Published on
March 28, 2025
Category
Features
Essential weekend listening.
This week’s rundown is by Kelly Doherty and VF contributors Emily Hill and James Hammond.
Various Artists
Midnight In Tokyo Vol 4
(Mule Musiq)
Mule Musiq presents a collection of funky music revolving around the theme of Tokyo nights. A selection of carefully curated 12 tracks exploring straight-up club and driving BQM. This stunning fourth volume comes after a 6-year hiatus and brings together moments of ambiance and party. Exploring the intersection of pop and non-commercial from 1977 to to 1999, it’s an inspired collection determined to penetrate the soul. – EH
DJ Python
i was put on this earth
(XL)
On this first outing for XL, DJ Python offers up five tracks of deep ambience and trickling percussion. Featuring contributions from Organ Tapes and Jawnino, i was put on this earth veers on danceability with its gentle, intricate rhythms jumping off moody textures and pads. A relatively restrained record, i was put on this earth treads gently before closer “Elio’s Lived Behind My House Forever” provides a much-needed sense of release. An intriguing and masterful release from one of the best downtempo artists working today. – KD
Eiko Ishibashi
Antigone
(Drag City)
Antigone finds Eiko Ishibashi returning to the leftfield pop earlier releases, but with a compositional flair and attention to arrangement that’s well informed by her recent hot streak of instrumental and soundtrack work. Joined once again by key collaborators such as Jim O’Rourke and percussionists Joe Talia and Tatsuhisa Yamamoto, Ishibashi’s voice reappears in all its smoothness and assurance, skewing the pop formula with subtly adventurous undercurrents and juxtaposed lyrical imagery. – JH
Ecstasy Boys
Selections Volume 1
(Glossy Mistakes)
Ecstasy Boys, the iconic Japanese electronic outfit formed by Mitsuru Kotaki, Shiro Amamiya and Tatsuro Amamiya in the late ’80s, have their highly sought-after early ’90s sexy house productions reissued. Glossy Mistakes, the Madrid-based label known for explorations in lost musical treasures, bring to life Selections Volume 1 – three tracks originally released between 1990 and 1994 which delve into the realms of the Japanese underground. These tracks resonate beyond borders and exist as a monument to the creativity and innovation of the Japanese scene. – EH
Los Pirañas
Una Oportunidad más de triunfar en la vida
(Glitterbeat Records)
Always ones to seek out the vitality of their live shows in the recording studio, this latest long player from Colombian group Los Pirañas was sparked from groove-based improvisation sessions. Stalwarts of a Bogotá scene that artfully slants cumbia and other folkloric musics into a heady mix of propulsive sound, Una Oportunidad más de triunfar en la vida is another worthy foray into the shared vocabularies of guitarist Eblis Alvarez, percussionist Pedro Ojeda and bassist Mario Galeano. – EH
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