FilFla: Fliptap
Someone Good

FilFla's Fliptap lives up to Someone Good's ‘10 Songs in 20 Minutes' billing—one song, “Iso-Circle,” is even ten seconds! So it's no surprise that the recording flashes by at breakneck speed, especially when Keiichi Sugimoto's FilFla material is already so effervescent and hyperactive. If his name doesn't immediately ring a bell, the projects with which he's associated might do so, as he's also a part of FourColor, Minamo, and Fonica. In contrast to the understated soundsculpting associated with such projects, FilFla is electronic pop of the high-energy and ultra-radiant kind.

The mini-album features ten playful songs brimming with synthesizers, piano, mallet percussion, melodica, guitars (electric and acoustic), and even an occasional field recording. A vocal by Moskitoo pops up here and there, too—most affectingly on “Wst-Est” where her softly cooing voice offers a gentle contrast to the radiant soundworld Sugimoto builds around her. Sparkling so brightly it verges on blinding, the opener “Morse Mall” pulsates with gleeful spirit as an electric guitar voices the lead melody, while the closer “Pack Plus Ice” does much the same though this time with synthesizers and vocals the focal points. Tracks like “Syncsynth,” a fractured interweave played by a mini-army of synthesizers, are as cheery and colourful as the album cover, and in certain moments there's a bit of a post-rock feel in play that's not unlike I'm Not A Gun plus a child-like delight in instrumental colour that's reminiscent of Lullatone.

June 2012