Jigsaw9 6783 Posted January 1, 2016 (Some of) my favorite Japanese releases 2015 テクノ・ナルシスのすべて by Burgh (All About Techno Narcisse by Burgh) Newcomers Burgh deliver a quick round of catchy post-punk tunes with heaps of that surfin' punk flare you can’t help but love. Fun and dancey goodness. A band to look out for! 12 by cali≠gari It's no secret that cali≠gari is close to my heart, so naturally this was gonna be on here. Quirky, melodic and always interesting - a very strong album with a surprising amount of diversity. 妄想主義者ノ背徳。by グリーヴァ (Mousou shugisha no haitoku. by Grieva) I must applaud Grieva: after losing a drummer, they quickly found a new member and proceeded to release some of their best work to date. This mini takes the cake, such kote-kei goodness. ホログラムを登る男 by 平沢進 (Hologram wo noboru otoko by Hirasawa Susumu) Hirasawa outdid himself once again, serving up his unique brand of futuristic new-age synth pop. Soaring melodies and arrangements bursting with bio-mechanical personality; the very best. Cthulhu & R'lyeh by KEEL KEEL is undoubtedly the Nagoya-kei supergroup of the year for me. Four excellent musicians, two mini albums, a cool dark style with garage-y undertones. Couldn't ask for more, just perfect! 近代ブラック by マルコ (Kindai Black by Marco) Marco are one of the big positive surprises of 2015. Even though their style is unmistakably borrowed from MERRY, they manage to crank out killer tunes like it's nobody's business. VITIUM by sukekiyo Kyo & co can practically do no wrong with their mystical progressive style of music, no matter how challenging it may seem at times. The overall length is just right for it all to click too. 情緒 by THE HAKKIN (Joucho by THE HAKKIN) Sadly THE HAKKIN is no longer with us, but before their demise they released a full-length. This baby is full of shameless '80s new-wave nostalgia. If you can handle cheese - dig in! I AM MORTAL by THE MORTAL BUCK-TICK's Sakurai Atsushi turned his goth-o-meter to 11 and, with his talented crew, cooked up a boiling cauldron of dark rock elegance. Bauhaus called, they want their swag back! CUTE by TOWA TEI With a plethora of impressive guest artists (and a telling album title!), master TOWA TEI made one of the best electronic pop albums of the year: full of bleeps, bloops and sleek Shibuya chic. Stay tuned for my list of Non-Japanese favorites - coming soon! 14 freesia, CAT5, Chi and 11 others reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chi 2624 Posted January 1, 2016 baby conscious 4 uuuuuuu ;_; love ur list jig!! i cant wait to hear more from Burgh!! 1 Jigsaw9 reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
indigo 389 Posted January 1, 2016 Great list! I can agree with most of your picks. I still need to try マルコ and The Mortal albums. 1 Jigsaw9 reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yakihiko 1480 Posted January 1, 2016 Good pick for I AM MORTAL and KEEL's R'lyeh which sounded me more interesting than Cthulhu. 1 Jigsaw9 reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
doombox 4421 Posted January 1, 2016 You always have a really cool style with your tastes, it's so eclectic but everything has an edge to it. I was all over the cali≠gari, sukekiyo, and Towa Tei albums this year. <3 1 Jigsaw9 reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jigsaw9 6783 Posted January 1, 2016 (Some of) my favorite non-Japanese releases 2015 Algiers by Algiers This band came out of the blue and instantly swept me away. A bizarre mixture of post-punk, industrial electronics and... soul, gospel and blues? As weird as it sounds, it works amazingly. Trilogy by Carpenter Brut The mighty French mastermind of dark retro synthwave released a collection album, much to my delight. The perfect soundtrack to your life, if you're living in a zombie-filled '80s B-movie that is. The Anthropocene Extinction by Cattle Decapitation Cattle Decapitation is one of those few bands that I'll always dig, no matter what. Hard-as-balls deathgrind onslaught that will melt your face off, but only after pummeling you into the ground. True Enemy by Disgrace Speaking of pummeling, Disgrace's debut album is one mean listen. This lethal combo of death metal and metallic hardcore is your perfect choice if you had a bad day and wanna cut loose. I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside by Earl Sweatshirt It's no secret that Earl is my favorite from the (now defunct?) Odd Future collective, and he doesn't disappoint here either. Hazy and bleak hip-hop delivered in the usual Earl fashion. Dreamcrash by Grave Pleasures One of my most-anticipated albums of the year, Grave Pleasures' first full-length offering is a potent cocktail of romantically morbid melodies and haunting post-punk melancholia. Bodies by Haust Utterly vile and crusty black metal'n'roll with a surprisingly atmospheric undertone. Expect anything from cosmic keyboards to all-out punk nihilism. One of the very best of 2015! Exercises in Futility by Mgła The Polish brothers did it again. Imagine everything that is awesome about black metal, channeled through fantastically crafted misanthropic tirades. Essential metal listening. Life Rips & Assholes by Mommy Long Legs These girls just came and stole my heart right away. Their two cassette EPs are packed to the brim with hilariously fun (and funny) DIY garage-punk tunes that will stick in your head. Slumber party! Key Markets by Sleaford Mods A dude with a microphone and a dude with a bottle of beer and a laptop. So simple yet genius. The guys are doing their usual fare of vitriolic rants and minimal punk-hop beats and winning. Ten Solid Years of Applause by Super Luxury A totally random discovery of mine, Super Luxury play abrasive in-your-face noise rock that just sounds so honest and knuckleheaded (and even catchy) that they immediately won me over. A legszebb éveink by Szabó Benedek és a Galaxisok Benedek Szabó, one of Hungary's young singer-songwriters, finally released his second album and oh boy, is it fine! Bittersweet lyrics and instantly hummable melodies, the total package. Tremors by Terrible Feelings This band is so good, I just don't get why they aren't known more. Heartbreaking melodies layered on top of vintage-sounding punk'n'roll hymns, straddling the line between melancholic and uplifting. That's all, folks! Bear in mind that this is only a small segment of all the cool music 2015 had to offer. I had a really hard time narrowing my lists down to 10 entries (so I made this second one 13, lol), especially considering how I started out with 30-35 entries for my Japanese list and more than 100 for the non-Japanese one! So I guess this is more like a spur-of-the-moment type listing, but still, I hope you'll find some good stuff here. 6 indigo, beni, CAT5 and 3 others reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bear 1817 Posted January 1, 2016 I think I will check out Keel just based on the title of their release alone. I doubt the music will match it, but it won't hurt to try it out. 1 Jigsaw9 reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jigsaw9 6783 Posted January 1, 2016 ^ If you like Nagoya-style bands like deadman or the god and death stars, you won't be disappointed imo! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
beni 2149 Posted January 2, 2016 I have NO idea who ANYONE in the Non-Japanese picks are. x'D Mommy Long Legs looks cool though, I'll probably check them out. Such sophisticated selections. Burgh and cali≠gari look interesting, only ever tried half of a cali≠gari album and I THINK I stumbled across Burgh at some point this year but never gave them a try. I really want to try out Marco, I've never heard of them before but they look like they'd sound fab. (Because of that comment I should really try more MERRY, huh? xD) Also, If I remember correctly, you had THE HAKKIN on your previous AOTY list right? TOWA TEI and Hirasawa Susumu were great listens as expected. I JUST REMEMBERED YOU PLAYED CATTLE DECAPITATION IN PLUG! Were there any others you played from here? Because that's cool. x3 You can't forget that album cover! 1 Jigsaw9 reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jigsaw9 6783 Posted January 2, 2016 ^ You should really try those! ;3 And yep, I had THE HAKKIN's mini album on my 2014 list. As for the Western bands, I'm sure I plugged Disgrace, Grave Pleasures, Terrible Feelings and Algiers before. 1 beni reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Licio123 181 Posted January 2, 2016 OMG Susumu the legend! I really need to listen to him more... great list, Jig! 1 Jigsaw9 reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CAT5 9075 Posted January 6, 2016 Very cool list! I still haven't tried that Burgh album, but from the samples I heard, they seem worthwhile! I was super pleased with THE MORTAL btw, age cannot stop Atsushi! That Marco bands also seems interested, especially with the MERRY comparison. I'm assuming you mean early MERRY, yes? I should also really look into your non-Jp list too. There's just too much music out there @.@ 1 Jigsaw9 reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jigsaw9 6783 Posted January 6, 2016 ^ Yeah, Marco kinda copies early MERRY for the most part I guess. 1 CAT5 reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
