By Rachel on February 9, 2007
I grew up on show tunes and movie soundtracks and when I met Dave, I was even more exposed to movie related music by his listening to movie scores. Because of my background with movie music, I really like anime music.
Anime is pretty nifty in the sense that it’s the whole package visually as well as audibly. Firstly we’re entertained by the purty pictures on the TV screen, then we pop the soundtrack in the stereo and presto, more entertainment!
I’m still new and absolutely unexposed to J-Rock, J-Pop, Visual Kei and all that good stuff so I can’t even tell you if I’d like any of it. I can tell you, however, that the Japanese bands I’ve seen on the net look damn cool. If any of them sound anything like Swedish or German EBM bands, please lemme know cuz lord knows they look the part!
What kind of Japanese music do you listen to?
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I was exposed to anime as a child while living in Germany after watching the Japanese version of Hans Christian Anderson’s the Little Mermaid. In high school, a classmate in art brought in Akira as an example of Japanese art. I wasn’t very impressed with anime at the time, but my re-exposure to it in 2000 thanks to Escaflowne had me hooked for life.After sorting out what I liked about anime (great stories, beautiful animation and epic battles) and disliked about anime (big boobs, angst-y 15 year-old kids, most mecha, sports stories and style-over-substance), I got into it with a vengeance.I do love almost all aspects of Japanese culture and try to be involved with it as much as possible. I have no problem admitting that I incorporate a lot of Japanese trends and traditions into my life as I modify them and make them my own. Anime is a big part of that, along with all the sub-cultures, past and present.
anime soundtracks of course
Other than anime soundtracks not much. I have gotten a few albums by an artist/act that appeared on an anime soundtrack.
Besides DDR music and anime soundtracks, I also listen Hikaru Utada and Nanase Aikawa. I also like Max, but I don’t like to admit it in public
I have as much j-music as I do anime (and that’s a crapload). Of course it all started with anime songs, but then it just spread from there to non-anime related bands. My collection spans all genres, but the majority are j-rock. I guess this is like shameful ad plugging, but I also help around the site http://www.jmignited.com . Check that place out for j-music samples. If there’s no one you’re looking for specifically we have a section split up into genres.
Why do I even listen to it even though I dont know what they’re saying? It’s music, if it sounds good to your ears, then it doesn’t matter what they’re saying.
Yeah, -Os, I know what you mean about not understanding what the heck the bands are saying. I don’t think it really matters if you understand the words or not. Most of my fave bands are either German or Swedish. I do understand a few words; for example, “wundervoll”. Wundervoll indeed….
I’ll definitely check out the site you mentioned to try and find a Japanese equivalent of EBM. That’d be swanky if it exists. Do Japanese bands get depressed enough to do goth music?
-Julie, a lotta the DDR music is basically house and techno. Check out some Japanese house or techno to get an authentic experience. However, bad Japanese house (all house is bad IMO) is still bad house. What’s so bad about Max that you can’t admit you like it in public?
I dig a wide range of J-Pop, Rock, and retro. I dig Love Psychedelico, Mika Nakashima, Kou Shibasaki (just got one of hers. Had no idea she sang), Meiko Kaji, Orange Range, Dragon Ash, Spitz Hayabusa (sp? it’s on my iPod in kanji), Rip Slyme, Puffy AmiYumi (of course), and others!
I liked Rip Slyme’s intro to Gantz -Chris and have been meaning to get some of their music.
After checking out some Japanese bands surface appearance I researched if my fave bands actually look as cool as their Japanese counterparts No such luck. This is why I never really look up pics of band members. My idea of what they should look like never synchs up with the reality. I was sorely disappointed to discover the front man (only man) for Assemblage 23 looks like he should be on Orange County Choppers. And the lead vocalist for Wolfshiem just isn’t doing for me what his voice does.
My question, therefore, is do these Japanese bands sound like they look, or is it all part of an elaborate act to keep audiences distracted from an otherwise boring music experience? I need the whole package to watch a band perform. Not so much for just listening, but when I throw down $35 I expect to be entertained. Anybody go to one of these Japanese band’s show or think these bands have the “whole package” dealie going on?
Most of your other readers can fill you in on the recent and current music scene, so I am going to look further back.
With respect to anime, one song for me stands out. It is “Love Song ga Kikoeru” performed by Anri and it was the end theme to the movie “Tenchi Muyo in Love 2″ (aka “Tenchi Forever”). Since this was the end to the Tenchi Universe series (except for a manga coda), I thought the song fit the ending visuals quite well. Also, the song, for me, could stand on its own and I like the fact they used an orchestra rather than synthesizers. As for the performer, I guess you could say most of Anri’s recordings could be called Adult Contemporary/Smooth Jazz…not really to my taste, but this song I did enjoy. I believe she sang during the 1998 Nagano Winter Games Opening Ceremony.
The groups that I like are older (like me). The Far East Family Band was a progressive rock group which combined synthesizer based rock (like Tangerine Dream) with traditional Japanese instruments. One former member of the group is Kitaro. He is known these days primarily as a New Age artist, but he has also done soundtrack work. He did the soundtrack for NHK’s “Silk Road” series and for Oliver Stone’s “Heaven and Earth” film.
Another group I listened to was the Yellow Magic Orchestra though they were a little too “electronic” at times for me. Ryuichi Sakamoto was a member of YMO but had a solo career before and after. Like Kitaro, he has also done soundtrack work. His credits include “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence” (he also acted in the film with David Bowie) and “Little Buddha”.
I like Osamu Kitajima, especially his first record “Benzaiten” as it tried to blend traditional Japanese instruments with a rock feel. A followup called “The Source” did this as well with electronic instruments and traditional instruments. He also has done soundtrack work on “Captive Hearts”.
I have listened to Tomita and like some of his electronic arrangements of classical music especially on “Snowflakes are Dancing” (Debussy) and “Pictures at an Exhibition” (Mussorgsky). I was surprised to learn that he did some of the soundtrack work for an early anime I watched as a kid, “Kimba the White Lion” (aka “Jungle Emperor”).
Pink Lady…I mention them, not because I like them (though some of their pop tunes were fun), but because I remember turning on the TV one night and saw this show called “Pink Lady and Jeff”. It was a sort of a variety, comedy, music show. It was a little bizarre and a little sad (both members of Pink Lady looked rather uncomfortable and at times had a deer in the headlights look). Later I found out that two years earlier they had an amazing string of hit singles in Japan and their manager thought that a US TV show would boost them into the American market. It might have worked with a different concept, but the shows (I hear there were 6) that aired failed badly.
Sadistic Mika Band…hard rock Japanese style. I always had fun announcing their songs when I hosted a progressive rock show on the college station. “Black Ship” was a good tune.
Shonen Knife…punk meets pop meets Japan. “Let’s Knife” is perhaps my favorite album by them. I also liked their Powerpuff Girls song, “Buttercup (I’m a Supergirl)”. They also were part of a Rutles (ahh, the pre-fab four) tribute album and their version of “Goosestep Mama” is great.
Toshiko Akiyoshi…a bit of an iconoclast. She is a jazz pianist/arranger/composer/band leader. Many of her compositions show her interest in Japanese harmonies, instruments, and history. For example, “Kogun” was inspired by the story of a Japanese soldier who stayed in the jungle for 30 years since he believed that WWII was still being fought…or “Tanuki’s Night Out” about a tanuki going out and getting drunk.
There’s more, but I think I’ve rambled for too long as it is. Hope this was of some help.
Rachel: You should check out some of Rip Slyme’s CD’s. We’re actually pretty lucky here in CA, as the local library has quite a few of them, but when my wife and I were in Hawaii we picked up a few they didn’t have (note: Shirokiya at the Ala Moana Mall has Japanese CDs for like $15.00 — unheard of!!). One of the ones we picked up was Rip Slyme’s “Classic and Poetry” ( I believe that’s the name. It’s in the other room). It’s a two disc set of rip-slyme poetry set to classical music. Totally cool. If you can find it, check it out.
I have been listening to Dir en Grey a lot lately. Rachel–I don’t think that the look is there to distract from the music. Perhaps with some other Visual Kei bands it might be. Honestly though, I don’t give a rats ass what they look like. I like the music.
I also really like Sigh–a proggy metal band from Japan. They are rather strange, but in a good way. Thing is, on every album I’ve listened to, the production is unforgivably bad.
-Mochi, all I have to say is: Wow. That’s quite a chunk of diverse listening to explore. I need to get in a music mood to search through all these great suggestions.
-Chris, I’ll look up some of that up in my library but I’m betting the St. Louis library doesn’t roll like that. But, I’ll check anyway.
I’m not too impressed with any of the Japanese electro I’ve heard so far. Far too house driven, and crappy house at that. I like music that makes me smile and gets me all hopped up. That’s good stuff to exercise to. But then Skinny Puppy and industrial is good to cook to and Puffy is good to sew to. Damn, if I had a sound track for everyday life it would really be incoherent >< . If you find the Japanese equivalent to Puppy or Ohgr -Zingor lemme know.