Two girls with their friends play easy minimal punk in Brooklyn

Household – Elaines EP by Dull Knife

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Sapphire Slows is a Japanese girl. She makes experimental house-techno-disco with dream-pop and shoegaze influences mainly with 80s Casio keys and ableton in her bedroom, where she records her songs with a laptop. Debut full-length

Allegoria LP by Not Not Fun Records

KK Null (Kazuyuki Kishino) is one of the most important persons of Japanese experimental scene. He is composer, guitarist, singer and mastermind of progressive hardcore band, Zeni Geva. He started his career as a studied Butoh dancer (by Tanaka Min), and performed guitar improvisations in clubs of Tokyo, then played with Merzbow for two years, and was in various groups together with Yamatsuka Eye (aka Yamantaka Eye, Boredoms) and Tatsuya Yoshida (drums, Ruins). His label released the first Melt-Banana album. As solo artist he is „creating intense clashing wave of noise, structured electro-acoustic ambience, broken down rhythmics, scattered pitch sculptures, droning isolationist material which could be described “cosmic noise  maximal/minimalism”. He made two tracks with a Birmingham-based tuba doom duo, Ore. It’s released on limited edition 7″ and digitally on 18th November by Endtyme Records. Samples taken from the double A side 7″

An interesting Ore track: In Hungary They Used To Burn Bagpipers

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Mr. Elevator & The Brain Hotel. Debut album: Nico & Her Psychedelic Subconscious

out now on Burger Records. 60s style, sometimes Doors-like psychedelic rock.

Ultra Bidé from Kyoto > „Anarchy in your eyes. Let’s punk!” since 1978.

The band worked in New York between 1987 and 1999. They were supported by Alice Donut’s manager and Foetus. Their records were released by Alternative Tentacles. There are just drums and double bass on the new album

from DNA vs DNA-c LP by Alternative Tentacles

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Jonathan Kingsley Seilman, musician, arranger and producer from Nantes, known for his previous project, This Melodramatic Sauna, and its collaborations with The Patriotic Sunday, Birds Are Alive, and Sieur & Dame, etc. He now back to himself with a new project, Le Feu, in collaboration with My Name Is Nobody, Binidu and Fordamage members. The most simple phrase is: indie pop, but French, because I like it.

 Debut EP by Havalina and My Little Cab Records

The Melt-Banana is coming back with a new album as a duo!

Only guitar and electronic devices!!
Apropos, do you remember their previous album?
It was guitar exempt!!! (3 songs from it.)
Songs above 4 mins!!!!
Because „I wanted to write a slow song and get a little bit of a cosmic feeling.”

You can listen to the full album here.

I have heard of him already, but didn’t know about him too many things until this album that he has made with Takako Minekawa. I have caught sight of her name and pounce on the record immediately so I had to know him:

Dustin Wong is a Hawaiian born half Chinese/half American guitarist. He grew up in Japan and went to college to the US. There he founded an experimental guitar duo with Matthew Papich (nowadays: Co La), the Ecstatic Sunshine (2004-07) and the Deerhoofesque art rock band, Ponytail (2005-11). After the break-up he has begun solo career and made experimental guitar albums. He lives in Japan again.

Takako Minekawa is a Japanese musician. She was active in the 90’s as the most interesting shibuya-kei artist. The term comes from Tokyo’s Shibuya ward. The district is the centre of the Japanese fashion and pop culture. Shibuya-kei (literally: Shibuya system) is described as a mix of jazz, pop and synthpop. Takako Minekawa’s music is experimental shibuya-kei. She loves cats, clouds, Kraftwerk, French pop and vintage instruments.

They have met in Tokyo in 2011 after a Dustin Wong gig and become working together. The outcome of their labour is the recently born Toropical Circle album. It’s Takako Minekawa’s first work for 13 years. Her weird synth sounds and dreamy singing voice meets his strange guitar sounds

The record is rather experimental with ambient, gamelan and oriental moods than pop, but there are some shibuya-kei moments too. It’s a really nice, pleasant album.

Released by Plancha Records, Vinyl from Thrill Jockey

Some useful links

Free Music Archive Dustin Wong   Ponytail

Live at Shea Stadium Dustin Wong   Ecstatic Sunshine

New full length album from Merzbow

The Takahē is a flightless bird indigenous to New Zealand and belonging to the rail family. Its overall length averages 63 cm (24.8 in) and its average weight is about 2.7 kg.

The second track: Tendenko. The word means to „go uphill independently at the time of tsunami caring only for your own safety, not thinking of anyone else, even your family.”

Limited to 500 copies in a DVDigipak. 

 More fragments from the Merzbow – Gustafsson – Pándi show.