asobi seksu: rewolf

Asobi Seksu’s recently released Rewolf totally made up for my disappointment in Hush. Vocalist Yuki Chikudate and guitarist James Hanna took on a completely different direction in Rewolf—the multi-layers/textures and My Bloody Valentine-influenced noise-pop is gone; instead, everything on the new record is strip down acoustic arrangements. Rewolf features 10 extremely gorgeous re-imaginations from Asobi Seksu’s previous releases, including my personal favourites, "New Years" and "Thursday" (...too bad The Crystals cover is missing.) Old fans will be pleasantly surprised by the unusual arrangements while non-fans will be delighted by Chikudate’s beautiful vocal!

Walk on the Moon
Thursday [wicked-cool song]

visit Asobi Seksu's MySpace here
buy Rewolf here

cover song of the moment

Asobi Seksu will release two hot new songs on 7" on November 20th. The tracks are "Stay Awake" and a cover of The Crystals’ "And Then He Kissed Me". Be sure to pick up the 7" for the two wonderful songs as well as the beautiful gatefold picture sleeve.

Asobi Seksu: And Then He Kissed Me (The Crystals Cover) [wicked-cool song]
***all files expire in 7 days or until bandwidth reaches its limit

Stay Awake/And Then He Kissed Me 7" comes out on November 20th, you can pre-order it here

souvenirs and lost luggage

I am leaving for Japan in a couple of hours. This will be my last post before I head to the airport. But no need to worry, I will update this blog throughout my three weeks trip... so keep visiting this blog!!!

Some may say that Asobi Seksu’s new record, Citrus, is a rip-off of Kevin Shields/My Bloody Valentine. I think Citrus is more like a modern version, if not a tribute to Kevin Shields and My Bloody Valentine. ...Let’s just say, Asobi Seksu’s music is enormously influenced by MBV, you can definitely hear that on tracks such as "Thursday" and "Red Sea"! Oh… and especially on "Strawberries", the drum rhythms sound extremely similar to "Just Like Honey". In my opinion, Citrus would have sounded like any other noise pop record if the vocal was carried by a male lead. On the contrary, Yuki’s layback and beautiful voice, as well as the way she incorporates both English and Japanese lyrics in Citrus, gives the band a peculiarly lively and unique dimension. It is true that at times, the music, in particular the guitar effects are so loud that it overshadows Yuki’s voice, but that fits perfectly with all the different musical elements throughout Citrus. Before ending this post, I want to leave you with one last thought: Yuki’s vocal style reminds me of a singer from the 80s or perhaps the 70s, but I can’t figure out who... listen to the songs below and see if you can tell me.

Strawberries
New Years
Thursday
Strings
Red Sea
Nefi+Girly
Mizu Asobi
***all files have expired, reload upon request

buy Citrus here