De De Mouse
Glass Of Heart
De De Mouse is a Japanese electronic musician whose been pumping out music for quite some time, but I only just recently discovered him. His past two albums Be Yourself and Dream You Up are fucking glorious dance records that seamlessly blend together glitch-IDM elements with four-on-the-floor disco beats and pure pulsing techno. Dude is my life right now.
Almost all of his music is available on the American iTunes store, look it up and give it a listen, I can’t imagine that you’ll be disappointed if you’re in the mood for happy-fun dance music. This shit is like candy it gets me going so much. They still make DDR here in Japan, if they put some of his tracks in it that would get me back in the arcade for sure.
I’ve been wanting to share his music for some time, but like I said, almost all of his music can be bought legally in the states, so I was hesitant to. Fortunately, his latest album came with an extra one-track bonus CD only available at Tower Records. You can’t grab that in the states, and I highly doubt that I’m cutting drastically into his sales by sharing it here tonight.
“Glass Of Heart” is a fantastic example of the De De Mouse sound, distorted vocal samples layered upon wonderful booming beats and an infectious upbeat energy that reminds me of the best late-70s disco and 80s house had to offer. It’s a mish-mash of everything that I love in dance music. Bombastic and beautiful all at the same time. God damn it’s good.
Inoyama Land
Shuffer (Live 2018)
I’ve only written about this group once, all the way back in 2014. They’re an ambient duo who were signed to YMO’s Yen Records label back in the 80s. Their first album, 1983’s Danzindan-Pojidon is one of my favorite ambient records, very chill while still managing to hold my interest with enough melodies and hooks, a very delicate balance that most ambient acts can’t manage very well.
They’ve put out a few other albums since then, one as recent as this year. But I think that most of them are compilations of unreleased or live material, or reworkings of past tracks. Additionally, none of them really hold a candle to that first release, which is just light years beyond anything else they ever put out. Of course, of all their records, their first and their best was the one that was out-of-print the longest. In recent years I saw it going for well over a hundred bucks on either CD or LP. Thankfully, it’s back in print, and with a new remaster to boot!
Just like the De De Mouse record prior, some locations selling this CD are including a bonus CD with a single bonus track, this one a live rendition of the 1983 album’s opening number. Give it a listen, and if it’s at all something that you think you might be into, consider tracking down a that first album now that’s it’s a little easier (and a hell of a lot cheaper) to get a hold of. It’s even on iTunes too! All this Japanese music becoming available on US digital marketplaces…such a weird thing.
There’s so much horrible ambient music out there (shit, even Inoyama Land have released more of their fair share of it) so when honest-to-goodness great ambient music comes along, I always want to do my best to get the word out. As I get older and more stressed out, I find myself drawn to this stuff more and more. I guess that’s kind of a stereotype? I don’t know or don’t care if it is. I just know that my brain is broken and this stuff can be a band-aid on occasion. I guess they call it healing music for a reason.
I dunno, Motorhead can heal me too, it’s just a different kind of medicine.
Thanks for introducing Inoyama Land to me, never heard of them before. The ambient connection was clear to me as soon as I saw that cover art, similar to Brian Eno’s first ambient albums, also with map covers.
Very kind of you to post a DDM rarity! Never heard Inoyama Land, but that track reminded me of World’s End Girlfriend.