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Japanese Music (Pop, rock and all 'dat) |OT|

L

leroy hacker

Member
Dynamite Ringo Matsuri said:
What? Explain.
Click to expand...
ue3L0.jpg
FIRyF.jpg


On April 26 they will release albums titled Attention Please and Heavy Rocks (a new album, not the 2002 one of this title). Of note is that Wata sings on every track of Attention Please. One sample track has been released:

Hope

I really liked her vocals on Rainbow's title track but this sample track is something very different. What do you guys think of it?
 
Zoe

Zoe

Member
Blablurn said:
i'm surprised about the lack of love for namie amuros new album in this thread.
Click to expand...

I refuse to listen to it until the real thing hits. Right now it's just the previous releases + rips off the PV's.
 
D

Dynamite Ringo Matsuri

Member
tearsofash said:
Awesome. Nice to know other people here are fans of OOIOO, de de mouse, and bleach.

What's your favorite bleach song? I really like sun-dance-moon-dance.
Click to expand...
I like the songs that are set to disco beats, so Shiri on Bleach03 is awesome and Touch on Migi mo... is pretty much the same thing. The title track on Migi Mo is just nuts, their bassist can really growl... I loved Sun Dance, Moon Dance as well. Man, I used to keep 80 or so Japanese CDs in my car and one day, some fucker broke in and stole them all. Bleach03 was one of the CDs, it pisses me off most cause he likely just junked them after hearing what was on them :l I've got OOIOO's Gold and Green, it's kind of interesting I guess. Definitely more listenable than anything Boredoms have put out, they are just too bizarre for my tastes. Oh, and Super Junky Monkey is a great band to listen to if you like Bleach.

Vard said:
Nice, Sparta Locals were one of my favorite bands. I'm fortunate to have watched them play shortly before they disbanded.

As for what I've been listening to... Metro-Ongen (amazingly consistent "vivid pop band"), Remigai (soothing female vox), andymori (love this tune in particular), and Sunny Day Service. I guess most of that isn't too knew though...

By the way, toddle have a new album out in May called "the shimmer". So hyped.

As for Quruli - The World Is Mine took a few listens before it clicked for me too. Have you heard "Aoi Sora"? That should click automatically! (amazing/ridiculous music video too)
Click to expand...
Yeah, I wish I could have seen them and Detroit7 at Japan Nite in Chicago before they disbanded. I was highly contemplating driving the 4 hours, but had work that day. Some of the members are supposed to be working on stuff so that's good at least. At least they went out on top with Leecher! Oh, and funny you should mention Toddle. I was listening to them for the first time in years last night after stumbling upon an MD I made of Dawn Praise the World. I actually appreciate them more now then I did when I first heard them. Nice to know they stuck around even after Hisako joined the Butchers.


Human_Shield said:
Kyoiku and Adult were basically Shiina Ringo albums with a backing band. Variety is where you start to hear more input from the other band members. Coincidentally, apart from a few songs, it's probably my least favorite TJ album. But it's been almost 2 years since Sanmon Gossip was released, so some new solo material would be nice.



I really like them both. Sora ga Natteiru has a bit of a similar feel to Nandouteki Sanpukan, but more upbeat, while Onna no Ko wa Daredemo could have easily been off Sanmon Gossip. Sucks about Hata getting arrested. Delayed everything, and it already feels like forever between SR/TJ releases.



I think you mean Dai Nagao. I liked Gates of Heaven and Need Your Love, but on the more recent stuff I have to agree with you. Since he stopped writing their music, the quality has gone down. Interestingly enough, TJ's own Kameda produces DAI's albums now.
Click to expand...
I didn't like Variety precisely because SR didn't write the music, and it was their weakest effort yet. And I yeah, I mixed up Ryo of DAI with Ryo of The Brilliant Green. It's funny you should mention Seiji producing DAI's albums, I believe he was dating Tomiko at some point. Lucky bastard! He's a cool guy, and an awesome bassist so good for him. And yeah, he's produced quite a bit of work, everything from Ayumi Hamasaki to Spitz, and produced SR's first couple albums save for KZK.

leroy hacker said:
On April 26 they will release albums titled Attention Please and Heavy Rocks (a new album, not the 2002 one of this title). Of note is that Wata sings on every track of Attention Please. One sample track has been released:

I really liked her vocals on Rainbow's title track but this sample track is something very different. What do you guys think of it?
Click to expand...
The cover for Attention Please is very unlike Boris. Interesting... I've pretty much stopped having any set expectations for Boris since they never release a record that sounds anything like I think they will, and I like it that way.
 
Antiochus

Antiochus

Member
Egads. It appears that the last three posts for my top ten list did not appear at all.

Moderators, it is perhaps a lost cause, but would it be possible to recover them by any chance?
 
Antiochus

Antiochus

Member
BlazingDarkness said:
Prime Time off Capsule's new, now untitled album (previously called Killer Wave)

I LOVE it <3 I need the full album nowwww.
Click to expand...

After listening to their two ostensible new singles, as well as preview snippets from the upcoming album, the album title is the least of their problems. It's clear, not only from the latest tracks, but also from the last three years, that Mr. Nakata has clearly lost his way, and has no idea how to recuperate. What may have started as a amusing tribute to past thrash house elements has now turned into increasingly jarring, annoying, if not infuriating incomprehensibility,an excuse in minimal effort and creativity. I'll also say that what Ms. Koshijima has been turning into, and her treatment by Mr. Nakata, is disgraceful if not hair raising. Even hardcore rappers would pause after watching that process.
 
F

faridmon

Member
Lisetning to the new Back-On Album. Its not good at all. The singles are the only good songs in the album and the whole Rap-rock is mashed very dully and annoyingly enough, they don't have any hardcore stuff there.


A really great dissapointment since thier singles are alwasy really awsome.
 
D

Dynamite Ringo Matsuri

Member
Vigilant Walrus said:
Btw, does anyone know Envy? I've been trying to track them down but those guys are difficult to find. Mushy quality on youtube:'(
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Difficult? I'm pretty sure they've got an even bigger following outside of Japan than in it. They're under Mogwai's label I believe.
 
D

Dali

Member
I got into Sakerock last year when looking for a show to go to in Japan. I was just listening to them (him?) and thought to myself, "man, I'd sure like to hear more stuff like this". I was about to make a thread for it specifying "No J-Poop allowed" but after doing a search this thread came up. After skimming through the first two pages I was still set to make my thread, but this thread took a turn for the awesome and serves my purposes pretty well.

cacophony said:
Mouse on the Keys (this is honestly one of the coolest bands I've ever heard, keyboardist + drummer)
Special Others (I LOOOOVE this band, some of the happiest music ever)
Rin Toshite Shigure
Indigo Jam Unit
Jabberloop
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One of the best posts in this thread. The first two suggestions are amazing.

Inflammable Slinky said:
JAPANESE POSTROCK HIJACK

Did you know that Japan has some of the best artists in the entire genre of postrock?

WELL NOW YOU KNOW!


World's End Girlfriend

2i6p5xt.jpg


Les Enfants du Paradis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfG_G2O2q40

Galaxy Kid 666: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DM4TwEQSMxY

1533c4i.jpg


Birthday Resistance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdWMH1XGX30&feature=related

Bless Yourself Bleed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiplYPomtiI&feature=related

MONO

sb7ux3.jpg


Ashes in the Snow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8Juilrg6oQ


Te' (can't find coverart)

Those Who Play Using Word Are Not In The Talent, It Is Only There's Memory: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5p2cOawoHk&feature=related

A thought would never let people "watch" what they choose. Instead, it let them see what they hope to see.: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84YhFHqIlaY&feature=related



I'm actually less familiar with Mono than the other bands, which is a shame since I've heard they are amazing live. Any other postrock fans wanna fill in the gaps?
Click to expand...
Thanks for this. Really great groups.
 
L

leroy hacker

Member
As Boris's two new albums release today, I thought I would propose the following topic for discussion:

I believe that there is no Japanese pop or rock band or artist with a larger American fanbase than Boris.

Can anyone disprove my belief?

By fanbase I mean people who spend money to hear the artist's music, whether live or recorded. Thus kids who watched the Puffy Amiyumi show but didn't buy the cds don't count, for example.

Am I wrong? It's not clear to me how much significance more seemingly mainstream J-pop or J-rock artists have outside the otaku community in the US since as far as I know most have not had any official US releases and have rarely done live appearances. Whereas even Boris's older albums seems to be much higher placed on Amazon rankings than any J-pop artist I can think of, they are covered in the mainstream music press, and they have done quite a bit of touring. In the past one could probably have made a strong argument for Shonen Knife, the Boredoms or Melt-Banana but their prominence seems to have faded.

But it's likely there are artists and relevant data I'm forgetting about.
 
I

iavi

Member
leroy hacker said:
As Boris's two new albums release today, I thought I would propose the following topic for discussion:

I believe that there is no Japanese pop or rock band or artist with a larger American fanbase than Boris.

Can anyone disprove my belief?

By fanbase I mean people who spend money to hear the artist's music, whether live or recorded. Thus kids who watched the Puffy Amiyumi show but didn't buy the cds don't count, for example.

Am I wrong? It's not clear to me how much significance more seemingly mainstream J-pop or J-rock artists have outside the otaku community in the US since as far as I know most have not had any official US releases and have rarely done live appearances. Whereas even Boris's older albums seems to be much higher placed on Amazon rankings than any J-pop artist I can think of, they are covered in the mainstream music press, and they have done quite a bit of touring. In the past one could probably have made a strong argument for Shonen Knife, the Boredoms or Melt-Banana but their prominence seems to have faded.

But it's likely there are artists and relevant data I'm forgetting about.
Click to expand...


Dir En Grey? They're pretty damn big. They tour over here every year, albums are well received, and sell pretty well too. I don't actually have any hard numbers, that's from simple reading, really.


Edit: Good Lord. That Mouse on The Keys vid a few posts up is some absolutely amazing shit.
 
Zoe

Zoe

Member
I've never heard of Boris...

I'd probably agree with Dir En Grey.

If you want to talk about fans spending money though, Hello Project has been working pretty hard on setting up a presence in the US these past few years.
 
GhaleonQ

GhaleonQ

Member
leroy hacker said:
And i've never heard of dir en grey. But based on their bio they do seem like a plausible candidate.
Click to expand...

At their peak, maybe, but do people currently care about Dir En Grey today?

Tenniscoats might top Boris. They don't tour as much here, of course, and they're seemingly less prolific (they have 4 side projects), but they get similar glowing and expansive coverage. I guess it depends what your metric is. "Total revenue" is going to be Boris. "Average album sales" = ?
 
D

Dynedom

Member
Recently got Passenger by NICO Touches The Walls. Great album.

Waiting on Galneryus to release a new album. Want to hear what they sound like without Yama-B.
 
I

iavi

Member
Dynedom said:
Waiting on Galneryus to release a new album. Want to hear what they sound like without Yama-B.
Click to expand...


Haven't listened to these guys since they put out Alsatia(Which I loved). I should see what they're up to.
 
A

AgentChris

Member
Dynedom said:
Recently got Passenger by NICO Touches The Walls. Great album.

Waiting on Galneryus to release a new album. Want to hear what they sound like without Yama-B.
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I love Nico Touches the Walls. Passenger is godly.
 
D

Dynedom

Member
Miri said:
Haven't listened to these guys since they put out Alsatia(Which I loved). I should see what they're up to.
Click to expand...

I'm assuming you've checked out Reincarnation? It's a pretty sick album.

AgentChris said:
I love Nico Touches the Walls. Passenger is godly.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I was impressed by Diver and Matroyshika so I checked out the album. Good thing I followed my instincts, haha.

Also anxiously awaiting a new Last Alliance album. I loved Me & Your Borderline as well as The Sum.

Edit: Hot damn, I didn't know they released a full album after The Sum. I have to check this out.
 
3

345triangle

Member
leroy hacker said:
As Boris's two new albums release today, I thought I would propose the following topic for discussion:

I believe that there is no Japanese pop or rock band or artist with a larger American fanbase than Boris.

Can anyone disprove my belief?

By fanbase I mean people who spend money to hear the artist's music, whether live or recorded. Thus kids who watched the Puffy Amiyumi show but didn't buy the cds don't count, for example.

Am I wrong? It's not clear to me how much significance more seemingly mainstream J-pop or J-rock artists have outside the otaku community in the US since as far as I know most have not had any official US releases and have rarely done live appearances. Whereas even Boris's older albums seems to be much higher placed on Amazon rankings than any J-pop artist I can think of, they are covered in the mainstream music press, and they have done quite a bit of touring. In the past one could probably have made a strong argument for Shonen Knife, the Boredoms or Melt-Banana but their prominence seems to have faded.

But it's likely there are artists and relevant data I'm forgetting about.
Click to expand...
not sure about the US, but in the UK I'd have said polysics.
 
A

AlphaDragoon

Member
Dante23 said:
I don't listen much to j-pop, but one band is one of my favorites, it's called School Food Punishment

Their music is kinda rock mixed with very electronic sounds and a very noticeable bass/piano, they're awesome, and the vocalist has a beautiful voice.

4:59 - School Food Punishment

Please listen guys!
Click to expand...

This man knows what's up.

You guys have awesome taste, I have almost all the stuff suggested in this thread. I'd like to add one for the post rock crowd (if you don't have it already), spangle call lilli line.

sea:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdG9gjMGwc8

nano:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Err2OIPskg

"telephone":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZysfBQhyKqs

Awesome stuff.
 
Jeeves

Jeeves

Member
I've always sort of kept the world of music at arm's length, but lately I'm trying to crawl out of this hole of only listening to anime OPs/EDs and discover some good J-whatever bands. So far I've become a fan of four.


Omokage Lucky Hole
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2GboiA7FkM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVHKJf9SoQg
This band I fell in love with when I got the OP single for Natsu no Arashi and found the b-side song to be so great that I had to see what else they could do. They're sort of a funk/blues-ish band I guess, with some ska influence and rap on the side. They strike me as sort of an eccentric group. The first link above is to one of their catchiest songs, which they did an update of in 2000, but I can't find that on youtube. The second link is to the b-side that made me interested in the first place. It was my favorite song for a while.

JUDY AND MARY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMPhF0-m3Rk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WDqXsCUIyU
My current favorite band. I'm not sure if you guys know about them or not, but supposedly they were a household name in the 90's. Unfortunately they've disbanded, but not before releasing six albums of incredibly catchy -- if at times chaotic (in a good way!) -- music. They've got kind of a juxtaposition angle working for them between cheery singing and music that's a bit messy with sometimes a bit of a foreboding edge to it. Highly melodic stuff here, folks. Only sticking point might be growing accustomed to the very high octave of the singing.

Mr.Children
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUuvLovOpLI
I'm guessing most people into Japanese music know about these guys. Still, for anyone who doesn't, here they are. They do slower, more sentimental stuff, and though it might be a bit on the simple side, they do it very well. I'm not sure what else I can say about them! Worth a listen.

And the fourth, I can thank this thread for…Tokyo Jihen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kBu4YM9_Xg
Miri said:
I've been checking out these Shiina Ringo/TJ links that you've guys have been posting. Damn. Thank you for this, it's the exact music-mood that I'm in.
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Pretty much stole the words right out of my mouth. I'm not sure how to classify this group (I've never been good with genre-labeling) but it's just what the doctor ordered for me. They've got a great sound; I've liked most everything I've heard. There's a certain charm here that I'm really digging. So yeah, thank you very much GAF for leading me this way.


Now, these are actually not just the only four Japanese bands I'm into…so far they're the only bands I'm into, period. So I very much welcome recommendations if anyone's got some.
 
B

Blackheim

Member
Jeeves said:
Stuff
Click to expand...

Well, if you like Judy and Mary, YUKI (since she was the singer) should be right up your alley if you don't mind a more strictly Pop sound.

YUKI - Air Wave
YUKI - &#12503;&#12522;&#12474;&#12512; (Prism)

Also, YUKI related, the band she did with Kate Pierson of the B-52's, NiNa:

NiNa - Aurora Tour
NiNa - Happy Tomorrow

OK, now more often than not recommending Chara to someone who like's YUKI would be good too...

Chara - &#12473;&#12459;&#12540;&#12488; (Skirt)
Chara - &#23432;&#12387;&#12390;&#12354;&#12370;&#12383;&#12356;

Alright, I'll finish off with The Pillows for you:

The Pillows - Hybrid Rainbow
The Pillows - Sitting on A Paper Moon
The Pillows - That House

Hopefully there's something you like amongst those songs :D
 
I

iavi

Member
The new SPYAIR single "Samurai Heart" is damn awesome. It's got a b-side that sounds like it was done by TM Revolution himself. lol.
 
G

Guru-Guru

Banned
Super excited for NEW Tokyo Jihen! I hope it's an improvement over Sports, which was my least favourite album by far. It didn't have a single track that I *loved*. I enjoyed the new song just posted, although the PV itself is the highlight. I'll be in Japan studying at Waseda Uni from September onwards, and am totally going to catch either the September 30th show in Tokyo, or the December 1st or 2nd show.
 
B

Blablurn

Member
did anyone listen to the new album of superfly? its called mind travel, damn, what a great album and what a great voice. this is not your average j-pop, boys and girls.
 
M

meppi

Member
The new album of Tokyo Incidents is finally on iTunes! :D

TokyoJihen-Discovery.jpg

It's called Discovery instead of Great Discovery though.

Been listening to it ever since it came out in Japan last month, so I'm glad was finally able to buy my own copy.
The first few times that I listened to it the album didn't really click with me, but it's grown on me ever since.
My favorite still is Adult, but overall I'm very happy with Discovery. :)
 
H

Human_Shield

Member
meppi said:
The new album of Tokyo Incidents is finally on iTunes! :D

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t166/meppi64/TokyoJihen-Discovery.jpg
It's called Discovery instead of Great Discovery though.

Been listening to it ever since it came out in Japan last month, so I'm glad was finally able to buy my own copy.
The first few times that I listened to it the album didn't really click with me, but it's grown on me ever since.
My favorite still is Adult, but overall I'm very happy with Discovery. :)
Click to expand...

Not seeing it on the US iTunes store, or are you referring to UK/Australia?
 
T

TheLastCandle

Member
My experience with most japanese music is with some of the more popular Visual Kei stuff such as X, Luna Sea, Dir En Grey and such, but I also like a lot of the songs by some of the pop starlets and such. It's so god damn catchy.

Also, if we can count them, there's some more metal stuff along with X, like Sex Machineguns and Galneryus.

Gonna skim this thread in full when I get home, looking forward to new finds!
 
S

Sealda

Banned
J-GAF i am looking for a song in which the music video, girls in school uniforms are getting murdered or murdering each other. I first thought it was AKB48 but i have yet to find it. Apparently it was very popular 1 year ago or something. I even think i found it in this thread, but i am not sure.
 
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