Gratin Carnival - Such December

423 copies, silk-screened sleeve

Fans of Markus Acher's Minna Miteru compilation of Japanese indie pop/folk/electronics take note - Acher's back at it again with this first time vinyl reissue of the fourth album by Koreyuki Mitsunaga's Gratin Carnival project. Like a lot of Japanese music in this style, Mitsunaga's output has very rarely extended beyond domestic interest, although a song of his did appear on another Acher compiled collection, Alien Parade Japan. And while Mitsunaga has been active since 2011, there's no great shame in missing any of it, this stuff isn't easy to keep track of or get hold off, unusual as that is. Is it the language barrier? Though indiepop from Japan does undoubtedly possess its own idiom, it's not so radically difficult as to curtail international appeal. Which leads us neatly to Such December, a record that sounds remarkably similar to how its cover looks, fragile, charming, a little naive and charged with innocent wonder, and transmitting something a little more complex than its basic instrumental make up might suggest. If we're to make any comparisons, Tenniscoats or the Maher Shalal Hash Baz records for Geographic might be an easy place to start, and the more tuned in might possibly hear elements of Andersens lo-fi intimacy or the gentle experimentation of the great Yumbo album, Le Petit Trou. It's the kind of music you can bunker in on and hunker around, radiating acoustic warmth and, regardless of any difficulties in translating, essential goodness.