"When a child throws down a toy": boxset addtions

 

Chapi Chapo at work

After publishing my playlist chronicling the very much undercovered (and probably mostly in my imagination) movement of Toypop, I was filled with a sense of accomplishment. Over time, however, I was beset by dissatisfaction with the choices I had made both in omission and addition. The former being much more pressing and less of a headache dealing with than the latter, I decided to go about inserting new tracks into the fray.

This edition won't include any fancy HTML tables or much in the way of pontifications explaining each tracks place in the list, how it ebbs and flows, etc etc. Only brief descriptions and numbered bullet points here. I will note that most of the new entrants took things like track length and stream availability in mind, something which I had left at the door in the first undertaking.

Track 5.5: you c - living with you in a bunker full of broken toys and cars

not like a dinasaur (2023)

Great start here, a Bandcamp exclusive by an obscure artist. But it is good stuff. And free!!

I actually own a tape by this artist that is also really nice and worth your time. If I ever followed up that Neo-Detritus thing this would definitely have featured. Unfortunately, I think that will stay in the drafts for the foreseeable future.

Track 7.5: Małe Instrumenty - Diabelska orkiestra

Samoróbka (2013)

First of a lot of groups I overlooked for some reason. Handmade instruments are their bread and the toys are their butter.

Track 10.25: Shugo Tokumaru - Orange

Port Entropy (2010)

This guy floats about in the scene but it was hard to pin down a good track for this list. Certainly a talent, but his work carries a variety of textures that don't always mesh with the "musique du jouet" sphere.

Track 10.75:  Igor Krutogolov's Toy Orchestra - Elvis: Sucker

Children 4 Muzik (2005)

A google search should have led me to adding this strange outfit beforehand but I never got around to it. Definitely in the more obnoxious (not in a bad way) section of toy music purveyors. They also did an album length toy-cover version of Ground Zero's Consume Red. But that's much too long for this playlist.

Track 14.5: Adam C. Burke - The Moral of the Story is...

Toys in Babeland (orig. 1988, re. 2009)

This was a really off-the-wall discovery, but the tone and approach fits like a glove. This dude (who apparently is now trained in Kirtan) composed a series of toy instrument based ditties in the late 80s and has had good use as production music for TV and film.

Seriously, look at the credits list here, I feel I have to have heard one of his compositions once flipping the channels.

Track 20.25: Yann Tiersen - Frida

La valse des monstres (1995)

If one were to take this genre as something real and comprehensive as is, Yann Tiersen probably would be the most famous artist involved. To be fair, a lot of his tracks don't really hit the mark but that is to be expected for someone who does a lot of soundtracks.

Another reason for this addition is I believe Yann was influenced by Comelade when doing the soundtrack to Amélie, so it stands to reason that this influence permeates in other areas of his composition.

Track 20.75: Carton Sonore - Mariposa

Monstersplit (2013)

Dipping into the Monsterk7 well which I had previously neglected, a well that I was sure to return to again in this list. This project dabbles in mood pieces and imaginary soundtracks generally, I think they fit fine.

Track 21.5: Toy-Box Trio - Augury

Miniature Menagerie (2010)

Another obvious choice, if I could have discovered it earlier. Rather obscure group, with only one studio project to show for it as far as I can see. Cool stuff, does exactly what it says on the tin.

Track 22.5: Tycho Brahé - Filaments

Le temps qui passe (2009)

 

Another artist I was familiar with but had a hard time fitting in before, I think this clanging track with some wonky backing vocals fits the bill.

Track 24.5: Pascal Ayerbe - Petits tourniquets

Les gribouillis (2004)

If my memory serves this guy has achieved minor celebrity in his native France making toy covers of popular tracks. Or was it original composition? No matter, this was another glaring omission given his presence on toy music compilations and the style of his music being in line with the Klimperei and Comelade style.

Track 25.5: Margaret Leng Tan - Bicycle Lee Hooker

She Herself Alone (2010)

I was reticent on including anything in the academic classical music world because compositions were either overlong or wasn't really cohesive with my vision of toypop. An exception to this was John Morton's work with musical boxes, which I might have mentioned before was the initial prompt that got me thinking of "toy music" as a genre upon finding it at the library.

This suite section composed by Australian composer Erik Griswold, whom I was unfamiliar with until this discovery, proves a good compromise. Unlike Cage's studies which Tan also performs, this little ditty is a miniature.

Track 26.25: Kuricorder Quartet - おじいさんの11ヶ月 (Ojisan no 11-kagetsu)

笛社会 (2007)

I knew I had to get this project on here somewhere. While not always utilizing toy instruments, their reliance on recorders give them an atmosphere that fits right at home with the rest of the milieu. The itoken connection also helps.

Track 26.75:  Rie Yoshihara - Ooakubi

Oh, What a Beautiful Day! (2013)

Also known as Trico, Rie really does embody what this genre is all about. So much so that she authored a book detailing 103 toy instruments she owns.

This solo album is the most "toypoppy" of her works that I have heard, but she is also in the interesting ambient folk project Small Color which has its flourishes. She also worked on this blissful anime ED which uses a lot of clanging toy pianos.

Track 28.5: GNG - Bancal 7

Bancal (2009)

A borderline case if there ever was one: downright IDM, almost hip-hop beats typified by toypop mainstays like melodica and glockenspiel backings. 

I really wish Gangpol und Mit made a track that featured enough "organic" instruments to make the cut, but alas. Maybe I could expand into another list the "toytronica" side of things.

Track 29.5: Lullatone - Wooden Toy Trumpet

Childish Music (2005)

Promising comp title, but for the most it just isn't in the ballpark. This track is, though, and really the closest this group gets to this current to my ears.

Track 30.5: Pianosaurus - Cherry Street

Groovy Neighborhood (1987)

Yes, this does fly in the face of what I said about the inclusion of stuff like Gizmodgery but at least the conceit of this band lay entirely on the fact that they played with toy instruments. Not too far off from what Comelade was doing with his covers around the time and apparently influenced Twink.

Track 31.5: Chapi Chapo - Buzhug

Assemblage de pièces comeladiennes du plus bel effet (2009)

I have no real excuse as to why this artist evaded me the first time around. I did have trouble finding a suitable non-comp track that was accessible via streaming, weirdly enough. At least this one ties into the compilation well, and "Comeladiennes" is a good byword for most projects featured here.

Track 32.25: Toychestra - The Hammer Song

Sassy Pony (2002)

Yeah, not like I couldn't have looked up "toy orchestra" and found this one. Nice people, though. They gave me an extra CD when I ordered from their Bandcamp.

Track 32.75: Mokumedori - Dans les bois

Mokumedori (2017)

Super late addition, never even heard of this til a few days ago. Nice cinematic penultimate track methinks.

More additions will be made as decimal places permit.

space (is what we need)

 "Spacecore, psychedelic Popnoise, Trashpop-Grunge oder Feedbackpop ..."

Drowning at Tuesday were a Swiss duo made up of Moniflabel alumn Olliwor Fried and a one Souxie, presumably of "the Bashnees", and Roland the drum machine (of Big Black fame). Using the internet, this would be about the extent of information that I would be able to scrump up. That is, if not for the fact that the tape I purchased comes with a whole press kit. So I have quite a bit of info and pretty (monochrome, mostly) pictures to share.

This obscure promo tape wasn't the only thing I wanted to talk about, however. In the time I was able to dig in to this I was observing one of many a battle for acceptance in the RateYourMusic genre queue. A real battleground, the queue was hitting a stalemate on one submission that caught my eye: Space Rock Revival. At the first glance, I wasn't convinced. But on further investigations in my past listening and reading up on whatever zine scan isn't completely paywalled (or not available at all, but still somehow searchable) on Google Books, I gradually started seeing what the proposal was describing. 

A great bunch of groups at the end of the eighties gained the "revived" term of Space Rock. Especially groups residing in that ever so relevant set of islands like Loop, Spacemen 3, Flying Saucer Attack, even My Bloody Valentine. Reading back some contemporary uses I was struck by the fact that the way it is employed from the late 80s through to the 90s doesn't make distinction between the new crop and the supposed progenitors of Hawkwind, Floyd, etc. Coupled with the fact that straight-forward revivalists like Ozric are never really conflated at all makes me wonder of what reviewers meant when they said "space-rock". Of course, J Spacemen and company sound nothing much at all with other space rockers-- all bands in that scene really owe a debt to the Velvets than even more eclectic collectives like Gong. I suggested in the comments that another term used in contemporary reviews and retrospectives to this day would be "Drone Rock". As to whether this really describes the sound, that is a more INDIE/Postpunk tilt of late 60s organ monotony psych/garage, or was rather a filler term which doesn't mean much of anything except to pop in the reader's mind is up for debate. Partially due to the fact that it was so late into the submission, this didn't come to pass. I still hold out hope!

Before I completely lose track of the main subject, here is some further reading from a reviewer working in the 90s. In the article, he shirks the use of space-rock among other terms in favor of "Intuitive Music". Now, I'm not sure what sound I'm supposed to conjure up when I hear the term, so it's a bit contradictory. But, interesting nonetheless. It expands into post-rock and other areas I might have gone into if not for the fact that I don't want to totally derail this particular post.

Now then, the significance of this submission to what I'm sharing today has to do with how the music is described within this promo. Spacecore, psychedelic Popnoise, Trashpop-Grunge, Feedbackpop. It looks like a bunch of terms thrown against the wall, but I see a continuum in the first term in particular. I think it jumped out at me because one of the sources cited used the term Space-Pop. It was from Uncle Scruffi himself! I see this Space Rock Revival business as sort of a missing link between noise-pop and shoegaze, a genre caught in between really. The trouble is terming it at the end of the day.

I will admit to some embellishment: the music presented here isn't really Spiritualized or the rural psychedelia of Flying Saucer Attack... It's actually closer to Curve than anything, except much more lowfi. But I hear an inkling. It is a bit spacey, if your rocket was made from reclaimed material found at a landfill. I kinda like it, not too far off from his solo release either. Minimal by necessity, a harsh little project but well worth a listen despite never being picked up from a label.

Here

toypop box secret menu

Toypop, toy-music, musique du jouet :  music made with toy instruments

If it were only that simple, then there would be no point in making this list. In my experience of engaging with this beautiful little niche crafted across different pockets of the world (often in collaboration with one another) I had begun to notice how this simple choice in aesthetic could expand beyond such parameters. As narrow as it would seem to be, I feel there is something here that is truly unique. As familiar as the sounds of a toy piano and glockenspiel are to one another, I never really tire of that metallophonic clang. The acknowledgement of nostalgia and the childlike wonder that inhabits a lot of the following songs is where I drew most inspiration for my choices, though I will admit to a sort of aleatoric application of curation.

Frank Pahl

...and his tools of trade

What I see in this genre is an experimental form of pop music that is versatile enough to stretch far enough where it would not sound out of place in the more academic couching of jazz and classical. The instruments are atonal in of themselves, lending themselves nicely to these environments, while also reflecting a sort of whimsy and baked in surrealism.

Or serialism, I dunno. The field of electroacoustics also make some cameos, given that the amplification of these instruments might deem it necessary to work in the field. A very organic ambient is created through these methods, contrasting with the out-of-control rush of compilation mainstays Twink and Dragibus. An emergent movements influencing one another from region-to-region, scene-to-scene.

From left-to-right:
Klimperei (fr), Shugo Tokumaru (jp), Madame Patate (fr), itoken (jp)

 This avant/exp nature is where I draw the line for some inclusions. As much as I like Self's all toy cover of "What a Fool Believes" or the toy-organ pop triumph of "Tally Ho!" I just don't think they fit the scene I'm covering here. Same goes for stuff that came before 80s cassette culture where I believe the movement germinated and later spread out from. The influences that go beyond toy experiments of composers such as Alvin Curran and John Cage would be either too obvious or too subjective from artist to artist to really pare down.

We can go over specification and whether or not "Toypop" itself is an appropriate name but, for now, let's enjoy some tunes.

THE ULTIMATE (TOY)BOX SET

Little Bang Theory - Elementary 2008, Acidsoxx Musicks	Toy Suite #3 (6:56) Nothing gets a party started like a 7 minute opus. I figured this would be the best track to really break in new listeners to the world of toypop, training the ear for what's to come so to speak. A good litmus, if they don't like this one (a very meticulously crafted composition consisting of a variety of toy instruments) it's hard to say if they are likely to enjoy the rest of what's to follow. Here's hoping!	doug shimmin, frank pahl, terri sarris (toys,etc.)
David Fenech - Polochon Battle 2007, In-Poly-Sons	Polochon Battle (3:49) Pretty much half the length of the opener, this track is a sly little thing. Instead of making use of traditional toy instruments as previous, it makes music out of toys. In this case, a ping-pong ball. Perhaps a bit unorthodox of a choice but I've had this one in mind since the beginning of this endeavor to show the radical contrasts and range of application one can work with in this arena. In this case the toys make a great percussive accompaniment to the sputtering synths and organs.	everything and the kitchen sink
Look de Bouk Lacrimae rerum 1985, Ayaa 2001, In-Poly-Sons	Tracte-Moi Bien (1:57) One of the secret seminal groups of the 80s RIO scene, along with the likes of Hobbs' Officer!. A distinct aspect of these two groups is their playfulness, which is how Look de Bouk finds their way here. Toytown minimal electro avantprog music, just rolls off the tongue. It also helps that one of the members went on to form In-Poly-Sons.	kwettap ieuw, diddier pietton, denis tagu, etienne himalaya
Pascal Comelade El Primitivismo 1987, DSA 2015, DiscMedi	Sweet Little Sixteen (1:26) I thought that this sweet, little, err--longer than sixteen second track would be a nice little introduction to Mr. Comelade's musical galaxy. Much sparse than what is usual, but a lot can be gleaned from this simple instrumental: A rock'n'roll classic rendered unto a toy instrument. Pascal is no stranger to covers, and this is no comparison to his more audacious ones (especially the ones that feature a plastic straw as an instrument).	you'll be seeing him a lot
Pascals Abiento 2003, DSA	Mayday (3:02) From the man himself, to his followers. Well, I mean, I guess they are his followers. Check the name. And listen to the music, soak it in. This is a wonderful example of this obscure genres somehow global reach, a Japanese ensemble named and styled after the genre's foremost composer. Great, great stuff. This track sets a different tone, more towards the ambient and pastoral languidity.
Tanoshii Ongaku Panorama Camera 1985, Kurichan Record 2017, Super Fuji Discs	サイクル・サイクリング (1:03) One of the more elusive groups on this list, and I mean that with conviction. I don't believe there are any pictures of the group proper, which only adds to the mystique in my opinion. Otherworldly music, not too far from a picky picnic with Uncle Calvin. In the end I find that this particular group's brand of whimsey fits in here more than those ones.
Twink Supercute! 2004, Mulatta	Glowstick Garden (3:19) This project was a tough one to think on. While undeniable in their activites in the field such as appearing in compilations, etc. I couldn't feel that I could gel their music into the mold I wanted to. I faced the same conundrum later on with (spoiler!) Dragibus who were exactly in the same spot in my mind. These essential groups to the toypop scene have such a different aesthetic approach to the genre that I have to respect it. This track is no exception, a kaleidoscope of fun trick noisemakers.	Mike Langlie and his trusty toy piano
Beresford, Homler, Sanderson Berlin Toy Bazaar 2012, Linear Obssessional	Marmolodics Wink of Toast Mitten In [6:39] Now here's an oddball choice. I might have found this by looking up 'toy' on discogs or somewhere but it fits the glove completely. Well, sort of. A very abstract sense of toy-music, less focused on the nostalgics and more on the textures. I would say there is a fine line between this and the works and collaborations of Martin Klapper, where the latter just wouldn't fit on this already sort of uneven list. I feel this electroacoustic improv holds a lot of surprising similarities, and sometimes you need to put a few tracks together to see the full picture.	Beresford, Homler, and Sanderson (no pic of them together?)
F.S. Blumm meets Luca Fadda 2007, Ahornfelder	Achim and Giovi (1:51) Carrying over a bit of the electroacoustic stylings of the previous tracks and again also in the jazz idiom, this shorter track is a bit more playful. I especially like how the very beginning of the track just juts in and shifts the mood a bit.	just chillin
Yuko Ikoma Esquisse 2007, Wind Bell	Moderato (2:12) Music boxes, maybe the first twinge of inspiration for a good amount of the artists in the scene. One might think, at least. Many people's first direct engagements with music happen with this magical little crank box, and in this context it is simply enchanting. Just for a little while. With ambiance, for good measure.	Concertina, I think
Miroque Siro Coccon 2007, 360° Records	Nuuskamuikkunen (1:44) Another genre that comes up when trying to place a toypop release I seem to see a bunch is folktronica. I find it interesting (although I'm reaching a bit cause this isn't tagged as that) because there does seem to be a folktronic scene of sorts in Japan that really seems to go for the more meditative and introspective aspects of the sound. This blend seems to find its way to toypop due to the artists in the scene having a willingness to branch out and use a wide variety of instruments to feature in their ambient tunes. In the case of Miroque, she labels her music a bunch of different terms, most appropriately in this case "Milanorka", which is inspired by the animation where a certain character within the song's title is owed.	cassiopia?
John Morton Outlier: New Music for Music Boxes 2001, Innova	White Tara (4:43) It might be a bit surprising, but this is the disc that first sprung to my mind to start a list about toy-music. I saw it at the library and it got me thinking about how far the label could go. Listening back, I'm still sort of amused that an austere, contemporary classical (kinda) release wouldn't be too out of place sandwiched between Klimperei tracks. Like Moderato, it takes advantage of the music box to achieve a beautiful little ditty, accompanied by a piano.	read!
itoken ブックストア 2004, 360° Records	Home & Garden Cleaning The Living Room Backyard Design Bathroom Planner Paint Your House [13:47] Oh yes, the homemade suite. I stitched together a bunch of tracks from the middle of this album and uploaded it to everyone's favorite online video service. Like the Bazaar before, it was too difficult for me to choose one track and have it flow right so I decided to just cede to what I had done before. I like the result, in fact this is probably my favorite album featured here.	a bit self-explanatory
Pascal Comelade Traffic d'abstraction DSA, 1993	Promenade des schizophrènes (6:20) This was a late replacement, but not too far from home: it was originally going to be the opening track Arthur Cravan Was A Flor Fina. When I listened back to the tune, a great one to be sure but it doesn't really have much to do with the rest of the list. So, I went with the little epic of mini-pianos and singing saws.	....
Madame Patate Petits mues 2018, Self-Released	Gothic PikuNiku (1:41) I bought this album, so you know I had to squeeze it in here. A dandy little slice of ambient toypop, with the best use of a cricket sounding thing since '81.	(with klimperei)
Klimperei Sucres d'Orge 1989, Underground Productions	Ça pétille les yeux (3:43) The picture is a cassette, but the source is CD. Funny how that happens, but I felt compelled to add some K7 culuture into this. It is what I'm associated with after all, and that is where a good amount of this scene found fertile ground, at least in Europe. Another thing I noticed when making this box set is that I usually chose either opening tracks or the ones following them. I thought very loose and weakly about this and came to the conclusion that these are usually the more mellow parts of their respective albums and also tend to be less transitional and thus reliant on the music surrounding them in the listing. Or I was too lazy to give it a damn relisten before choosing what to put on here. I think either case may be valid, personally.	looks familiar
Scavenger Quartet We Who Live On Land 2005, Acidsoxx Musicks	Marvelous Argonaut (3:52) I wrestled with this one for a second, despite the obvious connections with Mr. Pahl as part of the four-piece. Narrowing down which track with an adjective describing a sea creature was hard enough, finding the relevance to the genre proper was something else. It came down to the first two tracks (go figure) and I might still feel the second track has more toy to it, but at the end of it all it's deciding between two great instrumentals. Love this album, one enchanting wordless shanty after another. A mechanical sailor's clipper, I'd say.	a power quartet
Dragibus Papriko 1999, In-Poly-Sons	By'n By (1:49) This one caused a bit of a delay in the project when it was reaching its finishing stage (along with another track later on). As I forewarned about in the Twink entry, Dragibus was a bit of an issue in terms of inclusion. They have a prominent presence in the scene, but I could never find a track which could hit the spot for my tastes. That is, until I bumped into this one on Youtube. So much so, I went through the trouble of ordering the CD so I could get a good quality copy. A really, really pleasant piece of their hyperactive world.	all a group needs
Pierre Bastien Mecanoid 2001, Rephlex	Avid Diva (4:25) The folk music of the robots. Or jazz. Bastien's mechanisms are always a joy to listen to and to watch. It's less that he plays toy instruments, rather his toys play his instruments. Also it took me transferring this file to realize that it's a palindrome.	the man behind the machines
Frank Pahl Back of Beyond 2003, Novel Cell Poem	Good Old Days (3:01) This one is pastoral as hell. Pahl really has an individual knack, bringing an unusual flavor to the font, meshing classical americanisms to craft a unique aesthetic that can be found in all of his works. Even the stuff that has very minimal toy accompaniment, like Only a Mother. Yeah, I might need to buy this disc too just so I can blow up that album cover and hang it on my ceiling or something.	Pahl with his other tools of trade
Pierre Bastien & Lukas Simonis Mots d'Heures 2002, In-Poly-Sons	Myades Sounds Turkish (3:20) This one never stops, til it reaches the end. Not too dissimilar to the previous Bastien track but different enough to showcase another side to his mechanical universe. Less subdued, more active. His toys of choice syncopating a rhythm against Simonis' preparations.	bastien, at work               simonis, with stuff on his face
ammakasie noka MOIRA'S ROOM 2003, Novel Cell Poem	Three Moiras (1:46) In all honesty, this project sort of gives me the creeps. Not sinking-in-my-seat-covering-in-my-eyes-in-horror kind of scary, but a sort of childhood eeriness. Kind of like when I played the Gregory Horror Show game on PS2, it seems to reside in those sort of dark cel-shaded halls where who knows what prowls about. But it has a place here, certainly.
Klimperei Tout seul sur la plage en hiver 1990, Ayaa 2001, In-Poly-Sons	Globatures (1:42) Also the disc where I got the other Klimperei track from, but this one is original to it. Maybe. Anyway, another pretty little ditty from Mr. Deleted himself, an interesting topic itself would Christophe's Del days. Having listened to a healthy amount of both projects (including pinches of Los Paranos [a reference to the band featured in Pynchon's TCoL49]) an intersection is evident at some points, at least in terms of arrangement. But they all have their own distinct identities and are all worth looking out for, so why not just go to their nice and comprehensive archive and Bandcamp pages and see for yourself?	is there an image that captures the movement better?
Comelade, Bastien, Berrocal, Liebezeit The Oblique Sessions 1997, DSA	Ant' Waltz (1:26) A real meeting of the minds here. The aforementioned in Bastien and Comelade paired with the rhythmic brilliance of Jaki and the glorious insanity of Berrocal. In this instance we have Pascal on the regular ol' piano while Pierre plays second fiddle (handsaw?) to Jac's toy piano. Berrocal is no stranger to musique avec jouets in his very prolific career, but here in rare form a more melodic context rather than a textural improvisation. much love, rip jaki	these guys mean business
Mami Chan Band Live! 2001, Fresh Air	Oiseu (2:45) This was the other album that I had ordered just so I could put it on here. I think it's a great way to put a bit of a bow on the project before the finale, a multi-national production crafting together a beautiful piece of unnerve fronted by the gone far too soon Mami Chan and backed up by Stock, Hausen, and Walkman's Andrew Sharpley along with Emiko Ota among others.	❤️
Frank Pahl & Klimperei Music For Desserts 2001, In-Poly-Sons	Almond Rock Cakes Papillons [6:44] Here it is: the last foray. Two more pieces of pie before bedtime, a culmination of all that has come before. Originally I was just going to put the Almond track here, but in the end I decided to throw in the following tune as a sort of epilogue. Also helps offset the intensity (for toypop) of the song and help bring things to a close. That's what I call a happy ending.	apparently they've never met in person, so this'll have to do
	ENJOY

« the whole feeling is that : not exactly depressed but the feeling of something lost :
lost childhood, lost loves, the passage of time, the Autumn, the fall of leaves, the almost forgotten tastes or flavors… erased dreams… »