シミュレーション!

giugiug

This album makes me vaguely uncomfortable but in a good way. It tickles a part of my brain that very little else does. I listen to it a lot after I get off of work. Not sure if that says more about me or my work.

This album is the first by Mowmow Lulu Gyaban. It will be a bit difficult for me to talk about because I honestly don't know why I like it so much. Something about it just sticks with me and I can listen to it over and over and over again. It's very catchy, and I find it to be good for getting me pumped up in the mornings while I'm on the bus. A few of the songs on this album have been translated (two out of three by me). I might have to review them again at some point, since it's been a while. They actually created a follow-up to the song Yuki-chan on a later album, but I won't speak of it. I remember the first time I listened to it, I was like, really? That's the plot they went with? Surely I must have misheard it, so I looked it up. No, I did not mishear a thing. It's a nice song but the lyrics are too much of a strange area for my personal taste. You can listen to it here but I'm not going to speak of the lyrics.

This is the first EP by Wakusei Abnormal. I like it in large part due to its lyrics, a lot of which seem to be from the perspective of someone (implicitly, sometimes explicitly a woman) speaking about love's sort of ugly and messed up side (and being REALLY dramatic about it). Furare Uta is about getting rejected/dumped, and honestly, really relatable.

This is the only full album from the band Shinda Boku no Kanojo (sometimes shortened as just ShindaBoku, translated as my dead girlfriend). A lot of the songs, both through their lyrics and song composition, very well sum up the feeling of losing someone you love, either literally (through death and the like) or emotionally. It is a very nostalgic-feeling album to me. All of the songs on this album have been translated :) Huge shoutout to the person who did all the translations, but it seems they stopped/became inactive before the release of the shaman's daughter EP, which is unfortunate. In terms of their other music, I recommend the underdrawing for three forms of unhappiness at the state of existence EP (another long name).

HASEGAWA HAKUSHI RULES! This is their first full album. Honestly, nobody does it quite like they do. When you put on Hasegawa Hakushi, you can be sure that you will get a unique musical experience. It's difficult for me to compare their work to anything else since it's so unique. The best way I can describe it is, it feels like entering another dimension where all the rules are completely different from our universe. And you have to figure out what is going on before your head explodes. I could not find translations of many of the songs on this album, oddly enough. If I had to guess why, I think the lyrics are very secondary when it comes to their music. Maybe I will have to do some of my own one of these days. I would also recommend Bones of Dreams Attacked!, mostly because it has Hasegawa's cover of Love Zukkyun on it. (We will be seeing Soutaiseiriron more later.)

This is the second album by the band Midori (pretty much translates to "Nice to meet you again, it's Midori"). I was absolutely blown away when I first heard it. While I don't feel like listening to it ALL the time (since it's quite intense), when I'm in the mood it hits hard. I have the physical album, and it came with a poster of the album cover, so I put it up on my wall. I don't have many people over, but when I do it's fun to explain why there is a random photo of a topless anime-looking woman on my wall. That said, the album is absolutely not for everyone, but if you like some pretty random lyrics, weird instrumentals and women screaming, you probably will like this album. Some of it has been translated.

This is the first album by the Korean indie group, NASTYONA. While lesser known than their second album, I think it’s better overall (though the second has individual songs I prefer). On this album, there is not a single song I dislike. The vibes are unmatched. It awakens a very specific emotion in me that is difficult to describe. The only thing that’s unfortunate is the language gap. The album right off the bat resonated with me musically, but I had to look up translations to understand the nuance of the lyrics (since those are important to me, as I previously mentioned). There is a reason every other album on this list is either in the English or Japanese language. I can understand them immediately, but I obviously cannot do that for Korean. Regardless of that, it is an absolutely phenomenal listen. You can find the second album linked above; it is also on Spotify, but the later tracks are weirdly cut off, so I recommend listening elsewhere.

This is one of the earlier albums of Kurahashi Yoeko, now known as simply Yoeko. This was the album that had me fall in love with her music. I heard some of her other music before, but I was only a casual listener before I heard this album. She has a very poetic lyrical style that really appealed to me, and I could relate to the theme she often sings about of not feeling human / not feeling like you belong. It's amazing how all of her songs sound so different, but they have certain qualities that give her a distinctive style and voice. She made music between 2000-2008 before suddenly retiring, but returned under the name Yoeko just this summer, and I was so happy to hear of her return. You can listen to the New Yoeko album here. You can also find her other albums on the yoekoshrine YouTube channel or on Spotify (only the later ones are on Spotify). A lot of them are translated, some of them by me :)

This is probably one of my favorite bands/artists of all time (Soutaiseirion and its lead singer, Yakushimaru Etsuko respectively). This is their first full album. I actually took my website title from a song in this album (「ふしぎデカルト」という曲の「シミュレーション・心霊現象」). The actual website name, "Chiffonism", is named after their first EP (シフォン主義). To me, this album represents everything that makes me love Soutaiseiriron: Yakushimaru Etsuko's cute and soft vocals, fun and creative lyrics, and super chill rhythms. They are on Spotify, just this album isn't for some reason. For Spotify listening, I would recommend the Chiffonism EP or the Synchroniciteen album. For Yakushimaru Etsuko's solo stuff, I like RADIO ONSEN EUTOPIA. Most of their songs are translated as well.