Toe. That's the name of the band. I can listen to them endlessly.

Most J-pop artists are totally unoriginal. Shiina Ringo 椎名林檎 is the only one that comes out with any good stuff.

If you want to listen to good Japanese music, get into the sounds of the tsugaru shamisen. The Yoshida Brothers are worth a listen.

God Bless what the Japanese are going through!

70's music

The rock music that western critics obsess over I generally find a bit boring and just copying western models. Critics and many western people only seem to be interested in things that have obvious western models, from beat groups to punk bands etc. The pop music though has been the heart of Japanese music and led the way in the far east in the 70s and 80s. Since then I think it hasn't been as good but still some great songs now and again.

I only really listen to J-Pop and J-Rock of the 90s, purely for nostalgia, not that they're innovative or anything great

currently into the Boredoms and Boris

Innovation by itself doesn't mean much, people often grossly inflate how original and groundbreaking artists are anyway.

For the 90s I like more music from Thailand, and in the 2000s Thailand is easily my favourite country for music in the far east, might have more good pop than anywhere over the last decade for me.

^^I only really listen to Bird Thongchye Mackintyre, if you're talking Thai

that guy's octave range is delirious

Yeh I like some of his songs and he is probably the most famous Thai singer (perhaps alongside Tata Young). But it's a shame they don't promote more of their music outside of their country like the Koreans and Japanese do.

can't stand Tata Young, much like I can't stand Coco Lee

just sort of using their bodies for attention, stead of their music or their singing abilities

I like some 90s songs by her, but later stuff seems too much in the western mainstream pop style (unlike much of Thai music)

Sound of Silence:

Kappei Yamaguchi - Sound Of Silence (Japanisch) Video - Godaime - MyVideo

From the Japanese movie "Platonic Sex"

I should probably venture back through this thread some but I want to listen to a few J-Rock type bands if anyone knows of some that they could recommend me that would be awesome.

Glay (Pure Soul), L'Arc~En~Ciel (the Ray and Ark albums), Luna Sea (Lunacy), Dir-En-Grey (a comp will do), Malice Mizer (though they're more "goth" than "J-Rock")

avoid Ars Nova like the plague, though

you know because you said avoid Ars Nova, I HAVE to give them a listen right?

people telling me not to do something gives me the urge to do it.

yes it's a bit childish but so what :P

I will PRESS the damn red button!

you would hate it - it's prog-metal - pretentious people like me ought to like it but I don't - they churn out stuff which sounds like Jap RPG battle music

if I want Jap RPG battle music, I'd rather listen to my Final Fantasy 8 4-disc complete soundtrack

say what!?

Jap RPG battle music? I'm sold. Checking them out right now!

sigh! I'm wrong then, here you go:-



suddenly I have a craving to play the SNES/Super Famicom

yeah i'm already 4 mins in. I looked it up on youtube myself :tramp:

A minute in - Nothing interesting, nothing bad. Yet.

Ooh, first change, first guitar part...This could be very good actually. Liking this flute line.

Drums are building...

SYNTH AND GUITAR YERRR

Ouch, midi brass...captain comedown has arrived.

Oh good its gone, replaced by quite good progression...this guitar needs to get doing some more though...

Hmmm....quiet bit...didn't feel as though it built up enough to really need a comedown like this, lets see where it goes... a piano break...with flamenco feel? Waaaat?

GUITARS COME BACK IN HELL YES! OMINOUS NOISES! CLASHING! WHAMMY SCREAMS! YAY!

OK now its trying to sound imperious but its failing because of their samples limitations...more guitar...very baroque here. Breaking down into...

Synth part in 6/4...not tremendously interesting and these low rent samples are starting to bug me...

nothing interesting going on just more buildup... more buildup... etc. I am now at 5:22

More imperiousness, not very big sounding compared to what came before so the effect is largely lost.

FINALLY! Some faster bits! The tempo was ruining my day!

And then nothing, and back to the same tempo...why didn't that part last longer? It was the best bit so far! More boring synth rubbish!

Drums kick back in...not really doing anything for me here... guitar solo is weakly produced... that awful midi brass is back...

UGH, and the ULTIMATE COPOUT - ENDING ON A FADE INSTEAD OF FINISHING THE SONG.

Overall - 6/10 composition, 3/10 production.

Would not illegally stream again.

Here's my favourite Japanese Bands:

Toe:
Special Others:
Mouse on the Keys:
LITE:
Shugo Tokumaru:

they're sorta like Japanese Dream Theater but their melodies are based on Jap RPG music

^^ Toe is awesome, I just started listening to them

Cool. They're one of my favs. Also really like them because apparently they all have day jobs (ones a teacher one might be a lawyer or something I don't know). The only one who does music full time is the drummer, which is amazing when you consider how amazing they are. A friend of mine told me that the bass player actually started playing bass when he joined the band for the first time. The other members have been teaching him bass as they make more albums. Two Moons is the newest of their albums, and by this time the bass is pretty good :P

And they're terrible.

that goes without saying - already said I hated them on the "Worst Metal Band EVER" thread

well, my favorite band overall is POLYSICS...

other stuff I like would include

VOLA & THE ORIENTAL MACHINE
the telephones
Tommy february/heavenly6
Cornelius
Pizzicato Five
YMCK
capsule(especially Lounge Designers Killer and before, the Shibuya-kei stuff)
and more, that's enough of a list

i love the polysics

they are the best band ever. at least, to me. I love them so much that I have almost 30,000 plays accounted for on last.fm... *3*

almost all Japanese anime songs are really good.

If you think the Far East Movement is ****, here's Shing02 for your bitch ass.

dang, I was getting into that song until it gets cut off about a min. from the end

i don't understand a single word he said.

I listen to a bit of Asian Kung-Fu Generation and Maximum the Hormone. I'm seriously considering getting MtH's whole discography.

the list of Japan music,
Gagaku,
Biwagaku,
Nohgaku,
sokyoku,
Shakuhachi,

Yuri Chika
Rurutia

one ok rock band!! they're so cool!! but the best Jpop for me is ai otsuka!! i dont like vocaloids!! they're creepy!! lifeless dolls!!

i used to go through a heavy J-Rock and J-Pop phase

J-Pop - hitomi, Ayumi Hamasaki, EXILE, Namie Amuro, etc
J-Rock - Glay, L'Arc~En~Ciel and Luna Sea (i've heard Dir-En-Grey and didn't like them much)

these days, i mostly listen to Jap noise - Boredoms, The Gerogerigegege, Boris

I love to listening japanese songs......
my fav. songs are:
Kazami-You
M-Flo- The Love Bug
L'arc-en-Ciel- Ready Steady Go
Namie Amuro-Come
Soulhead-At The Party
T.M. Revolution- All Songs, Innocent Sorrow
Tommy February 6-Lonely in Gorgeous