On 2010s albums like Sunny , Lucky, and Emo , Towa Tei simplified his music's titles and concepts, as though he was boiling his art down to its essence. The process continues on LP, Tei's inspired love letter to music and sound itself. Even within his playful body of work, LP is remarkably charming. Unlike some of his previous cameo-laden releases, there are relatively few vocals this time around, leaving Tei plenty of room to revel in synths, beats, and samples. "DJ DJ," a bouncy, buoyant self-portrait, makes spinning, ...
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On 2010s albums like Sunny , Lucky, and Emo , Towa Tei simplified his music's titles and concepts, as though he was boiling his art down to its essence. The process continues on LP, Tei's inspired love letter to music and sound itself. Even within his playful body of work, LP is remarkably charming. Unlike some of his previous cameo-laden releases, there are relatively few vocals this time around, leaving Tei plenty of room to revel in synths, beats, and samples. "DJ DJ," a bouncy, buoyant self-portrait, makes spinning, chopping, and mashing songs sound like it's the most fun it's possible to have. LP's vibrant wit is far from unexpected: Tei's gift for creating songs that are so vivid that they're practically visible stretches back to his time with Deee-Lite (and, one could argue, his roots as a graphic designer and art director). However, there's something special about the way Tei bridges past, present, and future on this album. The pop star Hana and Yellow Magic Orchestra's Haruomi Hosono lend their voices to "Birthday," and the juxtaposition of her brighter tones and his gruffer ones over Tei's bubbly backdrop suggests it's an all-ages celebration. The producer also touches on generations' worth of witty, sophisticated sounds like the Shibuya-kei and city pop homages on the sleekly funky "Rendezvous" and "Magic," or "Consumer Electronics," a glowing vision of technology that feels nostalgic. Fortunately, LP's ties to the past aren't so much dated as they are a summation of all the tricks and techniques Tei perfected over the years. "Fabulous" is a meticulous confection of chopped-up slap bass, staccato trumpets, and vocal harmonies in search of the nearest catwalk, but on "Ringwear," it feels like Tei is physically grabbing his samples and pulling them like taffy. Similarly, he expertly navigates the extremes of "Mind Power"'s buzzing sonic overload and the drifting finale "Nomadologie," where a trumpet wanders through a fluttering ambience that's just as intricate but much less hectic than what came before it. Though the likes of the PC Music collective made stylish, proudly artificial pop in vogue at the time of LP's release, these amuse-bouches for the ears prove that Tei's excellence at his craft transcends trends. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi
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