🔮 IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER: GUS BONITO'S TOP MUSIC OF 2023

Hello. Happy New Year. The year begins with a selection of last year's best music as it appeared to your friend and mine, Gus Bonito (alias: the human, Douglas Augustus Lobban). Gus needs no introduction, but here it is. He comprises one third of the wonderful electronic pop rap trio, Kero Kero Bonito and also creates his own music, mixes and remixes, sometimes as Augustus, other times as Gus Bonito but perhaps most notably under the moniker Kane West, a stalwart of the experimental netlabel PC Music.

Another reason that Gus needs no introduction is because he wrote his own (below). Enjoy.

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And so the Earth's 2023rd rotation around the sun following the birth of baby Jesus is complete. My central preoccupation this year has been the next Kero Kero Bonito album, but there was time for some extracurricular activities, like KKB's theme song for the Pokémon World Championships, the Kane West slot on PC Music's 10th anniversary mix, and my and bo en's remix of our old song "Money Won't Pay" for his Pale Machine 2.

In fact, my first major activity of 2024 will be to bring a rare Gus Bonito vs. Kane West live show on tour across the USA with bo en and Kikuo; see you there music lovers.

My personal musical highlight was probably the indescribably mind-melting Yumi Matsutoya concert at Budokan I flew to Tokyo specifically to see (thanks Ken), but it was a solid year for new music too. Here's some 2023 music that reflects my experience of the year in no order.

underscores – Wallsocket

Gus Bonito: Cutting edge digital indie rock that precisely captures small town American paranoia.

Laura Groves – Radio Red

GB: Masterful singer-songwriting for the ages.

Braids – Euphoric Recall

GB: Lush, creative arrangements and joyfully exploratory vocals just sound great.

A. G. Cook – 0000ff

GB: A rarely personal farewell to an era. See also: everything else PC Music released this year, one of their best.

Lil Hero – big ballin

GB: One of the sparkliest hyperspeed TikTok rave pop gems (the parent EP [pawwwfect!] came out this year so it's not cheating). See also: kkbutterfly27xx's suburban BritTok madness and Odetari being embraced by the masses despite zero trad music journalist acknowledgement.

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[cf. kkbutterfly27xx - Barbie Lifestyle
Odetari - Good Loyal Thots]

Frost Children – Speed Run

GB: Expertly-tooled electro house for the hyperreal generation.

Caroline Polachek – Desire, I Want to Turn Into You

GB: There's a reason why this is lots of people's 2023 favourite; a triumph of the virtues of great chords, beautiful melodies and insane vocals.

Tapeworms – IRL

GB: Tapeworms are one of the best future rock bands out there right now.

felicita – Spalarkle

GB: I saw Felicita thrice this year, performing completely different shows each time. I think this might be the best thing they've done yet.

Jessy Lanza – Love Hallucination

GB: The record that means the ever-reliable club-pop deconstructivist Jessy Lanza's discography now comprises four essential albums.

Jockstrap – I<3UQTINVU

GB: 2023 was the year the credited remix was confirmed as the musical equivalent of ignored DVD bonus content (I'm saying this as someone who still does and enjoys remixes). In its place comes the mysterious collaborative-self-remix-album-sequel. See also: bo en's pale machine 2.

Max Tundra – This Woman's Work

GB: Don't call it a comeback! See also: Max Tundra's "Lights 2023".

• 🔔 See Gus Bonito on tour with himself and bo en this month if you're in the United States of America.
• 🔔 Illustration [top] by Charlotte Mei.
• 🔔 While you're here, check out the patented* yes/no Lazy Interview with Kero Kero Bonito from 10 years ago. TEN YEARS.

*not patented

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📠
☟ Gus Bonito Internet Presence ☟
facebook ⚘ soundcloud ⚘ instagram ⚘ twitter ⚘ KKB official site ⚘ KKB TikTok

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🐣 KERO KERO BONITO — TIME TODAY

Taking off into a world of ceaseless leisure, whimsical hope, the hefty air of summer and free time finding its way into our hearts, this is the wonderful 'Time Today' by the trio that is Kero Kero Bonito. Usually and perhaps more well known for their bilingual Anglo-Japanese playground-rhyme-raps and polished analogue collages of electronic sound, 'Time Today' is a bouncy bopper of a track, with all the airiness, kinetic journeymaking rhythm, and tomorrow-never-comes sweet stoicism that'd make for a good ending theme for a slice of life (or other genre of) anime. The outward appearing of the track says as much, but so do the lyrics, cradling ambition in simple lines like opener, "I got so much time today / I got hopes and dreams and plans all yet to be made" and "But I don't / Even know / Where I should be trying to go / So I guess I'll follow my nose." All honest, all relatable.

It bears a resemblance to Shibuya-kei, the Japanese genre defined by its mix of styles, and yep it's all here: the lounge atmosphere, the electronic keyboard sounds, the jazz chord progressions, the busy upbeat tempo. Those gently unexpected progressions – founded on lovely warm bass, which really complement the cosy, comfy texture of the organ-ish chords – make it colourful and full of feeling, whilst typically KKB musical asides like chiming little melodies, sun-glinting sparkles, whoopy instrumental warbles, and drum machine fills decorate it with engaging nuance and keep things fun.

It is also brief—not too brief, but the sort of brief that mirrors how the song feels and what it says: that time, especially when everything feels right, seems to stretch on and on ahead of you – that "I got so much time today" refrain right? – but before you know it you're thinking, where's it all gone? With its lyrical references to day and night, dawn and sunset, you can see that it's a hopeful start-of-the-day song for the end of the day, a late afternoon reflection for tomorrow's bright morning.

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• 🔔 This lovely song is taken from the upcoming NEW Kero Kero Bonito album Time 'n' Place, which is coming soon. That's all we know.
• 🔔 KKB also took part in YES/NO's Lazy Interview series all the way back in 2014. Have a lil' read if you feel like it~

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📠
☟ Kero Kero Bonito Internet Presence ☟
facebook ⚘ soundcloud ⚘ official site ⚘ twitter ⚘ tumblr ⚘ youtube ⚘ instagram ⚘ wikipedia ⚘ songkick

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🐣 KERO KERO BONITO — FOREVER SUMMER HOLIDAY

The pastel tones of this track are imbued with carefree havingfun-ness, not necessarily pleasure-seeking nor hedonistic because those things are overly gratuitous, but instead Kero Kero Bonito's summer anthem, like many KKB bangers before it, strips things back and makes things simple for us with a head-over-heels sense of freedom and innocence, all the while bass bloops, synth shimmers, rounded drum machine jostle tumbles along.

Sarah code-switches not only between Japanese and English but also between singing the fresh pop melody and calling out in playground rhymes. It is without pretence supercharged with pop power, breezily skipping with digitised vocodered softness, spinning the track's catchy lines with metronomic rhythm: "And I gotta find my shorts and shades, cause I know the sun is here to stay, so we can all go take a break on a forever holiday." The content of the bouncy-floating hook, of the entire song in fact, highlights a specific theme—a 'Forever Summer Holiday', an illustration of the feeling of wholesome anticipation when the vast summer seems to stretch out in front of you without end, each sunny day time to fill with whatever you want.

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☞ RARE YES/NO LAZY INTERVIEW #26 W KERO KERO BONITO (2014) ☜

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Nothing beyond simply having fun is insinuated in this condensed idealisation of the summer break; a quality of non-nostalgic longing that makes Kero Kero Bonito so fresh is that rather than aching over things that could be considered faded and gone, their music instead summons that feeling as a present, happy, here-and-now occurrence. Syncopated chords add a party atmosphere to the proceedings, glimmering liquid synth brings poolside sparkle, fun ornaments pop by (e.g. 1:44) for a VGM infusion; something about the vocal melody and tone recalls Mario 64's file select screen, then there's the Nintendo-flavoured marching band drums at 2:22. The triumvirate of KKB powers on unmatched, bubblegum princess pop made universal, experimental computer music throwback sounds made polished and digestible, the indoors outdoors, the bridging of things and unabashed celebration of moments.

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• 🔔 'Forever Summer Holiday' is taken from Kero Kero Bonito's Japanese edition of their 2016 album Bonito Generation, out 12th July on Sony Japan.
• 🔔 There is also a video for 'Forever Summer Holiday', directed by Theo Davies.

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📠
☟ Kero Kero Bonito Internet Presence ☟
facebook ⚘ soundcloud ⚘ official site ⚘ twitter ⚘ tumblr ⚘ youtube ⚘ instagram ⚘ wikipedia ⚘ songkick

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LAZY INTERVIEW #26: KERO KERO BONITO

← LAZY INTERVIEW #25: TROPES

Another Lazy Interview. #HaterzStayBack

But in all seriousness, a trio of very nice musicmakers making unique music step up to the plate and hit three over-the-fence home runs. Yes, it's Kero Kero Bonito (or KKB as you are quite at liberty to say)! This 3-piece are doing good things for music. Why? How? Well they make a kind of pop music, a weaving together of gleefully pedestrian bilingual rap, minimalist drum machine dancehall, and cutesy melodies: something they've tagged "ultrapop" and something that I doubt you've ever truly heard before. You may've heard incubative versions of it, but nothing like this. No no no.

They dropped their debut mixtape / album Intro Bonito last year, and made it freely available, but NOW they are releasing it on Monday, officials, on nifty record label Double Denim. I talked about the first offering from that mixtape (which is now strangely the LATEST track to be taken from the album) called 'Sick Beat' – a great introduction to the wonderful world of KKB, and interesting in that Sarah raps about playing or, actually, being sick at videogames, with the line "It's often said, I should get some girly hobbies instead" just about summing up the unfortunate opinion of the general populace (probably). GAMES FOR EVERYONE is what we say.

There's also a very fun video for call-and-response style track 'Kero Kero Bonito' – super colourful and nicely random, why not watch it?

Anyway they're just about blowing up right now, and with the album being released on Monday, what else is there to do but be dunked concisely into the "playful/strange" swimming pool that is KKB as they collectively quickfire-answer these damn lazy questions of ours.

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Who are you? Where are you from? What do you do?
We’re KKB, we’re from everywhere and we do our homework.

Why did you decide to start creating music?
Because the youth of today need a political voice!!!!!!!

How would you describe your sound? What makes you and your style stand out?
Bilingual schoolyard dancehall. Bilingual schoolyard dancehall.

Is there a perfect time and place for listening to your music?
iTunes, any time.

What inspires you most when writing a song?
Cats, dogs etc.

What is your most memorable musical experience?
We played at a local hall and the old people were dancing in a ring.

What are your favourite three songs at the moment?
Sarah: Chibi-Tech – Moe Moe Kyunstep (PART II - キュン -)

Jamie: Danny L Harle – All The Time

Gus: Pa’s Lam System – Like A Lady

Who do you most admire in the music world?
Jack Thomas and Hari Ashurst-Venn.

In your opinion, what is the future of music?
#ultrapop.

What's the future of your music - what do you hope to do next?
More chords – world tour.

What, aside from music, is most important to you?
Social media presence.

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• DO download Kero Kero Bonito's mixtape Intro Bonito on Monday. Massively worth it ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
• Also check out a load of other artists answering questions in the Lazy Interview series.

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← LAZY INTERVIEW #25: TROPES

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☟ Kero Kero Bonito Social Media Presence ☟

Facebook • Soundcloud • Twitter • Tumblr • YouTube

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