[Album] J-Pop: An Introduction (and discussion)

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.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

(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?

There's nowhere I can't reach.

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...

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

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.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Technophile

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...

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 was speaking idiomatically.

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?

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Technophile

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.

FELIPE NO

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. ^_^

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

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. @_@

How ya doing, buddy?