2 posts tagged “japanese music”
Before I move on to the third featured artist in Best Rock series, I want to discuss a certain topic. That topic is....can anyone guess? JROCK! Wooohoo! Bin bin bin! Surely someone guessed that. Getting serious now, actually what I want to discuss is why I choose to feature the artists that I do.
At an anime con I went to this fall, I attended an "intro to Jrock" panel...Not really because I wanted a Jrock education, but because I wanted to hear some Jrock!!! Of course I would have been entirely open to learning about some new great bands. However, I ended up being disappointed. The panelist showed some PVs and said a little blurb about each band. Basically she just picked the bands that she likes. Which is entirely understandable, I mean I write about the bands that I like, and I want to write about them because I like them. But if you're going to do a panel called "INTRODUCTION to JROCK", introduce us to it! Give us some context, some culture, a little background. Be objective.
For example, she showed a PV for L'arc~En~Ciel, and her blurb for the video was something like "I don't know what they were on when they made this, but oh ho ho I want some." Unfortunately I can't remember which Laruku vid it was, but it was actually a really pretty new PV showing them in a sterile white room with women dressed in white making weird shapes on the ground. For a Jrock PV, it was extremely artful, tasteful, and tame.
To me, anyway. Everyone else there kind of laughed along with her and went "woah...that was insane." afterwards. And why? Because there was no context, no culture, no background. I'm jaded because I spend about 42% of my time watching Jrock PVs and lives. I've seen some whack and totally wonky stuff (if you want to be "on" something, try CASCADE, for example), so when I saw the Laruku video, I found it really aesthetically appealing in a Western way. Like, yeah, westerners can approach this.
What I'm getting at is the reason I choose to feature the bands that I do, is I want to present a certain amount of that: context, culture, and background. I think that without understanding the cultural qualities of the Japanese music scene, the cultural acceptance or denial of scenes like Visual Kei and Gothic Lolita... the rest of it is lost. It's just more music in a foreign language.
When the panelist at the con didn't even brush over names like B'z (Buck-Tick got a video; Gackt got a brief mention and a video but only after we shouted at her like eight times), I was miffed. The bands she chose were names like Penicillin, Tommy February, and a bunch of other less popular faces that I can't remember. In my personal opinion, these were not the faces of Jrock as we know it. Hey, Penicillin is just fine. I just don't think they're who should be featured in an INTRO to JROCK. These were the bands that struck me as the most western. (Again we graze over the word "approachable"). And obviously bands that she liked. Again, I can't contest that-- but if you're going to introduce people to Jrock...then show them the whole world, you know? Give them B'z, whether it's your favorite band or not. Give them Arashi and show them Johnny's Entertainment boys--- why? I don't even like Arashi, but it's a facet of Japanese popular music. Even if you would never choose it, address it! There are so many bands that even if they aren't that popular or striking, still represent the truly Japanese touch in contemporary rock music.
For this reason, I choose to leave certain names out of Secret Garden. I am a raging fan of Gackt and L'Arc En Ciel, but I will probably not write about them as often if at all, as well as other names like Miyavi, X-Japan or Dir En Grey (I don't care for them^_^) because I feel that they are names that are well-known in the west, and therefore, it would serve no purpose to address them like nobody knows! There are certain names that are very popular in the west, such as Malice Mizer, and I may mention and even write fully about them to make a point....But it's important to understand that what we're doing here isn't just checking out some new bands-- there is a huge wealth of Japanese culture in the music and the music industry, and I certainly have learned a lot about it. I hope that in my choice of artists and topics to feature on SG help develop a deeper knowledge of Japanese pop culture, accessable not only to avid fans but outsiders as well.
That brings us back to that appropriate word: Approachability. And another word, with which it pairs quite nicely: Western. We can conjugate these two words, scramble them and alter, and then stick them together in various ways and insert them into blurbs, sentences, descriptions...and then stick them onto essays about Japanese culture or bands or whatever...and get an interesting effect.
For example, I thought the featured Laruku video was "aesthetically appealing in a western way". I don't need to highlight the words for you, do I?! That basically translates into: approachable for Westerners. That's us. Frankly, I've seen weirder music videos by Western bands (try Panic! at the Disco). I thought most of the bands in the panel were approachably western. Perhaps a little jazzed up (they really can't help that), but nothing far out. When I watch Gackt's Lu:Na live performance, however, I really feel like that could make or break someone when trying to decide whether to like him or not. It's not approachable. It's alien.
I try and choose the artists to feature based on the quality of their music, style, and personality. I couldn't worry less about whether or not you find it appealing or approachable. I'm sure for a lot of people it won't be. For example, I think Buck-Tick can be quite unapproachable. I think Antic Cafe is unapproachable. I think there's a different level of unapproachability to these bands than to, say, X-Japan or Miyavi. They are unapproachable in a way that is appealing to westerners. I'm not quite sure what happens psychologically to make this happen. I think there is a quality to their image and music that is very western and western inspired...I think that Miyavi is very Japanese, but I also think he's approachable in a Western way because of his utter lack of reserve. When you see Gackt in any given moment, he is holding something back. Atsushi Sakurai (Buck-Tick) is holding back. It creates a sense of distance that is not desirable for American fans. Miyavi gives everything. This is desirable: i.e. it is approachable.
This whole thing on approachability may seem off-topic from where we began, but it is utterly relevent. It may be helpful to go back and read the previous paragraphs now, to better understand the whole intro to Jrock thing. When studying these bands and the whole Jrock thing, it's important to understand the Japanese music scene and appreciation, and the aesthetic qualities and how vastly they differ from the Western music scene. Now, I'm not at all trying to say that Western approachability is bad-- it's not at all! It's perfectly fine. It's just that we're trying to walk the edge, you know? We're trying to find the truly Japanese touch at the core of this sublime music. We're trying to find what's different and unique, not what's the same. Find that fissure into another world, or something like that. :-) Smile.
So, with all that in mind, we'll move on and wrap up the Best Rock section for now with a piece on L'Arc~En~Ciel and what you probably all know about them, and probably didn't know was such an important piece on an important issue in Japan. :-) Ooh, thematic material! Getting saucy there, Pause!
Keep reading SG!
GacktPause
I'm going to do a series of posts about what I think of as some of the greatest Jrock bands out there. I've listened to a lot of Jrock and Jpop, mostly through the radio, so I've heard a lot of what's out there. I've been over my head with things lately, so I can't say these will come in a prompt fashion, but if you're reading, then keep looking for them, because I'll find time to get one on here when I can.
Starting right off in alphabetical order, I want to give the place of honor to a new band that I think deserves a lot of press: abingdon boys school (typeset in lower case).
abingdon boys school [アビングドン ボイズ スクール」was founded only a few years back, in 2005, signed by Japan's Epic Records Japan (which also signed T. M. as a solist). Fronted by popular soloist, T. M. Revolution on vocals, the band was pretty successful, and I think they got pretty high on the ORICON* charts, within the top 10 definitely, but I think it was somewhere between 5-2. Their first single, Innocent Sorrow was released in 2006, and sold a whopping 75,533 copies, with an ORICON weekly peak at #5. Not bad for a debut. The single was also used as the OP theme for the popular anime name D Gray Man. Also not bad for a debut. Watch the official music video here.
ABS, as they are commonly abbreviated, originally caught my eye because of their unique and interesting style, both in image and music. They took their name from the British all-male school, Abingdon School, where apparently the renowned British group Radiohead was formed. In synch with their name, ABS founded their image on the same school-grounds. Their typical uniform in PVs and concerts are private-school uniforms, usually black pin-stripe suits with the ABS emblem on the chest, or a blazer and kilt. While he can be found solo in tight white suits like you'd see in Mobile Suit Gundam or something similar, with gelled white hair etc, fronting ABS he sports a pair of large, thick-rimmed eye-glasses that make him look about ten years younger and ten times dorkier. The look works, and they stay consistent with their image.
I have to say, even as an elitist Jrock-listener and fan, after a while many Japanese bands start to sound the same. Which is to be expected, I suppose, considering how thickly populated the rock scene is, and how the genres still seem pretty narrow, as far as it goes. American rock music has been booming for quite a few decades now, but you have to remember that Japanese rock didn't have its fireworks until the mid 80s, with names like Ozaki Yutaka, Buck-Tick, and X Japan. As far as the world is concerned, the Jrock scene is still quite young.
With this in mind, I find the ABS sound immediately striking, and they stand out to me as one of the most unique bands in the genre. With a steady hard-rock sound, they mix it up (quite literally) with strong keyboarding and, did you guess?, a pair of turn-tables. It works, they've written some incredible music, and the sound is really different and unique. Then layer over that with TM's voice-- it's whiny and reedy, but really powerful. His vibrato? Are you kidding me? That guy can wail!
If you've listened to a good share of Jrock, then you're probably familiar with the use of English lyrics. Gackt wrote an extremely beautiful and opinionated piece (but that just about sums him up anyway) about the use of English lyrics in Japanese music, which will always stand out quite clearly in my mind, for as long as I study the Japanese language. Gackt..... T__T Moving on. While it's in demand (I guess?), I still find that few bands can actually pull it off. Mostly people don't notice because they're a few strange and random English words thrown into a Japanese verse, and it just doesn't compute to us. One of the big faces in the use of English lyrics would be big-name L'Arc~En~Ciel (which I've mentioned briefly, but won't elaborate on since most Jrock fans know them). Laruku frontman Hyde is fairly confident in English, and sings it well, in large and small quantities, varying on song and style. His all-English piece, Cape of Storms, is quite as enjoyable to listen to as any all-Japanese piece.
Another prominent facade in English lyrics would be ABS. Although not nearly as proficient as Hyde, TM proceeds undaunted in his singing and writing in English. With quite a collection of English pieces, you may even wonder if the barbarian-lyricist deigns to sing in Japanese. Well, he does, and quite amazingly. I think the fact that he writes ALL-English songs sets he and Hyde apart in a little niche. I'm a little torn about the English pieces by ABS. I like some of them, and don't like some of them. That's kinda the end of it.
Yeah...here we go. Me and Buck-Tick again. ABS made some great cover-numbers for different band-memorium albums. They did a cover of Luna: Sea's Sweet Coma Again for the L:S cover compilation, Luna: Sea Memorial Cover Album. The one that gets my blood flowing, though, is Doresu by Buck-Tick on the compilation, Parade~ Respective Tracks of Buck-Tick.
A world-renowned Buck-Tick enthusiast, I got totally excited about this. One of my favorite bands doing an extremely good cover of one of my favorite bands. Here are links to both Buck-Tick's and ABS' versions. I listen to BT when I want to be melancholy, and to ABS when I want to get pumped. ^__^
On the topic of songs and albums, ABS has only one full-length album to date, which was released in 2007, under the title abingdon boys school. The album featured three of their four singles (Innocent Sorrow, Nephilim, and Howling, excluding Blade Chord.) as well as the Dress cover mentioned above. The album comes heartily reccomended, and if by now I haven't convinced you to order it, then...at least you know about them, I guess.
For more info on abingdon boys school, visit their official website. And look forward to their 2009 single: JAP!
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1- ORICON Charts, a music rating system with a weekly number. To make it on the ORICON charts (especially in the upper numbers) is a huge honor, and you'll find most excellent bands and solists on there, such as Utada Hikaru, Hamasaki Ayumi, Gackt, etc etc. All the popular names you'd like to see on there. ORICON is "Original Confidence" contracted.
