TOMC

Gimgigam

MON/KU

Three musicians, TOMC, Gimgigam, and MON/KU, who have been rapidly gaining attention in recent years, have miraculously collaborated. The result is an unexpected, ultra-aggressive rock/post-punk tune.

Each of the three musicians is active in a variety of genres such as beat, ambient, city pop, and experimental, and they have created a buzz both in Japan and abroad.
For this album, TOMC was in charge of conception, artwork, rhythm/bass tracks, and chorus, while Gimgigam layered solid post-punk-inspired guitars, and MON/KU added florid, incendiary vocals and edits to the final product.

The result is an "atypical rock anthem" unlike any of the three musicians. This is a killer tune recommended not only to fans of 80's/2000's post-punk, but also to listeners drawn to recent bands like Molchat Doma and Måneskin.

I Wanna Blame

This track-the second official release from IKA, the creative unit formed by TOMC, wheelchair dancer Kenta Kambara, and human-augmentation researcher Ryoichi Ando-was composed with the theme of exploring physical diversity.

Blending sleek synthesizers, gospel-inspired choral textures, and voices with a folkloric timbre, it unfolds as an intelligent, futuristic dance piece-like stepping into the world of science fiction. The music takes "gaze and self" as its central theme, channeling the tension, thrill, and dramatic qualities that arise from the relationship between the individual and their surrounding environment.

Gaze and Self

A track created for IKA, a creative unit formed by wheelchair dancer Kenta Kambara, media design Ph.D. Ryoichi Ando, and TOMC, dedicated to exploring physical diversity.
Seamlessly shifting between ambient, trip-hop, and drum'n'bass, it's a futuristic and progressive piece of electronic music ---- an intelligent dance track brimming with overwhelming energy, as if transcending the blurred boundaries between the human body and technology.

Ambiguity Is Mine

TOMC, a Tokyo-based artist, has consistently explored the role of ambient music in the context of urban life throughout his career. In his 2022 work Music for the Ninth Silence, which connects life in Tokyo with Carl Jung's theories and features tracks each timed at 4 minutes and 33 seconds, and in his 2023 soundtrack MORAL, based on the iconic play by Koharu Kisaragi that reimagines 1980s Tokyo, TOMC has continued to delve into this relationship. His latest work, Shared Senses, is the culmination of these efforts.
Urban life is characterized by countless people crossing paths, surrounded by various elements, where small dramas unfold within each person's daily existence. This album attempts to give form to the many abstract voices that float through city life. For example, in the two major tracks that define each side of the album-Shared Senses and True Blue Parade-TOMC employs a "poly-BPM" technique, where multiple tracks with differing tempos intertwine in cycles. This technique captures the subtle beauty and poignancy of fleeting encounters and missed connections in urban life. Furthermore, the interludes of En and Crowded Streets, Empty Bars feature a unique three-dimensional sound design, crafted using the free software Audacity, which seems to bring the textures of the city to life. The album also includes Opera City, a track inspired by the real-life Tokyo area spanning from Nishi-Shinjuku to Sasazuka, where reality and imagination crossfade seamlessly.
Side A of the album, in particular, portrays the delicate emotions of people living in the city. Madoisen stands out as a track that draws inspiration from the song Goin' Home by Dvořák/Fischer, a familiar piece often played in Japanese elementary schools. This track, in its warmth and tenderness, encapsulates TOMC's gentle approach and perspective throughout the album.
On the other hand, Side B takes on a more cinematic view of the cityscape. Crowded Streets, Empty Bars, inspired by a line from the lyrics of The Blue Nile, offers a prime example of this dramatic shift. The album concludes with En II, a reprise of the opening track En, which celebrates the lives and activities unfolding within the urban landscape.
In conjunction with the release of Shared Senses, Kankyō Records has partnered with GRRRDEN, a Tokyo-based DJ and practitioner of plant therapy and raw chocolate, to offer a special essential oil blend alongside the album. This scent, designed to evoke the transparency and clarity of the album and its urban theme, provides a fresh accompaniment to what can be considered a new milestone in urban ambient music.

Shared Senses

Madoisen

Crowded Streets, Empty Bars

ISAFAT

The new song by TOMC, a beat and ambient producer active in Japan and abroad, is a stylish and emortional city funk/neo soul tune in collaboration with upcoming R&B/pop artist ISAFAT.

ISAFAT, who began playing the cello at the age of 3, is known for his ability to take charge of the entire process of writing lyrics, composing, trackmaking, and performing. For this single, ISAFAT updated the chords, replaced some parts with his playing, wrote the top line and entire lyric, and sang based on the track created by TOMC.

This song was mixed and mastered by TOMC himself, the sound design was created with a contemporary R&B pop sound in mind, akin to that of iri, rikon densetsu, etc.

Flashback

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I Wanna Blame

Song List

I Wanna Blame

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