The Aprils and The Lady Spade: Cute Electronic Pop from Japan

Shannon Cottrell

The Lady Spade at Meltdown Comics

​See more photos in Shannon Cottrell's photo gallery, "'Magical Girls: Art Inspired by Shojo Manga' Opens at Meltdown Comics."

In "Shibuya Girls Pop: Cute Rebellion," found in this week's print edition of LA Weekly, I wrote about a Japanese art collective who incorporates kawaii, or cute, images in pieces that frequently reflect the lives of young women in the fashionable Shibuya ward of Tokyo.

When the Shibuya Girls Pop-centric show "Magical Girls: Art Inspired by Shōjo Manga" opened at Meltdown Comics, two bands joined The Girls for the festivities. Both The Aprils and The Lady Spade's work is almost disarmingly cute, dance floor-friendly pop. We had the chance to meet both groups when they played the opening weekend of "Magical Girls." Find out more about them after the jump.

The Aprils

Shannon Cottrell

The Aprils at Meltdown Comics

​The Aprils have been around since 1999, formed by a trio of college friends, Kentaro Imai, Miho Iguchi and Yuki Shotokuji. They were initially inspired by Shibuya-kei bands-- specifically citing Cornelius and Pizzicato 5-- as well as 8-bit music. Their sound is an amalgamation of both styles, combining the sweet and sophisticated '60s influence of Shibuya-kei with the hyper video game dance sound associated with 8-bit artists.

Shannon Cottrell

Gloomy Panda chasing around The Aprils

​The band members incorporation of cuteness goes beyond their sound. After releasing their album Pan-Da, they hooked up with Mori Chack, creator of the gory-cute character Gloomy Bear. Chack is a friend of the band who would check out their shows in Osaka and Imai asked the famed designer to create a mascot for them. The result was Gloomy Panda, who made a special appearance at the band's Meltdown Comics show.

Shannon Cottrell

The Aprils perform with Hatsune Miku

​More recently, The Aprils have collaborated with Hatsune Miku, the virtual pop star associated with synthetic voice program Vocaloid. Imai said that he had used Vocaloid, but "Hatsune Miku programming is so difficult." They scouted out artists who had been working with the software, which has become something of a phenomenon in Japan, to record their songs. The result is Miku-Ro Adventure!, a compilation of songs by The Aprils sung by Hatsune Miku. The band does perform some of these songs live, with Imai holding up a laptop with the blue-haired viral sensation singing.

Recommended Listening: Space Dream Bathroom

Released in 2005, Space Dream Bathroom is a good indication of what The Aprils can do, running the gamut from twee pop in the vein of Belle and Sebastian to big dance club numbers to strange video game ditties.

Where to find The Aprils music: JapanLA, The Aprils' website.

Trivia: Roughly seven years ago, The Aprils played Par Avion, the now-defunct L.A. club that helped launch the popularity of "global indie" music in the city.