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 time around, as the next installment happens in August. It’s always a great time to listen to new music, though…and to support the artists creating it.
Hasami Group — Message from 2025
One would think after releasing 21 albums, a project might start running out of creative fuel. Not the case with the cult Japanese project Hasami Group. Its 22nd album Message from 2025 finds the artist continuing to create madcap songs drawing from rap, rock, dance and much more to create a unique sound built to comment on the times. For this set, Hasami Group mix reflections on navigating daily life in Tokyo alongside more timely explorations of what it means for Katy Perry to have gone into space and, over a discombobulated groove, pretends to sound like Hatsune Miku on a number all about how they can’t afford her software…but the artistic power to create (and do a funny voice) already exists within them. Perhaps the key to staying so exciting after this number of releases is keeping it fun. Get it here.
CRZKNY — Deadly Outlaw
Hiroshima electronic artist CRZKNY has long created juke-indebted tracks that feel pulverizing or claustrophobic, songs for a club where the walls are closing in. Deadly Outlaw, released via Polish label outlines, moves in a more minimalist way, with the numbers here leaving more space for CRZKNY’s interpretation of techno to zip ahead. While it isn’t as suffocating, an edge of unease remains, made all the more heartracing by the newfound space around it. Get it here.
F!C!O! — F!C!O!
A trio of Trekkie Trax regulars come together to make a fittingly frenetic and surprisingly oddball supergroup. Fellsius, Carpainter and OnJuicy link up for a frantic set of songs touching on dancehall and reggaeton among other uptempo styles. What makes it work well are the left-field touches, such as the use of the sounds of dogs barking and pigeons cooing to add to the beat. I think the three also understand how to use human rapping right too, because the way OnJuicy gets seamed into these songs turns him into a hype man working in tandem with horses and ravens to create something bonkers. Get it here.
Isiliel — Moonbow Rebellion
Idol-turned-metal-force Isiliel returns with a set of heavy tunes showing her commitment to the genre…and how well her voice works within it. Despite first emerging from the metal-leaning idol outfit NECRONOMIDOL, Isiliel’s voice carries a drama with it that melds well with the thunderous pace of the guitar playing and drumming across these songs. It can keep up with the stampeding pace of cuts like “Black Moon,” or it can add an epic slow-burn to synth-assisted risers like “Vesperal Salvation.” Get it here.
Hizuo & AWZ — Penthouse / Late Night Kyoto
Kyoto has been the hot spot for dance music in Japan for a while now, and this pair of songs from two producers in the ancient capital show that this view probably won’t be changing anytime soon. Released by Seoul’s Planet Turbo Records, this one focuses on party-slash-group AFFECTION members Hizuo and AWZ, who provide two different perspectives on the city’s sound. The prior turns to ‘90s drum ‘n’ bass to create a dubby dash, while the latter provides a bubblier number featuring rave stabs interrupting the woozy feeling the melody brings. Get it here.
Lil Tozan — Cat Dance Floor EP
One of the reasons Kyoto has become such a dance capital is NC4K, an electronic label highlighting the city and, more recently, the country’s finest club mutations. It’s latest new addition is Lil Tozan from Shizuoka, who fits right in immediately with the jungle-inspired cuts of Cat Dance Floor. Assisted by dreamier synth touches, the four songs here zoom ahead, nodding both the style’s golden years and underlining what is still possible today. Get it here.
perfect young lady — PYL 4th SEASON…
The pop perfect young lady creates strikes a balance between the catchy and the chaotic. Her 4th SEASON features some of the sweetest melodies and hooks she’s written to date, but wrapped up in songs featuring existential dread galore and the occasional sitcom-ready sound effect, turning these gems into tunes with the weight of the regular world coming down on them. Silly, sad and always inviting, perfect young lady continues to be at the vanguard of bedroom sounds in the country. Get it here.
Howling Calling — nervous fish
Band Howling Calling cross shoegaze with electronic touches across nervous fish. The familiar buzz of guitars and feedback powers all four songs here, with some being more rock grounded than others. Yet the best moments come when Howling Calling allow digital touches to rip through its work (the breakcore clattering cutting through “memai”) or dapple the edges (the computer-glow surrounding the vocals on “bless you”). Get it here.
Cats Of Steinlen — I Breathe Next To You
Nothing like some screaming to get all those feelings out. Tokyo quartet Cats Of Steinlen’s first EP I Breathe Next To You adds a streak of screamo to its rock, offering bursts of catharsis across the three songs here. A great balance between dynamics, with the emotional bloodletting always in the spotlight. Get it here.
