Ultra-violence and erotic-grotesque, lyrical themes revolving around Nazi symbolism, anal rape, and Steve Harvey that make Brotha Lynch Hung seem like Will Smith, the Odd Future collective (or more properly known as OFWGKTA [Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All]) are the next revolution of underground hip-hop. Their popularity already snowballing during the past year, the collective has been compared to the likes of Wu-Tang Clan, and although this may be a label put on any new aspiring rap group that is getting their fair share of press, the term is very fitting here, with the Odd Future collective spanning over a vast amount of members including that of "leader" Tyler, the Creator, his brother Earl Sweatshirt, Domo Genesis, Left Brain, Hodgy Beats, and many others to boot. Each member often appearing on each others albums and even during live shows the stage is shared equally by the members, trading off and performing with other members on songs.

Tyler, the Creator is perhaps the most well known of the group, followed by his brother Earl (who is supposedly in bootcamp right now after his Mother had heard his album). Tyler's album Bastard was finished when he was only 17/18, and Earl finished his earlier this year at the age of 16. Both albums possess a dystopian, darkly ambient feeling that clashes perfectly with the raw vulgarity present.


The whole crew themselves are young, ranging from the age of 16-21, they produce their own beats and push forward a visual style in both video and album art which is almost as abrasive as their lyrics. The effect of their music is quite polarizing, but if you look beyond the surface you'll see past the wrongly accused label of "horror-core" and see something much deeper, almost depressive, with Tyler's album, Bastard, often referencing the father he never knew. Despite all this though, many of the members show a strong sense of intelligence, self-awareness, and tongue-in-cheek lyricism that goes far beyond the years and the skills of their peers in the rap game. Groups like MellowHype (consisting of Left Brain and Hodgy Beats) and Mike G focus less on the vulgarity and explore more ethereal and experimental forms of hip-hop. There isn't much to say about this group that hasn't been said already. You'll either love it or hate it upon listening. To all the Female Trouble readers, I'm more than positive you'll enjoy.


The rest of Odd Future's albums, mixtapes, singles, etc. can be downloaded directly from their Tumblr for free.

-Garrett

JaccaPop is yet another indie techno-pop group from Japan. What amazes me so much about the Japanese music scene is that unlike American music (at least to my knowledge), you have groups making pop music equivalent to that of the mainstream who are still very much set in the indie scene and playing small clubs. I think one of the biggest misconceptions about Japanese pop is that people lump all forms of pop music together and one assumes that just because one is making pop, you're some mainstream star, but that's far from the case (especially when you have great artists like Mizca who supposedly only sold around 100 copies of her 1st CD during her first week, not to mention the hundreds of Doujin musicians out there who have strong underground followings). But I digress.

JaccaPop's sound is very naive, bedroom techno-pop, if you will. Their sound is a bit under-produced in comparison to other groups, but that's where the charm and distinction in their sound lies. Even upon looking at the tracklisting you'll come across grammatically incorrect and misspelled song titles like "Majic Night" and "21th century girl." Singer Sun's voice isn't the strongest, but it fits the music perfectly and it feels endearing to listen to. Miru is the composer for the group, and while his production has little tricks and may not be flashy by any means, the songwriting shows lots of personality. Both members appear to be very young and I believe it shows, but as I mentioned, their lack of experience is what sets them apart, creating a sound that is innocent, playful and endearing. Parsley is only their 1st album and only the start of more amazing things to come.

Amu is described as an "indie/technopop" outfit and rightfully so. With their debut album, "Prism," the group combines the messy quirkiness of indie groups with the cuteness and refined production of bigger technopop acts out now. Imagine the energy of レコライド mixed with Hazel Nuts Chocolate and some very odd production on top of that and you come close to the sound of Amu. They are definitely one of the standout groups in the technopop scene right now and deserve your attention. They don't sound like a group produced by Nakata, nor one by Terukado, and while I do love that sound, it's nice to hear some originality for once and not just another group trying to sound like the next Perfume.