Genre: garage rock, funk Song style: a normal alternativey garage rock song
This video is really cute and lends such an upbeat tone to the song. It's somewhat close to how I'm feeling - upbeat and chill (though not too hungry for hot dogs). I got an album of these guys from a friend yesterday, and will soon check them out. I'm getting to the other side of the hill and the end is in sight. While sometimes it seems sad that each meeting with someone is a farewell, I know the people I really want to meet again will reappear in my life some day.
Genre: punk Song style: sloppy but energetic hard 80s punk
This is one of those classic Japanese rock songs (and bands!) that everyone should know. I would call them the Japanese "The Ramones". This guy has such passion and energy when he rocks out to this song - I love it. Though the band is defunct now, you'll hear these songs everywhere - the first time I heard it was playing a taiko drumming game at an arcade center (I'm not a geek okay!!) This song was released almost exactly 23 years ago (imagine, just barely older than me haha). Where will we all be in 23 years? I'm feeling so sentimental as my final days as a student here draw to a close. But at the same time I am stressed about getting everything done in time and in a satisfying way.
Genre: alternative, hard rock Song style: really reminds me of mid-90s hard rock groups, like Stone Temple Pilots
This song is both very predictable but also has some merits to it. I find the song catchy, and an admirable first step of breaking out with a new group. This comes from Kazuyuki Matsumoto, bassist of Japanese visual-kei group "Janne Da Arc". He's here with his newly-made band of 2010 "Damijaw," with a heavier sound than his origins. I find his look very interesting (it takes guts or one majorly screwed up life to get such serious tattoos in Japanese society) and it's interesting to see a "hidden vocal talent" within the bassist of the group. I don't follow Janne Da Arc at all so don't know how much of a fan following this guy has, but it seems like the band has been out with a fairly humble start so far.
Just gotta say but oh my, widescreen youtube videos are wide, eww looks yucky. But so much work to go back and make every video not widescreen... And it gives the "whole experience," right?
Genre: indie, alternative Song style: vocal-based, low instrumentals, Radiohead-like
This song perfectly fits my mood, I love the guitars here and how they build up. I don't know the band well but they have been suggested to me based on my other favorites. Too bad they split up in 2008. This music video is cute too. But I'm feeling the mood for the song, after a rather bizarre and incomprehensible weekend.
In a couple of hours, I'm gonna go see an American show - The Fall of Troy (their last tour) and Envy on the Coast. I used to like Fall of Troy's old stuff but the new stuff is gross. But luckily, upon hearing the new Envy on the Coast album, I've fallen in love and it's been hard to concentrate on Japanese music: my favorite song of the moment (skip the movie dialogue).
Genre: indie, pianoy Song style: beautiful, soft, and artsy
I was enraptured by this song when I heard it on an Oricon countdown a week ago. It comes off of her month-old album "Maiden Voyage" as the first single. She's just one of those women who seems so powerful and embedded in their artsy folksiness. She has been called the "Japanese Bjork" and her vocals remind me a bit of Ego' Wrappin. I don't know her other work, but I'll look into it someday when I feel contemplative and ready to be whisked away.
Genre: punk, ska Song style: some serious female energy!!
So I know I saw this Osakan band about a month ago, but yesterday my friend just sent me the sample CD he got from the Boston Japan Nite show. I ended up only getting through half of the 9mm Parabellum Bullet album (liking it so far) but had a good time reminiscing with the sampler. And I realized, I really like JinnyOops!'s music. They're very talented and have such charisma that defies normal ideals of Japanese cuteness. Unfortunately this is only a clip of their awesome song HO!コミュニケーション but if you want to hear a full track, here's a fan-made music video. I really see this band going places. They released their first mini-album in February and hopefully will strike it big. They're also so friendly and sweet, especially the vocalist! I hope she enjoyed her time in America.
Note: I realize this combo of youtube and blogger has been cutting off the side of a lot of clips since youtube went widescreen. I'm looking into a solution!!
Genre: post-hardcore, heavy punk Song style: fast-paced heavy guitars, melodic melancholic singing
Today comes my most-anticipated album of the year - 9mm Parabellum Bullet's "Revolutionary". This band's beautifully sad and powerful music has served as the background to my life for the past two years. I have laughed, cried, sang, danced, and fell in and out of love to this band. This video is the new single off of the album, sharing a similar title. This band is amazing for their complex guitar, bass, drum parts and melodic vocals to contrast the heavy instrumentals. Their style is distinctly Japanese, with Japanese and idiosyncratic melodies, and all of their lyrics in Japanese except for one sentence in one song. They copy no one. With that in mind, they have become so popular that I fear mainstreaming in their new album - so I have downloaded it, but am a bit afraid to listen to it. My heart is beating quickly to think of how this new album could change my life (or sadly fail to). Listening to this new single has been enough for me today. Now I will use the remainder to dance around the album - listening to previous and related songs. My favorite ever is their song Interceptor off of their early EP Gjallorhorn. It was nostalgic even the first time I heard it.
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