds and influences into a cohesive and tasteful blend, and that he got a world of his own where indie & club music are tightelly related, like two sides of the same coin.

Chelmico - Light Up

Crazy to see that after all those years, Chelmico are still at the top of their game. This new single is one of their best song to date, lighthearted, playful but going strong. Driven by a wobble bass switching between octaves all along the song, ‘Light Up’ brings what Rachel and Mamiko do best, anthemic hip-hop/house for weird kids.

KimJ - Atarashi Zainichi

KimJ is a korean Tokyo-based producer, also member of the Fax Gang crew. We had the chance to see them live twice these past months, to experience their curious blend of epic house and brostep. Nakata-inspired chords progression meet aggressively cutted vocaloid samples.

Soshi Takeda - Secret Communication

We discovered Soshi Takeda some weeks ago when he opened for CFCF at Spread in Shimokitazawa. We were then mesmerized by his blend of balearic house and groovy groovy sounds. ‘Secret Communication’ is a moody trip through analog beats and 7th pads, à la Soishi Terada with extra gravitas, but a breezy feeling across the 6 songs.

Roy Blair - Chasing Moving Trains

Roy Blair is back with one of the best pop album of the year 2024. Exploring the broad world of indie music as a whole, Chasing Moving Trains is a nostalgia trip on past influences seen through a modern lense. UK Garage, R&B, shoegaze, glitch pop, electropop, it’s all there. The layered and tasteful production helps the songs to flow in a spiraling experience, well suited for a long train ride as suggested by the album cover.

Templime - Empt Mile

After the amazing ‘Pop Aid’ (one of the best album of 2023), Templime are back with a new album that explores their DnB and UK Garage influences more and more. It was introduced by the very ‘Perfume-influenced’ first single “ごめんね”(Gomenne). Maybe less focused than ‘Pop Aid’, ‘Empt Mile’ is a collection of featurings that remains as playful as its predecessor and shows that KBSKN and DJ Tempura are tremendous producers, capable of keeping pop at center in a maelstrom of influences.

Yeule - Eko

After Softscars, Yeule is now stripping her sound of superfluous audio elements to focus on pop effectiveness. While the first listen of the new Yeule single was not fully convincing, the song have grown on us and revealed all its depth after some time. Its main strenght is definitely it’s pop simplicity, and the masterful production. Exploring more american influences, the almost pop-folk deliver of the vocal melodies complements the synthy instrumental wonderfully. Really hyped to find out where they decides to go in their artistic journey now.

Sticky World - Sticky Business

Our french friends Sticky World released a new single, diving into the 2-step electropop of their last ep. Entirely self-produced, the song is bright and tortuous and definitely feel like a collaborative work between the two friends. The layered beats are giving a steady support to the vocal takes. But it’s the sudden appearance of guitar arpeggios at mid song that gives the song an extra kick, bringing a floating feeling until the end. A beautiful hymn to the work environment à la française.

—————————————— ✈

Star light, star bright,

First star I see tonight,

I wish I may, I wish I might,

Have this wish I wish tonight.