ARTIST: YMCK
TITLE: Family Genesis
LABEL: Avex Trax
GENRE: Electronic
BITRATE: 130kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 0h 48m total
RELEASE DATE: 2008-01-16
RIP DATE: 2008-11-05
Track List
----------
1. Prologue 0:38
2. Sabita Tobira No Daihachi 3:05
Tengoku
3. Pleiades 3:32
4. Starlight 3:41
5. Izukata No Fue 0:44
6. Carving The Rock 3:00
7. Future Invasion 4:24
8. Rain 5:11
9. System Reboot 0:25
10. Floor 99 3:20
11. Major Swing 2:58
12. Hachi Ban Me No Niji 6:20
13. Jidai Okure No Sora 5:00
14. Finale -Welcome To The 8bit 6:32
World-
Release Notes:
http://www.ymck.net
Current trends in music reveal that nostalgia is clearly one of the corner
stones of the decaying market. The Strokes and Killers revived a sound almost
two decades old, Bruce Springsteen recently had a number one record with a sound
that was suppose to return to his Born to Run days, etcetera, etcetera. Even in
the underground music community this notion holds some weight. Groups like the
Advantage and Horse the band have been exploiting childhood memories of the old
8 and 16-bit entertainment systems. Video games are obviously a huge part of the
childhood of anyone conceived in the past thirty years. Thus, when a band like
YMCK bases their concept of music around 8-bit arrangements it automatically
makes a minor cult of extensive old school video game fans very interested. Call
it a gimmick, but YMCK have certainly proven that they can create a series of
excellent songs simply with 8-bit programming and some cute Japanese girl
vocals.
YMCKÆs sound can basically be described as hyper cute. Sure, there is a very
intense eye kept on making the arrangements on Family Genesis interesting,
complex, and technically inspiring but that is also clearly a secondary effect
to making some beautifully catchy pop songs. Songs like Sabita Tobari No Dai 8
Tengoku and Starlight run through impressive runs of seemingly random bleeps and
bloops while Midori Kurihara embraces the shades of neon pink around her with a
child-like breathy approach to singing. All of the songs on Family Genesis
basically exploit the same type of approach although there are a couple of
rather depressing instrumental tracks, Izukata no Fue being an excellent
example. The feeling of Family Genesis while cute does retain a melancholy feel
just because of how sparse the musical arrangements are. Think of the use of My
Bloody ValentineÆs Sometimes in Lost in Translation, a beautiful scene yet set
to densely futuristic and depressing music.
YMCK should be rewarded for rising above being a Nintendo based gimmick and
using odd techniques to create some very original and atmospheric music. Family
Genesis is a fabulous pop album that anyone with a pension for highly melodic
music should enjoy for at least some time.