Foodman - Ez Minzoku (2016)

Since releasing his first cassette in 2012, Takahide Higuchi aka Foodman has become somewhat of an unofficial ambassador for Japan's robust electronic music scene. He is known for mixing juke/footwork, minimal electronics, and avant-garde pop and collage sounds with an irreverence and sense of exploration that is distinctly Japanese. That adventurous nature continues on Ez Minzoku (translation: Easy Ethnic) with its bold use of bright, plastic-sounding MIDI instruments and negative space minimalism. Juxtaposed against blasts of harmony and two guest vocal appearances from Diskomargaux and Taigen Kawabe of Bo Ningen, Ez Minzoku is almost a micro-genre of its own.