J-Pop/J-Rock

[Fanku Kaibutsu]

I kind of like Gakt, he's got a few good songs.

I concur that J-Pop in general sucks.

X-Japan has some amazing songs, and they're a good band as long as you

Bump of Chicken is a good band who I need to get more of.

Good for Dir En Gray for crossing over to the US. They're way better than the last japanese act that got US exposure(Puffy Ami Yumi, I think they're called?).

Dragon Ash is my favorite Japanese band, and one of my favorite bands of all time. They constantly change their style and have evolved from a normal rock band to more hip-hop orented to the rap-metal style that was all the rage back in 2001 and now they think they're mexican or something.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Polysics are seriously brilliant and critically acclaimed here in the West. I've been to see 'em a couple of times play live and they own the stage and put on a fantastic show (playing to 20-80 people generally). Other than that, I generally cry tears of hatred at most J-Pop. I won't enjoy living there for the music.

Mostly taken from their Japan tour 2006 - musta been an amazing show to be at...

Brilliant... http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=bipHwZZQtO8

At their most mental... http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=GsFEN4jbe0M

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=4O3r5Tm7ui0

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=P6wyjINtkSk

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=M9Q7XFFy_j0

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=BL8R7R4_hAc

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_vuzuZTJUhY

(even if they're a modern day Japanese Devo).

Edited February 14, 2008 by ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster

[GoGo Yubari]

Obligatory GoGo Yubari post mentioning The Pillows goes here.

This post also serves to echo the mentions of SkaPara, Asian Kung-Fu Generation, and politely request that someone hook me up with some Seagull Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her in a non-board environment, as I have "Do I Love You Enough?" and have had it for years and absolutely adore it. This is followed by mentions of the brilliant green (whose reformation over the past year I am ecstatic about) and some minor interest in Luna Sea, Mr. Children, and Plastic Tree.

In regards to J-Pop, I think there's a line. I detest it when it's attempting to stab a needle into my veins and inject a metric fuckton of sugar in the form of obnoxiously hyper, perky music (see... well, EE Jump, which I linked to Ruki to mock it and then he went and legitimately enjoyed the song). But on the other hand, I enjoy Bonnie Pink a lot and... okay, no, I've mostly grown out of Ayumi Hamasaki, though there are probably still two or three songs I still like. I'm a firm believer in not condemning genres, and instead condemning artists who embrace the worst aspects of those genres.

Edited February 14, 2008 by GoGo Yubari

[Vilge Duin]

I went through a period during my final couple of years in high school where I quite liked Ayumi Hamasaki, BoA and Koda Kumi. I particularly still kind of like "The Meaning of Peace" by BoA and Koda Kumi.

However I grew out of it almost as fast as I became interested and any other stuff I listened to was utterly wretched. I cans till listen to the occasional song by them if it pops up in my play list but that's about it. I've also never honestly bothered to look into J-Rock considering some of the recommendations I received were completely shit.

Utada Hikaru though has been, and likely will continue to be, my favourite female vocalist of the past few years. English or Japanese it doesn't matter, I just love her voice and like almost all of her songs. I'm looking forward to her next upcoming English album that's coming out this year.

[Fanku Kaibutsu]

I forgot to mention Melt Banana in my previous post. I don't know what else to do besides mention them, because I'm not entirely sure if I have an opinion on them. One thing is for sure, they definitely have some sort of thing going on with their music.

[TheRyno]

There's a few Japanese artists I listen to but most of them have already been mentioned. I've pretty much been addicted to Dir en grey ever since I first heard them a year or so ago. A lot of their early stuff when they focused more on "visual kei" is hit and miss with me but from the Vulgar album on, everything is great. Guitar Wolf is also great and if you haven't seen Wild Zero, fucking do it. One of my roommates downloaded a bunch of Gackt and what little I've heard of his is pretty good.

I don't listen to a lot of J-Pop but I still love it because it's so cheesy. Also, I have an Ayumi Hamasaki song on my computer and I'm listening to it now. So if that makes me gay, sign me up.

EDIT - For some reason, I forgot Balzac. They're pretty much the Japanese equivalent of The Misfits so that makes them awesome x10.

Edited February 14, 2008 by TheRyno

[LUKIE]

The lack of Yusuke Chiba love here makes me want to go on a rampage and murder you all with a hot poker.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Gackt has a few decent songs, I'll also echo Yoko Kanno (& The Seatbelts), fantastic stuff.

[LUKIE]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHTn0F5poTQ

I hate you all.

[Skummy]

Melt Banana are fucking AWESOME. Their last album had mental THEREMIN SOLOS. You can't get much better. And they just own, in general.

Oh, and LUKIE, thank you much. I got hold of some Thee Michelle Gun Elephant, it came on shuffle on my mp3 player earlier today, and it's fucking brilliant.

[LUKIE]

Brilliant is an insult to TMGE.

There are no human words to describe how good they actually are.

[Momo]

There's also The Sex Machine Guns. I've not actually heard any of their music, but the name caught my attention.

[Protoman Version 2.5]

I'll echo GoGo's love for the Pillows, first time I heard them was years back when at a Con I stumbled upon a anime that had just come out in Japan called "Furi Curi", and as they say, the rest is history. Whenever I pop in one of their tunes images of that show instantly flood back into my mind, and I honestly think they are as much apart of it as any thing else in it. Admittedly, that resulted in a strange moment when I tried to read the manga form of FLCL. But yeah, the Pillows are epic.

X is another good one, Rusty Nail I especially have a soft spot for, and there's a bunch more I could ramble off but most have already said them.

[GhostMachine]

Utada Hikaru is one I've seen a few people mention that I can't believe I forgot about. She sings pretty good in Japanese and in English.

Plus, she's cute as hell.

This is awesome:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UioHcusRUkc...feature=related

Hyori Lee is also a pretty good singer, but the majority of stuff I've heard by her has been crap (ie, bad songs).

[Toa]

I steer clear of J-Pop, since just about every J-Rock band out there makes me feel like I'm moving dangerously close to that dreaded "guilty pleasure"-territory, and I shudder to think which unwanted emotions J-Pop might instill in me. Dir En Grey's probably my favourite Japanese band (it's a close race between them an Sigh), but I was pretty let down by their latest offering - it had way too much unintelligable Engrish ("fuck" is about the only English word Kyo is capable of pronouncing properly), way too much screaming, and not as much variety as their other albums. It wasn't a complete abomination - it never becomes boring and it is pretty catchy - but there's only one song on there that I really like. Their newest single is the shit, though, so I'm very much looking forward to their next release.

Lately I've been listening to a lot of Greenmachine. Pretty rad Stoner Rock-y stuff.

Thee Michelle Gun Elephant

Rosso

The Birthday

All lead by the absolutely amazing, and king of Dirty Rock and Roll himself, Yusuke Chiba.

[Skummy]

As far as Engrish and mispronunciations go, nothing beats Flower Travellin' Band's "my father was a gambring man, down in New Or-reans/there is a house in New Or-reans, they call the Lising Sun".

Oh, and Sigh are fucking incredible, or at least "Black Curse" is; doom surf black metal ICHIBAN.

[Benji]

Dunno what you classify Cold Fairyland as, probably orchestral prog rock, but they're wonderful, many songs make me imagine Final Fantasy-esque scenes.

[LUKIE]

I steer clear of J-Pop, since just about every J-Rock band out there makes me feel like I'm moving dangerously close to that dreaded "guilty pleasure"-territory, and I shudder to think which unwanted emotions J-Pop might instill in me. Dir En Grey's probably my favourite Japanese band (it's a close race between them an Sigh), but I was pretty let down by their latest offering - it had way too much unintelligable Engrish ("fuck" is about the only English word Kyo is capable of pronouncing properly), way too much screaming, and not as much variety as their other albums. It wasn't a complete abomination - it never becomes boring and it is pretty catchy - but there's only one song on there that I really like. Their newest single is the shit, though, so I'm very much looking forward to their next release.

Lately I've been listening to a lot of Greenmachine. Pretty rad Stoner Rock-y stuff.

Thee Michelle Gun Elephant

Rosso

The Birthday

All lead by the absolutely amazing, and king of Dirty Rock and Roll himself, Yusuke Chiba.

Which TMGE albums would be good to start out with? I had some of their stuff once, but I never really got around to listening to it.

Gear Blues. It was their first album to go International.

I have every song they have ever done, including their unreleased stuff... soo... yeah

And the Sex Machine Guns are a bit meh.

[LUKIE]

How can anyone NOT love that!

Even Mike Awesome has to agree with me.

[illmatic]

Hyori Lee is also a pretty good singer, but the majority of stuff I've heard by her has been crap (ie, bad songs).