The music Takuji Shibata makes under the name Kosmo Kat aims for deep space, his flurry of synthesizers and programmed beats creating an appropriate soundtrack for a party in some far off nebula. It has been earthly borders, though, that have shaped his sound. Born in Japan, he eventually found his way to Los Angeles during the peak years of the city’s beat scene, when the Low End Theory party was catching attention thanks to regulars such as Flying Lotus and the Gaslamp Killer. Shibata hopped back across the Pacific Ocean last year, and he’s in Tokyo for the release of his debut EP □ (Square, to be exact). It’s a strong introduction to Kosmo Kat’s world, one where he applies the ethos of L.A.’s headier music communities to old and contemporary Japanese styles.
Shibata’s approach doesn’t immediately sound like anything "a bunch of dudes hanging out and bobbing our heads together" would listen to, as Gaslamp Killer described the early days of Low End Theory to LA Weekly. Kosmo Kat embraces pop full on, stacking his songs up with bright electronics that play out at a speed targeting the whole body. His 2013 digital EP An Elegant Punk glistened and zipped ahead, at times resembling the more frantic moments of Cosmogramma with the jazz touches swapped out for disco.
□ sonically doesn’t detour too far from his earlier days. Opener "Aki ga Konai Kotoba" skitters from the get-go, bursting into a dash come the chorus, as does the throbbing "Nami". They aren’t quite as technicolor as Shibata’s earlier recordings, but unfold at the same up-tempo pace. EP highlight "Pterosaur" veers into dreamier territory, thanks in large part to the hushed singing of Brooklyn-based guest vocalist Trust In Love. Yet as intimate as "Pterosaur" gets, the music itself keeps thumping along, never allowing the song to dissolve into pure pillow talk.
Save for a few short interludes, □ doesn’t recall the actual heady sounds that came to define L.A.’s beat scene. Rather, Shibata seemingly absorbed the idea of taking something familiar to yourself and bending it in new ways. For Kosmo Kat, that’s Japanese pop. Abroad, J-Pop tends to be described as hectic, cute, and generally overwhelming, more or less the same experience of standing near a Dance Dance Revolution machine for several minutes. Yet J-Pop contains multitudes of styles, and Shibata channels several varieties, from the intricate electro-pop of producer Yasutaka Nakata (Capsule, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu) to the tightly constructed stylings of '80s idol pop. He puts his own spin on it, turning it into something all his own.
Shibata’s best touch—and the one major departure from the bulk of Kosmo Kat’s past sounds—is the addition of his own voice. "Aki ga Kinai Kotoba" is a fine bit of heart-skipping electronic music, but his singing, which moves from reserved to nearly shouted come the chorus, adds a drama to the song that gives it extra energy. The same goes for "Nami", which finds Shibata’s voice nearly cracking during the final stretch. Save for Trust In Love’s feature, all the vocals are sung in Japanese, and the way Shibata delivers those words sells the emotion and urgency more than well. Good pop, whether straightforward or warped around the edges, should achieve that.
□ works as a strong first introduction to Kosmo Kat, managing just the right pace over the course of its six songs (closer "Kage no Kimi" is a slow-burning ballad that would normally feel a bit meandering, yet is a welcome breath after the fast-paced tracks before it). Most impressively, it highlights a producer who avoids easy duplication of the sounds he’s been surrounded by during his life in favor of morphing them into a boundary-blurring form he can orbit himself.
