nica

nica is a group I stumbled across last year. They have a light, ambient, jazzy sound that is great for relaxing to. Formed in 2006, the Tokyo-based group consists of nine members: Toshiaki Hamada on bass, Janis Crunch and Hiroko Harakawa providing vocals, batch and afro-heaven on rhythm, gutch on the drums, Ryodo Yamamoto playing piano, and Haruka Nakamura and Hirohide Tsuchisawa on guitar.

If you're looking for something soothing to listen to after a long day, these guys should be at the top of your list. Their music gives me a lot of mental images of walking around at night, with all of the city's hustle and bustle swirling around me, or just enjoying a quiet, private bit of rest.

They aren't signed to a label, and haven't had any luck in determining whether they even have an album released independently or otherwise. That being the case, we'll just have to make due with the selection of songs that they currently have posted on their MySpace page. My personal favorites there are "4 worlds" and "under the sun". Awesome stuff!

Here's the link to their page.