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Listening to Yukihiro Fukutomi’s music takes me back to a different time. It reminds me of the first time I encountered Japanese music. If anyone else remembers this, it was staying up late at night to tune in to MTV’s AMP. It was on AMP that someone like me – far, far, far, from any…
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If you can, allow me one more diversion for the year. In my last post, I finally found words to describe what was my album of the year for 2022. Now I’m cycling back to an album that truly lingered in my headspace just as long this past year, 2023. It’s an album marked by…
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As a writer, I try to remain as objective as possible and not inject too much of myself into what I review. Yet, as we all know, it’s impossible to completely divorce yourself from a reality: music hits differently. How any piece of music affects you has to be informed by the contours that shape…
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As I write this post, my mind goes back to the ideas posited in Claire Dederer’s new book, “Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma”. I keep thinking: to what degree do I promote or endorse the work of Miguel Bosé? At this moment in time, I can’t escape that I vehemently disagree with his most current views…
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We all have our soft spots. Lately, for me, it’s been sharing certain kinds of “rainy day” albums tailor-made to appeal to the more mature audience. Less fussy with sonics, less messy with pretentiousness, these are the kinds of albums that I’d like to think others would find as graceful, sophisticated, and measured as I…
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As the child of first-generation immigrants, I imagine, many of y’all have had a similar relationship with your parents’ culture as I’ve had with mine. It’s that of initially looking at anything that came out of it – its music, its film or television, its arts or cuisine – with suspicion and (worse) seeing it…
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You’ve all heard this, “but it looks good on you!” We all might be loathed to admit it but certain things do fit us better. I say this, because in the world of music, we’ve all heard (or seen) certain artists spend all their life trying different musical outfits, trying to find just what sound…
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One of the blessings afforded to me by choosing this small platform to hold a conversation, is that I get to talk about artists like Rosana Fiengo. While other sites may go back in history, rewarm stories about “ye olde classic rock band”…or worse…act as a gatekeeper, confusing rarity and exclusivity for something of value,…
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I have a belief: whenever history fails you, find some poetry. I say this because, unfortunately for us, there is little oral or written background that I can find on Leila White’s Endless Dream. And I consider this a bit of a shame, since this is one of those Japanese pop albums that I consider…
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Isn’t pop music such a fickle beast? It seems, one moment anyone could hold the world’s glimmer…only to be shuttled off when the next “objet d’affection” takes their place. It’s its built-in double-edge cut that gives pop music its ever-evolving staying power, fueled by its voracious appetite for whatever’s fresh to burn through. Sometimes, it’s…
ambient art pop art rock balearic brazilian electro-acoustic england environmental music experimental fourth world Funk fusion japan jazz minimalist mpb neo-folk neoclassical new age walearic