Kakumei Shojo - Revolutionary Girl Exposition Album Review

Kakumei Shojo is an ambient artist who, according to their Bandcamp page, was extremely active starting 2016. Their first album of 2017 is Revolutionary Girl Exposition, and my first thought is that it's gorgeous. This is my first time hearing Kakumei Shojo, and to be quite honest I don't know anything about this artist aside from what little information exists on their Bandcamp, Facebook, and Twitter.

From the get-go, this album shows it's the sort of thing you put on in the background, something calming yet uplifting to play as the soundtrack to a lazy day at home. It's a little bit vaporwave, a little bit ​cyberpunk, a collection of very beautiful electronic soundscapes. There's some chopped up vocal samples on Suiseichitai that I absolutely love, which give the piece an almost pop-like quality. It's the first track on the album to have a real beat behind it as well, to give it that vaporwave feel. The track Reibai opens with what sounds like a sample of a city street, opening up to an eerie piece which could accompany something along the lines of Series Experiments Lain or Ghost in the Shell. 

​​There's an almost drone-like element to the 10-minute Shimetsu, which was co-written by fellow electronic musician NoGht. The song Core has a spacey, sci-fi vibe to it, and the choppy beats and vocal samples actually remind me just a little bit of Tentenko. There's a great beat on Mirai-hen which reminds me of a Meishi Smile track as well. The Meishi Smile similarities continue on the closer, Reimei-hen, which sounds like a reverbed-up sample of every song on Meishi Smile's ...Belong (it's probably NOT that, but that's the vibe I'm getting).

If you're into ambient electronic music, you have no reason not to check this out. It's a calming listen, mostly soft and gentle but with the occasional uptempo beat or wall of glittery sound to give it some variation. I'm into it.

-Justin

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