J-Pop/J-Rock

[Drama Queen]

So yeah, I seem to be enjoying a lot of Japanese artists lately, even though I can't understand what they are singing about. Maybe that's the appeal.

I started watching some anime and discovering that I really liked the opening and closing theme songs and so started looking them up and adding some bands on Pandora.

Among my favorites so far are Scandal, Stereopony, ONE OK ROCK, and Asian Kung Fu Generation. The first two are female bands, the other two male, they all have a sound ranging from mild punk to hard rock.

Supercell and Puffy Amiyami are good for a more mellow tune.

BabyMetal are by far the most bizarre I've come across though, it's like schoolgirl chewing gum pop fused with really heavy guitar riffs. And it kind of works.

Anyway, given the amount of anime fans here, I'm curious who else listens to any music from Japan, and what they think and what they recommend.

[BamBamBunglow]

There's always the classic Mad Capsule Markets & Yumi Yumi - Both now no longer recording, but I saw both of them and they were fun.

If you want ultimate J-pop, you need AKB48. The premise of the band is that there's always 48 singers and the public gets to vote who goes in. It's quite catchy with alot of eye candy.

Babymetal is all manner of messed up awesome.

My brother in law lives in Kagoshima, I'll ask him for some recommendations

[Drama Queen]

Actually I have heard AKB48... Ridiculously catchy... I mostly go for the more rock based sound of the other bands I described, but I have added them on pandora for when I'm in more of a light pop sort of mood.

I would love to see some of those bands live, as unlikely as that seems right now.

[BamBamBunglow]

Obvious one - the black mages \o/ the guys who do Final Fantasy music (Them doing one winged angel with a full choir is amaaaazing).

Yumi Yumi was awesome - it was in a 400 max shithole in south wales, very intimiate gig wih two scantily clad japanese women playing guitar on stage.

Mad Capsule Markets I saw at Download festival. They were fucking bonkers.

[Drama Queen]

Enjoying a lot of LiSA lately. A lot of her tunes seem like they could be specially penned for anime shows. I know she sings one of the Sword Art Online themes, that's what got me into the genre in the first place.

Keeping my eyes peeled for any good Japanese bands visiting my part of the world but nothing stirring at the moment.

[Tezmission Black]

I can get down to some JPop, sometimes on youtube, I'll go down that rabbithole.

[Drama Queen]

I'm seeing BABYMETAL in New York on May 4th, purchased my ticket last night. I am so pumped for this

[BamBamBunglow]

I have some massive, massive envy going on right now. Enjoy DQ

[Drama Queen]

They seriously fucking rocked. That gig was as much fun as Iron Maiden or Alice Cooper. I really hope you get a chance to see them bam!

[BamBamBunglow]

Me too dude Glad it was a good show for you!

Though I hope you understand, now that my jealousy knows no bounds, I am going to have to f'ing smash you in FWL this week, right?

[Drama Queen]

Huh... apparently Yuji Nagato was jealous also 


Anyway, a bit more detail on the gig...

The band are legit serious musicians. Well, by serious, I mean very talented and professional... their demeanor however was anything but... they were dressed up with weird spooky make-up, but were constantly smiling and genuinely looked happy to be there... they goofed around a lot with each other and with the crowd, but boy could they play.

The crowd was a lot more metal than j-pop. There was a very active mosh pit going on close to the front and center (I was not going anywhere near THAT, I'm too old for that shit, but it was fun to see so much energy and fun being had). There was quite a bit of crowd surfing and general head-banging. Moreso than you'd expect at a gig fronted by high-pitched hyper-active Japanese schoolgirls.

I think the crowd they attract here in the States is different than what they attract Japan. That being said, there were definitely a lot of people who would not be metal fans in particular (myself included.... I don't like anything heavier than Iron Maiden generally speaking.)

I believe they have actually transcended from "novelty act" to legit artists in their own right, this became clear when they'd invite the crowd to sing along, and we all did so, making it clear we are quite familiar with the songs, despite the fact they are not even in our language.

[Drama Queen]

Now, as for other artists coming to NY.... (and my varying levels of excitement or lack of)

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu: Meh, I'm going to pass on this one. I've listened to a few of her songs and the closest word I can find to describe them is "bubble gum". It's just... way to fluffy for me even by J-pop standards.

Eir Aoi: Oh hell yeah! This is a gig I absolutely want to go to. Whilst I really enjoyed the J-Pop/Metal fusion of BabyMetal, I feel that this gig will be closer to showing me what J-Pop is all about without the distractions of other genres. Very much a fantasy feel to a lot of her songs, I know at least some of them are anime theme songs. Really hope I can make this one.

Hatsune Miku: Oh boy. I'm really not sure how I feel about this. For those who don't know, this artist is a real band fronted by an animated vocaloid. I mean... the fact that something like this even exists blows my mind, and I think "yep... leave it to Japan to come up with something like that!"

Now it might seem hypocritical that I'm ok with BabyMetal and have been praising them highly, even though they are not "real artists" in the old singer/songwriter sense... and that they are manufactured in the same way that artists like the Spice Girls were... but somebody did write the songs (I think the actual band that they play with, I have to look that up) and the band itself are very real.

Now the same can be said for the vocaloid (manufactured taking on a much more literal sense) in that somebody wrote the songs and a real band are playing... but I don't know, this might be where I draw the line. I mean... part of me wants to celebrate the technical achievement, but that's in stark contrast with the part of me that hates how computers are taking over the world... to the point where they are becoming very humanized.

Not to mention another issue... let's be honest, anime has varying degrees of misogyny and "fan service". Some of it I am able to just role my eyes at and still enjoy the show, but some shows are so steeped in it that I cringe to a level of being uncomfortable. I'm not sure what I'm trying to get at here... let's just say that something about spending an hour or more watching this animated vocaloid would make me feel like a dirty old man.

So yeah... up in the air about that gig.


Any thoughts about any of the above artists Bam?

[Dorling]

I don't know anything about J anything but I was curious so googled it and found this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoTd918zhZc

And I don't get it. At all.

Japanese culture can be very...odd.