“”An oddly pretty and strangely inviting album; sort of spooky, but in a way that a childhood memory can be spooky. A record which feels almost unintentionally overheard.” - Ezekiel Honig

album samples

promo images

asuna home page

press
“Asuna has previously released music on such esteemed imprints as Lucky Kitchen, Spekk, and/OAR and Apestaartje, and now this third album arrives via the Music Related label. Hailing from Nogoya, Japan, Asuna’s musical aesthetics might be regarded as comparable to the music of compatriots like Takeo Toyama, Aus or Cokiyu, also fitting in with the sort of miniaturised, melodic electronica releases we’ve come to expect from the Flau camp. Using found sounds, toy instruments and a variety of digital treatments these pieces range from slow-building song collages (’Rainy Garden’) to chaotic sample-based compositions like the field recording-based hip hop of ‘Courtyard In Junior High School’. There’s always a keen sense of fun and liveliness to these songs, and that even extends to the more penive music here: eleven minute micro-droner ‘Forget Me Not’ sounds like a Janek Schaefer composition made with the sound of fizzy drinks jostling alongside vinyl crackle. Lovely.” - boomkat.com

an unreleased praveen & benoit song is available today via stereogum’s gumdrop.
also new remixes, from david last, and the landau orchestra are up on rcrdlbl

also check out the rcrdlbl.com review, and exlcusive remix of “embers” by machinedrum (from merck records)

Buy Links:
Darla.com (US)
Othermusic.com (US)
Juno.co.uk (UK)
Warszawa.jp (JP)
P*Dis (JP)

Digital Buy Links:
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Emusic
Boomkat
Other Music

It’s all in the wires. Praveen Sharma and Thomas Meluch (aka Benoît Pioulard) have met only a handful of times and have never resided in the same city, but over the course of two-plus years they have been quietly assembling Songs Spun Simla, a brief but luminescent collection of pieces driven by Praveen’s inventive arrangements and Benoît’s lush vocal harmonizing. Praveen released his remarkable debut Backed by Spirits on the now-defunct Neo Ouija imprint just as Benoît emerged with the Enge EP on Michigan’s Moodgadget label in early 2005. Through mutual contacts they found that each was an admirer of the other’s work, and the seeds for a casual collaboration were sown. Not long after, Praveen returned from a profound journey through his family’s native India with a minidisk full of field recordings and voices, forming the basis of opener “The Tunnel is Still There”. As he continued creating new songs with an ever-expanding palette of instruments and digital effects, Benoît arranged lyrics and harmonies, driven by the unfamiliarity and excitement of the process. Various ideas arose concerning the fate of these works, but once a record’s worth had been amassed, their friends at Music Related expressed interest in a proper release. Songs Spun Simla is named in honor of the village in India from which Praveen’s family originates – it’s inseparable from his musical inspirations yet still distant and shaped largely by memory. His compostions exist on a fitting scale, then; from the stunning, expansive lead-in of “Death as a Man” to the incredibly detailed percussion of “To Scale”, there’s a sense of worldliness, history and nostalgia placed in a crucible with technology and innovation. Much like a travelogue, the six movements of Songs Spun Simla abut soaring highs with passages of quiet, intimate beauty to create a deeply affecting whole.

Press:

Artist Direct Interview here

Xlr8r: on Embers Mp3 (9/10)
It’s surprising that songwriters Praveen Sharma and Benoît Pioulard have only met a few times, because tracks on the forthcoming Songs Spun Simla sound as though they’ve spent the last two years in the same room arranging the musical pieces of each song. In fact, the two found one another mutually, and after Praveen returned from a trip to India, began collaborating on tracks that eventually became Songs. The lush, dense instrumentals and digital effects on the album are the work of Praveen, while Pioulard was at the helm of all things voice-related, weaving layered vocal harmonies throughout the music in chillingly pretty patterns.

Boomkat.com:
This release came about after Kranky’s Benoit Pioulard hooked up with Neo Oija graduate Praveen Sharma. Despite the electronic credentials the two artists share, there’s a pronounced emphasis on the art of songwriting here, with ‘To Scale’ combining live kit drums with deep-set, downbeat electronic melodies in a fashion that’s reminiscent of Dictaphone, while immediately after, ‘Embers’ could be a Beirut track scrambled by a Max/MSP patch. Then, following the droning warmth of ‘1991′, the EP comes to a dramatic ending with ‘Chiaroscuro’, which blends Fennesz-like guitar sculpting with wild, overdriven drums, building up to a noisy crescendo. A great combination of off-kilter vocals and roughly shaped instrumentals, Songs Spun Simla transcends the sum of its parts thanks to an intelligent and emotionally engaging use of electronic treatments and subtle sound-warping effects. Highly Recommended.

Othermusic.com downloads:
Benoit Pioulard & Praveen Sharma’s “Songs Spun Simla” on Music Related (home of excellent Shugo Tokumaru, Marxy, Aus, and ST releases) is a fantastic piece of electronic composition, where the tracks vary from organic, downbeat electronica to processed, Fennesz-like guitar-scapes. What really makes it stand out is Pioulard’s gorgeous vocal harmonizing, which sends “Songs Spun Simla” straight to the very top of the electronica heap.

Gorilla vs. Bear:
I don’t know anything about this collaboration between Benoit Pioulard + Praveen Sharma, but based on this first song to emerge from the record — and the fact that I loved Pioulard’s last effort — I should probably look into it.

yesyesyall.com: track of the day

Letters from a Tape Head: 8.25/10

daisuke records little accoustic pieces. deffinetly from the school of yuichiro fujimoto and asuna. but more melodic. daisuke’s pieces are like trying to remember a dream after you wake up. faimilar, but quickly fading into the noise of life. quickly he is here to remind us of our dreams. to enjoy that we even have them to start with.

creation-centre.com

The Worst Friends put together a mix for us. animal collective and slow disco? you heard it here. we’re really excited about this eclectic mix. we’ve been enjoying the Worst Friends weekly here in NY (brooklyn actually) whenever we can. you should to if your in the area. it’s right here.

they are currently finishing up “prepping” some EPs, and a CD of original material for Moodgadget Records. be sure to check it out when you can.

follow through to the mr. no music page for more info, and downloads, and all that good stuff

You know that footage? it’s old. It’s of a young girl using a hula hoop. It’s really grainy, and playing in slow motion. yeap. That is the feeling of Hula Hooper’s Ep “Good Morning Good Evening” Switching between ethereal vocal ambience, to lovely pop tunes. It will drop you off into a day dream and keep you there the whole time. It’s pretty much absolutely lovely. from beginning to end.

creation-centre.com

new podcast mixed by pandatone. is now up on the podcast page.

Forty Years From Now quickly jumps between glitch influenced pop (”See Saw”), lo-tech garage pop (”Cotillion”), campfire sing-a-long (”Dippy Dave”), gritty synth rock (”Tachikogi”), and powerhouse rock anthem (”To Save Ourselves”). The synth squelch-breakbeat jam of “Cat vs. Mouse” features a guest lead vocal from U.T. - singer of Japanese art-pop girl band Kiiiiiii - and intricate production work by Pandatone.

Although the songs each have their own distinct sound, the album is held together as a single work by the central lyrical concept introduced in the opener “The Lincoln Brigades” and abruptly settled in the closer “The Lincoln Battalions (Reprise)”: we are burdened by history. Marxy shows how this can be true with old girlfriends, old photos, old pop songs, past political failures, past political successes, or obsessions with former pop idols. Forty years ago, no one would have predicted a pop music world still operating on almost the exact same rules of musical composition, but here we are, still wandering in the desert.

download “Cat vs. Mouse”.
stream the album from last.fm

Buy Links:
Other Music
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Parasol
Dotshop
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warzawa
HMV

Digital Buy Links:
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Amazon
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Critics had this to say about Marxy’s first album Kyoshu Nostalgia:

“Kyoshu Nostalgia, triumphs in expertly updating diner-era pop by
fusing it with elements it has rarely, if ever, been exposed to. And
what seems rather simple at face value reveals itself to be heartfelt,
calculated, and complex. The feelings are universal and so is the
music.” - Stylus Magazine

“[Marxy is] a composer who can stuff a 90-second pop miniature with
more ideas than many of his peers offer on an entire album.” -
Splendid Magazine

“Imagine for a moment that the Beach Boys were brought up in Tokyo.
It’s bizarre, unique and completely unexpected. A curio not to be
missed.” - Fat Planet

“I give Kyoshu Nostalgia First Class Honors.” - PopMatters

marxy homepage