(This text is from 2017 and was originally written in Swedish. It’s translated with DeepL) Gwen Stefani first became known as the singer of the ska/punk/rock band No Doubt, with their heyday in the second half of the 90s. In 1995 they released the album “The Tragic Kingdom”, after doing a numb […]
Six months ago, the Korean rapper $ATSUKI made music like this (read more about $ATSUKI’s old music here): Now she’s like this: Smiling, happy and practicing religion directly on her Instagram account! What happened? What happened to $ATSUKI’s extreme trap metal aesthetic and music? She found […]
In my last text about TORIENA, I talked about her 2020 album “PURE FIRE”, which I described as “a hard electronic album, full of instrumental rave music that seems to have no limits to its heaviness”. PURE FIRE was such a unique album and an intense experience from start to finish, so when I […]
Seiko Oomori, a Japanese singer-songwriter that I have written about before, has had a really productive year. She’s usually recognized by her high-energy music and unpredictable voice, and you’ll get more of that on her recent album “PERSONA #1”, even though some aspects of it is different. […]
HANABIE。 (“花冷え。”) is the Japanese metal band on the rise with the crazy gimmick:y music videos: They mix heavy metal with classic J-pop cuteness, which they absolutely aren’t the first at, but what differs them from many others is that their gimmicks don’t have any super-obvious ca […]
After the heavy “Cowboys From Hell” and the heavier “Vulgar Display of Power”, Pantera decided to release the even heavier album “Far Beyond Driven” in 1994. It topped the U.S. Billboard 200 Chart, and Pantera got called an “overnight sensation” after being an active band for 13 year […]
ELLene’s debut EP “Mad Maria” from 2020 sounds way too good to be a debut EP. That’s because it kind of isn’t one. It may be the first work that “ELLe” and “Ené” have made together, but seperately they’ve made more stuff before. The singers ELLe and Ené are diverse and talented […]
In 2020, Japanese artist Toriena released a hard electronic album called “Pure Fire”, full of mostly instrumental rave music that seems to have no limits to its heaviness. It’s a great album, but I don’t want to stop at that conclusion, because Pure Fire is more than just a great music album […]
“I ? Natural” is one of the more straightforward and clear albums from the legendary K-pop star Lee Jung Hyun. Even though the unclear “wildlife” theme confuses a bit. Everything’s either brown or toned-down, which doesn’t at all align with the music, that is her usual colorful and power […]
This album from 2000 by the K-pop legend Lee Jung Hyun is so conceptional and still it doesn’t have a clear concept. Because there’s too many of them. And what is the album called? “Peace”? “Lee Jung Hyun II?” “Nuh”? I don’t know. Listen to the whole album on Youtube! The song “? […]
HyunA just released her new EP “I’m Not Cool”, and I must clarify that she IS cool, no matter what she says. She’s so cool I don’t feel the need to cover up my excitement for her with intellectuality (just look at 1:06 and tell me you don’t love her). She seems to have this effect on eve […]
Who is Yoneko? An ex-member of alternative idol groups MIGMA SHELTER and Bellring Shoujo Heart, who went solo and thereafter completely independent by expressly leaving the “idol” life. But what does Yoneko say about Yoneko? Yoneko says this about Yoneko: – “An alternative singer-songwriter […]
A reunion of current Brokencyde and former Brokencyde! I wonder what the “I can’t believe Brokencyde is still making music?!” people will say when they see Phat J is back, and he’s back dancing in a crocodile outfit?! Probably: “Wow.” “Mirage” is a nostalgia EP which isn’t aiming t […]
“Kintsugi” by Seiko Oomori starts as an “evening” instead of a “morning”, and Seiko talks about music being “a five-dimensional thing that can change the time axis”. Time has apparently inspired her writing for the album, and I guess it’s up to people like me and you to figure out […]
Ten years later – is it really that bad? No, it’s very good. And weird. The metal screams aren’t what’s weird, what’s weird is to use them for screaming the words “it’s boppin’ for sure”. They distort and autotune the screams, and use them in all places possible (compared to before […]
Ten years later – is it really that bad? No, it’s very good. And weird. The metal screams aren’t what’s weird, what’s weird is to use them for screaming the words “it’s boppin’ for sure”. They distort and autotune the screams, and use them in all places possible (compared to before […]
Six out of the eleven songs of “Kiss From the Darkness” have a music video (and one has a lyric video), which makes “Kiss From the Darkness” feel like a live show, or a movie, or a prolonged music video. We see Scandal rocking away in colored rooms, dancing in the street, and most notably we […]
“Honey” is a rock album with introspective and emotional lyrics, sometimes bordering to punk and sometimes to balads. Soundwise they have ditched most of their pop influences, but it’s still present in their choruses, with guitarist Mami Sasazaki giving the album a lot of hit quality with her […]