Tasty new Japancakes; photo by Jason Thrasher
Since first coming together in 1996, Athens, GA’s beloved indie art rockers Japancakes have created spacey, melodic instrumental music that has earned them a cult of fans both here and on the international scene. While the band has long been known for keeping it instrumental, there’s been talk for years that they might someday experiment by adding vocals.
And now they have. Working with singers from Athens, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Taiwan, Japancakes are releasing three different versions of their single "Behind The Mountains,” plus a video - but they’re only available online. Dubbed “The iTunes Bundle,” the set is nonetheless available at most digital outlets (amazon.com and emusic, for example, offer all three songs but not the video). There are no current plans to release the music in any physical form.
The three audio tracks that were released today (July 28) are:
1. “Behind the Mountain” - the original Japancakes instrumental;
2. An English version of "Behind..." with airy vocals from Orenda Fink, known for her work with Azure Ray;
3. A second vocal version of the tune, titled “Wet Concrete,” featuring lyrics written and performed in Mandarin by Moon, from the Chinese band Miss Stocking.
The iTunes bundle also includes the first video from Japancakes, in which director Ryan Berg illustrates “Behind the Mountains” with an intriguing tableau of exotic women (including Orenda Fink; this is the English version) whose wild makeup and eye-streamers (watch and see) may remind you of Our Lady of the Deliciously Bizarre, Bjork.
You can check out the video here.
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