Flipper's Guitar - good ol' indie/pop band from Tokyo, Japan

Flipper's Guitar was an indie pop band from the Tokyo, Japan late 80's/early 90's scene. A couple of the members went on to form solo careers following the demise of the band. One of them made quite the name for himself under the moniker of Cornelius. Anyways, this charming band was introduced to me a number of years ago by a dear friend named Hiroho, whom went to school with one of the members back in the day. For that I am forever grateful as their songs have brought me joy for many years. My favorite is "Hello" from Three Cheers for Our Side.


Some years afterwards, I discovered their album Doctor Head's World Tower. You might be questioning my grammar, though I said that correctly. That title has turned some heads upon recommending the album previously to others. Where do bands get these names from? If you go to their Wikipedia, surprisingly they have an answer for that. I was a bit shocked to learn of their shoegaze influence and what they had evolved into. Check it out, it's a doozy.

Vintonic "I Want You Back" & "Cinta Yang Baru" (singles)

Vintonic is a trio from Jakarta, Indonesia. Although they got their start in 2019, their stage presence is so powerful that they give the impression they've been around far longer. At their secret show in the summer of 2019, they opened with a-ha's "Take On Me" and I never thought I'd witness a singer hitting every note of that song. The video for their single "I Want You Back" is entertaining and very well done. The lyrics are bilingual, a mix of Bahasa Indonesia and English. The title of course seems self explanatory and it is somewhat, though upon watching the video, you'll see both sides of wanting someone back.

As for their other single "Cinta Yang Baru", which in English translates to 'new love' is very catchy. Unlike "I Want You Back", this song is strictly in Bahasa Indonesia. Even if you don't know or understand the language, it is indeed a very catchy song and has high potential of crossing borders into other countries. Although Indonesia is the worlds fourth most populated country, music from there is grossly under represented in other countries outside of Asia.

The average indie music lover in America or Europe for instance would likely struggle to name three bands from Indonesia. With that said, you'll be hearing more about Indonesian music on this blog in the weeks, months and years to come. Vintonic's music in general definitely has a welcome 80's vibe going on. I'm looking forward to hearing more from them. I've posted their lyric video so hopefully you can sing along and perhaps use google translate and learn a new language while you are at it.

Stereolab "Margerine Eclipse"

The focus of this blog is and largely always has been, to have an emphasis on relatively unknown bands. It's hard to say that Stereolab would fit into that mold, though I've found that more times that not, a number of folks I have spoken with in recent years either aren't familiar with their music or have at least heard the name somewhere but still haven't listened to their music. Anyways... Stereolab's album Margerine Eclipse may be a fair place to become acquainted to their music if you are a first time listener of their tunes.

it is safe to say that Stereolab's music has played a very big role in shaping some of the indie bands of today and yesterday. Let's start with a couple of my personal favorites. I grew up listening to a lot of Ivy. For those familiar with Ivy, you could tell that their singer Dominque Durand's voice had to gather at least some inspiration from Stereolab. Even Swedish band Testbild! evokes or is at least overly compatible to Stereolab. The vocals and melodies on Margerine Eclipse are insatiable.

Give their track "Margerine Melodie" a spin:

Tender Tones "In Dreamed Lives"

After a long (very much unplanned) break from music blogging, I am back. Despite all the past reviews, I believe this is my first attempt to ever embed a video on the blog, so hopefully it's showing up fine. Any tips for making that look better are welcome (or take the bypass to YouTube). Anyways onto the band...

Tender Tones are a duo from Paris, France. Although they may not describe their music as dream pop, "In Dreamed Lives" is the epitome of dream pop. I've shared this video with a few folks already and one of them laughed when I said how much I loved the beats and another remarked that they hoped that I wasn't going to say they had broken up the band or something nonsensical like that. The intro to their latest single "Pay More Pray More" reminds me a lot of Loveless era My Bloody Valentine and also has a similar vibe to Joy Division.

I may be the first or among the first to describe the following in this manner... During these difficult times, it's great to support musicians, however it's perhaps better if you can find ways to support them more directly... You know, to do the most good. I encourage you reach out to musicians directly asking how you can best do that and not to merely rely on cues from folks taking a sizeable cut from that.