Kinoco Hotel: Marianne no Mikkai / #2021reviews
Almost exactly two years after their previous full-length, Marianne no Ougi, Kinoco Hotel returned with their 8th album this summer and for the most part, it was a great return…
Jody: Jody / #2021reviews
For me, Jody's Hajimattenai is easily 2021's best hip-hop / trap track. It is so, so over-the-top, with an insane, earth shattering, subwoofer killer bassline, the crazy, trippy rapping and its…
The fin.: Outer Ego / #2021reviews
Back in 2018 The fin. released There, its first new album in over three years and now, another three and a half years later they are back with another full-length.…
Anyango: Kanki / #2021reviews
While at first glance "traditional African music from Japan" might sound like a strange thing, Eriko Mukoyama, better known as Anyango has been doing it for well over a decade…
Susumu Hirasawa: Beacon / #2021reviews
Ever since the '70s when he formed P-Model, his influential new wave / art rock / post-punk / whatever-you-wanna-call-their-strange-music band, Susumu Hirasawa has been both a legend and an outsider…
Toshimaru Nakamura: Culvert – No-Input Mixing Board 10 / #2021reviews
No-Input Mixing Board is Toshimaru Nakamura's long-running series, which started in 2000 and, as the title suggest, it includes music created with a no-input mixing board, which basically means that…
Chanmina: harenchi / #2021reviews
Ever since the previous generation of Great J-Pop Divas either retired (the one-and-only Namie Amuro), became a shadow of their former self (Ayumi Hamasaki), became increasingly boring (Utada Hikaru) or…
Chai: Wink / #2021reviews
Chai became a surprise international sensation in recent years, thanks to their strangely charming sound, which is both naively childlike and highly sophisticated, incorporating influences from all over the pop…
Controlled Death / Mayuko Hino split / #2021reviews
One of this year's surprise releases was a joint album from Controlled Death and Mayuko Hino, two seminal figures of the Japanese noise scene, that came out on UK's Cold Spring…
Young Yujiro: 2025 / #2021reviews
2025 is the latest offering from rapper / trapper Young Yujiro who quickly became a huge fave of mine a couple of years ago when he surfaced with the rest…