album of the week: 8.3

Towa Tei

Sunny

(2011)

why you'll love it: Creative pop music that draws from all over the place

why you'll hate it: a bit cheesy, lacks any attitude whatsoever.

Chronicled throughout this blog and its previous iterations is my constant lament over diminishing fad, Shibuya-kei. Now that I look back at the past ten years, I haven't been considering all that I've had. Great releases from Fantastic Plastic Machine. Those Katamari soundtracks are brilliant. Thinking it through, the real thing that sticks in me is that there hasn't been a true landmark release.

In swoops Towa Tei, who's also been releasing material throughout the naughties, but nothing so fuckin' fresh as Sunny. Without resorting to "louder, faster, crazier" gimmicks, he still manages to create something that feels like 2011; despite the retro time warp Shibuya-kei naturally is. Sunny sticks to the basics of taking old yuppie swinger jazz, lounge, and bossanova styles, and brings them to the modern day while still maintaining a chill groove.

One of my favorite cuts here is the robotic smorgasbord, "Cloud". I also love the bells and whistles in "Upload" that lift up one of the simplest melodies one can create. "Melancholic Sunshine" has a sublime dub beat reminiscent of Saint Etienne. "The Burning Plain" is one of the only normal songs on here, with actual lyrics and a verse-chorus structure. It's a song that cleverly bunches up 4 generations of pop music. The other somewhat normal song on here is "Teenage Mutants" with an absolutely killer performance by Miho Hatori (Cibo Matto, Gorillaz). Best song on here, and one of my favorites of 2011 so far.

The only stumbles on this album are "Exterior" and "Ruffles" because I feel they use uninteresting samples repeated to the point of nausea. Some may be turned off by "Get Myself Together" and "Alpha". Towa Tei was in Deee-Lite, so those songs are unsurprising to those familiar with him. For others, I wouldn't be surprised if the response is "What is this Paula Abdul sounding shit doing here?"

A few bumps don't spoil what is the best Shibuya-kei experience I've had since, well… ever. I was late for the Pizzicato Five/Cornelius party, so it's nice to have something brand new to celebrate. This is some of the most fun I've had with such a deliberately un-hip genre.