I like quite a bit of japanese hip-hop. I especially like ラッパ我リヤ Rappagariya (the name even includes one of my favourite kanji). Old school feel been around a long time... check out this.

I also like Rip Slyme, mainly for their song Present but they are generally really fun. Also check out Kick the Can Crew. All can be sampled on YouTube.

Although he may be a bit esoteric to be considered hip-hop, as well as a bit light in the lyrics department, I enjoy DJ Krush quite a bit. Anything he has a hand in is a pretty safe bet. His song Tragicomic turned me on to Aco. Although, I later came to the conclusion that all she had going for her was good taste in producers and a haunting voice. The same song also turned me on to Twigy, who has some fantastic tracks floating about as well. All three have a fairly strong YouTube presence for those interested.

QuackingShoe Wrote:I really enjoy Yui:

And GO!GO!7188

They've been around a long time, so their newer stuff has a rather different, but still enjoyable sound:

Yui is apparently J-Pop, Pop Rock, Folk Pop and GO!GO!7188 is apparently Rock, Surf Rock with "influences spanning from surf rock to punk rock to enka," whatever any of that means. I've never found genres to be anything but useless in describing music.

I would suggest in general that people just give stuff an honest try, remembering that this music is in fact Japanese, and not American, and so not bemoan the lack of (American Artist). If one wants to listen to (American Artist), one can presumably just do so - one's desire for AJATT not withstanding. But come on, try to REALLY immerse yourself, not just 'immerse' yourself. Listen to the crappy music, watch those godawful dramas with production values akin to The Disney Channel!

I mean, no one found the Japanese sense of humour amusing at first either, did they? ....did they?

I really dig GO!GO!7188. Got to see them live, for free, at Musikfest in Bethlehem PA.

Just thought I'd pop in and blow all your MINDS, or something, with the Japanese bands that I like to listen to in my ears.

Number one! Melt-Banana! Sci-fi cartoon noise-punk-pop at a hundred and fifty trillion miles and hour!

Number two! Pre! Filthy disgusting falling down the stairs in a bin dance rock! Not technically Japanese but have a Japanese singer!

Number three! Mono! Simultaneously the loudest and quietest band you've ever heard! So slow-burning and epic that exclamation marks seem inappropriate!

Number four! Midori! Jazz-noise-hardcore fusion! On YouTube I saw a video of their young female singer stabbing someone with a sword she pulled out of her vagina! EXCLAMATION MARK!

Number five! Ogre You leprechaun! Catchy indie except cleverer! Like Modest Mouse but with less weird instruments and less members from The Smiths! And girlier vocals!

Someone already said Envy!


Yeah!

I personally listen mostly to Spitz, T.M Revolution, Abingdon Boys School and Suneohair. Buck-Tick used to be a favorite.

Mcjon01 Wrote:Wait, since when do you have to be a Japanophile to like music from Japan? And for that matter, since when does the geographic location of a band have anything to do with its quality? There's enough people making music out there that you could probably go just about anywhere in the world and manage to find a sound that you like.

Yes there is good music in Japan, no it is not easy to find if you are not the sort to be satisfied with music produced by major labels. I have said this a number of times. But don't listen to me, here is an interview with the owner of what used to be the best music label in Japan in my opinion. He says everything I feel and he is actually involved in the industry here in Japan. I don't think you can get a more authoritative opinion.

Yes, well, nothing worth having has ever been easy, eh?

I think I saw only one person mention them in passing. How in the heck can anyone just graze over................

X-Japan!?

This is THE group that changed the face of Japanese rock music. This is like asking "what are some of the American pop music gods?" and forgetting to mention Michael Jackson lol. I mean heck when one of their lead guitarist died over 50,000 people showed up for his funeral.

These guys had it all. Incredible compositions, great instrumental skill, excellent mix of metal and epic ballads with unmatched passion and charisma.

http://www.youtube.com/v/UHkBpEITVaI&hl

That is just a small taste.

Is there such a thing as Japanese melodic/symphonic black metal?

I... tried listening to Jpop but I soon returned to Cradle of Filth in tears.

Virtua_Leaf Wrote:Is there such a thing as Japanese melodic/symphonic black metal?

I... tried listening to Jpop but I soon returned to Cradle of Filth in tears.

I know it's not black metal but if you appreciate composition type pieces then you should listen to this. It's X-Japan's "Art of Life" which is a roughly 30 minute composition. The leader of X-Japan (their drummer and pianist) is a musical genius who writes entire orchestrated symphonic pieces (as in he writes the sheet music for every instrument in the orchestra).

This piece is exactly as it's title states, pure musical art.

Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/v/yUhwNWzdIAc&hl

Part 2

Part 3 (piano solo)

Part 4

IMO this is something every person interested in Japanese rock music should have to watch in it's entirety at least once in their life just for the sake of history.

My personal view on X Japan is similar to that of other visual kei bands: They are very known and popular among western people interested in Japan, but the average Japanese person do not listen to them or even know of them. Now, X Japan pretty much created VisualKei so they are of course a class above the stuff like Dir n Gray and L'arc en Ciel... or Malice Mizer.

At least, the japanese persons I got to know when I lived in Japan could all sing along if you sang Spitz and stuff like that at Karaoke, but most had never heard of the visualkey songs many of my western buddies liked. So while I guess these bands are popular in Japan since we know so much about them, it seems to be a very specific group of people who listen to it.

Maa, this is just my experience with some random Japanese people, can't say I know tons of university students or anything, so I could be completely wrong.

There is an fat aging teacher at my school who is about 45. She loves X-Japan and raves about them all the time to the students. X-Japan is still J-pop product, just packaged differently. That is pretty much the case with the entire Visual-kei scene, much to the dismay, I am sure, of many a western goth kid.

dilandau23 Wrote:X-Japan is still J-pop product, just packaged differently. That is pretty much the case with the entire Visual-kei scene, much to the dismay, I am sure, of many a western goth kid.

Actually that's not true in the slightest. X-Japan reached it's success on an independent label created by the band's leader Yoshiki. I mean that's pretty much what makes X-Japan so significant. They became extremely popular WITHOUT the corporate music machine.

Tobberoth Wrote:They are very known and popular among western people interested in Japan, but the average Japanese person do not listen to them or even know of them.

Well for starters X-Japan hasn't been around for the last 10 years and have just recently reunited, kind of, so it's not exactly strange that the current generation wouldn't be that familiar with them. Their peak was around the late eighties to mid 90's (when they disbanded) and yet they sold over 20 million albums in a country of only 120 million people. Also like I said earlier over 50,000 people showed up for one of the lead guitarist's funeral which occurred AFTER the band had been disbanded. Those two things don't happen for a band where people "don't listen to them or even know of them".

activeaero Wrote:

Tobberoth Wrote:They are very known and popular among western people interested in Japan, but the average Japanese person do not listen to them or even know of them.

Well for starters X-Japan hasn't been around for the last 10 years and have just recently reunited, kind of, so it's not exactly strange that the current generation wouldn't be that familiar with them. Their peak was around the late eighties to mid 90's (when they disbanded) and yet they sold over 20 million albums in a country of only 120 million people. Also like I said earlier over 50,000 people showed up for one of the lead guitarist's funeral which occurred AFTER the band had been disbanded. Those two things don't happen for a band where people "don't listen to them or even know of them".

That really doesn't say much more than "Their fans were REALLY loyal". I seriously doubt 20 million japanese went and bought one album each of an X Japan album. They are well known, but not that known. I know that Gackts new albums sell approximately 5 million albums, but you can hear his songs EVERYWHERE. BookOff runs his songs all the time, various konbini marts play them, Izakayas... Same with Utada Hikaru. Especially true with Hamasaki Ayumi. I've never heard an X Japan song played anywhere though. As you said, they were popular ages ago, and the average japanese nowadays probably does not listen to VisualKei, just like the average westerner doesn't listen to glamrock.

For example, I know X Japan released a single in July 2001 called Forever Love. I checked Oricon (a company which ranks artists in Japan) and it was only on the list for one week, and only at 14th place. Now like you said, there's a big difference in time here, but I was in Japan in 2007 and my friends there are around my age, so it's obvious that's the type of people I'm talking about.

All I'm really saying is, compared to how X Japan and other VisualKei bands are viewed in Japan NOW, it's really odd how popular and well known it is in the west NOW. (I'm not saying VisualKei is dead in Japan or anything, my friend went to a Dir n Gray concert in 2007 and there were tons of people there).

Man, I hate X Japan. But I hate classic rock, so...

dilandau23 Wrote:A couple of current bands I do like are Hosome and World's End Girlfriend (don't look to either for vocal work though).

Oh, someone else who's heard of World's End Girlfriend? It's so obscure I can't find any albums or anything. I heard a few songs on Last.fm while listening to "artist's similar to mum". Mum's not Japanese, but I love music like theirs

yukamina Wrote:Man, I hate X Japan.

Me too. Also, hearing that they were on an independent label and became huge just supports what was said in the Escalator interview I linked. They just created and marketed their own product. Also the fact that they did it in the 80s supports my feeling that musical individuality (or even just risk taking) in Japanese music seems to have mostly died with the end of the Showa Era. I will not deny that they created the visual-kei scene, but everything that has come since them, that I have heard, has just being so derivative.

yukamina Wrote:Oh, someone else who's heard of World's End Girlfriend? It's so obscure I can't find any albums or anything. I heard a few songs on Last.fm while listening to "artist's similar to mum". Mum's not Japanese, but I love music like theirs

Actually I found out about them from a combination of the Hosome album, recommend to me by a friend, and Last.fm. They did my favorite mix on the Hosome album but I didn't give them any more thought at the time. Then I heard a track on Last.fm and really took an interest in them. I do not think they are really all that obscure though. All of there stuff is available from hmv.co.jp and that is where I ordered them from. They do international shipping too.

I have only gotten two of their albums so far (The Lay Lie Land and Hurtbreak Wonderland) but what I heard on last.fm was quite a bit older and wilder in sound. They seemed to have mellowed out. In spite of that, I like the albums a lot. Also if you like mum, I recommend the Aco album "irony" which I believe was produced by mum. Be careful, not all Aco is good though.

Tobberoth Wrote:All I'm really saying is, compared to how X Japan and other VisualKei bands are viewed in Japan NOW, it's really odd how popular and well known it is in the west NOW. (I'm not saying VisualKei is dead in Japan or anything, my friend went to a Dir n Gray concert in 2007 and there were tons of people there).

Are they really popular in the west? I don't know a single person in the States who is not deeply engrossed in Japanese sub-culture who has even heard the word visual-kei. Are they big in Europe or something?

yukamina Wrote:Oh, someone else who's heard of World's End Girlfriend? It's so obscure I can't find any albums or anything.

World's End Girlfriend did an album with Mono--Palmless Prayer/Mass Murder Refrain-- which I've found in numerous record shops in the US. You'd probably like Mono too, they're Japanese but don't expect lyrics :/

most of the good music i know about from japan is instrumental (or in a made up language, see "ruins") but here's a few with vocals that i like:

the timers - 80's blues rock band (their name is a slang reference to marijuana)

otomo yoshihide new jazz orchestra - dreams
can't find any youtube video's but great, beautiful songs on here with vocals (as opposed to most of his more experimental work)

tujiko noriko

some people call her the "japanese bjork" which is going a little for imo. still she sings beautiful love songs set to laptop soundscapes

ymo
duh!

naughty boys has lots of clearly understandable japanese lyrics

pmodel/susumu hirasawa
hirasawa-san is just an incredible songwriter with an amazing voice

i love bands like melt banana and boris but they aren't exactly great for learning the language. would love to hear more reccommedations of good music with *clear* lyrics

God I love Melt-Banana. I am now paying infinitely more attention to your post an will investigate the Japanese Bjork!

It's true about the lyrics though. Quite a lot of Japanese bands I love to bits are completely useless for learning the language.

wasurenaide Wrote:would love to hear more reccommedations of good music with *clear* lyrics

Great taste! I recommend phew, Togawa Jun(戸川純), Yapoos(ヤープズ), Natsuki Mari (夏木マリ), and my current favorite Asakawa Maki(浅川マキ). All of them can be youtubed. All of them have pretty easy to understand lyrics.

I used to think Melt Bannana was the most over-hyped band from Japan when I lived in the US. So many indie kids raved about them, but I found their CDs rather uninspired. For a long time I felt like people must just like BECAUSE they are from Japan and have a fairly attractive lead singer. Then I went to a live show because my best friend, who is a huge fan, said it would change my opinion of them. They are definitely better live, I still can't seem to develop a love for them though. I respect a lot of people who like them, but they also seem to have a strong following of aggressive asshats that ruin the experience for me.

dilandau23 Wrote:

Tobberoth Wrote:All I'm really saying is, compared to how X Japan and other VisualKei bands are viewed in Japan NOW, it's really odd how popular and well known it is in the west NOW. (I'm not saying VisualKei is dead in Japan or anything, my friend went to a Dir n Gray concert in 2007 and there were tons of people there).

Are they really popular in the west? I don't know a single person in the States who is not deeply engrossed in Japanese sub-culture who has even heard the word visual-kei. Are they big in Europe or something?

No, that's not what I mean. 90% of the people in the united states have probably never heard of a song not sung in English, at least never bothered to care, so that would be impossible.

What I mean is, 90% of people interested in Japan in the west is for some reason in love with visual kei bands. I mean go to a random japanese class and ask everyone for their favorite music, I bet the most commonly named bands will be Dir n Gray, L'arc n ciel, X Japan or Malice Mizer. Ask any Japanese highschool class the same thing, and I can promise the answers will be very different.

It's as if westerners who get to know stuff about japanese culture immediately connect it to VisualKei.

dilandau23 Wrote:Togawa Jun(戸川純), Yapoos(ヤープズ)

I was just thinking about recommending Jun Togawa/Yapoos if no one had recommended them, which has been マイブーム lately. I'd listen to a handful of Togawa's solo stuff (好き好き大好き、さようならをおしえて、バージンブルース) before, but have been listening to more of her Yapoos stuff from the ヤプース計画 album as well (肉屋のように、バーバラ・セクサロイド、コレクター).

バージンブルース (technically a cover, I think)
http://nicosound.dip.jp/sound/sm2034691
好き好き大好き

さようならをおしえて (also a cover/Japanese adaptation of a French song)

バーバラ・セクサロイド

肉屋のように

コレクター
http://nicosound.dip.jp/sound/sm2865454

If you do not have a MySpace account, I'd recommend getting one. I find it useless for almost everything but this: finding Japanese music. Start with 1-2 bands/performers you already know, then browse through their top friends, many of which will be bands/performers they like (so they are pre-filtered by an aesthetic you trust). Just about every band has a MySpace page already. Then visit their friends' pages, rinse, repeat. Each band's page has a few entire songs to sample, and you can easily spend all day collecting new bands this way. Have found a few I like already.