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. That’s not the case today, as after two consecutive months of holding the event Bandcamp is taking one off before bringing it back in December. That’s no reason not to find great new Japanese music on the platform, though! Here are our picks from October.
Gimgigam — Nine Days Wonder
Pop pleasure meets the surreal across Nine Days Wonder. Gimgigam has long managed to bridge seemingly unlikely divides — he’s very much an “internet artist” who has released primarily from the proudly online Local Visions label and dabbles in odder sonic twists, but at his core is someone with an appreciation for snappy songwriting, even if it’s hidden under layers of swirling guitar. On his latest album he’s crafting sweltering instrumentals built for a 100-degree-plus day at the beach (“PULLUP,” “GLASSHEAD”) while sandwiching them between disorienting bangers marked by electronic twists (“Arikitarina LOVE” and “SALE!” both featuring showmore) or cozy early afternoon strolls featuring country twang (“Laugh” with Sahnya). Even at his most woozy, Gimgigam finds space for a melody cutting through the left turns to create great pop. Get it here.
milkeystain — Retrospection
Boundaries collapse across Retrospection. Pop-punk energy takes on a plugged-in glow with the use of Vocaloid singing, while feedback gives way to breakbeats and garage-indebted beats. Pure rock bliss transforms into anthemic rap. All of these ideas blur and blend together on milkeystain’s latest, a collection boasting what is both a heart-racing youthfulness and an odd aching for things lost. It’s also yet another reminder of how the Siren For Charlotte label continues to celebrate the freedom digital creation offers, at a time when many question it. Get it here.
momonesuko — troche
Shoegaze never goes out of style in Japan, but a younger generation of creators have started finding a way to put their own spin on the feedback-powered sound. Duo momonesuko’s troche provides one of the best examples this year of how experimental the tired-and-true rock sound can be in the hands of a new generation. The slow pull of “undertow” and the chug of “Soshite 2-pon-mei Hi Wo Tsukeru” carry hallmark sonic signs of the style, yet the pair also cover their own voices in digital effects while also detouring into more left-field textures like electronic-decay found on “(signal).” The best moments interject pounding percussion and sing-speak delivery to create an enveloping sound ideal for the social age, such as on the woozy “head” or fidgety closer “Sunday Neurosis.” What makes momonesuko’s debut full-length a highlight is ultimately its refusal to box itself into stylistic walls, instead eagerly seeing what can be added without losing the essence. Get it here.
RGL — Touzan
Touzan plays out like a travelogue for nights spent out, with producer RGL referencing specific places — two seemingly in Shinjuku including the ambient shuffle of opener “Arakicho Descent,” along with a trip to Naha’s Makishi. It helps to explain the bleary-eyed feel the mix of synthesizer swirl and vocal samples conjure, one of memories wooshing by in an instant but held together by a groove, one made particularly hypnotic on centerpiece “At Tsunohazu.” At times RGL’s album recalls the nocturnal highlights of Soichi Terada’s Asakusa Nights, but one borrowing more from hip-hop on songs such as “The Drama” and the sax-assisted “Playin Yaself.” Any track could stand on its own during one such time spent after the last train, but taken together Touzan transforms that world that comes after midnight into something massive. Get it here.
callasoiled — ae
Few words have lost all meanings quite like “aesthetics.” Once actually boasting a true definition — a common set of themes and styles underlying unified work — it was perverted by Tumblr in the 2010s to refer to Greek busts and purple grids, before twisting once again in the 2020s to basically refer to “anything I think is cool.” Ambient producer callasoiled attempts to wrestle the term away from the TikTok masses on ae, short for “Aesthetic Electronics.” Their aim is to highlight the beauty of electronic sounds, and these slowly unfolding tracks offer some of the brightest and at times euphoric music they’ve ever offered up, letting the sound generated from mostly machines shine, showing what beauty can be when isolated. Get it here.
House Of Tapes — Diagram
Nagoya’s House Of Tapes tightropes between order and chaos on latest album Diagram, a set that feels like a snapshot of urban life at both its most lively and its most crushing. Songs glitch and burble, sometimes falling into a pattern approaching melodic prettiness, before it breaks apart into sonic debris, sometimes disorienting and others outright crushing. The mood is all over the place, but even if you don’t want to have your thoughts rattled, the textures he creates are among the best of his career. Get it here.
Grandma’s Garden — Sweet Dystopian Daydreams
The duo Grandma’s Garden inspire an unsettling feeling across Sweet Dystopian Daydreams, using a sparse set of instruments to create something with an uneasy edge. Vocalist / guitarist Saki Nakayama and drummer Yohei Sumita create garage-rock rippers carrying a grimy edge — the Call And Response Records’ write up says they “inevitably” remind of the pop sensibilities of The White Stripes, though I’d say it’s filtered through a Chuo Line state of mind. A nervy energy carries the songs here, though the pair can also do relatively stripped-down well (while still delivering a surging hook) on “A Tiny Wooden House.” Get it here.
