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CMU Approved
Approved: Rica Minami
By Andy Malt | Published on Wednesday 28 July 2010
I think the main thing I love about Western-influenced Japanese music is that it contains so many familiar sounds, but those sounds are played with subtle differences that give everything a fresh feel. Often it can just be a closer attention to detail, sometimes it’s simply a lack of hipster self-consciousness. I’m never sure if this is an intentional spin or a just down to the fact that people on the opposite sides of the planet hear things differently. Whatever, I like it.
The other thing you often find with Japanese artists is that they can take various influences and mix them up in ways that Western artists just couldn’t pull off. Rica Minami, though she has been based in London for several years now, is one such musician. Jazz, math-rock drumming and gentle pop all slip together in her songs completely naturally. Often, the songs sound like they were written to be much heavier and then stripped down completely – a perfect example of this being ‘Kingyo’, which has a breakdown in the middle that you can see creating a frantic mosh pit, if it wasn’t played softly on piano rather than thrashed out on a guitar.
She has various live dates coming up, including a performance at Bincho in Soho tonight.
