Newer Music:
Japanese Breakfast : Jubilee
Jubilee is the newly released third record from Japanese Breakfast, the music project of Korean-American rising multimedia star Michelle Zauner. 2021 is a massive year for Zauner; in addition to the release of this fantastic record that will surely increase her profile further in both indie and mainstream music circles, she also released her debut book Crying in H Mart: A Memoir (now a NYT Best-seller), and she soundtracked the score for upcoming video game Sable set for debut in September.
Jubilee is an impressive leap forward from her solid 2017 sophomore record Soft Sounds From Another Planet. A massive increase in confidence is evident in the broader sonic palette, strong vocal performances, and evocative storytelling on display in these assertive, positive, dynamic songs. She collaborated with fellow indie music darling Jack Tatum of Wild Nothing on two of the best tracks on the record, lead single Be Sweet and Posing In Bondage. Second half album track Tactics is possibly the most gorgeous song I’ve heard this year. Opener Paprika and fellow album track highlights Slide Tackle and Kokomo, IN sound like a perfect marriage of Japanese pop and Camera Obscura.
We are very likely to see and hear (and read) more from Michelle Zauner in the coming years.
Standout Tracks: Be Sweet; Tactics; Posing In Bondage; Slide Tackle; Kokomo, IN
Kishi Bashi : Emigrant EP
Kishi Bashi recently released this inspiring folk EP about Japanese emigrants to America in the early to mid twentieth century and their experience in the American West. Kaoru Ishibashi, AKA Kishi Bashi, is an accomplished violinist, and Emigrant EP features some brilliant violin and fiddle work. The entire EP is great, but Wait for Springtime is the beautiful, emotional highlight.
I’d been somewhat familiar with Kishi Bashi previously, but this wonderful EP inspired me to dig further into his back catalog. The Emigrant EP is a companion piece to his 2019 record called Omoiyari, also about the Japanese emigrant experience. Ishibashi is apparently working on a documentary film on the same subject.
Standout Tracks: Wait for Springtime; Cascades; Town of Pray; Early Morning Breeze
Crumb : Ice Melt
Earlier this year, the Brooklyn-based (but founded in Boston) indie band Crumb released their sophomore record Ice Melt, the follow-up to their buzzed-about 2019 debut album Jinx. Ice Melt features a similar slacker indie psych rock approach to their debut Jinx and their earlier EPs; however, the songs on this latest LP are stronger and more fully formed. The album highlight is lead single Trophy—a worthy showcase of their carefree sound and a nice display of Lila Romani’s unhurried vocals.
Standout Tracks: Trophy; Gone; BNR; Balloon; Up & Down
Jonathan Kirby : Safe to Disconnect
I recently stumbled onto this charming record by the unassuming artist, writer, and DJ Jonathan Kirby. The North Carolina native has a day job doing A&R for The Numero Group label and is also a long-time music writer and DJ. He made this album last year during the April lockdown period using an electric piano, a moog synth, and some retro drum machines. Several of the tracks are named after the streets in Winston-Salem, NC that inspired him on his daily walks around town. As one who has gone on far more walks in the past 12-15 months than I had in my entire life before that, I can appreciate this record as a fitting soundtrack for a nature walk, or an inspiring walk around town.
I purchased an “expanded version” of Safe to Disconnect on vinyl that includes songs from his previous release, as well as some bonus tracks. I actually reached out to Kirby on IG to ask about the tracks on the record with Japanese names and he was kind enough to respond that the tracks Yuumi and Miharu were named after friends in Japan who he’d met through his DJ gigs and that Sugekari Park was recorded in part in the park of the same name near Shibuya.
Standout Tracks: Sussex; Statford; Vernon; Womble; Never My Love; Sugekari Park
Throwback Selection:
Radiohead : Amnesiac
Last week marked the 20th anniversary of the release of likely the most underrated record in the Radiohead discography. Recorded during the same sessions as unquestioned masterpiece Kid A, Amnesiac always felt a bit like an afterthought collection of leftovers that weren’t good enough for the main attraction. Which is unfortunate because album highlights Pyramid Song and Life In a Glasshouse are blockbuster standalone tracks that merely would have felt slightly out of place on Kid A. Likewise, standout midtempo tracks You And Whose Army and Dollars And Cents certainly feel more appropriate on a separate album.
Elsewhere, you actually could imagine I Might Be Wrong slotting in comfortably on Kid A somewhere along with National Anthem or maybe even replacing Optimistic as a more natural-sounding fit with the rest of that record. Perhaps the most interesting Amnesiac tracks to me are the trio of electronic tracks (Like Spinning Plates, Packt Like Sardines In a Crushed Tin Box, and Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors) that arguably conjure feelings of alienation and disruption as well as anything on Kid A and clearly show the influence of Aphex Twin and similar music the band was listening to at the time.
Ultimately, I do wish that Radiohead would have decided to release Kid A and Amnesiac as a massive double album featuring all of the tracks from both records, plus perhaps a b-side or two from the Pyramid Song and Knives Out singles. It appears that I just might get my wish granted twenty years later. Last month, Radiohead released a cryptic video that shows someone attempting to combine or package the physical Kid A and Amnesiac records together into one–giving Radiohead fans everywhere the hope that a massive double album box set reissue is in the works.
A couple weeks back, I wrote that Weezer’s The Green Album had been on heavy rotation during a study abroad experience I had in Japan twenty years ago. Amnesiac was also released while I was there in Japan and I’m convinced there is no better soundtrack for touring around the surreal modern urban landscapes of Tokyo and Osaka than mid-90s through early 00s Radiohead.
Standout Tracks: Pyramid Song; Life In a Glasshouse; I Might Be Wrong; Like Spinning Plates; Packt Like Sardines In a Crushed Tin Box; Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors; You And Whose Army; Dollars and Cents
More Related Music You Should Also Check Out: Chara : Junior Sweet; Camera Obscura : Desire Lines; Kishi Basi : Omoiyari ; Aphex Twin : Druqks
