J-Pop: An Introduction (and discussion)
 

So you like that song that appears on your favourite anime, or perhaps the RPG you can't help but love, perhaps you've discovered J-Pop by luck and chance, or maybe you've not heard any and you want to dip your toe in the water. Whichever way it is you've come by this wonderful genre of music, you have and you want to know more. Wellyou've come to the right place. It can all be quite confusing, from which artists to check out to where to get hold of it. As a result, I decided to make collate this information for anyone just getting into J-Pop as well as anyone looking to develop and expand their current J-Pop collection.

This is also a place to discuss J-Pop, so feel free to pitch your questions and requests here, as well as just making general discussion on the topic.

Note: This first post is long, but you don't have to read all of it. The small text contains a lot of optional reading about artists, be sure to read the normal size sections though.

Note 2: As mentioned at the bottom of this post, this information is now a couple of years out of date, some of the acts have disbanded, there's a number of new people on the scene, etc, etc. Apologies.

So starting from the beginning...

What is J-Pop?
J-Pop relates to the mainstream pop music originating in Japan. While it does include the more sweet and bubbly range of pop artists it also encompases a whole lot more beside, often drawing in influences from a wide range of areas, including R&B, Hip-Hop and rock. Anyone who think's it's all anime-voiced people singing crazy ditties has only been exposed to a small range of what's available.

Where to start?
As mentioned above, the music itself often pulls in from many areas, and even cultures, to offer a sometimes surprising range of music and choice to anyone willing to listen. Like anything, some artists and bands are better known than others and for westerners you are likely to have only heard of a few of the most well-known. That shouldn't put you off taking a chance on those you've not heard of though as there's some fantastic talent to be discovered if you stray a little from the beaten path. However, before you start exploring the multitude of artists available you need somewhere to start. This though will depend on you current experience of J-Pop:

The Complete Newbie
For those who have heard little or no J-Pop before, starting off can be quite intimidating and it can be all too easy to just stick with the well-known artists, especially since these are most often the easiest to get hold of. While I'd encourage anyone to explore further, they do make for a good starting point. So who are these well-known artists? You are likely to have heard the names of the big three, Ayumi Hamasaki, BoA and Utada Hikaru, however there's one other group to consider: Morning Musume. This hyper-active all-girl group are hugely popular in Japan and also make for a good introduction to the scene. If you don't like these, there's plenty of other artists to listen to, but these artists are generally a good introduction to the genre.
Recommended Artists: Ayumi Hamasaki, BoA, Morning Musume and Utada Hikaru

The Beginner
This is someone who has heard a few artists, most likely the big three, but are still new to the genre and looking to discover what else is out there. The next step is to explore some of the more general artists that are more popular in Japan, if not elsewhere.
Recommended Artists: Aya Matsuura, Do As Infinity, dream, Every Little Thing, hitomi, Koda Kumi and The Brilliant Green

Other Beginners
Perhaps you've sampled a little of the more popular Japanese artists as well as some of the wider known artists and still looking for something to grab your interest. For you it may be worth sampling some of the lesser-known gems that can be found in the J-Pop vault.
Recommended Artists: Garnet Crow, m-flo, Maaya Sakamoto, melody, Namie Amuro and Shiina Ringo

Remember, these are just general recommendations to get an idea of the genre for anyone looking to get a feel for what J-Pop has to offer. These simple recommendations aren't a reflection of how good or popular these artists are, and they aren't a definitive collection, but they will give you a good place to start. Be sure to check out the next section and see if there are any artists that sound like your cup of tea, or to find out if these ones sound like your sort of thing.

What artists are out there?
There are obviously a huge number of artists in total from across the years and it's not possible to cover all of them, at least in any great detail. What we present here is a breakdown of the genres you'll find in J-Pop and the artists you find in them. For the most part, and where possible, a description of the artist will be given giving you some idea of their history, current status, style and sound. The genres they are organised into are: Alt Rock, Anime/TV, Bubblegum Pop, Traditional Japanese, Mainstream Pop and R&B/Hip-Hop.

- Alt Rock
> B'z:
B'z is a simple duo featuring vocalist Kohshi Inaba and guitarist Tak Matsumoto. B'z released their first single and album in August '88, so they have well over fifteen years of music behind them. After their debut single Dakara Sono Te wo Hanashite release, the single Taiyo no Komachi Angel got them to the top spot, and nearly all (if not all) their following singles and albums reaching #1 also. Their fourth full album, RISKY, not only scored #1 on the Oricon charts, but stayed in chart rankings for 132 weeks, which is over two and a half years. B'z was again recognized later when they won the Japan Gold Disk Artist of the Year Award of '99. Their achievements are astonishing, and not easily replicated by your average musician. Their sound still retains a somewhat retro feel but is never short on variety, and with so many songs (they have released 13 albums to date), there is likely to be at least one song to appeal. (On a side note: while still a group, both members of B'z also have solo works). [www.bz-vermillion.com]

> Do As Infinty:
Do As Infinity (DAI) is a three-piece group consisting of composer Dai Nagao, guitarist Ryo Owatari and vocalist Tomiko Van. Do As Infinity is named after composer and creator Dai, who no longer has an active role in the public face of the group, despite originally appearing at public events and in their promotional videos alongside Tomiko and Ryo. He only occassionally makes appearances at their concerts. In September 1999 they debuted with Tangerine Dream holding a free concert at Shibuya. Success soon followed, and they have since released five albums as well as a number of singles. They have also performed some songs in the anime Inuyahsa. Their unique mix of samples and electric guitar solos, accompanied with acoustic guitars, alongside Tomiko's unique style of singing gives them their own distinct sound. A solid group always ready to deliver, and worthy of anyone's attention. [www.d-a-i.com]

> Every Little Thing:
Every Little Thing (ELT) first appeared on the scene in 1996 with debut single Feel My Heart. Their debut album, everlasting, followed in '97 and sold over 2 million copies throughout Japan. Regularly appearing inside the top 10 of the Oricon chart, and on occassion hitting the top spot with singles like Time Goes By, Forever Yours and Over and Over. Originally a three-piece group consisting of Mitsuru Igarashi (composer and keyboardist), Ichiro Ito (guitarist) and Kaori Mochida (vocals), in March 2000 creater and composer Igarashi Mitsuru left after releasing three albums. This left Ichiro on composing duty and Kaori writing the lyrics. After releasing 4Force the two found their feet with Many Pieces, widely regarded as their best work to date. They have recently released another album, commonplace and continue to showcase top notch music with superb vocals. Kaori's voice has been compared to that of ZARD's Izumi Sakai, and has a sweet yet powerful quality that really shines through on a lot of their later tracks. While many thought the departure of Igarashi was the end of ELT, Itou and Mochida have proven they are more than capable of putting out a good tune. [www.avexnet.or.jp/elt]

> Go!Go!7188:
Go!Go!7188 is a three-piece rock group consisting of Yuu (Nakashima Yumi), Akko (Hamada Akiko) and Taakii. Yuu handles composition, vocals and guitar, Akko does lyrics, bass and backing vocals, and Taakii handles the drums. The two girls, Yuu and Akko, grew up together in Kagoshima and originally played covers and messed about, until Yuu started composing songs. Later Taakii joined the group and they finally debuted in 2000 with the album Dasoku Houkou. This was followed by a four singles over five months letting people know that Go!Go! was a group here to stay. Originally gaining something of a cult following, it wasn't until 2003, when they released their third album Tategami, that they finally hit the top 10 of the Oricon charts, making it to #5 (a full 10 places above their previous best). To date they have released three albums, as well as a cover album and live tour album. They draw in a number of different influences into their music style and are known for variety, even in the single song. Yuu's powerful vocals work well, lending an extensive range, as well as a decent quality, to the music. For those interested in the group, it's also worth noting that Akko released a solo album, Kirari, in 2003.
[www.breast.co.jp/gogo7188]

> hitomi:
hitomi is a model/actress turned singer, which is one of the many things she shares in common with fellow popstar Ayumi Hamasaki. As well as their backgrounds, they both write their songs and they share a rather quirky 'nasal' quality to the voice. However, hitomi started her music career a few years before Ayu after meeting producer Tetsuya Komuro in 1993. Her debut single, Let's Play Winter, the following year. Though she failed to score any real hits for a number of years hitomi persevered. Her fifth album, thermal plastic, regarded as some of her best work, gained reasonable popularity, though was over-shadowed by then new J-Pop superstars Mai Kuraki, Utada Hikaru and Ayumi Hamasaki. Her sixth album, Love Life, in 2000 changed all that scoring #3 on the Oricon charts. She has released 10 albums to date, including recent release Traveller, with her latest albums all securing good sales and seeing her popularity increase. hitomi has a rather consistent sound, with a nice rock feel to her trakcs, and her music is likely to fall into the 'either you love or hate' category. [www.avexnet.or.jp/hitomi]

> Nanase Aikawa:
Nanase Aikawa debuted in 1995 with the single Yumemiru Shoujo Ja Irarenai. Her debut album, Red, followed in 1996 and was a big hit, seeing her named "the brightest star" in female rock. She has worked with producer Tetsuro Oda for the majority of her career, though during 2000-01 Hotei Tomoyasu was on producing duty. Her work with Tetsuro has a more American rock feel to it, while with Hotei her songs tend to be a little more speedy and upbeat. Nananse produced her own mini-album, The Last Quarter, in 2001, which had a distinct ballad overtone. She has returned in 2004 from a three year hiatus to release her 8th album, 7 seven. She has remained a constant source of quality rock with a slight pop edge, and though some may argue she belong fully in the J-Rock category, her pop-idol status and ability to work outside the rock confines would say otherwise. You could do a lot worse than to check out her music. [www.avexnet.or.jp/nanase]

> Shiina Ringo:
Shiina Ringo is not your average popstar. Unlike most 'stars' she prefers to keep her private life away from public scrutiny, avoiding such things as publicity stunts and interviews. Shiina Ringo first appeared on the Japanese music scene in 1998 with her debut single Kofukuron, with a debut album in '99 gaining much praise from critics throughout Asia. Her second and third albums have met with similar success. Shiina's music ranges from heavy guitar-screeching rock to traditional Japanese music with a jazzy twist to bluesy melodic pop, making her somewhat difficult to place, but more than entertaining to listen to. [www.toshiba-emi.co.jp/ringo/st.htm]

> The Brilliant Green:
The Brilliant Green, otherwise known as BuriGuri or TBG, are widely considered one of Japan's premier alt-rock bands. Hailing from Kyoto, this three-person group is made up of bassist (and 'Leader') Shunsaku Okuda, guitarist Ryo Matsui and vocalist Tomoko 'Tommy' Kawase. Formed in 1995, the group signed with Sony in '97 releasing a number of singles and earning mild success. In 1998, There Will Be Love There was used as the theme for television drama Love Again propelling them to fame. Their eponymous debut album secured their popularity selling a million copies in two days. They have since released three more albums, though since 2001 each member has been persuing solo projects, most notably Tomoko's Tommy february/heavenly6. Their unique blend of tunes has earned them a spot in Time Magazine's 10 Best Bands in Planet Earth (along with Radiohead, U2, and the like) and their style is certainly different to most other Japanese bands. A heavy Western influence can be felt in their music, most obvious in the songs sung primarily in English, and with their musical style incorporating everything from Brit-rock to American alt-rock, which all adds to their distinct rock sound. While there has been no new material for a while, and it remains to be seen if there will be any more, this is one band you won't regret checking out, especially if you like your music with more of a rock edge to it. [www.sonymusic.co.jp/Music/Info/thebrilliantgreen]

> Tommy heavenly6:
Tommy heavenly6 is the darker side of Tomoko Kawase's alter-ego solo project. The Tommy heavenly6 side was brought to life in 2003 to balance out the sweet and light-hearted february6. With heavenly6 Tomoko, vocalist for The Brilliant Green, favours a more grunge rock inspired sound, though to date has only released two singles under the moniker, Wait till I can dream and Hey my friend. The singles have been met with reasonable success and an album is hotly anticipated, especially given the lighter side, Tommy february6, has recently released her second. [www.sonymusic.co.jp/Music/Info/Tommyheavenly6]

> Yaida Hitomi:
Yaida has often been compared to Shiina Ringo due to her dedication to both music as well as singing, writing and composing her own songs. She is also able to play most of the instruments she composes for, and after a stint on the indie scene finally made her debut in 2000 with B'coz I Love You. Her debut album stormed the Oricon charts earning her quick success, and she has since released three more albums of what she calls "heart rock". While her voice isn't quite as quirky as Shiina's it certainly has power and decent range that can impress in the variety of songs she pens. [www.aozorarecords.com/yaiko/]

> Other artists in this genre: Mr. Children

- Anime/TV
> Maaya Sakamoto:
Maaya Sakamoto got her break at the age of 15 when she secured the part of Hitomi Kanzaki in the anime series Vision of Escaflowne. While her voice acting may not have been anything note-worthy, it was her vocals on Escaflowne's opening song, Yakusoku wa Iranai, that really got her noticed. She has had a number of parts in various anime shows, and even voiced characters in the odd computer game (inluding Dead or Alive: Xtreme Beach Volleyball and the Japanese version of Kingdom Hearts). Her debut album, Grapefruit, was released in 1997 and, to date, she since released seven more albums, as well as a number of compilations and singles. The majority of Maaya's work is anime related and she has performed many themes and insert songs for shows, often working with Japanese composer Yoko Kanno (including work on almost all of her solo albums and singles). During '98 and '99 Maaya released a couple of albums with Chieko Higuchi as part of a duo called Whoops, though Maaya's participation in the group is often overlooked. Maaya voice has a sweet quality to it that's best demonstrated in her more light-hearted songs, but there's an underlying quality that's hard to deny. [www.jvcmusic.co.jp/maaya]

> Tamaki Nami:
Tamaki Nami should be no stranger to our anime fans, rising to stardom with Believe, the song used in the Japanese animation, Gundam Seed, which got her into the limelight in no time. The term "stardom" is not used lightly in the first sentence, Tamaki Nami was one of the winners of the 18th Annual Japan Gold Disk Award's New Artist of the Year. She definitely has a bright future ahead of her as she is still very young, being born on 1988. She is also backed by Sony, meaning she obviously has seemingly unlimited funding. Sony sent her, along with other Sony artists such as TM Revolution, to perform at several anime conventions this year. Tamaki Nami's songs are generally very upbeat and is supported with a strong dance choreography as can be seen from her promotional videos. [www.tamakinami.com]

> Other artists in this genre: Bon-Bon Blanco, Chihiro Yonekura, Horie Yui, Masami Okui, Megumi Hayashibara, Melocure, Mikuni Shimokawa

- Bubblegum Pop
> Aya Matsuura:
Aya Matsuura, or Ayaya as she's often called, was originally a hopefully auditioning in 2000 for a spot in Morning Musume. She made it to the final, but didn't win. However, she was spotted by producer Tsunku, creator of Morning Musume and Hello! Project. She was signed as a solo artist to be part of Hello! Project and debuted in 2001 with the single dokki dokki! LOVE mail. Her debut album, First Kiss, followed in 2002 after a number of single releases and saw her quickly become a favourite amongst H!P fans. To date she has released three albums and continues to earn respectable placings on the Oricon chart, though so far she has never made it to the top spot. Maintaining that sweet and bubbly feel that is evident in all Hello! Project artists, Ayaya is a solid example of solo talent for those who go for this particular flavour of J-Pop (which is certainly not without its fans). [www.helloproject.com/matsuuraaya]

> dream:
In 2000 the Avex label organised a huge talent contest, called 'avex dream 2000', with the aim of finding the right girls for a new group. The result was dream, a three-piece group consisting of Mai Matsumuro, Kana Tachibana and Yu Hasebe. The group debuted on January 1st 2000 with the single Movin' on, which made it into the Oricon top 15 with a mature image and non-cheesy eurobeats. Their next few singles all ended up in the same territory, failing to break the top 10 until sixth single, My will, made it to #6 at the end of 2000 (though their next single peaked at #36). Things were considered more or less over for the group when Mai, who wrote most of their song lyrics, decided to leave the group in 2002. Avex decided to hold more auditions for a replacement, but ended up with 6 new girls, though many saw this as an attempt to emmulate the success of top girl-group Morning Musume. The new 8-girl group "re-debuted" in 2003 with MUSIC IS MY THING, which sounded more or less like the old dream. They are still searching for major success, and their "re-debut" album Identity -prologue- is decent enough, if lacking a little in those stand-out tracks. [www.avexnet.or.jp/dream]

> Hello! Project:
The Hello! Project, often shortened to H!P, is the name for a collection of groups and artists all produced by Tsunku, an ex-member of Sharan Q. While there are a few core groups and solo artists that form H!P's line-up they are often combined and put into various other combination groups, such as Gomattou, ZYX and Romans. Morning Musume is the main group of project, with a number of MoMusu ex-members forming the majority of the solo-artists in H!P. From these groups there are often sub-groups formed, and even yearly shuffles (since 2000) where all the members are put into three different groups that have to compete for the highest chart position. The current line up is: Morning Musume, Tanpopo, Pucchimoni, Minimoni, Country Musume ni Konno to Fujimoto, Melon Kinenbi, Coconuts Musume, Miki Fujimoto, Aya Matsuura, Maki Goto, Yuko Nakazawa, Yuki Maeda, Atsuko Inaba, Kei Yasuda, Natsumi Abe, Gomattou, ZYX, Romans, Aa!, Erika Miyoshi, Berryz Koubou, W, Eco-moni, Biyuuden and Nochiaru Natsumi. While there is a range of music and styles covered by the H!P artists, all remain more-or-less firmly in the bubblegum pop category. Morning Musume is a good starting point, but each artist and group offers their own style. [www.zetima.co.jp]

> Morning Musume:
Morning Musume, or MoMusu, are the lead group of the Hello! Project. Beginning back in 1997 they quickly became, and remain, one of Japan's top all girl groups (though not entirely for their singing). They originally started as a 5-piece group, however, before their second single was released three more members were added. This began a serious of additions and 'graduations' which have seen members come and go, some remaining in Hello! Project to work on other projects. They have had a number of hits and to date have released 5 albums as Morning Musume. However, MoMusu members often take part in so-called sub-groups, such as Morning Musume Sakura Gumi and Otome Gumi, Minimoni and Tanpopo, which release their own singles and albums. Currently the group is in a state of change with two members graduating this summer, and two more set to graduate next year, though the number of members generally remains around the 10-14 mark. Very much a bubblegum pop group, you won't necessarily find deep and meaningful music here, but that's not to say you won't find some very good tunes, some that can't help but put a smile on your face. [www.helloproject.com]

> Maki Goto:
Maki Goto joined Morning Musume when she was just 13 and became almost an instant favourite helping them to #1 with the song Love Machine. She soon established herself as a talented singer and dancer and took the lead on a large number of Morning Musume tracks. In 2002 she graduated from Morning Musume to persue a solo career and has since released two albums, as well as a number of singles. While she has had some success her albums have failed to live up to some of the fan expectation, though her loyal fanbase remains. Check out Morning Musume, and if you like their stuff then perhaps give Maki's albums a listen. [www.helloproject.com/gotomaki]

> Natsumi Abe:
Natsumi Abe was one of the original members of Morning Musume. She was a longtime favourite as part of Morning Musume and often took the lead in their songs, on occassion singing the entire lead vocal with the other girls acting as backing singers. So when, in 2004, she graduated from the group it was no surprise that she was to persue a solo career. To date she has released one album and a couple of singles, which has been reasonably successful. It remains to be seen how much she will grow beyond Morning Musume, and it is probably best to check out their work before looking into Natsumi's solo stuff. [www.helloproject.com/abe]

> Tommy february6:
Tommy february6 is the original alter-ego of The Brilliant Green's vocalist Tomoko Kawase. Tomoko began developing the character of february6 before BuriGuri's 4th album release, and the name is inspired by her own birthday. Tommy february6's style and sound is almost as far from that of The Brilliant Green as possible, supplying a synth-laden retro 80's sound and with a large amount of American cheerleader attitude (highlighted by her promotional videos). To date she has released two albums under the name, the eponymous Tommy february6 and, more recently, Tommy Airline. The sweet and light-hearted sound earns her a place in the bubblegum pop genre (and also resulted in the creation of Tommy heavenly6), but don't be fooled, the quality of these songs is up there with anything BuriGuri have released. [www.sonymusic.co.jp/Music/Info/Tommyfebruary6]

> w-inds:
w-inds are a three piece all male group consisting of Keita, Ryohei and Ryuichi. The former is vocalist of the group while the other two provide dancing and any chorus singing (make of this what you will). The group debuted in 2001 with the single Forever Memories and have since released three albums, as well as a collection of singles. w-inds have a reasonable following (though a significant proportion of this may be female) and depsite not being part of the infamous Johnny's Family they have gained decent sales, even becoming one of the winners of the Japan Gold Disk New Artist of the Year in 2002. They produce the sort of cheery, upbeat music you'd expect to find in the bubblegum pop genre. [www.w-inds.tv]

> Other artists in this genre: Bishojo Club 21, SweetS

- Traditional Japanese
> RIKKI:
RIKKI started performing at a young age, winning the Grand Prix Japan Folksong National Competition at 15 years old (the youngest winner in the competition's history). To date she has released 7 albums and a mini album, though her most famous work is the single Suteki da ne, which was featured in Final Fantasy X. She has also collaborated with respected Japanese musicians Kazufumi Miyazawa and Joe Hisaishi (Hisaishi composes the music for Miyazaki's anime films, including Spirited Away). RIKKI specialises in a Japanese music style called 'shimauta', songs which have different factors to them. The main one of these factors, or styles, is the 'blues' factor. It is considered necessary to have a very high and special skill in order to sing 'shimauta', something RIKKI does with seeming ease. [www.office-rikki.com]

> Other artists in this genre: Fuyumi Sakamoto, Naotaro Moriyama

- Mainstream Pop
> aiko:
aiko, full name Aiko Yanai, began her music career early, forming her own band while still in school. However, when aiko graduated the group disbanded and aiko went her own way. She attended music school in Osaka, and while there showed a talent for music winning first prize in a teen music festival. Later aiko was spotted by a producer and in 1997 she debuted with the single Atashi. To date she has released 5 albums, most recently Akatsuki no Love Letter. The slightly child-like quality to her vocals lends itself well to the upbeat and cheery tracks she commonly puts out, though no doubt you'll find the odd ballad lurking in her collection. [aiko.can-d.com]

> angela:
angela is a two-piece group consisting of atsuko and Katsu. The former is responsible for yrics, songwriting and vocals, while the latter songwriting, arrangements, keyboards, guitar and DJing. The band started producing music as early as '99 and in 2000 a live road-show gained them a few fans. It wasn't until 2002 when they finally signed a producer that they really got started, releasing their debut single, Ashita he no brilliant road, theme song to the anime Uchu no Stellvia, the following year. To date they have released a number of singles and one album, Sora no Koe, with the majority of their releases featured in various anime shows. [style-market.com/angela]

> Arashi
Arashi is a group from the Johnny's agency, and is composed of Ohno Satoshi, Sakurai Sho, Aiba Masaki, Ninomiya Kazunari, and Matsumoto Jun. They debuted in 1999 with the song ARASHI which was the theme to the World Volleyball Cup 1999, and which hit #1 on the Oricon charts. All of the members appear in leading roles in popular dramas such as Stand Up!!, Yoiko no Mikata, and Yankii Boukou ni Kaeru as well as plays, commercials and musicals. They have so far released four albums and twelve singles (and are preparing to release their thirteenth one later this August), all of which have hit the top ten, if not #1 of the Oricon charts. Their energetic dancing, enthusiasm in the programs they host (D no Arashi, etc) and character more than makes up for the average vocal talent that comes with a boy-band label. [www.j-storm.co.jp]

> Aya Ueto:
Aya Ueto first got her break in 1997 when she was awarded a special prize as part of a Japanese National Beauty contest. She originally appearing in a number of commercials before moving on to acting, her music career didn't get going until '99 when she formed Z-1 with Mami Nejiki, Mai Fujiya and Manami Nishiwaki. Unfortunately the group didn't last long and they split after releasing only five singles. Two years after the split Aya signed to the Pony Canyon record label and released her debut single, Pureness, in 2002. She has since released two albums, with the Message, her second album, released fairly recently. Given her origins in modelling and acting her vocal ability shows surprising quality and depth. Combine this with some catchy and vibrant pop tunes, with the odd ballad-esque song thrown in for good luck, and you've got some decent upbeat music. [www.uetoaya.tv/index1.html]

> Ayumi Hamasaki:
Ayumi Hamasaki continues to be one of the biggest earners in Japanese entertainment, despite being discovered by chance (at a karaoke night). Love ~Destiny~ was the first of many hits and saw her reach #1 in April 1999. Since then nearly every single has landed in the top three helping to set her status as a successful singer-songwriter in stone. Ayu has a large collection of albums available, including some remix albums that provide a slightly more dance experience for those so inclined (Ayu has a wide series of remix albums: eurobeat, trance, acoustic orchestra and just plain remixes). Her nasally and slightly odd-sounding voice is not to everyone's liking, but you need to experience Ayu for yourself to decide. Her large fanbase and regularly strong sales would suggest that she's something worth listening to. [www.avexnet.or.jp/ayu]

> BoA:
BoA is a singer-dancer with a slight R&B edge to her music. Actually from Korea, BoA was discovered at 11 as part of nationwide auditions to find a star. In 2000, at the tender age of 13, she released her debut single ID;Peace B, which demonstrated surprising talent for someone so young. Securing great popularity in Korea, she has also managed reasonable success in the Japanese market. Part of the reason for this is due to having been taught both Japanese and English. This is also the reason for some of her songs having a large number of alternate version (various language and remix combinations). BoA has released a number of albums in both Korea and Japan, remaining popular with a mixture infectious upbeat work and sweeping ballads. The lyrics may not stand up to much scrutiny, but many believe BoA is a worthy pop princess. [www.avexnet.or.jp/boa/]

> Bonnie Pink:
Bonnie Pink, real name Kaori Asada, first appeared on the scene in 1995, though her debut album, Blue Jam failed to gain her much notices. After meeting Cardigans' producer Tore Johansson, with whom she recorded her next two albums, she released Heaven's Kitchen two years later, an album which gained her good sales and recognition. To date she has released eight albums, as well as a couple of 'Best of's and a remix album, and has sung the ending theme for Japanese animation Rurouni Kenshin. Bonnie Pink is another of the multi-talented females doing it for themselves; not only a song-writer, she often takes part in the composing process and has proved to have something of a knack for it. Her style is somewhat softer than that of someone like Shiina Ringo, but her skill is no less evident. She also has a talent for singing in both English and Japanese with reasonable skill, and her lyrics prove moving whether you understand them or not. [www.bonniepink.jp]

> Chage & Aska:
Chage & Aska, as the name implies, is a two-man group who sing a variety of songs. Anybody that's been around the Japanese music scene in the last 20 years or so should have heard of them, as they've been making music since 1979. They were the first to win the Japan Gold Disk Artist of the Year Award two years in succession during '92 and '93. Anybody familiar with Ghibli Studios should recognize at least one of their songs, On Your Mark, which had its promotional video directed by none other than Hayao Miyazaki. With a long history and impressive back-catalogue of music there is likely to be a few songs from their collection that you will like. Give them a listen, you won't regret it. [www.chage-aska.net]

> Chara:
Chara started writing songs as young as 4 years-old forming bands and going solo all before she was 20. In 1990 she signed to Sony releasing her debut single, Heaven, in '91. Since then she has released a eight albums, as well as a few compilation and collaboration albums. Chara has been sighted as the influence for many other independant and multi-talented female artists, such as Shiina Ringo and Bonnie Pink. The first thing you are likely to notice is her unusual voice, which has a unique sound that is both odd, sweet, gentle and ultimately uplifting. Defining her music can also be somewhat tricky, Chara often incorporating a number of different styles into her sound, producing stuff from light-hearted pop to more dark and stirring pieces. Her voice may put some off, but make no mistake this is a talented artist worthy of a listen. [www.digi-chara.com]

> Changin' My Life:
Changin' My Life was a three-piece group consisting of myco, Tanabe Shintarou and Henmi Noritaka. The group debuted in 2001 with the single Luv.Remix. After releasing their second album, Caravan, and after just six single releases the group split in 2003. The lead vocalist, myco, has since gone solo. Though they never met with resounding success the strong voice of myco leant itself well to the group's music, producing some high quality pop. If you find yourself enjoying CML's work, then be sure to check out myco's solo efforts, which follow in a similar style. [Note: Since disbanding the official site has been removed]

> day after tomorrow:
A three-piece group, day after tomorrow consists of a female vocalist, guitarist and keyboardist, with the latter two taking charge of the songwriting. The vocalist herself, misono, is actually the sister of Koda Kumi of FFX-2 fame. Having formed in the early months in 2002, and with their first single in August of that year, the band has been producing songs extremely fast. With one live tour under their belt already, as well as two mini-albums, two full albums, and nine singles, all within three years' time. The group was one of the winners of last year's Japan Gold Disk New Artist of the Year Award proving that the they are definitely one to watch for. The band has uplifting songs as well as strong ballads, and having a keyboardist instead of a bassist or drummer, as is typical in other groups, also helps give the group a unique sound. [dat-net.jp]

> Dreams Come True:
Dreams Come True, sometimes referred to as DCT or Dorikamu, was formed in 1988 and comprises of Nakamura Masato (arranger, producer, bassist and overall mastermind behind the group), Yoshida Miwa (lead vocalist, songwriter and frontwoman) and Nishikawa Takahiro (keyboardist), though Nishikawa left the group. DCT is a popular Japanese group who have had a large number of hits and records to their name. In the Oricon chart they have had 21 top five singles, 10 of which reached #1, as well as 10 #1 albums. Their second album, Love Goes On, spent over 4 years on the charts, while their fifth, The Swinging Star, was the first album in Japanese history to sell more than 3 million copies. Never resting on their laurels they combine styles and influence from various genres including pop, R&B, jazz, funk, disco, soul, rock, and even classical. With an impressive 19 albums released to date, as well as many singles, Dreams Come True continue to produce well-selling pop music. While this doesn't guarantee they'll be to everone's taste, it certainly implies they are worth checking out. [www.dctgarden.com]

> Fayray:
Fayray, like Utada Hikaru, was raised in America as a child where she was influenced by both her parents and the music of the time (the 80's). She made her unofficial debut in 1999 with the album Craving, with her first official single, My Eyes, following in 2000. Understatement would appear to be a common theme with Fayray as, unlike Utada, she isn't particularly well-known outside Japan. Understated also describes her style, attitude and music, the latter of which focuses on the piano (an instrument she began learning at the age 4). Her soft tone and impressive lyrical skill is complemented by the delightfully sweet and occassionally stirring music she composes. Though she regularly turns out superb ballads, Fayray is not shy of the occassional upbeat song (or even remix), demonstrating a skill for songwriting across a wide range. An oft overlooked gem, Fayray is certainly one to please those who desire a more jazz-inspired laid back feel to their music. [www.fayray.net]

> Gackt:
A former member of J-Rock group Malice Mizer, Gackt announced he was going solo in January 1999, much to the shock of the group's fans. His debut single, Mizerable, did enough to appease worries from fans, and with the release of his first full album, MARS, he wasn't short of a followers. To date he has released four albums, and recently single and acoustic collections. While many expected a style similar to that of his ex-band, Gackt showcased his own unique take on songwriting. He also has a unique style when it comes to public appearance and performances; one of his quirks is that he maintains he was born in 1540 (and there's something about being a vampire, but we'll ignore that). He has a large following, no doubt for good reason. [www.crownrecord.co.jp/gackt.htm]

> GARNET CROW:
GARNET CROW is a four-piece band, consisting of a vocalist, two keyboardists and a guitarist. This brings a very unique sound to the band as the instrumental line-up is not what you'd find in most other bands out there. Their first mini-album was a hit in the indie scene, which quickly caused GIZA to sign them up on their label. The band has performed several songs for the Japanese animation, Detective Conan. They have, to date, released 15 singles and 4 albums. Nakamura Yuri's vocals are deeper than most other female vocalists in the Japanese music scene, which also adds a touch of uniqueness to this group. So if you've had enough of high-pitched voices, why not give GARNET CROW a listen. [www.garnetcrow.com]

> hiro:
Ex-SPEED member, Shimabukuro Hiroko, has been singing under the name "hiro" since SPEED dissolved a couple years back. It is no wonder that her solo debut single AS TIME GOES BY topped the Oricon charts at the #2 position, being that she was one of the two main vocalists in SPEED. Her two full albums to date, BRILLIANT and Naked and True, both secured a spot at #2 on Oricon as well. If you look in terms of CD sales, hiro is definitely the more popular amongst the four SPEED members. This was also shown by Avex chosing to send her to perform in the United States at Sakura-con. Her songs range from soothing ballads to quick, catchy songs with excellent dance choreography. hiro has also recently released an eponymous album of jazz songs under the moniker CoCo d'Or. [www.avexnet.or.jp/hiro]

> I WiSH / Ai Kawashima:
Ai Kawashima is an ambitious girl. She set about making a name for herself and achieving a number of personal goals, including playing in a number of Toyko concert halls. After gaining some publicity she managed to get a debut single released, making it into the Oricon top 20. In 2003 I WiSH debuted with the single Asu e no Tobira, used as the theme for the TV show Ainori. It seemingly came from nowhere to hit #1 on the Oricon chart and remained in chart rankings for over sixty weeks. Information on I WiSH was pretty scarce and the singer remained a mystery until Ai revealed she was behind the act, which also features "nao" on piano/keyboards. This hit song earned the group the recognition of being one of 2004's Japan Gold Disk New Artist of the Year Award winners. The song also was named as one of 2004's Song of the Year winners. While Ai has released a number of singles under her own name, she also continues to work under the I WiSH name (which apparently comes from "Ai's wish"). With the significant sales of a debut single and these awards under I WiSH's name, it should be obvious proof that their songs are one of a kind. [www.sonymusic.co.jp/Music/Info/IWiSH]

> Ken Hirai:
Ken Hirai was spotted at a SMEJ audition in '92 where he became and award winner. In 1995 he debuted with the single, Precious Junk, which was the theme to a TV Drama earning it some moderate success. 1998 was a real turning point is his career when, with his 7th single Love Love Love, Ken went from singing what he had to sing, to what he really wanted to sing. The next single, LAKuEN, did well in the Oricon charts and earned him a fair amount of attention. To date he has released 5 albums and a recent 'concept album', Ken's Bar, an album of covers done in Ken's own style. His music incorporates influences from a soulful gospel sound, based on 70's soul, to contemporary R&B, jazz, funk, and hip-hop. Having won over a score of fans all across Asia (his 4th album gaining through losing, released in 2001, reached 1.5 million sales all over Asia) there's likely to be something about this talented composer you'll like. [www.kenhirai.net]

> KinKi Kids
This pop duo is formed by two brothers, Domoto Tsuyoshi and Koichi and is a part of the Johnny's Agency. They debuted in 1997 with the single, Garasu no Shounen and their album A album. They were both released at the same time and both scored #1 on the Oricon charts. Since this bright beginning, they have released seven albums and nineteen singles, with each of their singles hitting #1 on the Oricon charts. The two members of the group, Tsuyoshi and Koichi are known for having the most consistent vocal quality in Johnny's. They are also both accomplished actors in dramas and musicals like Moto Kare and SHOCK, as well as hosting programs like Domoto Kyoudai. When you add dancing, catchy songs and guitar playing to the equation you not likely to go too wrong with the KinKi Kids. [www.fujiint.co.jp/DOMOTO]

> Mai Kuraki:
Mai Kuraki is, without a doubt, GIZA studio's most well-known artist. Her first single, at the age of 16, was Baby I like, which was released in America in '99. She later released Love, Day After Tomorrow in December of that year for her Japanese debut. So far four of her full albums have been one of the nominees for the Japan Gold Disk Pop Album of the Year award. It certainly won't be a surprise if her single collection, Wish You The Best, is nominated for 2005's award. All of her singles have been in the top 3 of Oricon and all of her albums have been #1 bestsellers. Several of her singles have been used as theme songs for the Japanese animation, Detective Conan. Mai Kuraki has also worked with a variety of people on other projects, such as Chinese singer Stefanie Sun Yan Zi and guitarist Tak Matsumoto from B'z. Mai has a variety of songs, from calm, elegant ballads to faster, upbeat R&B songs. [www.mai-kuraki.com]

> melody.:
melody. was born and raised in Hawaii, though she has a lot of family in Okinawa. She started vocal training, piano playing and hip-hop and jazz dance from an early age. Her break was in 1998 when she started modeling at 16. It wasn't until 2003 that she finally made her debut in the music charts, with the single Dreamin' Away. She has since release a few more singles as well as her debut album Sincerely. Her American influenced upbringing is evident in her music, not least of all the songs are entirely in English (her recent single Believe Me was released in both Japanese and English versions). However, melody.'s light and airy voice complements both the upbeat and ballad numbers, making for easy and rather enjoyable listening. [www.mel.tv/pc]

> Mika Nakashima:
Mika Nakashima has only been around for a couple of years, but in that time she's made quite a name for herself. She debuted in 2001 with the single STARS, chosen as the theme to TV drama KIZUDARAKE NO LOVE SONG. Her second single, CRESCENT MOON, was limited to 100,000 copies, which all sold on the first day. Her first album, TRUE, was released in 2002 and went straight to #1, selling a million copies within the first three weeks of release. A mini-album released shortly after, celebrating a year since her debut single release, also made it to the top spot for two-weeks straight. It was no great surprise when, in 2002, she received The Japan Gold Disc 'New Artist of the Year' Award, the All Japan Request 'Best New Artist of the Year' Award and the 44th Japanese Record 'New Artist of the Year' Award. She has since released a second album and continues to win people over with a powerful, sensuous voice and collection of quality pop songs. Her second album, LOVE, is a jazz album showing the range and quality in her voice. [www.mikanakashima.com]

> move:
move is a three-piece group made up by Yuri on vocals, T-Kimura on keyboards, and Motsu providing any 'rap' elements. They debuted in 1997 with Rock It Down, and to date have released nine albums. During their time on the music scene move's style has varied greatly from Eurobeats to rock (with something of an Evanescence-esque feel) to techno and Latin. This leads to a rather odd collection of albums and singles with some fans who love one style but hate another, though they never seem to be short of the appreciative sort. Given the varied nature of their music you are likely to find an album to suit your tastes, just don't expect the others to. [www.electropica.com]

> Rina Aiuchi:
Rina Aiuchi may well grab attention for her looks, but she also grabs a fair amount for her music and vocal talent. She started singing and taking piano lessons at the age of 5 setting her on the path of a music career, one that sees her writing her own lyrics. Debuting in 2000 with the single Close To Your Heart she has, to date, released 3 albums, as well as a remix collection and singles collection. While perhaps not quite reaching the popularity of Utada Hikaru and Mai Kuraki, two artists she's occassionally compared with, her releases have done reasonably well in the Oricon chart. Her cute and somewhat anime-esque voice belie a rather impressive vocal talent that she exhibits in the competent pop she has become know for. While comparisons can certainly be drawn with Hikki and Mai, Rina offers her own take on the slightly R&B influenced pop song (oh and, of course, the odd ballad). [rina-aiuchi.com]

> Ruppina:
Ruppina is a relatively new group, centred around female vocalist Kudou Mai from Hokkaido. Ruppina's first mini-album, Ruppina, was able to hit the #10 position on Oricon charts when it debuted in 2003. They have had two songs featured in the Japanese animation ONE PIECE, and various other songs have been used for Japanese dramas. Despite this Ruppina is still one of the more lesser-known groups in Japan. Since their debut they have released as second mini-album, Ruppina II, and their debut album is expected sometime in the near future. Kudou Mai herself is responsible for all the song's lyrics, either in entirely or helping co-write them. Ruppina's ballads are excellent, and Kudou Mai's voice and pronounciation of the lyrics are both soft and soothing. [www.ruppina.com]

> Saegusa Yuuka IN db:
Saegusa Yuuka IN db is actually a four-person band, although the name may imply a solo effort. The band's first three singles were all featured in the Japanese animation Tenshi na Konamaiki, but that failed to bring about much publicity. The band's hit single, however, came in October of last year. Their 6th single, Kimi to Yakusoku Shita Yasashii Ano Basho Made, was used in the Japanese animation Detective Conan and was able to crack into Oricon's #8 spot. The band's popularity has been increasing steadily since, and they've just recently set up a fanclub named "qp". Saegusa Yuuka IN db has solid ballads and a nice amount of fast and upbeat songs, though they're not geared towards dancing. So if you've had enough of dancing-based fast songs, these may provide a welcome change. [www.uka-saegusa.com]

> SMAP:
SMAP (Sports Music Assemble People) is an all male group consisting of Nakai Masahiro, Kimura Takuya (Kimutaku for short), Katori Shingo, Kusanagi Tsuyoshi and Inagaki Goro. Originally a six-piece, former member Mori Katsuyuki left in '95 to persue a motorcycle racing career. SMAP are members of the ubiquitous Johnny's Jimusho (Johnny & Associates) talent agency, and somewhat responsible for it's rise to fame, with the members appearing in commercials and TV dramas, as well as releasing numerous singles and albums. As a music group they debuted in '91 with the single Can't Stop!!-LOVING- and have since released numerous other singles and albums. Their records typically sell well and singles like Gambarimasho and Celery have been huge sellers. Despite some minor slumps in popularity they continue to remain in the public focus, thanks mainly to TV show SMAPxSMAP. Their songs have that upbeat pop feel that is so common in the Japanese music scene, and given large sales you'd have to assume that they're not bad either. [www.jvcmusic.co.jp/-/Discographylist/A002763.html]

> SPEED:
SPEED is your typical female pop group consisting of four members: Takako, Hiroko, Eriko and Hitoe. When SPEED was formed they scored the record for the lowest average age for a group (14 and a half years old). SPEED's two primary vocalists are Eriko Imai and Hiroko Shimabukuro. Since debuting in 1996 with Body & Soul, they've won multiple Japan Gold Disk Awards such as New Artist of the Year, Pop Album of the Year, and Song of the Year. However, the group disbanded in early 2000, much to the displeasure of their fans, with each of the members persuing solo projects (most notably hiro). They did get together temporarily in 2003, releasing some new works as part of the "Save the Children" charity project. SPEED's songs are typically fast and upbeat, incorporating a little bit of a hip-hop feel, and they have also been known to do the odd ballad on occassion. [www.avexnet.or.jp/speed - Note: As SPEED's members have gone their separate ways, their official site is no longer active. It has a few comments and links to each of the members' solo projects.]

> Utada Hikaru:
Utada Hikaru was born and raised in the US by parents in the music industry, and where she gained the nickname Hikki. She originally released material in America as part of family group, U3 (later cubic U), going on to release a solo US album under the stage name Cubic U. Thanks to producer Akira Miyake, now her producer, Hikki decided to make a go at the Japanese market, first performing at the Music Talks concert in 1998. Later on that year her Japanese debut single, Automatic, was released, shortly followed by her debut album First Love. She is perhaps best known to western audiences for her song Simple & Clean (originally Hikari in Japan), which appeared on the Kingdom Hearts soundtrack. Having released four Japanese albums she now has a US debut album, Exodus, released under the name Utada. Her music is somewhat influenced by the R&B she experienced while living in America, but she's not afraid to knock out the odd ballad now and again. [www.toshiba-emi.co.jp/hikki]

> ZARD:
ZARD are renowned in Japan, having produced some amazing songs since their debut in 1991. Their debut single Good-bye My Loneliness broke into the top 10 on the singles charts on Oricon, securing #9. Their next major hit came in January of 1993 when their 6th single, Makenaide, brought ZARD to the top at #1 and has since sold over 1.5 million copies. This quickly earned ZARD recognition at the Golden Disk Awards of '94. Another note is that ZARD's vocalist, Izumi Sakai, personally writes the lyrics to every single song she sings. ZARD has also performed several songs that have been chosen as Japanese animation themes such as Detective Conan and Slam Dunk. Since their debut in '91, ZARD has released 37 singles and 15 albums. Izumi Sakai's vocals makes ZARD's songs unmatched in the Japanese music scene. If you like listening to ballads, ZARD is where it's at. [www.wezard.net]

> ZONE:
ZONE is a four-person all-female band originating from Hokkaido. Debuting in '99, their first major hit came in the form of fourth single secret base~Kimi ga Kureta Mono~, a song that had been picked for a Japanese drama and which managed to hit the #2 spot on Oricon. Not only this, but it stayed in the rankings for over half a year. They have released three albums Z, O and N (so chances are E will be next), and their talents were recognized when they became one of the winners of Japan Gold Disk New Artist of the Year of 2002. However, fans met with disappointing news late last year when Takayo, the leader of the band, decided to leave to pursue her dreams. She was replaced with Tomoka, one of the two original cut from ZONE to scale the band size from six to four. ZONE's songs are typically ballads and happy, upbeat songs, though there is a definite alt-rock slant to their music and image, most evident in rock tunes such as Akashi. [www.sonymusic.co.jp/Music/Info/ZONE]

> Other artists in this genre: Ayaka Hirahara, Asuka Hayashi, Chihiro Onitsuka, Da Pump, Double, Globe, LISA, Makiyo, myco, Otsuka Ai, T.M.Revolution, V6, YeLLOW GENERATION

- R&B/Hip-Hop
> Crystal Kay:
Crystal Kay is the daughter of an American father and Korean mother, born and raised in Yokohama. She first sang some songs for TV CF, thanks in no small part to her mother's contacts, at the age of 6. This young start got her noticed early on and by 1998 she had signed to Epic Records at only 12 years old. The following year she debuted with the single Eternal Memories. To date she has released six albums, her third reaching #2 on the Oricon charts, and has collaborated with the likes of m-flo. Like a number of Japanese artists Crystal can speak both English and Japanese, the former making a regular appearance in her songs which exhibit a distinctly western influenced R&B sound. [www.c-kay.com]

> Koda Kumi:
Koda Kumi made her debut in late 2000, but it wasn't until 2002 that a her debut album, affection, made its way onto the scene. Though she enjoyed a brief spot in the limelight when she dueted with BoA on a track in aid of peace and the events of 9/11 (the meaning of peace), she has only recently started to gain some more wide-spread popularity, thanks chiefly to appearing on the soundtrack of Final Fantasy X-2 and some rather 'revealing' outfits. To date she has released three albums and a number of singles. Her style is definitely more that of the R&B flavour, though, like Hikki, she isn't afraid to tackle the odd ballad. [www.avexnet.or.jp/koda/]

> m-flo:
m-flo first burst onto the scene in '99, making it into the Oricon top 10 with their debut single the tripod e.p. Originally a three piece group consisting of Taku on turntables, Verbal supplying the rapping and some of the vocals, and Lisa as the main vocalist. They released a number of albums together until 2002, when Lisa left to persue a solo career. Taku and Verbal have continued to work as m-flo collaborating with a large number of artists, most recently resulting in a string of 'm-flo loves ...' collaborations with artists such as BoA, melody. and CHEMISTRY. Their R&B/Hip-Hop style is done surprising well with Verbal able to mix English and Japanese with impressive results. [m-flo.com]

> Misia:
Misia first appeared in 1998 after being spotted at an audition in '97. She started voice training at the age of 15. As a child she was introduced to gospel and R&B music, these genres having the greatest influence over her own career. One of her claims to fame is the ability to cover 5 octaves when singing, something she puts to good use in her songs. To date she has released 12 albums, and though her popularity isn't as huge as some others, she commands a decent following. While it's common to find Misia described as an R&B artist her music has a more soulful, even bluesy, quality to it, something her voice complements well. If you're looking for something on the softer edge of R&B then Misia, with an impressive back catalogue of music, could very well be for you. [www.rhythmedia.co.jp/misia]

> Namie Amuro:
Namie Amuro originally started out as part of a group of ex-students of the Okinawa Actors School. The group, originally called Super Monkey's, went through several line-up and name changes with leader Namie eventually appearing as an obvious candidate for a solo career (the others in the group, who subsequently formed MAX, were reduced to little more than dancers). She debuted as a solo artist in 1995 with the single Body Feels EXIT and success shortly followed. Her debut album, Sweet 19 blues, sold 3.7 million copies and broke a number of records at the time. By 19 she was hugely popular, though a large part of this success was due to her being under the wing of Avex producer Komuro Tetsuya, a hugely influential figure in 90's J-Pop. A break from the music scene towards the end of the 90's saw her popularity wane, though when her mother was murdered in '99 she almost quit entirely. After releasing Toi et moi, ending theme for a Pokémon movie (though it's believed she did not want to do this), she teamed up with American producer Dallas Austin to fully develop the R&B vibe that had been evident in a number of her previous tracks. While her most recent material is focused more on this R&B feel, her earlier work covers a variety of styles, most typically upbeat dance, though she is also capable of putting out a fine ballad. [www.avexnet.or.jp/amuro]

> Other artists in this genre: Chemistry, Emi Hinouchi, Heartsdales

Where to get your J-Pop fix
By now you should have some idea of who you want to track down a give a listen. Perhaps you're already a fan of a certain artist and want to know how to go about obtaining more of their stuff. Well there's two ways in which you can obtain the music you are after: buy or download. Obviously if you are just starting out importing a load of CDs from Japan might not be the most sensible thing to do, but equally these are artists reliant on sales like anyone else, and if you end up becoming a fan why not splash out on a CD or two.

Buying J-Pop
There are a number of places from which you can import various Japanese good, but be careful there are some sites out there selling bootlegs and other such dodgy copies. Here are a few of the top places to buy those all-important J-Pop purchases (don't worry, they all offer some form of English-based shopping):
> Amazon.co.jp
> CDJapan
> HMV.co.jp
> YesAsia.com

Downloading J-Pop
When it comes to downloading J-Pop you have a few options, namely direct downloads, peer-to-peer apps, IRC and FTPs. It may not always be possible to get hold of the artist you're after and some degree of patience is needed in some cases. However, seek and you shall probably find and perseverance will often pay off.

Bittorrent:
> JPOPSUKI - One of the few J-Pop trackers left going.

Other P2P Apps:
The two peer-to-peer programs that people will suggest you use would be Soulseek and WinMX. If you've had any experience with Napster, KaZaa, eDonkey, and any of those other P2P sharing systems you should feel right at home.

IRC:
Another option is by IRC ('Internet Relay Chat' for those who have never heard the term before, which should be very few people). There are several J-Pop channels out there, though the one to check out would be EFnet's #jpopextreme channel. To join that channel you'll need to type /join #jpopextreme spamless.

DC++:
DC++ is another file sharing system in along the lines of KaZaA and IRC. For the GFF DC Hub info thread click here.
> ayumihamasakisekai.no-ip.org - Probably the best J-Pop DC++ Hub available, with a reasonable amount of people on it at any one time.

Streaming J-Pop
An alternate way to check out J-Pop is to listen to it via streaming radio, or to watch streaming video. Winamp provides some channels for you to access Japanese music through, as well as the following stations:
> j-fan.com/radio
> kawaii-radio.net

What next?
Remember J-Pop is just part of the Japanese music scene. Both J-Rock and J-Rap are significant areas of music to be explored (if you're into that sort of thing). As well as the remainder of the J-Music scene, there's also other Asian countries, namely China and Korea, putting out similar pop music, commonly called C-Pop and K-Pop respectively. These in themselves would probably warrant another sizeable thread, as such there's too much to go into here, however, don't let that stop you checking them out.

Any other questions?
As well as presenting this information, this thread will also allow you to pose questions about J-Pop. Hopefully someone who knows the answer will pop up soon enough. I can't promise there'll always be someone with the right knowledge about, but if you never ask you'll never know. Also, if you're after specific recommendations to do with a certain artist, or comparison between a couple, etc, post them here and, again, hopefully someone with the relevant answers will appear to reply.

A few last things...
This thread is not for the discussion of whether or not you like J-Pop, I appreciate there are plenty of people out there who don't. However, there are those who do and this thread is for them to find out more about the genre and to share their knowledge with others. Also, the list of artists is not definitive, so please don't just launch into a complaint if your favourite isn't there, just let me know and I'll get onto adding them.

Thanks to: Many thanks to Hiro and Vempyre who helped out in the compilation of all this information. Also thanks to Halfelven.

Disclaimer: I am by no means a J-Pop expert and if you spot a mistake or a link out of date, etc, or just want help make this guide better and add to it then drop me a PM. Please don't bitch about things in the thread. The aim is to help people wanting to know a little more about J-Pop.

Note: Remaking this thread, I know some of the information is out of date now and I may look at updating it, but my apologies in advance.

I hope I'm not the only one surprised that Koda Kumi's finally gone off the deep end; she's released her "week 0" single.

http://www.rhythmzone.net/koda/image/00.jpg

Well, Get It On is actually just a song that you can download onto your cell phone via mu-mo. The song itself is the full version of Introduction to the second session from BEST~second session~. I really like it. It's a heckuva lot better than KAMEN feat.Tatsuya Ishii.

I'm not that surprised, they've been finding any excuse to put out more and more stuff from her at the moment (good old avex).

On a side note, my new arrivals are Mizrock (Miz's third album, though only really her second Japanese album) and ADULT the new Tokyo Jihen album. Both are rather good, but ADULT is fan-bloody-tastic. Really great stuff from them again, I continue to love Shiina Ringo.

I'd also recommend checking out Yaiko's (Yaida Hitomi) new PV for her new single. It made me chuckle that's for sure.

Yay J-POP discussion is back :) I love Ayumi Hamasaki's new CD (miss)understood. Criminal is by far the best song on there.

I'm a newbie for JPop but I love my JRock with Go! Go! 7188 topping the cake and Shiina Ringo and Tokyo Jihen deserving honourable mentions.

Would Puffy fall under JRock? I would like to find out more about them although I haven't started looking into them yet.

Also, does anyone know the title of the song that is currently on the "hitomi" page? I'm guessing "Love Angel" looking at the new featured album? Also, is this hitomi as in Hitomi Shimatani? I checked her only because I liked "Falco", the opening theme for the Law of Ueki.

I don't know much about SweetS other than they did "Earthship", the second ending for The Law of Ueki.

I believe Masami Okui's "Poison" from her Rebirth album deserves honourable mention for being a rocking song, literally.

Nope. hitomi's someone else entirely. Funny you should mention Hitomi Shimatani, though; my first song of hers was also Falco and I've been something of a semi-fan ever since.

I'm glad to see this thread back up.

The latest J-Pop album I've listened to was ayumi hamasaki's "(miss)understood." Also, I was surprised with the 12 singles that Koda Kumi released within a short period of time. Some were memorable, while others were a bit dull.

I thought the songs were, at first, pretty good. They kinda petered out at the end, though. Imasugu Hoshii wasn't to my liking and KAMEN feat.Tatsuya Ishii put me to sleep.

I dunno if you listen to Sweetbox... but I really don't think Sweetbox's version of Bold and Delicious will live up to Ayumi's.

Great to see the J-pop thread return in all it's glory.

I've been listening to The Brilliant Green a lot lately. Although I've recently gotten into groups like NEWS, Chihiro Yonekura, Flow, and Zone. This stuff is just awesome to listen to.

What, Sweetbox did a version of Bold and Delicious? There's no way it'll compare. I'm not even that much of an Ayumi fan, but when the single came out, I couldn't help but listen over and over ^^;

Recently, I've been doing some backtracking into some lesser known/older J-pop, so I haven't been keeping up with newer stuff. I've been listening to a lot of Sukima Switch and Monkey Majik (the latter singer the theme song to the drama "Saiyuuki"). Although, I must say, the new Morning Musume album "Rainbow 7" is bordering on too much. I swear, "Rainbow Pink" is so sugary sweet I have diabetes now.

Ayu actually covered Sweetbox. Bold & Delicious, Ladies Night, In The Corner, Pride, Beautiful Day, and rainy day are actually originally Sweetbox songs.

Ah really? Looks like I need to learn more about Sweetbox. Thanks for the info.

Bah, just throws more fire into my opinion that Ayu needs to go >_> Bad enough that she's been throwing tons of remixes of her own songs out there for years but now she's doing it with other people's ;_;

Oh come on now Rollins, Ayu hasn't put out any remix albums for a while now. Besides, what's wrong with remixes? They usually provide a different take on the song and add a different flavor to it.

Anyway Jade's..."special" to say the least. Her ayu covers are precious gems, and by precious gems, I mean craptacular. Seriously, her songs sound totally underproduced, and her lyrics are ridiculous.

Interesting comment about Ayu and Sweetbox. Can anyone reference the songs Ayu's supposed to have covered of Sweetbox's as I've listen to a lot of Sweetbox music and couldn't name one obvious comparison.

I'd have to say Ladies Night is possibly my favourite at the moment, but I agree, criminal is very good.

Ah OK, I've just found the newly released Sweetbox album. I'll try to get my hands on it and give it a listen. Even so, does anyone have any actual proof Ayu borrowed their music?

The song credits for (miss)understood should tell a lot.

Ah yes, of course, silly me. That just says that GEO arranged the music, not that Ayu's songs are covers of Sweetbox tracks. It's possible, is it not, that Sweetbox then went on to use the music themselves and got Jade to sing new lyrics.

Anyways, giving them both a listen I really don't like the Sweetbox versions, they sound a bit cheap and nasty.

HAHA! Jade sucks. I can't believe they even let her do the US version of "Real Emotion".

Can someone YSI Jihen's ADULT? :)

I got suspicious when Bold & Delicious and Pride both had GEO credited for the music.

Besides, Sweetbox's site still has the news about Ayu covering them up on their site. I'll re-quote...

Happy to see that this thread is still good to go !!!
OmagnusPrime, I'd like to ask you a simple question: Did you have to type this huge introductions all over again ?

Well, I'm here today to make a contribution to the download area for Jpop fans. My favorite site for downloading Jpop via bit torrent is JpopSuki Tracker.
This is my main site for downloading Jpop (and the other genres)

Ah OK. I'm sorry, I didn't appreciate that that was a quote from Sweetbox's site. Thank you very much for the information.

Yuna: No, I didn't have to re-type it, I had the sense to make a backup of it ages ago. I do keep meaning to do a revision of it, but that's going to take a fair amount of work and life is pretty busy for me these days.

And a revision would include additional artists and stuff... that would make it into one long huge-ass post.


And OP's pretty busy preparing for his Japan trip. XD

OP is going to Japan? He's going to be in Heaven.

Make sure you go to many Book Offs and Book Markets. They have shelves of used CD singles for 105Y. That's under $1. I got like 3 or 4 of Utada's singles and a The Brilliant Green single for that price, a Bivattchee single for 400Y, and a HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR for 200Y.

It's good stuff. Albums are as low as 750Y too. The conversion rate when I was there was 114Y = $1.

If you begin to buy stuff, you'll never stop.

Yes I am going to Japan. One of the things I want to do, provided the dates coincide, which I believe they do, is make it to one of the a-nation 2006 days. That would rock so damned hard seeing a load of great acts (Ayu, Otsuka Ai, ELT, Van Tomiko, BoA... all most likely to be there ^^). So that's top of my current agenda.

I should imagine I'll also make it along to an H!P concert (or two), especially given the person I'm meeting out there and staying with is a huge H!P fan too.

But yes, I should imagine I'll be buying one or two things. And Ultima, you need to remember that I'm coming from the UK so it gets even better £1 = Y204 (at the moment).

It would be fair to say I'm very much looking forward to it. Three weeks of greatness. ^______________^

Haha, I managed to spend quite a deal of money on J-pop while I was studying there. Actually, probably more than I should have >_> But part of the fun of buying music there is looking for those used CD shops. I remember some of the best times I had in Shibuya and Sapporo were trying these dirt cheap CD stores (which, luckily, I did find eventually).

You'll definitely have to let us know how it goes while you're there. You'll also have to let me know if a H!P concert is 99% guys like the DVDs have been showing me.

I started watching MoMusu PVs on Google Videos a while ago, because I couldn't get enough of the hilarious "Japanese girls run away screaming from random things" series of video clips (lizard, Bob Sapp, The Ring). I eventually took a liking to the girls and their music (but mainly the girls), and at one point actually downloaded/watched the MiniMoni movie (what a waste :P ).

And then I found out about Shiina Ringo. Sweet shitake, I'm in love with this woman. I just spent the entire weekend watching her single and Tokyo Jihen PVs. She's just so different from anything I've ever heard, I can't get enough. It's no wonder they based a Guilty Gear character on her. And yet off-stage she seems so modest and polite in stereotypical Japanese fashion. I'm just really depressed she got rid of her mole (well, one of them), even thought it was a long time ago. I bet the reaction back then was like when Pamela Anderson got rid of her implants.

Shiina Ringo does indeed rock, and hard at that. I'm loving the new Tokyo Jihen album lots and lots.

Rollins: Ha ha, will do. Well it certainly won't be 100% guys as the person I'd be going with is female. ;)

I really ought to pick it up at some point when I have the cash. Or should I wait for the DVD instead? Hm...

What really strikes me about her PVs (although this might apply to a lot of other alt rock artists) is that there is very little dancing in any of them. It's all about the music, not how well she shakes her half-naked behind.

Well, Shiina Ringo PVs have never been about "dancing" but rather being creative and artsy. She has had some of the most striking and interesting videos out there. The PV for "Shuraba" was a little disturbing but definitely unforgetable.

She's definitely tops for me in the world of J-pop. Aside from her awesome original work, try and see if you can get her album of covers "Utaite Myori" which has her singing in a variety of languages and a couple of duets (including her amazing one with Hikaru Utada).

And yes, get Adult. Don't wait for the DVD. Just get it now, haha. It's worth it.

I got Adult about a week before it actually came out. I was a hero on Soulseek. Great album, but I think I liked their first album, Kyoiku (?) better.

I think it's more about conveying a message. Businesses and greed do exist, but the artists are much more involved in Japan when it comes to their music. Most artists write their own music and that's what makes them superior. It's real.

Anyway, ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION's new album, Fanclub, comes out in 8 days. I really don't know what to expect. Blue Train was great, World Apart wasn't that far behind, and the aired tracks from the album are 50/50. With Sol-fa being such a hit around the world, I think it's going to be really difficult for them to duplicate that success with this third album.

Nevertheless, I can't wait.

its sad but thats how my friend got into Morning Musume too
that ring vid is too popular haha
and i agree the mini moni movie was trash but anything with mari in it gets a A+ from me ^__^

yes more shiina / tokyo Jihen fans
she indeeds rock her vids always has me in tranced position O.O
but i didn't know I-No was inspired by her till you said that
you learn something everyday :)

Heh, yup. Same guitar, even. :) I can't help but wonder if Quentin Tarantino didn't get a little inspiration from "Tsumi to Batsu" for Kill Bill as well.

Very...interesting forum name, by the way. ;)

Dhsu: have you ordered ADULT yet? If not I'll further suggest that you do so right away. Seriously, it's great.

Actually, I'm hoping tomorrow will be new music day for me with YUI's debut album arriving along with debut singles from MAY and MARIA (the latter being the band ZONE's Maiko is part of). Fingers crossed for that.

Unfortunately, I haven't...I'm a bit torn, as I'm on a budget, and I've been really wanting to get the aforementioned "Utaite Myori" for a while as well. I'm thinking about just accumulating enough funds for both albums, so I can save on shipping. Although by that time, ADULT VIDEO (which looks like it'll be roughly the same price as the CD) will probably be out, and I might just end up getting that instead. :)

Ah, OK. Yes I remember being on a tighter budget (hoorah for jobs) and can appreciate the situation. If it makes more sense to wait and get it do that, but do get it, it's a fab album, it really is (but then so is "Utaite Myori" if for Shiina and Hikki's duet alone).

BTW, I find it interesting that so many pop idols start out in bands or supergroups as a stepping stone for eventually becoming solo artists, while Shiina Ringo actually quit her solo career to recruit a band. Or is this phenomenon actually a lot more common than I realize?

What people going from solo to join a band? No, that's reasonably uncommon I'd have to say. Certainly it was the first instance of it I've ever seen, though I don't doubt it's happened in the past at some point. As you say, usually it's the other way around.

So there are some really big releases left for this month. What's everyone looking forward to?

Honestly, I can't wait for the Hinoi Team album. I'm really tempted to pick up the CD+DVD version for the extra videos, but I may stick with just the normal version. I just hope that every damn song doesn't have Korikki in it. :( Also, Tomiko Van's solo debut album out on the 28th looks like it's shaping up to be great. Hold Me was a big surprise to me.

Yeah, I've put in an order for Tomiko Van's solo debut (a bit of a whim choice, but I'm confident it'll be good).

Today I had my new musics arrive and I must say I'm totally in love with May's WONDERLAND single. Brilliant stuff. If anyone's interested I might YouSendIt or something.

That man gives me nightmares.

Although to be honest, I don't really get what Hinoi Team is all about either. It all sounds like hyper epilepsy-inducing DDR music to me. O_o

I'm mainly looking forward to Tomiko Van's album as well. I was impressed with her latest PV, and I'm very interested in hearing what her other songs will be like.

Actually the other album I'm really looking forward to is Rie fu's second. I'm hoping that will be really good.

Oh, and with regards to another part of today's delivery, I had never heard anything by YUI before today. Don't ask me what made me buy her album, just felt like taking a chance on it. Well I'm sure glad I did, it's a very good album. I need to give it a few more listens to get a real feel for the songs, but first impressions are very good.

That's strangely how I felt about YUI's album. I didn't think too much of it when I heard the whole thing for the first time. I later appreciated the songs when going through it a second time, and I like her style. There are many tracks I enjoyed from her album, and I don't find it necessary to skip songs like I might do on others.

I love YUI. Ever since I heard her ending song on Bleach ("LIFE"), I was addicted to her voice and style. Months later, her stuff is still regularly played from my music players, and her released album last month was <3.

I've spent the day listening to, more or less, YUI and May alternately. Still loving the WONDERLAND single and FROM ME TO YOU grows on me with every listen, which I would have thought tough to achieve. I'm loving the whole album, there's not one song I'm even remotely tempted to skip. <3

Yamamanama: Don't know of anything off the top of my head. Sorry.

Insanity!

Ayumi has officially become Japan's most successful female pop artist with her new single "Startin'/Born to Be" reaching the top spot on Oricon. It's her 26th to reach the top spot, which puts her past Matsuda Seiko.

Whether you love her or hate her, she's definitely been an institution in the J-pop world.

Nice to see other Jpop fans out there! Quite an awesome opening post, Omagnus. Very detailed!

I'm sure lots of folks will be looking into stuff they've never heard thanks to it.

I'm more of a J-Rocker, but I do enjoy my J-Pop stuff as well. My personal favorites are Do As Infinity, Aikawa Nanase and Ayumi H. (although I enjoy the Ayu Trance remixes more than her actual original work)

Yeah, very much so. And whether you love or hate her you really have to admit that that's impressive. Good for Ayu.

I really like Onitsuka Chihiro, but I haven't heard anything from her in awhile. Does anyone know if she's doing anything new. I heard she was changing her sound to be more rock than pop. Verification please.

Oh, and Kokia is great. "Watashi no taiyou" is really nice. Reminds me of the sea.

Man, I hope the Brilliant Green gets back together soon. From what I've heard, I don't like Tommy Feb6 that much. DAI just broke up, so I haven't been listening to jpop for a while. Any examples of acousticish bands?

Out of curriosity - they're not all J-Pop right? I mean some of those bands listed... arn't they J-Rock? (Like Gackt for example o__O" ...)

Or had I just have it wrong from the start?

Every Little Thing are a rather accoustic band, certainly these days. Their accoustic album released a while back was very good.

Luckee Cookie: Some could be considered J-Rock, yes. The distinction between such things aren't black and white so something can happily be considered J-Pop and J-Rock. It's all down to personal preference I guess.

more liek YUI's "From Me to You" album rocks. I'm a sucker for female alt-rock artists.

Same here. more liek YUI pwns my soul. She's really all I listen to now; everything else is merely exposure.

WHERE YOUR FLAG GO?

OMG you're using a the flag too? okay, I'll put it back!

I think I posted this link earlier (pre-crash) but I might as well post it again:biggrin: It has a few PV's and such, but still a good enough fansite IMHO.

Excellent post !!! I was dreaming of it and you've made it !!!

Just one thing: let's not forget shang shang typhoon...

Thanks. I really do plan on doing a semi-update of the first post at some point, but life is crazy busy for me so it's not been possible to give it the time I need (certainly not with its position in my list of things to get done).

Anyways, new musics ordered. I'm expecting the new Rie fu and Natsumi Abe albums at some point in the not-too-distant future. I've also put in an order for the following:

- Angela Aki - Kiss Me Good-Bye (SINGLE+DVD)(Limited Edition)
- Misachi Kyushima - Vibrato
- May - Wonderland (Korean Single)

The Misachi Kyushima album is another "on a whim" purchase. Never heard any of her stuff so I thought why not, the YUI album working out fantastically well after all. And well MAY's WONDERLAND single I love and I'm hoping the Korean release that came out before the Japanese release, and which has other tracks on, is just as good (plus I can't wait until May for new MAY stuff).

Also, some of you know that I'm a big Do As Infinity fan, but to tell you the truth, I don't really dig Tomiko's new "jazzy" style. I dunno, I think I prefer her rock-ish voice. But so far, the 2 pvs I saw ("Hold Me.." and "Farewell") are ok. I guess we can call it musical maturity on her side.

I have the album on order (and I wish it'd hurry up as it has my copy of the latest MoMusu single in with it) so I'll let you know what I think when that arrives.

oh wow, the first post is very informative and useful.
Just recently I got into Changin' my Life. But then found out they split which sucks.
I've tried to search for Myco solo stuff but haven't been successfull at it.

Thanks OP, that's why you're so awesome, hehe. Also, anybody else listen to Orange Pekoe? They're kinda of jazz/blues band, I only have one album (Modern Lights), and I was wondering if there's some news about any upcoming anything from them?

what are m-flo up to these days? (cant read a word of their website)

nice thread btw. I remember this from way back, its been a great help.

I haven't heard of anything released from them since their concert DVD at Budokan, which was released in February. However, I figure they'll get back to the studio soon enough for some singles, they end up releasing an album about once a year.

Additionally, you can hear Verbal backing up Ryohei Yamamoto on "One Love", the theme to the drama "Kami wa Saikoro wo Furanai".

I'm still sort of confused about whether this is J-Rock discussion as well, but so be it. Rock is popular music so I can get by on that.

Came back from this live last night that was really awesome. It was my first rock concert so it was really exciting for me. The Emeralds, The Rodeo Carburettor, Ellegarden, Stance Punks, PE'Z, and Sushi Mamire all played and they were great. Ellegarden set the house on fire and PE'Z was my favorite or second indefinitely.

If they tour again, you should go see them definitely. Awesome stuff. I'm going to lives more often now :P

PE'Z is the shit. Awesome music! Any news on Hikki's new album?

When you guys refer to "PE'Z", are you talking about Peelander Z? They've a cult-like following on my campus. The come around the area every now and again... but they were here a few weeks ago and I missed them. ;_; I hear their live shows are really great, though.

Not yet. Don't worry, I'll be sure to let you know when I hear anything, most likely by shouting 'woot'. :p

I'm still totally in love with YUI and her album. I've listen to the album over and over and over, obscene numbers of times. And it still rocks my socks.

I TOLD YOU IT ROCKS! It's probably one of those albums that I never tire of (so far, I think). :)

It seems like everyone enjoys YUI's album. I have yet to speak to someone who doesn't. =p

Okay, I'm a newbie to J-Pop and discovered it via Katamari Damacy. I enjoyed most of the music, and how playful it was.
My favorite tracks:

02_Katamari_on_the_Rock_Main_Theme.mp3 - Yu Miyake, Masayuki Tanaka (GREAT intro track. It really waked you up to the far-out feel of the game. Can't get it out of my head sometimes!)

04_The_Moon_and_the_Prince [Stage 02 & Ursa Major Stage].mp3 - Akitaka Tohyama, Kenji Ninuma (Grew on me. I guess it would be alt/rock?)

10_A_Crimson_Rose_and_a_Gin_Tonic [Stage 03].mp3 - Asuka Sakai, Ado Mizumori (Never thought I'd like Japanese Swing/Jazz Music!)

11_WANDA_WANDA [Results Page].mp3 - Yu Miyake (No real lyrics, just techno from a japanese artist, still counts though, just 'safer' if people that'll look at me strange are in the car!)

12_Que_Sera_Sera [Stage 09 & Cygnus].mp3 - Asuka Sakai, Charlie Kosei (This was HILARIOUS! Japanese trying - albeit successfully - to sound like Frank Sinatra!)

14_Katamaritaino [Stage 08 & Corona Borealis Stage].mp3 - Hideki Tobeta, Yui Asaka (Just grew on me. Good feel. Calming. Fun.)

16_Cherry_Blossom_Color_Season [Pisces & Taurus Stage].mp3 - Yu Miyake, Katamari Company Jr. (School kids singing? Why do I love it so??? Heh. Very fun track)

Maybe you'd have some suggestions for stuff akin to this for me? I'll be looking for more by the artists, but don't really know what to look at for similar artists since the styles are really all over the board.
Anyway, hopefully someone's familiar with the OST . . .

As far as I'm concerned, PE'Z is just PE'Z, not Peelander Z or anything like that. They're a jazz band primarily. I actually bought the album they were selling and I was surprised to not have already had it digitally.

I really wanna hear YUI's new album and AKFG's as well, alas, no internet still. Hopefully I can grab them tomorrow.

I've seen the PV for Tiny Tiny Melody, and however beautiful her songs are, it always sounds like there's one note in every Rie Fu song that she never gets all the way too. Its not like she can't sing, but it often sticks out, and I've never really heard of any musical technique causing you to purposely not hit notes like that.

Oh well.

Lies. You didn't tell me about YUI until after I'd listened to it. Cheeky monkey. Agree about it never tiring though. *me sticks in on for the 1000th time*

The new misono (formerly of DAT, sister of one Koda Kumi) PV for her solo effort VS is well worth checking out - http://youtube.com/watch?v=WSc4NhGBwHM. Made me chuckle and it's a pretty decent song too.

ooh. I'll check that out when I get to a PC with faster internet.

btw, lol Koda Kumi. :p

I find the fact that she's Koda Kumi's sister rather interesting in respect to marketing her solo stuff. Koda's been on a bit of a popularity rampage recently (though personally I thought the 12 singles thing followed by a second 'best of' album took the piss somewhat, especially given most of the singles weren't that great), and I'm curious as to whether they want people to know misono is Koda's sister or want to play down the fact.

So, what? We're just ignoring my post? Do you have any suggestions. I thought this thread was directed at newbies, man!

That's not an entirely pleasant attitude to take really. Yes people are usually willing to help out anyone with questions and I'm sorry that I, and others, obviously missed your post before. However, this isn't an on-demand service and I can't say I am familiar with the soundtrack you mention and therefore wouldn't know who to recommend (and as Scarletdeath will testify I tend to go on a bit when giving recommendations).

Sorry. It just bugs me when I get ignored here.
In the post, I describe the music that I like from the OST.
Anyway, if you haven't heard it, it's definitely worth a listen if you're into J-Pop as much as you are. It's got some great tunes on it with a wide range of styles.

Well I'm in the middle of doing something and then I'll probably sleep, but fine I'll take a look tomorrow and see what I think.

Just because people don't respond to you straight away doesn't mean you've been ignored, and even if you have that doesn't give you the right to start mouthing off at people and getting narky. For one that's not going to win people over to helping out you.

Dear ignored "newbie,"

There is a large list of artists and descriptions in the first post. Read it.

Don't think you're special deserving attention at the exact moment you want it. If anyone feels like it, we'll help.

Also Katamari isn't really jpop. Its just music tailored to be weird/badass enough to fit the game. Contrary to popular belief, most normal japanese people don't go around listening to video game soundtracks, especially not zany games like Katamari. That kind of shoots down the whole "popular" part of jpop.

Did. Didn't really help my specific issue, so I made a post. It's what people do at forums.

Because the next post after mine was from the creator of the thread, but had nothing to do with my post (not even an 'I'll getchya later'), I assumed my post was neglected because it may have seemed like I hadn't read the first post, or I was off-base somehow.

Bullshit it's not Jpop. It incorporates popular styles of music in Japan into the game and provides a chance for up and comers to be heard. Just because it doesn't have well-known artists doesn't mean it should be discarded as some 'zany' VGM. I know damn well that Japanese don't listen to VGM like it's mainstream music, but I do know that albums sell better over there, and that they actually appear on shelves! Most really popular series incorporate some lyrical japanese songs. Are those not Jpop either?

Don't preach to me like I'm some damn newbie either! I'm a newbie to Jpop, but that's all. It seems like every time the word newbie is thrown around people automatically assume they're an idiot about everything from how to post in a forum to world culture. Look at my post count for chrissakes!

At any rate, it's pretty obvious I won't receive much help here even if you guys were able to help me, because you're all too busy with your own discussions and haughtiness to really bother with what the damn thread was intended for!

OK, first of all the post after your's wasn't by me it was by Ultima. Also, whilst Ultima's tone is somewhat harsh he makes a valid point that people will get to helping you when they can. Taking an aggressive stand point and being rude about all this is not going to win you any friends, and trying to tell me what the intention of this thread is when I damn well started it and know exactly what my intention was equally so.

Yes I want to help people who are looking to get into J-Pop as much as I can, and as I indicated it is my intention to help you out (something I am about to do). At the end of the day though I am only one person, and a very busy person at that who happens to do a full-time job amongst other things so I am terribly sorry if I don't instantaniously give you the lengthy reply you are after. If you have a little patience though you'd see I will reply.

Basically, try being a little less rude and don't apply one person's attitude (Ultima) to everyone.

If you can bear to wait the time it take me to write I'll have a response for you at some point in the near future.

Double Post:
As I said previously I am not familar with the OST or the artists included on the soundtrack that you mention so I can only go on the descriptions you have provided. None the less, here you go:

CoCo d'Or: CoCo d'Or is actually Hiro who used to be in SPEED. Anyway which way, the eponymous album you'll find under that name is a set of covers of 60's swing and jazz, the sort of Sinatra era of things, including The Girl From Ipanema, so that nicely covers the Frank Sinatra style. Also if rumours are to be believed she has a new album coming out sometime this year.

Do As Infinity: OK, so the group has now disbanded, but they've got a very healthy back-catalogue (six albums and about five collections) and are a group very much loved by many, and with good reason. Definitely fall into the alt-rock category of things.

dream: A girl group that incorporates a chunk of eurobeat/techno into their work. Not as popular as some of the other idol groups out their but their music is pretty decent.

Every Little Thing: Alt-rock is possibly one way of describing Every Little Thing (ELT), or you could just say they rock. Their more recent stuff has been more acoustically inclined, but it's fantastic none the less. A great act that is worth a listen.

Fayray: A slightly more relaxed version of jazz, blues and to some extent swing, but absolutely wonderful. A rather under-rated artist in my books, her ability with a piano is amazing and her voice is lovely. If you want to sample that end of things then you can't go too wrong with Fayray for my money.

HALCALI: A sister act that does rap, of their own kind, over upbeat techno type stuff. It's a difficult one to describe in a way but well worth checking out.

Hinoi Team: I know nothing about this group other than they've been pretty popular recently and are pretty much all about the eurobeat dance/techno sort of thing (their debut album is called SUPER EURO PARTY).

Maaya Sakamoto: You describe one as "Just grew on me. Good feel. Calming. Fun." Maaya Sakamoto is someone I'd say who embodies those traits also. Her music isn't necessarily the kind that hits you striaght off (though it can do), but will grow on you. It also fits the calming/fun note. I personally find Lucy to be her best album, but pretty much all her music is ace.

Morning Musume: OK, so I'm a MoMusu and H!P (that's Hello! Project) fanboy in a lot of respects, but with good reason, or so I think. Morning Musume put out the addictive, fun and just generally etertaining music which always manages to put a smile on my face. Would probably cover the 'songs that get stuck in your head' and 'school girls singing' areas you describe. Well worth a look if you ask me.

Towa Tei: I only have one album of his, Last Century Modern, but it's very good. Sort of a techno, remix thing going on. I guess he's one of these that takes a load of samples and creates something new with it. Again, probably well worth a looksie.

I hope this gives you a decent place to start. Once you've tried some of these you can always let us know what you did and didn't like and get more recommendations that way.

Why are you telling these people what is and isn't J-Pop? Just because the music comes from Japan does not mean it's J-Pop. "Pop music" has a much more specific definition than just being in a "popular style", having a specific sound, and constituting its own genre (and sub-genres) of music, just like classical, rock, and techno.

Also, like you yourself mentioned, some of the songs are actually emulating Western styles (e.g. A Crimson Rose, Que Sera Sera), and the others are in non-pop genres like rock (Katamari on the Rocks), techno (WANDA WANDA), and Latin jazz (Katamaritaino). I dunno, "The Moon and the Prince" might be considered some form of J-Pop, but it doesn't really seem to have much of a melody, a crucial factor in the genre. "Katamaritaino" does get pretty close at a few points, but I really don't know any artists with similar styles.

So yeah...practice a little patience and common courtesy. Nobody is obligated to tell you anything, so quit with the "unsatisfied customer" act.

Chill the fuck out.

First off, we're all aware that your not a newbie to forum posting. Congrats for your high postcount. But as you said yourself, you're a newbie to J-pop. Welcome, you just made your first mistake by almost alienating the whole crowd here. Even if you were the shit in some other forum, if you move here and act like an ass for your first couple posts, you're going to get ignored, no matter how much power or respect you held over there. GFF is its own little world from other forums, just like the J-pop thread is its own little thread from all the others. Whatever goes on in other subforums doesn't really matter here. So just like when you started off in GFF having to build credibility, you're starting off here in the J-pop thread. You're a newbie here, whether you like it or not.

I'm also sorry for ignoring your initial post, but your second post didn't need take the somewhat aggressive tone. First off, you only gave us about 17 hours to reply before you replied again. Patience is key. There are definitely much better ways to ask for help, even if its the second time. This isn't a 24/7 J-pop help line.

Anyway....
If you're looking for some more J-techno stuff, I'd suggest either Supercar or Boom Boom Satellites. In regards to the more jazzy stuff, (such as "A Crimson Rose and Gin Tonic"), I think you'd like some of the jazzy stuff that Shiina Ringo does, which sounds similar (although in much different voice). Also from "Cherry Blossom Color Season", it looks like you'd like some just natural sounding folksy music, in which case I'd recommend Yuzu. It might not be schoolchildren, but it's got the same kind of feel I think.

Btw, it's all about "Lonely Rolling Star".

Wow, I've just downloaded the recent Lena Park single, MUSIC, and it's amazing. Some might recognise her by her Korean name - Park Jung Hyun. I would seriously recommend checking it out and I'm off to find more of her stuff.

Ooo, new av/sig...nice.

Thank ye.

I downloaded Lena Park's other Japanese single and it also rocks. She's officially been added to me <3 list, making her one to watch.

(I know this is a bit off-topic,) but since you mentioned Park Jung Hyun, do a lot of you guys listen to any K-pop?

SE7EN's a pretty popular Korean R&B artist. He had two new albums was released earlier this month. One Korean release, and one Japanese ("First Seven"). I've been liking a lot of this Japanese stuff more lately... it's typically more pop-y.

I've also recently gotten into a K-rock band called "Cherry Filter." Has anyone heard of them?

I have a nice selection of K-Pop albums as well. You mentioned SE7EN, and I actually first learned about him a little over a year ago when I heard his two Korean albums. I also listened to his two latest albums (Japanese and Korean), and I still prefer the Korean releases. I find that his Japanese album left something to be desired.

It seems like a lot of Korean artists are starting to move into the Japanese market. Lee Jung Hyun's new album (which was half and half) was pretty good, but some of the Korean songs she retooled into Japanese just didn't work for me. Anyway, she and Lee Hyo Lee are about the only Korean artists I ever listen to. Oh, and BoA of course.

On another note, CDJapan is having a fairly decent sale on some H!P DVDs here. Thinking about picking up those two cheaper Gocchin DVDs..

My apologies to everyone here.
It felt like y'all were against me for a little while there, and felt the need to retaliate. I was also coming off some other threads where my posts were ignored (mainly due to a flame war in other threads).
Still, that is no excuse to spout off.
Again, I apologize.
I will take your generous considerations, try to find them, and see if it's something I'll be interested in. Thanks for taking the time. I appreciate it, especially after how I acted.
As for the Katamari stuff, it is kind of its own little quirky subculture of music, but it helped me realize that it was possible to like music even though I can't understand the lyrics.
Jazz and swing work particularly well in this sense because if I can't understand the lyrics, it just sounds like someone scatting! Heh.

Yeah, if you like jazz/swing, definitely check out Tokyo Jihen. Rollins has both albums on his FTP.

Speaking of Tokyo Jihen, it looks like ADULT VIDEO has been released...anyone getting this? I might end up buying/sharing it myself if necessary...it doesn't look like it would be overly expensive to import. On the other hand, it seems relatively on the short side (22 minutes) and is Region 2...I think the hacked XBox might play it, but I'm not sure how to rip it from there.

I'm not too sure about methods of dvd ripping via xbox, although they undoubtedly exist. However, you can rip the dvd image with DVD Decrypter (if you can find the install, I have it but I don't have internet at the moment). Also, to play on the computer there's a nice little program called AnyDVD which should do you nicely. It pretty much disables region encoding so you can play DVDs of any region on your resident DVD drive.

Also, HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR album 2 in like two weeks. Going to the mothers soon so I'll definitely take that oppurtunity to catch up on as much of the music scene that I possibly can in a day. I want to be back in Japan with the huge music stores in Akihabara and all the godliness of a foreign country.

Anyway, pay your bills, folks, you don't want to be left on the street with no internet, trust me.

I just realized that YUI's style, besides having similarities to Michelle Branch/Avril Lavigne, she's really like theory of a Deadman too. The melody style is pretty close. The ratio of soft and loud songs in YUI's album reminded me of them.

Okay, so I got around to listening to the Ringo no Uta single. Supposedly the track "Ringo Catalogue" references her previous works through not only the lyrics, but also through certain instruments and melody excerpts (sort of the musical version of her "Ringo no Uta" PVs I guess). Has anyone actually done a comprehensive analysis of the song? I'm very interested in exactly which parts reference which songs.

I just went through your ist and I'd like to make a suggestion to add a section of your R&B/Hip-Hop section to the group SOUL'd OUT. Their newest CD, "Alive" was released 3/8/06. I highly suggest to give them at least a listen. They've released 3 albums total, in addition to several singles. They are:

Diggy-MO - Main MC
Bro. Hi - Human Beat Box
Shinnosuke- Trackmaster

Check them out.

SOUL'd OUT

I'll check 'em out. I've been interested in a lot of hip-hop/R&B-type stuff lately... for instance, I've always been a fan of m-flo and I've been listening to a lot of Amuro Namie's latest stuff.

Has anyone heard a lot of Sakamoto Ryouhei? I like his newest single (featuring Verbal) a lot. Has he done any solo albums?

Double Post:
Oh, yeah - the "Peelander-Z" people I was was talking about a while back are the people in JUST DECLARED WAR's current sig/avatar. I wonder if they're as hilarious as they look...

His Japanese discography is sitting in my MP3s folder gathering dust. He released a full-length album as Sakamoto Ryohei before disappearing and then reinventing himself as Ryohei.

New music day today. My order including Angela Aki's Kiss Me Good-Bye, May's Korean single for Wonderland and my new wildcard purchase of Misachi Kyushima's Vibrato arrived. The former two I've listened to and are ace (Kiss Me Good-Bye has won me over after a proper listen, though Santa Fe is still the best song on the single) and I'm currently listening to the latter, which is so far so good.

I do likes new music. Mind you, that said I still have this desire to stick YUI's album on again. :p

Found a good download forum:

http://www.getasianmusic.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=31

You have a register to see some links, but it's worth it I think.

Double Post
Finally, some stuff from ADULT VIDEO!

Koi wa Maboroshi FOR MUSICIAN

A nice sequel to the Tsumiki Asobi dance. ;) And hey, "it's that guy from Densha Otoko!"

New music day again for me. Today's deliveries:
- Morning Musume - SEXY BOY ~Soyo Kaze ni Yorisoutte~ [ single ]
- Natsumi Abe - 2nd ~Shimiwataru Omoi~ [ album ]
- Rie fu - ROSE ALBUM [ album ]
- Van Tomiko - Farewell [ album ]

So far I've given the Rie fu album a listen (and it's very good) and the Morning Musume single a few listens (it is also very good). I'll post my thoughts on the other two when I've given them a listen through.

Just thought I'd pop in and post the news about Utada Hikaru's 4th studio album.

Ultra Blue
2006.06.14
TOCT-26067
¥3,059 (tax in)

13 tracks, including her singles COLORS, Dareka no Negai ga Kanau Koro, Be My Last, Passion, and Keep Tryin'

http://www.toshiba-emi.co.jp/hikki/p...of_pt01_01.jpg

Her 2006 tour as Utada Hikaru and Utada, UTADA UNITED 2006, begins July 1st in Sendai and ends on September 10th in Tokyo.

Haha, just got my copy of Adult Video and decided to watch it because of your comment. What's up with that video? He went quite insane. At first I thought you were referring to the actual Densha guy (Itoh Atsushi).

Getting it was a no-brainer after falling in love with Adult (which still gets massive plays every now and then).

I've actually fallen a little bit of out of the music scene due to lack of fundage/time, but I hope to get back into it soon. I remember hearing a bunch of love for YUI, who I don't know at all, but I apparently should. I'll try and check it out soon.

oh wow.... it's been a long time since I came back hehehe actually I just re-registered today lol

anyways... as for what's in my CD collection right now...
I'm really lagging behind on the new stuff so right now Im really depending on jpopsuki.com for stuff sighs...

been really into UVERworld a lot. Dammit, that Takuya can sing and scream and jump and write music. He's so talented hehe but I think his band is considered to be J-rock so I'll stop talking about UVERworld

and btw... Yellow Generation's DUAL single really pissed me off for some reason. Right after Tritoma and their album, Life-Size Protrait, they got really boring. I think that's why they kinda stopped recording cuz no one really liked DUAL and then their fans just went away. I was really disappointed with Dual >___< can'ts get over that

But I really liked Sowelu's To You and the coupling song, Finally both are very good songs but I like Finally better than To You. To You is a great "put me to sleep song" and Finally is kinda upbeat and makes me happy and giddy (omg, does anyone use that word nowadays???)

I recently found Koda Kumi's promise/star hanging on the shelf at a store so I decided to buy it for my brother but I keep forgetting to give it to him so I opened it for myself cuz there's a DVD in it. WOW. Promise PV is sooo beautiful. Star wasn't that great... I've been obsessed with Promise since I opened it.

AND Yoshika made me happy. Everytime I listen to her Second album Timeless it makes me happy. I can't believe she wrote almost all the songs. I say almost cuz a couple songs in there are written by m-flo and this other dude... I forgot his name. Anyways... I always thought Yoshika had this accent when singing english but she doesn't!!! Maybe she trips over some words but wow... I really liked the song "Come back to you" it makes me think, really think. Yoshika is cool!

Well... I don't think anything else is playing in my winamp right now haha... except for Hyori Lee but she's k-pop so I'll end my post here...


I MISS ALL OF YOU!!!

Hey Flara, good to see you back.

So, a few comments on my recent purchases:

- Morning Musume - SEXY BOY ~Soyo Kaze ni Yorisoutte~ [ single ]
I love, love, love this single. It's exactly what Morning Musume has always done so well, make upbeat, funky music that puts a smile on my face. I'm not sure how anyone can resist the catchiness of the tune, it's tops. The c/w track is decent enough, but it's not a patch on SEXY BOY.

- Natsumi Abe - 2nd ~Shimiwataru Omoi~ [ album ]
I was actually somewhat fearful about listening to this. The non-single tracks on Rainbow 7 weren't as strong as they perhaps should have been and so I worried this would be the case here too. However, I was wrong to worry as it's actually a very good, very solid album. Nacchi's recent singles have been very good and the non-single tracks more than match them for quality. A solid whole that's certainly worth a look.

- Rie fu - ROSE ALBUM [ album ]
This is a wonderful album. I heard some people use words like 'dull' and 'boring' when talking about this album, but it's complete piffle. Mellow at time maybe, but never boring. This is a great follow up album to a great debut album and I loves it. If you like acoustic guitar work then this should be top of your list to check out.

- Van Tomiko - Farewell [ album ]
Another album I heard bad things about, people complaining about Tomiko's new style. Are you crazy? This is beautiful stuff, I love some of the instrumental work going on with this album. Folky and jazzy, a complete departure from the DAI style, but wonderful all the same. Thumbs up.

Just got a copy of YUI's album and while I think it's good music, for me, it's nothing to write home about. The talent is definitely there I think maybe I just need to give the album a couple more listens before I can make a concrete opinion. Usually though, once I give an album a full listen, I fall in love with it ^^;

I guess I've been in too much of a Hip-Hop mode right now to get into another style of music right now. I'll have to ease back into things.

FLARA! <3 Where have you been?!?!

Oh man, I can't wait for Hikki's new album. Oh, op, what do you think of Van's album? so-so? ok? sucks?

VEMPY!!! <3 Where have YOU been???

oooh thanks OP for reminding me... must find MM's SEXY BOY

Stop flirting with Flara and pay attention ;)

From the above post I made:
In short: I really like it.

And Flara, yes, you really do need to get the SEXY BOY single as it's magnificent. Completely addictive. I re-downloaded the PVs last night as I love the dance that goes with it too. ^^

Rollins: Shame, but give the YUI album a few more listens, I (and others) found it's something of a grower and it might just grab you yet (though different strokes for different folks so she's not going to win everyone over necessarily).

Still loving this Angela Aki single, Kiss Me Good-Bye. The title track has completely won me over after I wasn't sure when listening to a sample. I think the English version is just a tad better than the Japanese one, but both are very good. The c/w track Santa Fe is amazing though. Worth getting for that track alone.

Oh. heh. I listened to Kiss Me Good-Bye. It's ok, I think I like Suteki Da Ne more.. don't hate me pls. But I LOVE Santa-Fe. It's like instant <3!

ps. hi Flara.

hey you know what song sounds a lot like Suteki Da Ne???
Planetarium by Otsuka Ai. I was absent mindedly listening to Planetarium and suddenly thought "hmmm... I don't remember putting Suteki Da Ne in my playlist..." and realized it was Otsuka Ai

Btw OP... I LOVE YOU!!!! YOU SEXY BOY!!! SOOOO GOOOOOD!!!! ahahaha I'm making no sense now hehe I just watched the PV and I guess this means another MM dance for me to imitate hehehe (still DL-ing the dance shot version...) ah this song makes me so giddy (omg i just said giddy again) I now understand what you mean now, OP.... this song makes me soooo happy!!! and the PV ish shoooo cute!!! it's kinda strange that now Mari Yaguchi is not in MM no more... wahhhh although I don't like her that much, I miss her...

ps: Hi Vempy~

That whole block makes me smile so much. ^_______________^

Vemp: it's not my favourite FF theme either, though I'd have to go with Eyes On Me as the top dog personally. I do, however, like Kiss Me Good-Bye more than I thought I would on listening to the sample they put up on her official website a while back. But yeah, Santa Fe for the win.

OMG I cannot wait for this! The name ULTRA BLUE has kinda grown on me. Makes me think the song with the same name will have a cool and slick electronic feel to it.

Also, since COLORS, Darekoro, Be My Last, Keep Tryin' & Passion are included outta the 13 tracks, and we'll probebly get 1 interlude, that leaves us with 7 new songs. Not bad. Hopefully they won't reveal that Wings will be on the album too cause that takes up one more space that a new song could have used and I hate that song anyway.

Hey, guys. Just wanted to give you a heads up on a site I found useful for j-music: http://www.jmignited.com It has good short clips to get the gist of other bands and their styles.

By the way, does anyone here know any artists similar to Ali Project?

Something that might interest of people into H!P and Japanese TV.

Yaguchi Mari will be in a new drama series "Glasar" starting this Saturday on NTV in Japan. Apparently the story of the series (as DramaWiki describes it) is a cowboy from the US goes to Shibuya to find a group of girls to dance para-para. (Darn that Hinoi Team, bringing back para-para dancing to the forefront.)

Probably not many of us can watch it in Japan, but I'm sure it'll pop up on D-Addicts for download. I might download the first ep just to see how it goes, but not too sure if I'll make a habit of it from the story description, haha.

Wait what? Does that even count as a story? What would a cowboy want to do with para-para girls?

The U.S. still has cowboys?

Haha, that's what I want to know. DramaWiki is pretty notorious for being vague with descriptions, but this is for a drama that hasn't even aired.

I guess if I cared a little more, I could go to the actual site and translate the story section, which I lack time to do right now.

Hey, chalk up the cowboy thing to Japanese conception of America. A lot of people do the same thing to Japan (everyone wears a kimono for example).

hey has anyone seen Koda Kumi's sort-of recent PVs like You, Feel, Lies and Someday?

I just finally realized they're connected hahaha
what did everything think about how she made those 4 PVs into a story kinda thing?

My personal thought: It kinda felt like a Mariah Carey kidna thing but who cares, it was kinda cool how it told love stories of those 3 guys... Someday made everything happy lol and it goes by that order: You, Feel, Lies, Someday

yes, I lag a lil behind on jpop

I was a bit startled with the 12 Weeks PV release by Koda Kumi. Like you, I also realized that several were related to each other. I downloaded all PVs at the same time and just recently found the time to watch them.

I'm still a believer that Candy feat.Mr.Blistah is the prequel. It's the prequel, I tell you!

Ahem.

I downloaded the PVs as they came out weekly, and I found the mini-drama connection between those four PVs to be the main grab of the 12 singles. Every week I downloaded and hoped for a continuation, but eh, I had to wait awhile between PVs (except for the double whammy of Lies and feel, which were aired in that order).

I think Someday ended up being a slight cop-out with the "imagine that Kumi is with you again!" aspect, but hey, it's a good song.

I like the idea behind some of the 12 PV Kumi thing (I don't think they were all linked, just some of them if memory serves), I just wish the songs had of been better. D.D.D. was a great track, as were a number of the earlier ones, but they just got a bit boring and nothingy, which is a shame.

Anyways, random news, they've finally released information on a-nation '06 - http://a-nation.net/pc/

For me this is excellent news as I'm going to be in Japan from 22nd July until 12th August so I'm hoping to sort out tickets to the Niigata day, which isn't that far from where my base of operations will be. Woo. ^_________^

I'm just popping in to say L'arc~en~Ciel is the best Japanese band.
Bye.

I've (finally) heard YUI's new album. I'm glad to say that I think it's worth every bit of praise that it's been getting.

Otherwise, I've been into J-rock a lot lately. I've been listening to a lot of Sambomaster, and a friend recently got me into the Polysics. Awesome stuff. Unfortunately, I just got news that PIERROT recently disbanded. = (

As for the "Galcir" thing, I'm definitely going to try and catch that. It seems like it's going to be funny in that Japanese novelty kind of way (c'mon, it's Para-Para...) and it stars Fujiki Naohito. I lust after that man.

Speaking of J-pop stars on the screen, I think Shimatani Hitomi's going to be in the upcoming live-action movie version of Tennis no Ouji-sama.

holy shit, Hitomi Shimatani sucks.

Hikki's new album's cover and tracklist!

http://www.toshiba-emi.co.jp/hikki/r.../toct26067.jpg
lol I love how the album's called ULTRA BLUE while she has this SUPER RED cape flowing around her.

01. This Is Love
02. Keep Tryin'
03. BLUE
04. 日曜の朝
05. Making Love
06. 誰かの願いが叶うころ
07. COLORS
08. One Night Magic feat. Yamada Masash
09. 海路
10. WINGS
11. Be My Last
12. Eclipse(Interlude)
13. Passion

source


I don't like the fact that WINGS is on there. :( Also some of the song titles are kinda scary but I'll just wait and see before I make any judgment.

And no CD+DVD version?

For future reference, track 4 is "Nichiyou no Asa" (Sunday Morning) and track 9 is "Kairo" (Sea Route).

Hikki's never had a CD+DVD version, so I expect that we'll see a UH4 DVD announcement shortly after the release of ULTRA BLUE.

Yeah but her latest singles have all had CD only or CD+DVD versions! It seems like pretty much every jpop artist, with avex or otherwise, has adopted this with or without DVD format ever since Ayu first did it with Memorial Address. I want the CD to have some sort of extras...

Anyway, I can't wait till we get samples of the new songs.

I think Hikki just likes to do her own thing. That's what makes her such a great artist and person. Maybe she just likes the idea of a UH4 over CD and CD+DVD versions of ULTRA BLUE.

I'm most interested in hearing This Is Love. For some reason, I'm reminded of Uso Mitai na I Love You when I see that title.

Yeah maybe. We'll see.

Anyway, This is Love, One Night Magic and Making Love are, in my opinion, awful titles. I cannot imagin how these songs would be good or taken seriously. However, I also thought that Be My Last and Passion were awful titles before I heared the songs but then ended loving them. Because of that, I'm really eager to see where she's going with these songs.

One Night Magic sounds like something you'd find in a Bemani game, and Making Love sounds like something she'd write as Utada.

As for Be My Last and Passion, I thought they were brilliant titles. "Be My Last" obviously had clear connections to Haru no Yuki (a doomed love, perhaps?) and "Passion" just sounded epic. "Passion" has many different connotations anyways, so one's interpretation of the title depends on how they define "passion."

It doesn't matter. They're in English. This is a Japanese CD.

Track six's "Dareka no Negai ga Kanau Koro"; something along the lines of "Concerning Granting Someone's Wishes".

Has anyone heard of this Yamada Musash(i) before?

I think J-POP is too commercial, the mainstream artists anyway and I don't like it. It's not just J-Pop though, I hate American pop, British pop, any pop really. (only a few exceptions) So i'll leave JPop out of this.

Can somebody name me some GOOD J-RnB, J-HipHop and J-ROCK artists? (or maybe some good non-mainstream J-Pop artists)

Artists (Or groups) I like that fit under either of these category's are:

HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR, UVERworld, Sunset Swish, HOME MADE KAZOKU, Takahashi Hitomi, AMADORI.

Notice that most (infact all) have either come from Anime opening songs & ending songs? >_> Blood+, Bleach and Naruto to be exact.

But for some reason as soon as I start to explore Japanese music I CANNOT find any decent Japanese tunes, any genre for that matter (rock, pop, hip hop, RnB)

So, does anybody know something good? a tune that has flare and style to it, the vocals dont have to be perfect or anything but just a tune with good vibe?

Talk about mass stereotyping.

Out of interest, are you basing this rather extreme opinion of J-Pop (which is at best a lose description used to cover a wide range of music) soley on your experience of J-Pop so far, which by your own admission is anime themes? If so I would recommend you reconsider your position, or are you seriously going to argue that someone like Shiina Ringo/Tokyo Jihen and other such acts are too commercial? Exactly who is it that makes you believe that J-Pop is so commercial?

It seems highly contradictory to say "All this music is crap" and then "Hey guys I don't know much about this music, point me in the right direction kplz", not to mention a little rude.

OK first way to go for asnwering my question. Let me give you a hand! *big clap! clap x23* you also get a cookie! Maryland style! *hands Maryland cookie to you*

OK now that i've acknowledged your helpfullness let me get this crap out the way.

I didnt say ALL J-pop was like this. and just because I say something doesnt mean u need to take it out of context. I even said I wanted some good recommendations to JPop if you actually read my post properly?

Anyway I wont get into this debate, can anybody recommend me some good stuff or not? (one of the purposes of this thread I believe)

So, there's been a trend with snotty n00bs stumbling in the J-pop thread, I take it.

I think the problem isn't so much that popular music is "bad" (which is opinion, anyway), but it seems that popular music isn't your cup of tea. (This is what I get from your "a tune that has flare and style to it, the vocals dont have to be perfect or anything but just a tune with good vibe" statement.) You could've just said that you like rock and hip-hop more than general pop.

There's good music in most every genre if you search for it.

Out of curiousity, what artists have you heard and not liked?

I can't wait for Utada's new album. I love "Keep Tryin" (Check out my remix PV if it on Kumi-X), "Passion", "Wings" and "Colors", but i am slightly annoyed that we are only getting 6 new tracks (excluding the interlude), well seven for me as I haven't heard "Be My Last" yet and i'm saving it for the new album release.

Hopefully the 6 new tracks will be so good that quantity loses it's meaning. Why shouldn't they be amazing? The singles have been great and it us Utada afterall.

Alright I guess I could've worded it a bit more polite and less "snotty" (were you refering to me with the "snotty noob" statement?) but whatever.

And I just generally sat down and fully listened to a few tracks of some of the popular mainstream artists. Ones like Hamasaki Ayumi, BOA but I guess their style isn't necessarily my taste.

So does that help you to help me?

From what you've listed, a recent album comes to mind. It's relatively new, but you may be interested in LISA's new album, "God Sista." Another one you might try out is EXILE's "ASIA" album.

Yes, it does. Just because the song titles are in a different language than the song itself it doesn't mean the title can be anything. It still represents the song! If we followed your argument then the songs could be named ,for example, Bukkakke Diarrhea Froth and it'd still be ok cause, hey! the rest of the song's in Japanese so the English title doesn't matter!

Dareka no Negai ga Kanau Koro actually fits with the song. The song's all about the duality of things and how some people's happiness is built on others' misery and how when someone's wish comes true, another person's dreams fall apart.

Now I'm not dismissing the new songs cause I haven't heared them yet. I'm just eager to actually hear them to see how the songs will justify these titles. I'm personally having trouble picturing these titles actually work but I think Hikki can pull it off.

I purposely didn't romanize/translate track 6, since I thought it obvious that it was Dareka. Eh heh heh...

As for Yamada Musashi, he's the vocalist of THE BACK HORN. I bet that Hikki met him through her husband, Kaz.

Weeklan, you'll want to avoid those sweeping generalizations. Even though you didn't say "all" J-pop, you pretty much called out all popular music in any case. Music that most of us are fans of.

Music that is popular is so because most people like it. Sure, there's definitely music out there that sells well and is of questionable value, but that's everyone subjective opinion which would no doubt cause pointless debates about who is better. Please listen to more music besides anime themes and a couple albums here and there. Japanese music is more diverse than it seems.

In any case, I'd like to throw some recommendations your way, although unforunately most of them would probably be considered "mainstream".

I'm a big fan of m-flo and I think within their recent "m-flo loves" albums, where they work with so many different artists (which means many types of songs) most people find at least a couple songs that they're fans of.

If you're looking more in terms of R&B, I like both Chemistry and EXILE. They've got the singing duo thing down pat. Emi Hinouchi is a singer that I wish more people had a chance to listen to because I think she's fantastic, but she only has one album out which was released in 2004. Yoshika isn't that bad either, but my exposure to her is limited (only through the m-flo loves songs). What I've heard though, I like.

Another recommendation that I'd throw out there is Rip Slyme. I'm a sucker for the "bunch of MCs and a DJ" groupings that have been popping up recently, but Rip Slyme has been doing it for awhile and quite well.

Technophile, I believe your gripes should lie with the Japanese educational system on how they teach English. There have been plenty of songs with titles that "don't work" that were excellent. But yeah, as you said, you're not disliking them prematurely, just noting the questionable English (which, IMO, isn't as bad as some others).

I would love to listen to a song called Bukkakke Diarrhea Froth. It already sounds awesome.

See, becauase of this reason, I usually do completely overlook Jpop's English titles. (Don't get me started on some of Ayu's songs' names). But see, Hikki is Japanese-American. She's completely fluent in English. There's just no excuse for her to have engrishy song titles. Also, with her, it's not even a matter of questionable grammer or spelling. It's just that these new song titles are kinda cheesy. But whatever, we'll wait and see. (Sorry, didn't mean to use puns)

Regardless of her background and knowledge, the fact is that she's in the Japanese market right now. The general Japanese public isn't familiar enough with the English language to know what "cheesy" is. Also - as far as I'm concerned, there's absolutely no way Hikki can hit a new artistic low after hearing some of the lyrics of the Exodus songs.

Weeklan, my apologies for any offenses with the n00b comment... but remember, a little humility will go a long way, especially when you're the one asking for help. People like m-flo and CHEMISTRY have been reccomended already; maybe you'd like to try Dragon Ash, Ketsumeishi or Teriyaki Boyz. You seem like you'd like a lot of things in the "hip-rock" category.

Oh so just because a good number of Japanese folk aren't fluent in English that gives her the right to pull a fast one on her fans and just title the songs whatever? (I'm not saying that's what she did since I haven't heared the songs yet but that's the excuse you're using)


Also, Exodus is a damn good album. The music on it was so rich and ambient. It was full of awsome electronic yet poppy tracks. The lyrics were witty and different. The only track that had "cheesy" lyrics was Easy Breezy and that's only because it's a playful song. Too bad most people were too stuck up to see that.

-EDIT-

Thanks to Utada-online.net,

http://xs77.xs.to/pics/06164/UTADA_UNITED.jpg
New tour pic

Larger pic of the cover...

http://img.hmv.co.jp/image/jacket/400/13/6/4/302.jpg

OMG OP!!!!! *jumps up and down*
I LOVE YOU!!!!
ever since u mentioned about YUI... i decided to DL her songs and I finally found that ONE SONG I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR SINCE LIKE.... FOREVER!!!!

GYAH!!! *does the happy dance*
I LOVE YOU OP!!!! or a_utobot...

oh btw... does anyone know what's happening to Sowelu right now? She's been kinda quiet lately...

She hasn't been quiet at all. She released an album last July, and since then 2 singles, one in November and one in February. Her third single, presumably the last before her next album, will be released on May 10th, entitled "Dear friend".

Sowelu @ CDJapan

Ha ha, it's still OP (and hopefully should be again soon), but yah, wheeeeee so glad for you. ^^ YUI love all around.

Actually, I've rediscovered and fallen in love with (once again) the Younha album, Go! Younha. It's an amazing album and one I'd recommend to anyone currently digging on YUI. A bit more piano than guitar, but there's a bit of a similarity style wise I'd say.

yeah younha? or yuuna? youna? i dunno... cuz her name is katakana is spelled YU-U-NA... dunnnnno...

anyways I really liked the song Houki Hoshi it's so... i dunno makes me wanna sing with her lolz...

thanks a_yaoi or.. Ultima is it?? lol gyah... i wish I could have turned my name to a_mistake lol funnny.... yeah I'm impatient about Sowelu's music... she's the greatest imo... and she's the second jpop singer that I discovered that can speak fluent english (the first one is hikki... third is LISA, m-flo, heartsdales..."

She's Korean, so Yunna (ユンナ) is just a transliteration of how her name would be pronounced in Korean, which seems to be spelled "Younha."

The question of titles I have no interest in, though I will agree with where Technophile is coming from (I think there's a large chunk of misinterpretation going on in the arguement there).

One thing I will say is I totally agree with the last paragraph above. I actually really like EXODUS because it tries to be different. Selling out would envolve making generic pop that peope would lap up, something Hikki along with Island-Def-Jam would have been more than capable of. She didn't though, she went down this quirky road trying out variations on known styles and while they didn't always work 100% they were always interesting. I'm glad she's back focussing on her Japanese music, and I'm so over the moon that a new album is on its way (been waiting for that annoucement for ages), but I disagree that EXODUS was a bad thing or not worthwhile.

Oh and yeah, Younha is definitely Korean and I say Younha because that's the way it is spelt on the cover art:
http://www.opimage.co.uk/u/OmagnusPr...o%20Younha.jpg

I definitely recommend checking out her album, certainly if you liked the couple of singles she put out.

Would anyone here know about a Japan Group called "Lamp".

I've been trying to find some of their albums but haven't yet :(

Double Post:
Actually, the specific album I'm looking for is Lamp / gentle breeze apartment 201

You know what. Does anyone know any good Jpop and Jrock torrent or download sites that release their music in VBR?

What VBR? I know http://www.jpopsuki.com has one of the BIGGEST JPop trackers. They use Bit-torrent.

EDIT:
btw.. I'm not sure if I should put it here but... I just heard UVERworld's NEWEST song, Colors of the Heart and omg.. I LOVE IT!!! I also saw the PV and I think Takuya is getting hotter and hotter in each PV ooooh...

I wanna be a pop star~

I think Ken Hirai is great!

http://youtube.com/w/Ken-Hirai--POP-...%20star-%20ken

What suprised me a bit is that his fully Japanense.

Yeah, Ken's an oldie but a goodie. I'd thought that he wasn't 100% Japanese as well. POP STAR's a really catchy one. ^_^

Pop-rock, perhaps?

UVERworld let me down a lot with just Melody and the subsequent offering found on Timeless; the album, as a whole, put me to sleep. Colors of the Heart partially restored my faith in the band.

Whoa, easy there. We won't see another album until we've seen at least a couple more singles to say the least. Given the times between LOVE PUNCH and LOVE JAM I'd say we're looking at a November release at the very earliest.

I figured I should put in my two cents on Younha.

I loved her style of music right from the get-go with Houkiboshi, and the two follow-up singles (Motto Futari de and Touch; yeah yeah, I know Touch was a cover) had me hooked. However, I found Go! Younha to be mostly disappointing besides the excellent singles. There was just something lacking about the album that made me go, "Errrm..."

In any case, you have plenty of time to get tired of the new single "Frienger". It's too addictive o_O The latest Oricon has it charting at #2 on the singles list.

I think I reached the stage that I got tired of Jpop.

A friend of mine who runs negimaki.com, used to run lemolade.tv and jumbpshrimp.tv. These sites provide an online streaming playlist of Jpop bands for people to sample, he had a public ftp server full of jpop for anyone who wants to download, and even had his mini-tracker site. Basically he's the one who introduced me to my favorite bands like The Brilliant Green, Do As Infinity , and Every Little Thing.

And then, a year (or two) ago, he announced that he was going to shut down his Jpop service. He said that he has reached a point that his love for the music was not as great as before, although he still listens to some bands once in a while, it's not as frequent as before. He even gave away his CDs to some people, his friends, and relatives (I just got private ftp access before he killed it).

And I am afraid that I may be reaching the point where Jpop is losing it's appeal to me. I still listen to some bands, but not like before where my playlist plays Jpop 80-90% of the time. Probably due to lack of means of acquiring it, bands breaking up, or my dislike of the new songs and/or artists, I still do not know.

So I ask you, my dear friends, have you ever seen yourself reaching this point? Because I never thought I would.

What would you do?

Timeless did kinda let me down cuz a few of the tracks sucked a lot. But Just Melody is one of my faves and the coupling that came with the single, Revolve is also one of my faves too. I do like the fact that Takuya does so much for his band: He writes the lyrics, he writes the music and he produces his works. You can't really expect everything to be as perfect as D-technolife and Chance! so I guess it just shows that not everyone is perfect. But I do love Takuya for doing his best~

Colors of the Heart is something that I'm currently jumping around about. I even preorderd the single so I am REALLY hoping to see what's on the single since it is a CD+DVD release...
That happened to me once. My girlie fandom for wFL (w-inds., FLAME, Lead) died after one year. You see, I can never be as much of a fan for wFL as before but I'm still a fan, just not as crazy for them as before. Heck, I actually stopped stalking w-inds. for their newest songs and stuff. I left them after Ageha and never searched for more of them

Vempy, I think you'll still love JPop, but just not as much. Like me, I'm only interested in Sowelu, Koda Kumi and Morning Musume and some others... but there are some parts of me that's also trying to find that special flavor to bring me back to JPop fandom. So basically... relax... soon you're gonna get bored of those same songs and will end up at jpopsuki.com to search for some new songs.

Well given you barely seem to keep up with what's going lately (or for a while now) on I can't say this news comes as much of a surprise Mr Vemp. However, I would imagine part of it is just that, you're not keeping up with what's going on, trying new acts and the such like. Given the sheer scope of the J-Pop market I'm sure there's something around at the moment you'd love.

But fair enough, I can understand shifting preferences, after all it's what led many of us to find things like J-Pop in the first place.

I used to listen to nothing but J-pop, but I've either expanded into other genre of music found in Japan (J-urban, J-rock) or I've actually started listening to more English-language music. I don't really see it as something to worry about; I just go with the flow. It's music, after all.

I like Jpop at some times but mostly I can't really love unless it's an English version.

If I can't understand what the words that are being said in the song, then half of the song experience is gone for me. I need to know the lyrics.

Sometimes getting the translated lyrics of the net doesn't help either. Since the Japanese words don't really blend well when you're trying to sing the song in English. It's a little hard to explain.

I think Utada Hikaru's Passion is better than Sanctuary. For some reasons... the english version sound a bit.. weird to me (this includes Simple and Clean and Hikari). I don't exactly know how to explain it but it's like they try to make the lyrics work for the song, instead of the song working for the lyrics. I think it's that lil bit that makes Passion much better than Sanctuary.

And going back to the point about Simple and Clean and Hikari... I watched the Kingdom Hearts introduction many many times and I get a different feel from both English and Japanese version. Simple and Clean sounded a bit needy... I think it's cuz of how the lyrics were worded. And for Hikari the meaning in the lyrics is totally different than the ones in Simple and Clean I guess that's why the Japanese versions sounds better than the English versions.

Ps: Please don't hate me! lol...

pps: UVERworld rocks!!! I can't wait to find out what's on that DVD in the first-press edition of Colors of the Heart and I GOT GOOD NEWS ON SOWELU!!!!

Yeah!!! Now I have another thing to look forward to!!! weeeeeeeee

Oh God yes, Sanctuary sucks. As if streching the lyrics to work around the songs wasn't bad enough, it's missing all those awsome and intrecate "Ooohs" & "Aaaah"s in the background that make Passion sound so much more full and ambient.

Oh god yes.. Sanctuary sucks. Simple & Clean is tolerable, but my god Sanctuary sucks.

P.S. OP made me like Jpop again. I guess brits have special persuading powers when born. Must be the constant swearing. :p

hehe Technophile I so agree with the "ooohs" and "ahhhs"... they kinda... annoy me...

Welcome back VEMPY!!!! *huggles*

hi flara!

Now, I need to know what new bands/releases to download. Any recommendations?

MORNING MUSUME - SEXY BOY
UVERworld - COLORS OF THE HEART (oh wait it's not released yet but there's a PV rip of the song floating on jpopsuki.com...)
umm... dammit i can't think of anything right now haha

oh wait... if u like m-flo...

M-flo loves RYOHEI YAMAMOTO - One Love
omg... I thought Ryohei was like... discontinuing his music or something I'm so glad m-flo brought him back... I miss his voice...

Utada Hikaru - PASSION (not sanctuary)
Sowelu - To You + Finally + anything by Sowelu... oh god Sowelu's the best!!!

lemme think of some more....

It's J-Pop pre-order day today. I've pre-ordered YUI's new single (because YUI = <3 * lots), Maaya Sakamoto's new double a-side single, Hikki's new album and Angela Aki's major label debut album (CD+DVD). Woot on all fronts. ^__^

Cry amongst yourselves, Konno Asami and Ogawa Makoto to graduate in the summer (July and August respectively). Oddly enough, it seems that they're both doing so for academic reasons (Asami to try and get into university, Makoto to study abroad, but then again, Asami has been pegged as the smartest member in MM anyway). So no solo careers in the mix?

Music-wise, I've been playing the new Namie Amuro single ("Can't Sleep, Can't Eat, I'm Sick") far too much (to the point I'm almost wearing it out) but luckily I just got my hands on the new Ketsumeishi ("Tabibito") so I've been able to balance it out.

Also, I can't believe I missed out on getting Kaela's new(er) album "Circle" until just recently. Just more great stuff from her.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention that (forget there's other H!P fans/curios on this forum). Meh, doesn't surprise me and would never have expected solo careers from either. They both would have gone the way of the Kei in H!P and been completely side-lined, randomly appearing from time to time on H!M and at concerts. I'm actually arriving in Japan on the day of Konno's graduation concert so I might see if I can make it to that, though I expect ticket prices will be silly high.

wahhhh Asami is going to university??
that sucks... she always seemed really cute with her chubby face
wahahahaha makes me wanna pinch her cheeks hehe

6 more days til Sowelu releases Dear Friend!!!
13 more days til UVERworld releases Colors of the Heart

can't wait...~~~~

Heh...I always identified with Ogawa, because she's always staring off into space with her mouth open and never knows what's going on. That pretty much describes me to a tee. ^_^;;

hmmm seems like i made a mistake

my bad it's RYOHEI YAMAMOTO FEAT. VERBAL from m-flo - One Love

I don't know why it took me some long to get Tomiko Van's Farewell album. I'm listening to it right now and I'm enjoying each melody I hear... *sniff* this is such a good album. I don't care if some fans don't like her new career path, but I'm liking what I'm currently hearing. Ganbatte Ban-chan!

(o shit, the fanboy in me is showing again)

I had a feeling you'd like it Vemp. But then it is a great album.

Oh yeah, it's gooood.

Also, anyone heard of mihimaru GT? I'm looking for their mihimalife album, anyone have it by any chance :)

One more thing,

Mika Nakashima's upcoming single, ALL HANDS TOGETHER, June 7th, and a vinyl CD will be released on June 21st accordingly.

http://img399.imageshack.us/img399/5236/allhands2xx.jpg

Mika Nakashima
ALL HANDS TOGETHER
[ CDS | AICL-1745 | ¥1,223 ]

Tracklist:
1. All Hands Together
2. What a Wonderful World (Louie Armstrong Cover)
3 All Hands Together (Remix by Coldfeet)
4. All Hands Together (Instrumental)
5. What a Wonderful World (Instrumental)

http://www.mikanakashima.com/

Whoa. That hairstyle on Mika is a bit... Whoa. I wasn't expecting dreadlocks.

Apparently she's into gospel music now. Try listening to her Cry No More single. I think that explains the dreadlocks.

I think This Is Love's rank at #13 on my Top 25 Most Played playlist in iTunes speaks for itself.

I despise CRY NO MORE. Oh well. At least I have Yuki no Hana and GLAMOROUS SKY to keep me entertained.

Really? I find it ok, but at first I was a bit shocked by the sudden change of styel. I don't like the video though. heh.

I don't know if this is old, but have any of you tried Ketsumeishi? They're considered as J-rap, but even though I cannot stand American rap, Ketsu is much more [very] melodious and they have a rough voice to go with it. This combination, has absolutely won me over. Anyone who doesn't know about them, has to try at least this track called Sakura.

ooooh
i just heard Sowelu's DEAR FRIEND and Yume
it's soooooo goood!!!!

omg I'm happy again!!!
*does the happy dance*

hehehe not all im waiting for is UVERworld!!!

Hello good people of GamingForce, it's been a while!

I haven't read through all the pages, but I ran a search and didn't notice FictionJunction YUUKA get brought up. So allow me to introduce you to them via these direct download links right here. There is a promotional video in (what I believe is the) Xvid codec, and mp3s for that track and its coupling track, this is their latest single just released yesterday. Enjoy, I hope that some of you will take a liking to it!

While I have plenty of bandwidth with my host (of which I will not disclose the exact numbers), I'm sure that I can trust that you all won't start pasting this link all over the Internet. :) And of course, the link will not be up indefinitely.

Whilst I was never really active in this thread in its previous incarnations, I will keep it subscribed and drop by once in a while.

Hiro! hey man! long time!

As for FictionJunction YUUKA, I have the first album, and I have to add that I enjoy the album very much. It's a side project by Yuki Kajiura (the composer for Madlax and Mai Hime). It's pretty good IMO, give it a try!

Thanks Hito for sharing their stuff!

Oh my god it's Hiro. Hey dude, glad to see you're still around and doing the J-Pop thang. I'll try to remember the check out the band you've linked to, as if memory serves you're recommendations are always very good.

I found this cool thread in tokyo-nights, they posted pics of celebrities before they became famous. Let me repost it here.

Koda Kumi
http://img351.imageshack.us/img351/9246/koda18ua.jpg
http://img351.imageshack.us/img351/961/koda38gw.jpg

Sawajiri Erika
http://img351.imageshack.us/img351/2048/erika8gu.jpg

Nakashima Mika
http://img351.imageshack.us/img351/9784/mika0nf.jpg
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/5...4i229794ue.jpg

Ito Misaki
http://img351.imageshack.us/img351/5200/misaki3dn.jpg
http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/1...9i149765rd.jpg

King Kong Kajiwara (Music Fighter host)
http://img351.imageshack.us/img351/3853/kingkong2lw.jpg

Tamori (Music Station host)
http://img283.imageshack.us/img283/1388/tamori6lr.jpg

YOSHIKI (X JAPAN drummer/piano)
http://img283.imageshack.us/img283/7070/yoshiki8iz.jpg

Mochida Kaori (Every Little Thing vocalist)
http://img283.imageshack.us/img283/9670/kaori3nl.jpg

Kimura Kaela
http://img283.imageshack.us/img283/8997/kaela2gi.jpg

Kimura Takuya (SMAP, with his children)
http://img283.imageshack.us/img283/6579/kumtaku7bz.jpg

Tanaka Rina
http://img283.imageshack.us/img283/8...akarina4pq.jpg

Koike Eiko
http://img283.imageshack.us/img283/9...ikeeiko7rt.jpg

Hata Youku (Guitar Samurai)
http://img283.imageshack.us/img283/8476/samurai0rk.jpg

Hasegawa Kyoko
http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/5...6i147824bc.jpg

Fukuda Asuka (Ex-momusu)
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/4...9i146371nj.jpg

Doumoto Tsuyoshi (KinKi Kids)
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/5...2i160579ni.jpg
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/5...6i225068fa.jpg

Suzuki Ami
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/9...1i158664si.jpg

Yada Akiko
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/5...7i174004zt.jpg

Nakatani Miki
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/7...7i150782mi.jpg

SMAP
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/7...2i144512ha.jpg

KinKi Kids
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/1...3i225983ps.jpg

Moriyama Mirai
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/7...5i207672pj.jpg

HIROKI (ORANGE RANGE)
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/1...0i238887rp.jpg

SAYAKA (Matsuda Seiko's daughter)
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/1...9i240299xl.jpg

Nishikido Ryou (NEWS)
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/1...8i235087nn.jpg

Hamasaki Ayumi & Nagase Tomoya (not sure about the other two)
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/2...4i240594nm.jpg

Ueto Aya
http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/7...o2223aq.th.jpg

Kamenashi Kazuya (KAT-TUN)
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/2...0i254658rs.jpg
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/4...3i251069ro.jpg

aiko
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/2...68i88526lx.jpg

Tomiko Van (ex-Do As Infinity)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...scap0023gf.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...scap0078mq.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...scap0084xu.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...scap0040wo.jpg


I don't know who the others are though.

hahaha wow.... they don't look so glamorous before they become stars...
thanks for sharing vempy

Here's some artists that I've just discovered:

- Amano Tsukiko
- Imitation PoPs Uchuu Sentai NOIZ
- Remiomoren

Any thoughts on these artists?

I'm kind of into J-rock/alt/punk-rock bands these days.. but not Visual-Kei bands.. well, some VK bands have tolerable and good music, but some or most are garbage. I just prefer to hear drums and guitar riffs in my music. :)

(I know this is a Jpop thread.. but I don't know where else to put this, besides.. the thread needs a bump :p)

I've got a love-hate relationship with Remioromen. Some of their songs are just amazing (Haru Keshiki) and some songs aren't that bad (Stand By Me), but the lead singer's voice grates my nerves sometimes and some songs really aren't as great as one would think (Konayuki).

- - - - -

I first learned about her after hearing "Chou" from the Fatal Frame II PS2 game. It took me some time before I managed to find the song, and then I heard her full album, "Tenryu."

I can't say that I've heard her recent releases, but the Tenryu album was enjoyable.

Amano Tsukiko is actually quite good... her voice has that deep resonant (i fink...) plus added with some of her "mysterious" music it sets this mood that makes me feel like sleeping...

I've actually heard only like... 4 songs from her, all of are really good, but not my cup of tea.


well, time for my little review... on UVERworld!!!!

Their latest single, "Colors of the Heart" is simply amazing, plus the other 2 tracks that came with it, "SORA" and "hitori ja nai kara" are all simply amazing, much different than what they started out as in "D-technolife" and for some reason, "SORA" reminds me a lot of l'arc-en-ciel... which is a good thing considering l'arc-en-ciel is now considered legendary haha... this single deserves 8 stars just for having incredible tracks and Takuya looking so damn good...

Vempy, try UVERworld, i swear you'll love them to death

Hm, yeah, I've been trying to find their album for some time now. I only have the song from Bleach, and I like it.

Well, I heard from the internet that Remiomoren is good.. but after listening to it.. it's not that great, I think I'll give it 3 out of 5 stars. The music is good, but it's the voice. :(

YOU GUYS SHOULD LISTEN/WATCH VAN TOMIKO'S NEW SINGLE, "FLOWER"!

I love it. (obviously :p)

He takes ages to listen to her solo album, but now Vemp is all about the Ban-chan. :rolleyes:

I'm waiting on some new releases, but aside from the usual fare I've actually gone back to listening to a load of H!P stuff. Currently the Petit Best albums, one through six. Me likey.

Heh.. it's all about the Ban-chan :)

Also, I've downloaded and gave Uverworld a listen, Flara. Yeah, they're pretty cool, nothing fancy, but pretty good to listen to. I actually enjoyed it than the latest AKFG album.

Also, if anyone knows where I can get Sex Machineguns' latest album "Made in the US" (I think that's the title), I'll give you a pie. :p

UVERworld is the stuff!!!

i still can't get over their newest single. COLORS OF THE HEART
the other 2 tracks in the cd are simply amazing too..

I'm not really feeling SORA or Hitori ja nai Kara. I guess my favorite B-side from them so far has to be Revolve.

Kinda wish i had noticed this thread before i visited Japan a couple of weeks ago - DOH!!!!

Just seen Tomiko Van's new PV (Flower). It's nice: nice song, nice PV. I'm also liking the new singles from YUI, Younha, MAY, misono and, of course, Morning Musume.

Speaking of Morning Musume, it's looking highly probable that I'll be attending Asami Konno's graduation concert on the day I arrive in Japan (23rd July), so woot! (and then some). Not only will I get to see MoMusu in concert, but at a graduation, which whilst sad will be amazing I'm sure. Really hope it happens. Yayness! ^^

Just a little bit of H!P news that some might find interesting. Mari Yaguchi apparently broke up with Oguri Shun, who some people would know as the cause of Mari's premature graduation from MM.

And interestingly, "Daite Senorita" by Tomohisa Yamashita (one half of the pair that did "Seishun Amigo") is the first #1 single by a solo male artist since 2001. Nonetheless, I will probably not be investing my time in listening to it ^^;

In fact, I haven't had much time to discover new music. I have been playing the new Gospellers single "Hitotsuji no Kiseki" heavily though, but mainly for the other songs on the single CD. The only new single I've listened to recently is "Glass no Pumps" from Maki Goto, which was pretty disappointing to me =/

I grabbed a copy of the Attention Please! OST, mainly just to get Kaela Kimura's cover of "Pretty Woman". I'm a sucker for English songs covered by Japanese artists, haha.

I'm also planning to return to Japan myself, although much later than OP apparently, not hitting the shores until August 12. My goal this time is to find the used CD shops though, can't beat a perfectly good music CD for $4 o_o

oh yeah... Morning Musume's "Ambitious Yashinteki de ii ja" PV is really cute!!! I really like the dance and hopefully when the danceshot is out for DL, I'll be dancing it hahaha

Yamashita Tomohisa (aka Yamapi) "Daite Senorita" is Yamapi's FIRST solo single. The PV isn't that too impressive... it's more of a "Im a pretty boy and girls love me" kinda PV. And I don't really understand why there's fighting in this PV.... it's actually kinda strange...

w-inds.!!! Their newest single, TRIAL "is the band's theme song contribution to the Japanese version of the silver screen soccer adventure GOAL" (source: yesasia.com) This PV actually shows scene from the movie GOAL. And I think Tachibana Keita got hotter haha

Daite Señorita's the theme song for the drama Kurosagi, which Yamapi's currently in. The PV just emphasizes the song's connection to Kurosagi, that's all.

I didn't like TRIAL. I liked the B-side a lot better.

I've seen a few episodes from his new drama, "Kurosagi," and the fighting element in the PV didn't seem fitting to me either. Perhaps the lyrics may suggest something more, but I haven't bothered to look them up.

Has anyone seen the covers of Ayumi Hamasaki's newest single BLUE BIRD yet? It's a really really pretty cover! Though the CD+DVD combos come in two sets and I think it's rather retarded.

And I can't wait for Koda Kumi's new 4 A-side single 4 hot wave! I'm sure it's going to be amazing! Though I was already rather disappointed by one of her songs GO WAY ... but nevertheless I think the rest of the songs, Ningyohime, JUICY and with your smile will be great!

oooh Koda Kumi...

I was actually kinda disappointed by "Koi no Tsubomi"... I didn't actually like the song much... and the PV i didn't like it either... it's got that... "WIND" type of feel where everything is exaggerated... but Kumi looks hot so that's the only good point about it.

Ah speaking of the 4 singles for Koda Kumi... I can't wait for them either... and hopefully they will be better than "Koi no Tsubomi"

The PV for the new m-flo single "Summer Time Love" is making its rounds around the usual sources. This time it's a m-flo loves Emi Hinouchi and Ryohei. Both of them have worked frequently with m-flo in the past so their sounds shouldn't be anything new (although this pairing is new for all I know).

I'm a little disappointed by the single, good song, but not great. Maybe because I felt that Emi Hinouchi and Ryohei could do a little more (maybe similar to "miss you" with Melody. and Ryohei). However, I'm just happy to see Emi Hinouchi get some more video exposure. I think she's one of the best "unknown" singers out there, her album "Dramatiques" is quite the treat.

I'll probably add that album and perhaps the video to the FTP over the weekend. No promises though.

I'm so glad Emi Hinouchi is still around. I've sent her fanmail emails before saying she needs to do a second album, because really, she does.

And speaking of Koda Kumi, well the Kumi's anyway, I'm really liking misono's singles, the new one and VS. She's also rather cute in her PVs, which are great fun.*thumbs up* for sure.

I agree that Emi Hinouchi is very good. Dramatiques was pretty cool, and I had some of its songs stuck in my head for literally months. m-flo working with her (and Ryohei! <3) again is something I definitely want to hear.

The BLUE BIRD covers are pretty stupid. They all look way too similar to each other. Just about all that's different in each one is the amount of zoom on Ayu and where she's looking.

I don't like GO WAY!! very much, but I really liked With your smile. It's kinda weird, 'cause Koi no Tsubomi felt too cutesy for me.

I was very disappointed by the quality of Summer Time Love. It didn't stick like miss you and it wasn't fun like the Love Bug.

New ELT album, WOO TO THE FRICKIN' HOO... *disappears off to pre-order*

EDIT: Tell a lie, it's out early August, when I'm in Japan, so I'll buy it out there. ^_____________________^

WOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAHHHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
awesome..
*disappears off to continue dreaming about a new The Brilliant Green album*

Utada Hikaru's latest album, ULTRA BLUE, and Angela Aki's debut album, Home, leaked onto the internet yesterday. I listened to ULTRA BLUE yesterday and was pleasantly surprised to find that the preview clips for the previously unreleased songs were misleading; I found ULTRA BLUE to be a strong album overall and a great "comeback" album, if you will.

Home's quality was bolstered somewhat by the singles. I didn't think Oogesa ni "Aishiteru" was amazing and Love Is Over Now just sounded nice, but the real gem on the album (non-single wise) is MUSIC. I think it would've done well were it released as a single. Your Love Song seems a little iffy because half of the song is her just playing the piano, but I identify strongly with the lyrics.

Uchuu was an oddball in that it seemed to not really have a constant melody, but I like it a lot because it told a story, one that's fairly reminiscent of Train's Drops of Jupiter. The "climax" melody's very memorable and even "foreshadowed" earlier in the song.

Now that I've heard it a few times...

I had the same reaction when their "DOPAMINE" single was first released. That wasn't a bad song by any means, but it felt much too long and seemed dull in places despite having two guest vocalists. "Summer Time Love" comes off the same way; it's got a nice chorus, and Emi sounds awesome (Ryohei's not bad either), but... it just doesn't click like it should. Verbal needs one less verse or something.

'Course, "DOPAMINE" got completely reworked for BEAT SPACE NINE, and totally for the better, so maybe we'll see something like that whenever the new album comes around. I expect the song to grow on me more regardless, since this is still m-flo we're talking about.

(Also, a new album with multiple Emi Hinouchi songs would be the sex. I'm just saying.)

I'm not gonna lie, it has definitely grown on me a bit more. Just gotta give it time like you say.

By the way, Emi in this video. Insanity. She's too much.

http://www.rolandcarlos.net/vlcsnap-10768763.jpg

If they a couple better views of her in the video, she would give my Otsuka Ai avatar/sig a run for its money.

I wish they had in more shots in that kimono and that *hairstyle* (tooooo much). Just get rid of that creepy white guy o_o

hey!!! Emi looks sooo pretty!!!

crap... everytime m-flo comes out with something new i never bother to watch the PVs.... except for Miss You and Let Go

but this time is more different cuz like... Summer Time Love isn't as good as well... Miss You, which was soo good and got stuck in my head for literally months cuz it was just THAT good...

but I have to say that Emi sings pretty well, although I never heard of any of her songs before... I might look into her music....... later.


And I've been listening to a lot of w-inds. Their newest album, I believe it is their 5th Album if I think about it... (1st Message, System of Alive, Prime of Life, Ageha, THANKS)

ok yeah, their 5th Album, THANKS... I have to admit that it's not as good as Ageha, but Ageha wasn't as great as Prime of Life. I dunno but lots of fans are saying that w-inds. is maturing that's why their music is getting more different... bleh... THANKS is good, but not great.

who here likes w-inds.?

I was a little surprised that they decided to use him as well. I thought the PV fit the song well. It seems like a good one for the summer.

Flara, you should listen to Emi Hinouchi's "Dramatiques" album. I just recently listened to it for the first time and found it enjoyable. Maybe I can upload it for you later this week.

Flara: Pretty much as Rydia said, you really owe it to yourself to listen to Emi's album, it's really good.

I really hope she does (eventually) get around to releasing a second solo album.

And woot, I've got new musics winging their way to me, including Hikki's new album and Angela Aki's debut album.

I've gone ahead and uploaded Dramatiques (her first album) to my ftp.

http://www.gamingforce.com/forums/my...-test-ftp.html

Despite furthering the crunch on that drive (too many dramas that I don't want to delete =/ ) go ahead and download it if you wish.

---

The songs from the Kururi and Rip Slyme collaboration ("Juice" and "Lovi") have been getting a lot of play (although admittedly, it's sharing time with "Summer Time Love"). Since I had never heard of Kururi before, I feel like I'm listening more to a Rip Slyme song than anything (and I love my Rip Slyme). Nonetheless, my interest in Kururi has been piqued, I'll be looking at them in a bit more in the future.

I've always been a piss-poor w-inds. fan. I've listened to songs here and there, and I've had ageha sitting on my hard drive for forever, but THANKS was the first album I sat down and listened to all the way through. It actually wasn't all that bad, really.

Hm, it seems that everyone's having the Emi-fever. I guess it wouldn't hurt to try her out. Besides, for someone who's as pretty as her, who wouldn't like her. :p

lol yes vempy, join the Emi-fever that's going around

I find that OP and Rollins both suggest amazing artists... first it was YUI, now Emi... and I love YUI and now I think i'm gonna love Emi too... oh btw Rollins, I posted on your ftp thread that I'm DL-ing Emi's Dramatiques, ok?

@soulsteelgray --- i love w-inds.!!! and I think I got their albums mixed up... grrr they have too many songs lol... THANKS isn't as good cuz right after their single, Kawari Yuku Sora, they stopped their usual dancing which I got really disappointed but I still liked their songs. But some of the songs in Ageha did disappoint me mainly because the other non-single tracks were kinda bad... but I really liked everything else before Ageha

I heard a rumor that THANKS is going to be w-inds. last album... I'm not sure if that rumor's been cleared up yet or not... I've been kinda lagged on w-inds. news lately lol

Yay, people feeling the Emi love. I think I might send her another email saying "New album please! ^^" (I wonder if she, or some management for her, ever read the other one).

They'll probably read it, and go "Whoa, another email from that weird UK dude!" And then on the new album they'll add "For that weird UK fan who kept on requesting a new album. Happy now?!" :p j/k

Ha ha, that would be so awesome. I should send an email a day. :p

I'm not sure if it would be considered J-pop, but are there any fans of Def Tech here? A friend of mine turned me onto them, and I really like their stuff (well, the only song I've heard of theirs is "My Way", but it's a great one). It's a Japanese/Hawaiian duo, with some influence from both sides.

Def Tech's awesome. I heard My Way and Konomama reintroducing RIZE and was hooked after that. It's nice to hear something new.

For the record, they've labeled their genre of music as "Jawaiian reggae."

a week ago i saw kototo live at an anime convention and it was hot
now i own one of her Albums -hane-
i now want a kototo doll :3

next Jpop buy will be the new Utada album
im just broke recently to get stuff on release date =_=

i just heard Hikki's Ultra Blue (i know, i lag...)

i give it a so-so... i like her older albums better
but the only highlight in ULTRA BLUE is COLORS!!! I love love COLORS!!! "aoi sora ga~~~"

I think the only weak spot ULTRA BLUE has is Kairo. It may be her most personal song, but it doesn't seem to go anywhere musically at all.

I like ULTRA BLUE. I've only given it a few listens but so far I'm pretty impressed. Me likey.

Today has been new music day for me, with the following arriving:
- Angela Aki - Home (CD+DVD)
- Maaya Sakamoto - Kazemachi Jet/Spica [Single]
- Utada Hikaru - ULTRA BLUE
- YUI - Good-bye days [Single]

Highlight so far has to be "Good-bye days", but then I do love YUI huge amounts. "Home" really impressed me, a good variation on the piano type theme in Angela's stuff and some great songs in there. All round goodness.

I must say I'm LOVIGN Ultra Blue. It's like every track clicks for me from start to finish. None of them threw me off or made me think "hmm. What's she trying to do here?!". I just wish it was longer.

Also, Angela Aki's definately one of the more pleasant surprises to come outta J-pop. She's just so talented. Can't wait to hear more material from her.

Sigh...and Otsuka really needs to bring out the next single.

I was afraid she would go the way of previous Final Fantasy theme song singers (it's almost like a curse!... Not really, but you get what I mean), but thankfully she's proven to be a strong contender. It would be a shame to let her music go unheard.

Yeah, I'm sure Koda Kumi is really cursing the exposure Final Fantasy gave her. :rolleyes:

Well it's not like Rikki, Faye Wong (or whoever it was that sang Melodies of Life) actually got all that huge...


As for Aki, I just wish her videos were more interesting.

Faye Wong sang "Eyes on Me" from FFVIII and was pretty huge in her homeland of China anyways (see the rather large number of well-selling albums she has). Rikki was, and is, a bit of a Enka style traditional singer, I don't think you would expect her sales to leap up anyway. As for "Melodies of Life", that was Emiko Shiratori.

I was never arguing that it brought huge success to everyone, but it's certainly not a curse by any means, case in point: Koda Kumi.

I always forget Kumi when I think of Final Fantasy theme songs.

Also, my usage of "curse" was mostly geared towards the fact that Faye Wong, Emiko Shiratori, and Rikki seem to have disappeared off the face of the earth in terms of presence in the Japanese music industry. I mean, I don't even know who Shiratori is.

Yea exactly. Even if they have their own specialized market, their presence still seems none-existant. Also, no offense, but since FFX-2 was a side game (and a very, very terrible one at that) I don't really consider it a real FF. So the entire Koda tie-in to FF seems kinda distant.

I think Koda Kumi actually picked up some of the revealing styles that Yuna, Rikku and Payne are wearing in the game...

just look at all her PVs AFTER Real Emotion and compare those to the ones BEFORE them...

HUGE difference

Oh, I think she took it a few steps farther than the FF girls... Yuna never sang a song that included the lyrics "You can do it, put your back into it! I can do it, put your ass into it!"

(But wouldn't it be hilarious if she did?)

None of these artists ever had any real presence in the Japanese music industry anyway, coming from very specific backgrounds. Faye Wong, as I mentioned, is Chinese and was primarily in that market.

As for Koda Kumi, to dismiss her involvement with the FFX-2 soundtrack, and the exposure it gave her, would be naive at best.

I'm not dismissing the exposure it gave her; I just forget her when I think of "Final Fantasy theme song singers," that's all.

dude... i can't picture Yuna doing it... but i can picture Rikku doing it!!!

I just got/downloaded Angela Aki's album. It's pretty good, but the songs kind of sound the same... or maybe I just haven't given it a good listen.

vemp: Give the album a few listens through, there's a surprising amount of variation in the songs despite them sharing a common theme/sound due to Angela's use of the piano. Seriously, that's one great album right there. However, more important things...

'Tis new music day once again. Today's arrivals:
- [CDS] Morning Musume - Ambitious! Yashinteki de Iijan (Ltd Edition CD+DVD)
- [CDA] Lena Park - COSMORAMA

I'm really liking the new MoMusu single (though that's not entirely a shock I know). I think I prefer SEXY BOY, but that was a really good single. The PV for the new single, however, is a much needed step up and hoorah they finally released a limited edition with a DVD. It comes with concert footage and some other stuff I've not got to watching yet. The coupling track is actually really nice too, I wasn't sure at first, but after a few listens through it won me over.

The Lena Park album I've not got around to listening to, but MUSIC and the previous single were amazing, and having given the first track a play through I'm confident the album will blow me away when I get a chance to listen to it through (busy working/watching the World Cup ^^).

I'm not sure if I quite understand this sentence very well. If you're saying "Eyes On Me" was very popular in China then that's not necessarily true. It was more of a hit in Japan, and later in the year in North America (whom know her, for the most part, for this song only). It's not a surprise alot of Fayenatics dislike the song, as it's not really a Faye styled track at all. But if you meant the sentence in a way that she was popular in China (as in past tense), then that's not true. She is still extremely popular, and is a major influence to this very day in the East Asian music industry. :D

Sorry, that should say 'is' (don't know why I put was, brain not working properly maybe), but yeah I was refering to the fact that Faye herself, not that song, is huge in China. Poor wording on my part.

Lena Park's album is a huge cup of <3. Seriously, I'm in love with her voice and this album, especially "This Love" which is amazing. Go listen to now.

is it justt me or has ayumihamasakisekai.no-ip.org been down for a couple of days. anyone know whats going on?

You can get to the forums using http://www.ahsforum.com. In fact, I didn't know there was any other way to do so.

(I hope this is what you're asking about, anyway. :kitsune: )

weeeee I just watched Sowelu's newest PV, Mamoru Beki Mono, and I really like the song. It's nice to hear a nice slow song from Sowelu once in a while after the Heads or Tails collaboration album came out.

And I'm currently listen to Koda Kumi's 4 hot wave. I like I'll be there, JUICY makes me wanna get up and grind someone (hahaha...), Ningyo I'm not too crazy about... With Your Smile is the typical Koda Kumi dance song, almost like CHASE, Koi no Tsubomi and Birthday Eve

Also, I just watched UVERworld's NEWEST PV called SHAMROCK. It's really different from all the other singles and the PVs cuz number 1) There's OTHER PEOPLE IN THE PV!!! Like you get to see girls and guys, not just one girl but a whole bunch of them with guys 2) the melody and feel of the song is different from the usual rhythm UVERworld portrays like in d-technolife, Chance! and Just Melody. It's really different especially right after the Colors of the Heart single but nonetheless, I STILL LIKE IT!!!!

*pokes this thread* why is it so dead all of the sudden?

edit//

I'm crazy about Shuji to Akira's Seishun Amigo (I know I'm kinda late since it was released in October 2005) but Shuji is suppose to be Kamenashi Kazuya from KAT-TUN and Akira is supposed to be Yamashita Tomohisa from NewS. This song is the ending theme song to the j-drama, Nobuta wo Produce. This song is nice though, me like me like... the singing isn't bad. I think both Kame and Yamapi did a great job (even though both of them aren't great singers... But they're HELLA GREAT ACTORS!!!)

ah i wonder if anyone who knows an anime called<Air>.I don't think the anime is good enough but it's music,really really excellent!

I love Nami Tamaki, oh my god Her new Album Speciality was awesome, although i found some of her songs too much repetetive and has the same thing over and over, but as i said its a good album, and its pretty much a "happy" kind of album.

Yes, I do know of AIR. The opening, insert, and ending tracks are all sung by Lia and the music is composed by I'VE. I don't follow Lia, so am unsure as to what activities' she's been up to, if any, but that's not to say that any of the three tracks she sang for AIR was poor, in fact, they were all excellent in my opinion.

You do follow GARNET CROW though so I'm sure you're aware their 22nd and 23rd singles are on the horizon - mid-August and early September respectively.

Also, MAY has her third Japanese single coming out. It's called "SURRENDER" and the coupling track will be a Japanese version of a song from the Korean version of "Wonderland" called "LYDIA".

And for those people who have been living in cave recently, Koda Kumi is releasing her 32nd single on the 26th July, called "4 hot wave", which has seven tracks, though three of those are an intro, outro and interlude.

I'm so out of the J-pop circle these days. Busy with school and stuff :(

4 hot wave isn't that bad. The only song I didn't warm up to at first was JUICY, but I think I like it kinda better now that I've listened to it a couple of times. The PV is a typical slut!Kumi romp, but it's just funny at the same time because it's so provocative. It's more provocative than SHAKE IT.

Ahahaha. I was actually not aware of this, OP, so thanks a ton for the heads-up. I didn't think that they would pull a fast one on me like this by releasing two more singles right after having releasing one in July...not that I'm complaining or anything! ;)

I guess I'll have to lay down my orders on Amazon.co.jp...

News from the J-R&B/Hip-hop scene.

Heartsdales, announced they are breaking up to pursue their careers further as solo artists. Although I am disappointed that this has happened, I am hopeful that both Yumi (Rum) and Emi (Jewels) will continue to make great music.

On July 12th, Heartsdales released their, THE BEST OF Heartsdales "THE LEGEND" CD+DVD compilation album. The CD contains their music tracks while the DVD correlatively contains the music video for each track respectively.

I recommend this album to anyone with even the slightest interest in J-R&B/Hip-Hop. :)

woohoo! i revived the thread! hahaha...

ahem...

uhh let's see...

HEARTSDALES IS BREAKING UP????? aww... then what's the point of having Jewls and Rum seperate if they're amazing together?? i am disappointed...

UVERworld will be releasing their 5th single, SHAMROCK, on August 1. The first Press Edition includes a DVD weeeeee

I'm gonna smack myself.. I forgot to mention about Sowelu's 3rd album!!! It was released on July 12, 2006. The album is called 24-Twenty Four.

Tracklist

1) Dear Friend
2) Crazy For You
3) Mamoru Beki Mono
4) Tomorrow
5) Smaile Again
6) Dance
7) Flyer
8) Cry
9) Let's Go Far Away
10) Kimi no Kehai
11) Without you
12) Pride
13) To You

I love Sowelu!!!

You'll have to let us know how Sowelu's new album is. I bought "Sweet Bridge", mainly because I rather liked her debut album and felt bad not having bought anything of hers, and plus I hoped it would be as good. I felt it wasn't necessarily as good, but still a pretty solid album. I'd certainly be interested to hear her 3rd, maybe I'll pick it up when I'm out there.

Oh, and, I'm deifnitely attending Asami Konno's graduation. At least that's what I've been told as I've been informed we now have tickets for the event. Should f-ing rock. I'm so excited right now. ^^

Get lots of pics and vids plz. ;)

Does anyone know when Namie Amuro is going to release her next album?

Of what, Konkon's graduation? Given their pretty strict policy of no cameras I imagine that's not going to be likely.

As for a new Namie album, still not for a little while. She's only had two singles since her last album, and whilst that was about a year ago now I imagine it'll be at least one single more before you hear mention of a new album.

That's what *hidden* cameras are for. :D

I LOVE IT!!!!
EVERY TRACK IS AMAZING!!!
And I'm dead serious!!! I'll personally talk about every song from track 1 to track 13

1) Dear Friend
This is the opening theme song for a J-drama, and it's such a happy-go-lucky song, it makes me all giddy when listening to it. I saw the PV and it's really cute!! It's really unlike all the Sweet Bridge PVs but it's definitely a really cute cute one

2) Crazy For You
This song is like Dear Friend but the beat is a little toned down. It's a good song, just listening to the lyrics, it's different from all the other songs titled as "Crazy For You." This Crazy For You is like a mature version without having high BPMs and all that bass. I like the melody a lot, it's nice to bob my head to it cuz that's how much I'm enjoying this song!!!

3) Mamoru Beki Mono
This song has got to be my most favorite song in the WHOLE ENTIRE ALBUM!!!! It's a slow slow song, it makes me think about happy things, like my family, friends and co-workers XD. Sowelu's singing makes it even greater because she has this warmth in her voice which makes me feel happy when listening to it.

4) Tomorrow
The tempo of this song is like "Crazy For You." It's a good song to listen to while you're just lying down on your bed, thinking... I'm enjoying this song a lot cuz it feels happy haha. Sowelu makes me happy ^__^

5) Smaile Again
I swear, this is no typo!!! It's actually SMAILE AGAIN. I checked it out on yeasia.com, it DOES say "SMAILE Again" haha anyways, the accordion at the beginning frightened me a bit but it's a nice lil melody. It's barely noticable unless you strain to hear it throughout the song. Again, this song is enjoyable, it's a little slower than "Tomorrow" but it's perfect the way it is.

6) Dance
This song doesn't make me wanna get up and dance because this song isn't upbeat. It's enjoyable to listen to and it's different in a good way. It has a lot of the Sweet Bridge feel to it, where it is easy listening. I like it when Sowelu pronounces those English words perfectly hehe

7) Flyer
The melody feels happy haha This song makes me think of those long car rides in the country side, where you poke your head out the window and wind is blowing at you. It feels nice, just like the song.

8) Cry
Sowelu's vocals are pretty in here. I think I like it better when she gives it her all in these types of slow songs, cuz I can feel her heart pouring out and feel her emotions when singing this song. The tempo is slow but it's amazing cuz Sowelu sings so well.

9) Let's Go Far Away
This is like a summer vacation song. Let's go far away to the beach!!! I'm still enjoying this song even though it was released last year. But how can I EVER get bored of Sowelu??? I just simply can't.

10) Kimi no Kehai
This song is like "Cry." It does feel a bit more sorrowful than "Cry" but it's still a great song. With all the low tones I hear from Sowelu, it makes this song a pretty good song to listen to when you're down. "Kimi no Kehai" means "Your Sign"

11) Without you
This song is beautiful. I really like Sowelu's vocals in here and the lyrics are pretty. The tempo is slow but it's great because Sowelu's voice is meant for these types of songs.

12) Pride
I feel like singing this song haha it's different from all the tracks in the album. I dunno... but this song has this special feel to it... I can't explain it but this song is great. Makes me wanna find the lyrics so I can sing it haha

13) To You
This is a beautiful song. This was the single before Sowelu released "Dear Friend". Her vocals are beautiful in here, I just love these types of slow songs. It feels like she gives it her all. I can feel it.

All in all, this Album a wonderful creation. It's much like her first album, Geofu, but so much better. To compare 24 with Sweet bridge, I think 24 wins. Sowelu just keeps wowing me with her beautiful voice and wonderful songs. I can't get enough of her!!! Sowelu <3!!!

I think you, OP, HAVE to buy it. I'm pretty sure it's a great album to listen to when you fly back from Japan.

What kind of sound does sowelu make?

Elrasiel: Sowelu would fall under the R&B category, if you ask me.

Well, when JPOPSUKI reappears I may have to check it out. Either that or see if I can pick up a copy cheaply when I'm out there.

Yeah sure, except I've heard of people trying to sneak cameras in and of those caught with cameras in there and it ends up with you being thrown out. Quite frankly I'm not going to give up my chance to be in a concert for the attempt of sneaking a camera in, sorry.

Don't worry, I wasn't actually being serious (in case you couldn't tell). I'd never ask someone to risk being thrown out of Konkon's graduation concert. ^_^

No worries, I had a suspicion you were joking. I'm very excited right now, been talking to the person I'm going to see and talking about things including the concert. It's going to rock so hard. Got to stock up on pink glo-sticks for the end though as they're the official colour for Konkon's graduation bit. Wheeeeeeee. ^^

I'm just about to listen to Nami's "Speciality" album now. I liked "Result" and "Get Wild" so i'm hoping the rest of the album is just as good.

Quoting a older post I know, but how is it that Faye Wong has her own "style" of songs when she probably didnt write any of them, and the only songs I liked from her turned out to be covers of "Dreams" from the Cranberries and "Silent All these years" by Tori Amos? (Which by the way cause me to realise that the Canto Pop industry is full of lazy stars that won't write their own music to the point of covering famous western tracks to make them "hot". I stop listening to Faye and all Canto stuff after I discovered this)

Unless of course she has a legion of the same composers writing her songs, I don't see how the fans dislike Eyes on Me cause its not her "style" when there isn't seem to be her own style to begin with.

On a personal note, I much prefer Aki's rendition of Eyes on Me than Faye, her voice is much more powerful and projects better and she plays the piano with it too, just like Julia did in the game. Faye on the other hand probably can't project well enough that she relies on the microphone.

uwah! i think I'm turning into a fangirl again... not just any fangirl.. but I'm really liking Yamashita Tomohisa and NewS and KAT-TUN... well anyways...

I was browsing through this forum and Yamapi is coming out with a new group called GYM, which stands for Golf, Yamapi, Mike. GOLF&MIKE is a Thai duo and I guess they're coming into the Japanese Music Industry since Johnny Kitagawa made them... meh

Well, I tried my very best to translate what yesasia had to say about the single..

Yamashita Tomohisa and the Thai duo, Golf&Mike, are uniting together as GYM with a single release. The title is called "Fever to Future" which is Fuji TV's drama, Onna no ko volley ball 'warudo' grand prix 2006 (onna no ko baareebooru waarudo guran puri 2006) theme song. Also inclues a 8 page booklet, the coupling songs, Hokago Blues, "My Angel" and Fever to Future original karaoke.

Tracklist
1) Fever to Future
2) Hokago Blues / Yamashita Tomohisa
3) Run for your love / GOLF&MIKE
4) My Angel
5) Fever to Future / Original Karaoke

that's only for the regular edition... the limited edition you don't get My Angel and The Original Karaoke tracks, but u get a secret bonus track and a DVD with the Fever to Future PV and making of plus a 12 page booklet. Both editions will be released on August 29, 2006. Such a long way to go >___<

I can't wait til UVERworld's SHAMROCK release on August 1... I'm too lazy to translate the description and romanize the song titles lolz... the kanji actually scares me...

1. SHAMROCK
2. Boku ni Kasanatte Kuru Ima
3. =

There, that wasn't so hard. Heh.

The description doesn't really seem too exciting. Blah blah blah tour encore blah blah blah summer killer tune blah blah balh Dandori.~Dance Drill~ theme song blah blah blah...

lol thanks

wait wait.. what tour encore???

I think it says that SHAMROCK was performed as an encore on their tour, but I'm not sure. I'm probably wrong.

#aznmp3 has finally released "THE BEST OF Heartsdales: THE LEGEND" via torrent. It turned out great. Its the only album that contains their latest and last single together, "FOXY LADY". Which includes the songs FOXY LADY and STAY.

Check it out here.

THE BEST OF Heartsdales: THE LEGEND

The new m-flo album "m-flo inside -Works Best II-" came out on the 26th and its quite a treat. Of course, being a die-hard fan, I might be a little biased, haha.

Unfortunately, it's not too heavy on new music (other than "Lotta Love" which has m-flo loves MINMI), but it does act as a handy central location for a lot of music that might have been released in single form, or from other people's albums. Even I can't admit to having heard all the songs on the first disc, since the headliners for some of them wasn't m-flo (or VERBAL). But, every song on the first disc has m-flo involvement in some way, be it a direct "loves" connection, VERBAL doing his trademark rapping, or something even looser, like a production credit (which is how Halcali's "Baby Blue" ended up on the disc, despite no audible m-flo involvement). In the end, the first disc comes off just like their other albums, great and diverse music.

I wholly recommend "Can't stop lovin' you" from Black Bottom Brass Band with VERBAL and Emi Hinouchi (although Emi's involvement is limited in this song). Most people probably missed the initial release (late 2005 I believe) but thankfully it's included here.

The second disc is a non-stop mix of a bunch of m-flo songs, a lot of them coming from before the "loves" phase. This means you'll hear a lot of LISA. If you're a relatively new fan to m-flo, I suggest giving the mix a listen, you'll hear a lot of good stuff. However, if you've heard it before, there's not that much of a difference from the old songs that you're used to, but some of the bridges between tracks are interesting. It's a well done non-stop mix, it just don't really including anything new.

Since Rollins beat me to the punch for the m-flo album, I'll just comment on Ryohei's new single, the LIGHT. At first listen, I didn't really like the title track. The music is comparatively pop-ish and sounds rather average to me. A lot of Ryohei's stuff has a tendency to grow on me, so the story might be different down the road.

However, I really liked the B-side, Like This. It's somewhat downtempo and catchy. Maybe it's because I've had a tendency to like B-sides more lately...

But then the the LIGHT PV looks like shit. I can pull off those effects. @_@

http://www.sonymusic.co.jp/Music/Inf...img/050117.jpg

Any fans of YUI here? I've been listening to her album all day, really liking her voice. She's relatively new, only popularly known in Japan at the present time.

I've been trying to find a torrent of the movie "Taiyou no Uta" (A Song to the Sun) for the good of the day too. YUI stars as the lead female actress in this title. Gah...time to continue looking!

Whoa, YUI is in a movie? I love her music, and it would be interesting to see her act.

It's really very good. I enjoyed it a lot in comparison to the drama version of the movie. Sawajiri Erika doesn't seem to play off Amane Kaoru very believably at all.

Besides, YUI is a better singer than she is.

After listening through WORKS BEST II once, I actually decided not to buy it. Not that it's not awesome, but like you said, there's a lack of new music, and this J-Pop stuff gets expensive, so I have to be a little picky. ^_^ But listening to it did motivate me to pick up their first album, Planet Shining (i already have EXPO EXPO, ASTROMANTIC, and BEAT SPACE NINE), and buy some other assorted m-flo songs on iTunes Japan (Lotta Love, the original version of Summer Time Love, and their early single Mirrorball 2012... and I'll probably be buying up some more of their B-sides soon).

The one song I painfully miss from not buying WORKS BEST II, though, is Can't Stop Lovin' You (BBBB feat. Emi & Verbal). It's not on iTunes anywhere, and I'm not at all a big enough BBBB fan to go buy that album, so for now I'm stuck without it. It's so catchy and different though! But I couldn't justify spending $27 just for that one song, so... I'll live. :P

But anyway, m-flo has been becoming more and more my favorite artist, (especially now that Do As Infinity has disbanded). Sticking m-flo's 4 albums together on shuffle is an experience unlike any other... the genre hopping is mind-blowing, and it keeps their music from ever getting old. I hope their 2007 album keeps things original with the "m-flo loves...". I think ASTROMANTIC did a lot better job at keeping things fresh than BS9 did. The latter had pretty good variety, but nothing as far out there as Uchuu no Woah Woah (with BBBB) or Cosmic Night Run (with Nomiya Maki & CKB) or the classy Life Is Beautiful (with DOUBLE and TOKU). Anyway, I'm interested to see who they'll love on next. =)

oh man, I haven't been to GFF in forever... ^_^;

One of the links in the topic post no longer works:

http://bunko.theppn.org/

I checked out the DC hub as well as the IRC channel and found both to be... kind of lacking. I don't relish the prospect of digging through Winny again, so is there some other place where people get somewhat older releases (like 3-4 years ago)?

In particular I am looking for Changin' My Life albums and some The Scanty stuff, I guess. The intrepid poster will be able to tell what the relation is. :(

Hah! Yeah, we closed shop temporarily around February or March of 2005...but that then became indefinitely. :/

I believe that people are primarily using Jpopsuki as a tracker nowadays.

Any albums or singles in particular?

If you're familiar with the series Full Moon wo Sagashite, then you know that myco/Changin' My Life and The Scanty did some work on it. Specifically:

Changin' My Life - Myself [TOCT-4356]
Changin' My Life - Eternal Snow [TOCT-4431]
Changin' My Life - Etrange/Love Chronicle [TOCT-4451]

The Scanty - I Love U [TOCT-4396]
The Scanty - Koibana [TOCT-4418]

I'm also interested in:

Changin' My Life - Caravan [TOCT-24973]

But only because the last track is an acoustic version of "Myself".

Sakabadger: Okay, I will contact you through PMs or on IRC if I find anything. We'll just let this be the end of that (since we should probably keep request-related posts off this thread).

Not sure how much people here know about the following topic, but I figure I should give it a shot.

Does anyone here know how to look information on upcoming Japanese concerts (I mean, beside looking through the various websites of ticket places)? And maybe more importantly, how to procure tickets? Yeah, you can probably do so through some of those websites, but I'm not up for an adventure in Japanese just yet sadly. (Although I guess I could engage some friends while I'm in Japan)

Also, does anyone know anything about places that actually sell tickets for a variety of shows? (Kind of like a Japanese ticketmaster) I know I've seen a couple places like that in Tokyo (Shibuya, I think) but I'm wondering how the prices are for those kind of places (if they're scalped or something).

Hoping someone can lend some insight. I'm heading out to Japan in about 2 weeks and I'd like to see a concert while I'm there. I asked a friend about Namie Amuro's tour, but apparently they're sold out. Still holding out hope for a ticket though (through those aforementioned ticket shops).

Thanks!

Currently going crazy with Honey & Clover insert songs

namely songs by Skitz

and now desperately trying to find their new song mahou no kotoba

wahhhhh~~

Nice :D

anyone know when Sayaka would release a new one? :p

I guess you might have better luck if you spelled their name correctly -- it's Spitz (or スピッツ if you are so inclined).

Actually, the songs from AIR were composed by KEY artists (Shinji Orito, Jun Maeda and Magome Togoshi). Kazuya Takase from I've did the mix and recording (for the OP/ED only), so it has that I've style.

Is that so? My mistake.

New Every Little Thing album just released on the 9th! Man, gotta get this one. I heard they kind of changed their music style... I hope it just got better.

Does anyone hear have Yuna Ito songs? I'm looking for some. p2p let me down >.<

Has anyone heard of eufonius? eufonius did the Noein opening, but I actually knew about them before I watched the series. Great Jpop, it gives me a feel of a show I watched a long time ago but I can't remember what. Their sound is very familiar but I can't remember where from.

http://soulsteelgray.wordpress.com/t...ring-yuna-ito/
http://soulsteelgray.wordpress.com/tag/yuna-ito/

Go wild.

Thanks. Speeking of Yuna, do you know much about the movie Limit of Love? She sung Precious for it.

All I know about LIMIT OF LOVE: Umizaru is that it serves as a sequel to Umizaru and the following drama series, Umizaru Evolution.

Oh really? It looks good from what I seen. So you're saying there's a previous movie and tv show?

Yup.

http://www.midnighteye.com/reviews/umizaru.shtml
http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Umizaru

Yeah sorry about that. I restored this thread from a very old save and didn't go through all of it to update it. I'll see about doing something at some point.

Any YUI fans here??? Have you not read any of my posts, like the multitudes that exist where I praise YUI and say how much I love her? YUI = <3 * lots and lots and I now own every single one of her releases.

So yeah, I'm back from my three weeks vacation in Japan. Boy did I have a good time and then some. Got to go to Konkon's graduation concert, met Maki Goto, went to a Maeda Yuki mini-live (and shook her hand twice) and spent a lot of money on CDs and DVDs. This is what I bought:

- ayaka - I believe [CDS]
- ayaka - Real Voice [CDS]
- Aya Matsuura - The Last Night [CDS Ltd. + Photobook]
- Bonnie Pink - Every Single Day (Complete Bonnie Pink 1995-2006) [2CD+DVD]
- Coco d'Or - Coco d'Or 2 [CD+DVD]
- Do As Infinity - DEEP FOREST [CDA]
- Do As Infinity - TRUE SONG [CDA]
- Emi Hinouchi - Dramatiques [CDA]
- Every Little Thing - Every Best Single +3 [CDA]
- Every Little Thing - Every Best Single 2 [CDA]
- Every Little Thing - Many Pieces [CDA]
- Hello! Project - Petit Best 3 [CDA]
- Hello! Project - Petit Best 4 [CDA]
- Koharu Kusumi - Koi Kana [CDS]
- Koharu Kusumi - Koi Kana (Single V) [DVD]
- Maria - Tsubomi [CDS]
- Miki Fujimoto - MIKI1 [CDA]
- Mio Isayama - Woman [CDA]
- Morning Musume - 3rd ~Love Paradise~ [CDA]
- Morning Musume - Ai Araba IT'S ALL RIGHT [CDS Ltd.]
- Morning Musume - As For One Day [CDS]
- Morning Musume - Concert Tour 2006 Spring ~Rainbow 7~ [DVD]
- Morning Musume - First Time [CDA]
- Morning Musume Sakura Gumi - Sakura Mankai [CDS]
- Otsuka Ai - Frienger [CD+DVD]
- Otsuka Ai - LOVE COOK [CD+Picturebook]
- Otsuka Ai - LOVE COOK Tour 2006 [DVD]
- Otsuka Ai - LOVE PUNCH [CD+DVD]
- Otsuka Ai - Sakuranbo [CD+DVD]
- Otsuka Ai - Yumekui [CD+DVD]
- Perfume - Complete Best [CD+DVD]
- Remioromen - HORIZON - [CDA]
- Sowelu - 24 -twenty four- [CD+DVD]
- Suzuki Ami - Like A Love? [CD+DVD Ltd.]
- SweetS - Sweets [Minialbum]
- Takenaka Eri - Perunna
- Tanpopo - All of Tanpopo [CD+Photobook]
- Yaida Hitomi - Go My Way [CDS]
- Yaida Hitomi - Sound Drop ~MTV Unplugged + Acoustic live 2005~ [CD+DVD]
- YUI - feel my soul [CDS]
- YUI - LIFE [CDS]
- YUI - TOKYO [CDS]
- YUI - Tomorrow's Way [CDS]
- Yuki Maeda - Nishi Shinjuku de Atta Hito [CDS]
- Yuki Maeda - Omae no Namida wo Ore ni Kure [CDS + signed card and handshake]
- ZONE - N [CDA Boxed Vers.]

Click to see big style (included in the pic is some PBs I bought):
http://www.opimage.co.uk/u/OmagnusPr...stuff_0806.jpg

I'll post more later or something, but yeah, f-ing rocked. XD

Odd, I had thought you had some of the ones listed purchased already, like some of Otsuka Ai's earlier works and those DAI ones.

Anyway, welcome back, and I'm glad you had a good time.

Yeah, some of them I had copies of in mp3 form, but wanted to buy as I listen to them quite a lot, so I did indeed by them. The DAI ones I picked up stupidly cheap, the two albums cost, together, less than 500 yen.

I wanted to buy more, but there was a limit to how much I could consider carrying back with me, so like I almost bought Garnet Crow's boxed best of set thing, which looked cool and a load of other albums. I can't complain though, I got a decent haul. ^^

OP is just awesome. Why lie.

I'd posted this Q originally in my CJ but I figure people posting and viewing here might be able to answer it, it's somewhat J-Pop related:

I want to know the name of a japanese mystery series (has humour) featuring one of the KinKi Kids. The name Tsuyoshi Domoto is related to this.
Also if anyone can give me the names of the two songs which are used on this.

I'm not sure what J-Drama you're talking about, but this site lists the dramas that he was in with names of theme songs used in the shows. Hope it helps you a bit.

http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Dohmoto_Tsuyoshi

i've been addicted to M-flo's Beat Space Nine album... and I've been blasting it in my car for the past 2 weeks while driving to work early in the morning hahahaha

people were looking at me like weeeird

anyways I can't get enough of it >___<
dunno why

anyways OMG OP OP OP OP OP!!!!!!!!!!!
YOU MET MAKI GOTO????
OMG OMG OMG!!!
YOU ALSO GOT SOWELU'S 24 ALBUM!!! OMG OMG OMG!!!!!!
me too hehehe
mine arrived 2 days ago weeeeeeeeeeeeee

Oh yeah I forgot... I'm loving UVERworld's SHAMROCK single hehehe it arrived 2 days ago and with it came the DVD and the performances in there are awesome!!! *jumps around*

That album, much like Astromanic, f-ing rocks. No wonder you've been listening to it losts. If I could have fitted any more in my case I would so have bought it (and lots of other things XD).

I sure did meet Maki Goto. Spoke to her somewhat, saw her dancing around and being a goof, and shook her hand. Oh yes. ^^ It was soooooooo cool. I've also met like her entire family, who are also fucking cool.

Oh and funnily enough I so thought of you when I decided to pick up Sowelu's album (well she looks so adorable on the cover, how could I resist XD).

Yay! Puffy AmiYumi's new album, "Splurge", is out. It's more of a "J-Rock" group but it'll fit here.

Here's one of the tracks from the English Release if any of you are interested.

http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.ph...5A6FF55B05F4A0

Haha, sounds like you had quite a trip in Japan OP. Good times, you came back with quite a haul and a few stories too as well. Where are the pictures? Haha.

I'll be going to a concert tomorrow myself as well, but unfortunately I don't think I'll be having the same chance to meet people as you did. Nonetheless, it'll be good music, Chemistry, Puffy, and Koda Kumi will be there (it's a festival sort of thing).

I'm also going to be stopping by used CD shops in Tokyo and probably go on my own shopping spree as well. Anyone have suggestions for what I should try and get? I'm looking to get old albums from people I just discovered recently, like Ketsumeishi, Dreams Come True, Yuzu, etc.

I already did a fair amount of shopping...I laid down about a hundred at Fuji TV and got a couple DVDs at Tower Records. I did manage to get the new Bonnie Pink "Best of" album, which saves me the trouble of hunting for all her CDs.

Anyway, looking forward to the concert tomorrow, I'll everyone know how it goes.

I also watched the Beat Space Nine concert lol it's one interesting concert although when I really think about it... Yamamoto Ryohei does not sound like his recording voice... but I'm sooo happy Lisa appeared and did some former m-flo stuff too hehehehe oh oh! and Yoshika LOVE!!!

wow!!! her whole entire family was there too??? lol still man, you're the first person I've ever known to have met/shook-hands/met-entire-family of a (former)momosu girl!!! luckykyky

if I could meet any momosu girl... I think I'll wanna have a chance to talk to Takahashi Ai, Tanaka Reina or Hitomi... or Yaguchi Mari... oooh Yaguchi Mari... I wanna mack on her boyfriend XDDD Oguri Shun *drool* ahem

ehehehe I was praying for you to pick up Sowelu's 24 album... and my praying got through!! weeeeee

Cheers, and yes, I had the bestestest time, absolutely amazing. As for photos, well I stuck a link in my journal, but I guess it doesn’t hurt to post it here too - wheee click me to see photos, right here. Enjoy. ^^

That sounds an awful lot like a-nation, which if so, makes me jealous. I really wanted to see a-nation (a chance to see Otsuka Ai live, yes please) but unfortunately it just wasn’t possible with everything else we wanted to get done/did. Next year maybe. :p

Yeah, I picked up Bonnie Pink’s Every Single Day too. It’s a really nice box actually, me likey. As for stuff to look out for, well that depends on who you like. I was on the look out for some of the albums I’d downloaded back when I was a very poor student and still love (like ELT’s Many Pieces, Otsuka Ai’s Love Punch and Emi Hinouchi’s Dramatiques, etc) but hadn’t got a proper copy of yet. And then also bought things that looked cool/interesting. Keep an eye out for Garnet Crow’s recent single collection/best of, which looked cool and I almost bought it about five times but always ended up not bothering for some reason.


Yeah, I’ve met everyone from her mum to her sisters and even her three year-old niece who was the damned cutest thing alive I swear. XD And I’m sure other people have met similar, but I guess their likely to have been Japanese and mentioned it other places you might not read. ^^ But yes, I am incredibly lucky.

Well now that’s one hell of a “What if?”. I mean if I’d had to pick before going out there I would probably have said Takahashi Ai (seeing as how she’s my favourite), maybe Sayumi but more likely Mari (yay the Gooch) or even Mikitty. But yeah, I certainly ain’t knocking having met Maki that’s for sure. ;)

Oh and as for Mari, she split from Shun a while back now. He even has a new girlfriend.

Ha ha. ^^ Yeah it definitely worked as when I walked into Tower Records (the first CD shop we went into) like the first thing I looked at was 24 –twenty four- and was like, “Oooo looks pretty I should buy”, picked it up… then my friend dragged me off to the H!P section, so I put it down. But on my way back to the counter I was like *yoink* grabs a copy of the CD+DVD version. “These please” ^^

I still miss Ai Kago.

Come back soon, Kago-chan! ;_;

I just finished watching Harry Potter: The Goblet of Fire (Hermoine got hot btw), and was pretty tired, and then I noticed my Every Little Thing -Crispy Park album download finished. So I said to myself, “What the heck, I’ll give it a listen…”. I’m not that good at reviews, but this is GREAT MUSIC. I personally think it’s better than their last release (Commonplace), this is just lovely :) Probably more than I expected from the band. And Kaori Mochida’s look is just fantabulous!

http://www.opimage.co.uk/u/daikon/th_crispy.jpg http://www.opimage.co.uk/u/daikon/th_crispy2.jpg

She's so adorable :)

I agree, Crispy Park, from my one listen to it today, is rather lovely. The special edition CD+DVD which comes as a ribbon bound book thing is also fantastic. It's full of photos/drawing style sketches of ELT, with lots of Kaori (mmm <3).

On another note, I'm completely besotted with Remioromen's Konayuki at the moment. A couple of people karaoked it whilst I was in Japan and I was like "OK, who is this, what is this song, I likes it". It's very good.

Double Post:
Flara: Gave 24 -twenty four- a listen and it gets my official thumbs up. Really nice album.

Speaking of good albums, my hot off the press, you should go buy this recommendation is Takenaka Eri's debut album called "Persona". I bought it on a complete whim (because the cover looked pretty XD) and it's a gorgeous album so far (I'm listening to it right now). Seriously, after 8 of 12 tracks I love it. Go gets.

If you like female-rock music, I insist you give Anna Tsuchiya a listen. I discovered her through soulsteelgray's site (thanks man) after getting her live performance of a song inspired by the NANA anime. I instantly fell in love with the music, not only does the music rock, she performs pretty well on stage too. Her debut album "strip me?" is probably one of the best releases I heard this year. If you want a fresh taste of the Japanese female rock genre, she's perfect for you. ^^

Resource links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Tsuchiya
http://wiki.theppn.org/Tsuchiya_Anna
http://anna-t.com/index.html
http://www.jap.co.jp/anna

Two recommendations from me:
- Mio Isayama - Woman
- Takenaka Eri - Persona

Both fantastic albums I picked up randomly and would highly recommend to anyone. Go gets. ;)

OP - how did you meet Maki Goto? Was it just on the street and she was with her family? Or did you go to an event and meet her? *shrug* curious... last time I went to Japan I didn't see any idols or singers. Or maybe I just didn't notice... ... *mumble*

OP is a stalker. Obviously.

splur wins for Jeon Ji-Hyun sig. ^5

I was at her family's restaurant and she walked in. There's slightly more detail in my first part of my tales in my journal if you're interested. ;)

Also met Maeda Yuki, let's not overlook this fact (yeah I know, "Maeda who?").

whatever recommendations OP gives, MUST BE GOOD!!!

I'll look for Takenaka Eri's album!!! *goes to jpopsuki*

hehehe Sowelu's the best!!! If I have the chance, I'd like to meet her ^___^ and be her best friend lol

If people fail to find those two (Takenaka Eri and Mio Isayama) then let me know and I'll sort out a YSI upload or something for those who frequent this thread.

And yeah, I think hanging out and being mates with your fave J-stars is like a dream for most people. That'd be so cool. ;)

wow i cant believe u really met maki...is it ok if u share ur story between u and maki when u met her a little bit more?

Double Post:
im kinda new at this forum but if i talk to alot of ppl ill get active in here. iv seen alot of her vidoes and chatted with ppl in youtube about her etc. so if it's ok with u i wud like to hear the story XD

Check his journal.

Also has anyone heard of BACK-ON? I love their debut single, "CHAIN." Probably because it's pretty relevant to my manga lyrically.

I managed to listen to the "Chain" single a few months ago. I assume they're a relatively new band since I don't recall seeing an album by them yet.

goddamn jpopsuki people!!!
!@#$%^&*)%^^%#

I'm stuck at 78% for Takenaka Eri's Persona album!!!
I'll give them another day's chance to give me that album cuz last night I was stuck at 50% with no seeds >___<
now there's no seeds and no leechers at all!!!

FOOKKYU

oh btw... I also took some time to listen to Kato Miliyah's album Rose
I'm loving it hehehe

Flara, try PMing a lot of the people who left comments. Ask them nicely if they can seed. Usually it works for me. Doesn't hurt to try.

last time i did that, the tracker broke.
lol
might be coincidence or something.

oh yeah OP!!!! I can't find anything on Mio Isayama.
U__U

OK, when I get home (just started work) I'll see about putting those two albums up on YSI or something. Thankfully I don't use JPOPSUKI, or any tracker for that matter, for anything more than a few random PVs and TV performances I can't buy so I don't really run into that problem so much these days, but I've experienced it before.

Also, YUI's new single/PV = <3 <3 <3 <3

Yeah I checked their site, Chain was their debut and nothing else yet. Still love it though.

If only I had a job like you OP. If only. Although collecting manga is more my thing.

She's not exactly the most well-known of artists, so I can't say I'm too surprised about this. The only reason I know of her is because she sang Getsurenka for Shadow Hearts II, which I think is also the reason why OP knows her, though I could be wrong.

OP, can you try uploading those albums? Also, if you can include Sowelu's new album? That would be lovely :D

Actually, no it's not. The reason I know about her is because the day before I left for Japan a friend of mine (someone from j-poop) had told me he was considering buying her album and sent me a link to her site. I gave the samples a listen and thought they were really nice. I said to him that if I saw it out in Japan I might pick it up, though by the time I was in Japan I could only remember the name of the album and roughly what the cover looked like. Could not, for the life of me, remember her name, not even vaguely. It just so happened that in the last few days when we were in a CD shop, whilst looking for another artist altogether, I happened to spot a spine with 'Woman' written on it, pulled it out and there it was. Pure luck. XD

Vemp: k k, sorry, will get onto it.

Update:
I've started uploading the three albums to SendSpace, here's the first, I'll update this post as the others complete:

- Sowelu - 24 -twenty four-
- Mio Isayama - Woman
- Takenaka Eri - Persona

Wow never knew j-pop was such a broad spectrum!

Has any of you fine J-pop people ever come across a chap called Marty Friedman on any j-pop songs or playing with any established artists?
He used to play in Megadeth and I heard from a friend that he eventually wound up in the J-pop scene! I'd love to get a hold of some of it if anyone has any info?

Computer says: wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marty_Friedman_(guitarist)

Can't say I had heard of him, but that should give you some info on what he's been up to.

Ah thats the ticket, thank you kindly, he doesn't appear to be as rooted in the music as I thought

No worries, anything we can do to help.

To others looking to grab stuff, I've upped all three albums now, so enjoy.