Minimal

Gaijin invasion

A few weeks back, I bought my first slice of J-Pop after catching a few late night repeats of Adam and Joe Go Tokyo. The CD in question is Fakevox by Plus-Tech Squeeze Box. It’s a bit like listening to the soundtrack from a quirky Japanese video game, probably Super Bust-A-Move 2. At only half an hour long, it’s not the quantity, but the quality that counts. That half hour is chock full of playful insanity and just begs you to press the Repeat button.

If forced to compare Plus-Tech Squeeze Box to another outfit, I’d say they were closest to the Avalanches, but lighter and faster paced. Even Frontier Psychiatrist, the Avalanches’ wackiest tune, feels incredibly sober and grown up next to this lot. All they really have in common is extensive use of sampling. Elsewhere, on track 7 (named simply *) there are brief echoes of St Etienne. The endearingly childlike vocals combine with the tinkle of a glockenspiel to give a sound faintly reminiscent of I Was Born On Christmas Day.

But... that’s about as far as I can draw comparisons. Maybe a quick Mmmm Bop (Hanson) reference on the start of track 9, Milk Tea, followed by a taste of Tomorrow Never Knows (Beatles) later in? Nope, that’s just daft — like most of this CD, in fact. Daft, but beguiling. Well worth the money, even for such a short-player.

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