DeliciouSweets now have two CDs for sale at Vancouver’s Zulu Records courtesy of dupobs. The first CD, “Soreike! Haranchi! Suttonkyo!” (see image) contains 18 tracks and a poster. The second CD, “Coquette Gaho” consists of seven tracks and is packaged in a 96 page book containing photos, cartoons, and band data. For those unfamiliar with Shibuya-kei or Japanese independent music generally, DeliciouSweets sounds something like Nomiya Maki-era Pizzicato Five, but with more of a raw edge and unstable character. Songs range from enka-like ballads to silly fluff (sample song title: White Panty Delight) to dark, carnivalesque pieces that would sound at home in a Terayama Shuji movie soundtrack.

On “Soreike!”, one song of particular interest is “Bajoren no Uta”, a call to action taken from an obscure 1968 Japanese film called “Nihonichi no Uragiri Otoko”. DeliciouSweets have adapted the song to reflect current interests: band leader Chaamar is a social activist concerned with the negative impact of gentrification connected to Tokyo’s bid for the 2016 Olympics. The Tokyo government has plans to relocate one of the city’s cultural treasures, the Tsukiji fish market, to a toxic industrial site in order to make room for an Olympic village. This is regressive measure for sure, and one that sounds familiar to dupobs, here in Vancouver, home to another impending Olympic fiasco.

Click here to visit www.derisya.com, Delicious Sweetos’ website, which now contains a dupobs link. Thanks!