The Japanese Popstars - Controlling Your Allegiance Album Review
The Japanese Popstars are neither Japanese nor pop stars, if you are using Pop in the literal sense. They are in fact a trio of gentlemen from Ireland who's sophomore album is an exciting blend of House and Electronica which should definitely earn them star status in the electronic music world. Having just live-tweeted my first listen to the album, here are some deeper thoughts on the sounds found inside.
My first exposure to The Japanese Popstars was via their remix of Daft Punk's "Arena" from the Tron Legacy: R3C0NF1GUR3D set. At the time when I reviewed it, I stated they may have won a new fan based on this track. I only wish I'd picked up Controlling Your Allegiance sooner. This album features a very listenable blend of House and melodic, futuristic Electronica, with a group of surprising and well-placed guest vocalists across most of the disc's 12 tracks.
A good three-quarters of the album spotlights the roster of guest vocalists which, describing as eclectic doesn't do it justice. Easily the biggest name in the guest vocal department is The Cure's Robert Smith. Quite frankly, when you pair Smith with an electronic-based performance, you are going to end up with pure gold.
The Japanese Popstars - Take Forever (Original) Featuring Robert Smith by The Japanese Popstars
The other vocal spots are held down, each in the respective singer's own style, by Tom Smith of Editors, producer-singer Dot JR, Irish folk singer James Vincent McMorrow (in a very well done casting-against-type performance), LA-based singer Morgan Kibby and Irish singer Lisa Hannigan. The trippiest song on the album features a unique vocal turn from Jon Spencer (yes, of Blues Explosion.
Destroy by The Japanese Popstars featuring Jon Spencer
These vocal tracks work extremely well in similar fashion to how effective The Crystal Method used an array of guest vocalists on their most recent release, Divided By Night (which, if you haven't heard it, go pick it up along with The Japanese Popstars!)
While there isn't a weak song among the vocal tracks, when it comes to the instrumental pieces, The Japanese Popstars up their game even more. Songs including "Catapult", "Tomorrow Man" and "Our Building Block" have a futuristic sensibility to them, not in an Italo Space Disco way, but they do lead one to envision a dance floor, circa 2050.
From the dozen tracks on Controlling Your Allegiance, two stand out even more from the rest. "Fight the Night" featuring Morgan Kibby on vocals could have been a featured piece on Miami Vice had it been recorded two-plus decades ago. It is what I like to call a perfect "night ambience" song: a piece of music that could be the soundtrack to your drive across a neon-lit cityscape. (This is actually something I need to write a specific piece about. *Makes note).
The other stand out track is "Falcon Punch". Of course gamers are going to sit up at the name drop of Captain Falcon's signature fighting move. This is no remix of a piece from Nintendo's F-Zero. It is a big, fun, slightly obnoxious-in-a-good-way, slice of electronica that demands to be played loud. I wasn't able to locate this song in official form from the artist to embed here, so I encourage you to check out The Japanese Popstars Controlling Your Allegiance to hear it and the other great tracks on this album, for yourself!
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