DJ RELAX BGM — ROUTINE BGM

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Officially titled 家カフェ ギターのおしゃれな音楽 ("Stylish Guitar Music for Home Cafe" in English), 'Routine BGM' is an example of a phenomenon of background music being made to soundtrack certain space.

A spiritual successor to VGM (videogame music) as much as ambient or environmental music, BGM of this ilk has a particularly strong following and usage in Japan; many channels late at night on Japanese TV feature lounge, jazz and bossa nova-flavoured BGM as soundtrack for gentle nature documentaries, or programs that follow tram journeys around the world.

DJ Relax BGM, the creator of 'Routine BGM', has created this in response to the pandemic. Its official title, referencing an at-home cafe, helps those working from home to change the atmosphere of their rooms. "The atmosphere of a space, in a room or inside a car, changes dramatically [with BGM]. It is where a 'space' is made," they say to yes/no via email. "I'm a guitarist and personally I like bossa nova, but I think it is one of the most relaxing types of music."

The love of bossa nova shines through on 'Routine BGM', with its warm, relaxed chords providing a snappy yet comforting backdrop to a cartwheeling solo that seems to pour like liquid over the top.

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• 🔔 Find more relaxing BGM on DJ Relax BGM's YouTube Channel.

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📠
☟ DJ Relax BGM Internet Presence ☟
official site ⚘ youtube ⚘ spotify

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🐣 GEO — MÁGICA FEAT. CARO PIEROTTO

Last time we heard from GEO it was a glittering trail of intricate percussion and chimes in the form of lovely sound-sonnet ‘For You’. This time around the LA-based musicmaker gives us an insight into what makes him tick musically with a slice of sound that celebrates the rhythms of latin music.

“I sat down and wrote this one in an attempt to pay tribute to my love for the way latin makes me feel,” he tells us via email. And what a homage it is. Rather than pursuing one genre or another, and attempting to make something that is bossa nova, or samba, or whatever, ‘Mágica’ really does feel like a celebration: a rhythm that winds and sashays, more of that texturising percussion we’re used to that gives it some lush depth, and breezy chords that conjure cool scapes by the sea, instantly capitvating satin Ipenema vocals.

“To help pay homage to my roots,” GEO explains, “ Caro Pierotto graced this song with a beautiful Portuguese verse about finding magic in a new love.” Graced is definitely the right word, with this vocal and its pitch-shifted iterations adding beauty to the track.

This is not a typical bossa nova track, or a song that is typically anything. It’s a creation inspired by latin music, and as such it has taken interesting tangents from elsewhere, encompassing flavours like future funk – with that thudding groove and upbeat atmosphere – and even the somewhat-disco feel reminiscent of Japanese city pop. The lead synth-brass melody that refrained throughout reminded me of the 2 player version of the Casino Night level on Sonic 2. ‘Mágica’ is a versatile track that defies expectations in a modern cosmopolitan retelling of traditional sounds.

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• 🔔 Have a look-see at 'Mágica' on HypeM.

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📠
☟ GEO Internet Presence ☟
facebook ⚘ soundcloud ⚘ spotify ⚘ instagram

facebook ⚘ soundcloud ⚘ official site ⚘ twitter ⚘ youtube ⚘ instagram

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🐣 YOMO-DA — ODAYAKA?

It's a sea-based intro, setting the scene with the clopple and clapping of watery sounds morphing to the crash and topple of waves on a beach. A tract of piano with dramatic baroque flavours of minor-major modulations switches between daintiness with light trills and skipping notes and something more colossal, strong robust chords; between a picture of the calm sea and the ocean fraught with ferocity. A plaintive melody chimes in, something reminiscent of the opening theme to Zelda: Link's Awakening, which also features strong maritime themes with 8-bit renderings of sea and surf. At 1:10 chimes whisk us from the ocean scene, the cresting waves, shifts the camera from directly focusing on the sea to the town cradled in the bay, the buildings overlooking the blue expanse.

Japanese musicmaker yomo-da turns the track into a jazzy illustration of life by the sea, a bossa-nova rhythm in the soft percussion the tingling cymbal shuffle and offbeat allure of the bass-rimshot pattern, a Latin coastal groove that soaks your mind with sultry azure visions. Warm organ chords play with airy turbulence and romance, a fluttering tremolo pulsing in your ears with a dreamy, far-off appeal, the muffled bed over which the piano returns and tumbles virtuoso, twinkling with the angularity of light and shade in the city, the bustling boulevards, narrow lanes, breezy palms, all of it fading into an aching silence where this conjuration gradually dissolves. 'Odayaka?' is the sea – fickle, light, beautiful, vast – whilst it also reflects the moods, the hearts, of the people who live with it.

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• 🔔 'Odayaka?' is taken from yomo-da's recent EP, よりぬき四方田 (Yorinuki Yomoda – The Very Best of Yomoda). Released by Japanese netlabel OMOIDE LABEL, you can download it from their Bandcamp page on a name your price basis.
• 🔔 In the SoundCloud description of this track is written:

  おだやか たおやか
  海を見に行こう

  mild, magnificent
  let's go to the sea

  The title, 'Odayaka?' refers to the mildness of the sea. Yes it's nice, it's breezy, calm—but, taking special note of that question mark, not always.

• 🔔 The artwork for the EP was created by 南雲哉果 Saika Nagumo. The selection and mastering of the four tracks for the EP was done by OMOIDE label owner, YZOX.

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📠
☟ yomo-da Internet Presence ☟
soundcloud ⚘ twitter ⚘ tumblr

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LUMI – BOUNDLESS

All I know about lumi is that they appear to be from DC (Washington DC is that right?) and they appear to be 15 (years old? minutes late? metres tall?). Other than that, nothing. But being unknown to YES/NO until about 20 minutes ago isn't a big deal; they've got traction, and for a good reason. Simply put, it's very nice sounds all round.

Case in point: 'boundless'. After a quiet and fizzy crackling build-up, rough backwards sounds rolling gently like waves of static across a somewhat bossa nova rhythm with handclaps and fingerclicks, the track goes into full swing. Jabs of synth and crashing drum between slabs of empty space that leave you reeling, skiffling hi-hats and soft arpeggios adding flavour and fervour to the pastel furore of the track. There's even a key change at the end. It feels boundless, the galloping rhythm and the power of the staccato synth chords fuelling this sense of open space and excitement.

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• And whaddya know, this track is available for downloading free of charge.

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☟ lumi's Social Media Presence ☟
SoundCloud • Twitter

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