Any JPop/JRock/KPop love here?

[sj33]

'Seifuku ga Jama wo Suru' is one of their darker singles (along with 'Keibetsu ****eita Aijou'). They're both great, though I think a lot of people who started with AKB on those two singles to find that much their stuff is actually very upbeat! The truth is they do a huge variety of different sounds, but the backlash from the newer fans when BINGO! came out was quite amusing! AKB48 are the best traditional idol group around now though, truth be told, H!P are looking increasingly archaic. I'm praying they're still running in two years when I spend my year in Japan, I'm particularly a fan of Team B. From what I gather from the guys at STAGE48, it's a pain to get tickets these days.

Our man billy_dimashq is big on Mihimaru GT. I've heard a fair bit, though should give them more play time. Got the album here though so I may do in a sec! I'm sure most people here know that song in Ouendan 2 though.

[Eight Rooks]

Tons. Much like teddy, I don't really pay much attention to what ver kidz are listening to; I went to university/hang out/live with people nearly ten years younger than me and I'm practically clueless about much of what they're into. Plus they can't stand the Western stuff I like (various genres of dance, hiphop, bands that remind me of my goth days).

But anyway... I like the usual suspects; Ayu got me into Asian pop culture in a big way, but I like her less and less the more she turns into a female Michael Jackson (physically, I mean. The woman barely looks human these days) and she hasn't done an album as good as I Am... since. Hikki is a goddess, on the other hand, one of the greatest voices on the planet, and I mean that in all sincerity. I'm not wildly into idol music, however. I'll give anything a shot, I have the widest musical taste of anyone I know, but I tend to prefer Asian takes on more Western genres. Sometimes they add something new, sometimes they're just very, very good in their own right, sometimes they take something that's just pure cheese and make it genuinely compelling again. Random favourites - Boom Boom Satellites, Dragon Ash, Ellegarden, Abingdon Boys School, 8Otto, Drunken Tiger, Epik High, Rurutia (another astounding voice), Faye Wong (and another), Akino Arai (and another), Brilliant Green, Gackt, Joujouka, Ripslyme, Supercar, Susumu Hirasawa... eh, I could go on, but I'll stop there.

My fascination did start off as pure Japanophile yellow fever, I'll admit, but it's evolved over the years. Regardless of Engrish and blatant aping of Western pop culture I genuinely adore many of these bands. Sometimes even because of all that... Ellegarden are much more than an Asian Blink 182 knockoff to me partly because of the childlike enthusiasm inherent in their whole "screw you, I'll sing in English if I want to" act. They've made it part of who they are, as opposed to other groups like Dustbox, Overarm Throw et al.

[r3z]

LOL, reading through this thread and I don't have a clue who most of these artists are.. however, I have actually seen Berryz Koubou live!

A couple of years ago I got free tickets to a Sumo exhibition for NHK TV at the Ryogoku Kokugikan and after a round of demonstration bouts/skill displays they had a section where the Rikishi performed songs with Enka singers, topped off with a performance of a couple of songs by Berryz. Didn't know who they were at the time (still don't really!), but it stuck in the mind as bizarre as they had no obvious relation to the Sumo exhibition and just came on out of the blue with a sudden switch to concert-style lighting and sent a load of people in the crowd wild!

[sj33]

^You've seen Berryz. I am jealous of you forever! Their appearence does sound bizzare though, they're well known but not massive... sell about 30k normally, and are the second biggest H!P group below Musume, but simply because of their style of JPop, they will always be niche.

Hikky is fantastic of course, I adore Ultra Blue. She's recording an English album, but her last English album was abysmal (with the exception of Devil Inside), so I approach that with much fear. I really don't want her to go for the western R'n'B sound, she'd loose her own unique style, but I think she really digs western R'n'B

As I say, it's love/hate with Ayu. She really does sound best on the remix albums, they are all great. With her 'proper' stuff, I can either really like it (e.g. 'Because of You', 'STEP You', 'AUDIENCE', 'SURREAL' etc.)... but a lot of her stuff can be plain uninteresting. But when she's good, she's VERY good, up there with Hikki. And her remix albums are what got me hooked on JPop, especially Ayu-ro-mix.

[Eight Rooks]

Eh, I thought the only really good one was the first trance album - surprisingly effective for a lineup of fairly cheesy 4-floor chart-friendly acts (I seem to remember Dutch trance was really big at the time, which probably had something to do with the selection). The other trance albums have been severely diminishing returns IMO and the regular mixes tend towards the forgettable. I want J-Eurobeat or the like, I'll stick to Bemani soundtracks, thanks.

And I'd disagree Ayu ever reaches Hikki's level, even with I Am... but then I do tend towards the fanboy. I did/do like Exodus, but I agree - Japanophilia aside, it simply wasn't a patch on Hikki's regular output and while I've got no problem with her pursuing dual stardom a la BoA I do hope if she wants to go more RnB for the English markets she keeps it out of her Japanese stuff. Passion is one of my favourite songs of all time, and I can't really think of a Western chart-friendly female singer who offers anything similar to that sort of production - the whole part urban/slick radio-friendly, part ethereal, wistful, melancholy angle.

I think Ultra Blue just edges it over Deep River for me. Four absolutely blinding tracks kicking things off, one of the strongest openings to an album I've ever heard, Passion to round it off and the rest's not bad either.

[sj33]

Oh Ayu is no Hikki, just meant that Ayu's better stuff (which tbh is not really anything in the last few years) is very good. As for the remixes, I did like Ayu Trance 3... it was the original Ayu-ro Mix that got me into JPop. Certainly some of them aren't brilliant, though this year's Ayu-mi-x 6 GOLD/SILVER is a real return to form, and really different to the previous albums which were beginning to get dull. Worth checking out.

Ultra Blue is quite possibly my favourite album of all time. Passion is interesting because she actually wrote Sanctuary (the English version) first, and had to re-write it in Japanese (which she reportedly found very hard). Sanctuary is brilliant (as is Passion), and if all of her English stuff was that good, I'd be all for it. I think she's working with established western R'n'B artists though, which is concerning.

[Eight Rooks]

That's weird. I always thought it sounded as if the English version came second - the Japanese seems much more natural whereas the English seems as if it's been awkwardly stretched to scan.

I have no real problem with Western RnB, bear in mind. Nor Asian, for that matter. I just don't think - on the evidence of her career so far - it's really one of Hikki's strengths. Merely hooking up with Timbaland or the Neptunes (or whoever the flavour of the month is at the moment) doesn't automatically mean you can raunch it with the best of them, never mind where in the world you're from. Even BoA - candy-coated and largely unthreatening - sounds a hell of a lot more comfortable with her better dancefloor material than Hikki did on most of Exodus.

[fuse]

Huge j-rock fan :x

Listen to lots of bands, and been to see many of them too. Dir en grey (their first time outside Asia in Berlin and another two times after), D'espairs Ray, Polysics (about 3 times), Mucc, Gilgamesh, Envy, Boris, Melt Banana - although the last three I wouldn't really count as 'j-rock' seeing as everyone seems to associate that term with visual kei and little else. They are awesome however.

Had tickets for Kaggra and An Cafe too but the former was cancelled and I had to miss the latter. Not so much into either of those but would've been there to 'support the scene' and all.

Also into Kuroyume, X-Japan, Luna Sea, Rentrer en Soi, Blood Stain Child, Headphones President, Creature Creature, Malice Mizer, Pierrot, and probably more that I'm forgetting.

Can stomach some j-pop but generally not so much my thing.

[Eight Rooks]

I don't really associate it with visual kei. Partly because I'm not wildly into that, I suppose. Gackt's about as close as I get (in terms of his being a big prancing showman, more than being that musically similar ), although I like a bit of X-Japan and Dir En Grey.

[RetroReserve]

I've got some Boowy, Himuro Kyosuke and Glay. Got quite a few CDs and DVDs of theirs now.

I would really appreciate any band suggestions that I should keep a look out for.

[teddymeow]

Cover You - the 9th Morning Musume album is out on Wednesday!

Can't wait!

[sj33]

Yeah looking forward to it too, the first new Musume album of sorts for a year and a half, even if this isn't a 'proper' new album as such. Curiously, it does have Pepper Keibu, but also lacks Kanashimi Twilight, Onna ni Sache Are, Mikan and Resonant Blue, implying a 'proper' new album is just around the corner.

Apparently the 7th album on the track, 'Dounimo Tomaranai', is one of the W singles that got cancelled after the Kago Ai scandals. Will be interesting to see what that's like.

[MisterKIKI]

m-flo all the way! Back in my yuff, I dabbled with sequencer/tracking software called mod-plug and started to understand how samples are manipulated to make music (I'm a Chemical Process Engineer now). At the time, I was also into 2step and m-flo did a pretty good 2step remix of Utada Hikaru's Distance, which brought me to m-flo's Expo Expo and was just blown away by what DJ Taku can do. Favourite album of all time is Astromantic. It's got everything from hip pop to swing and jazz and it's the first album where I loved every single track (including the intro).

Other than m-flo, I mainly tend towards RnB,Hip-Hop/Pop kind of stuff, i.e. early Utada Hikaru, Suite Chic, post Suite Chic Namie Amuro, Zeebra, Double, Johnny Astro and the Diamond Crooks.

Just to bring it back to games, I also bought both YMCK albums.

I got into Korean music when a friend of mine showed me music videos from S.Korea. They were very cinematic. They were also bloody melodramatic to the point of hilarity. Don't know about Hyori Lee's music, but her videos are hawt. I also like MC Sniper and more recently got into Tashannie/t/Yoon Mi Rae.

This might be a bit of a controversial question, but how much do you pay for as opposed to download? And if you buy, are you the type of person who would go the extra mile for First Press editions and Japan domestic versions, as opposed to identical overseas/Asian versions (you'll know what I'm talking about )?

[Mr_Sands]

Shiina Ringo

Shiina Ringo

Shiina Ringo

Shiina Ringo

She is Phenomenal.

[sj33]

Dir en Grey are playing in Bristol on the 16th as part of the Kerrang Relentless tour - anyone else going?

I need to find myself a shirt to wear, or at least somehow make one. I think I've left it a bit too late to order the ebay ones If anyone can help there, it'd be appreciated.