3 posts tagged “j-pop”

This was inspired by the article posted by Japanator on the illegal filesharing issue between Japanfiles and LiveJournal...

 

Dear Japanfiles.com,

Let me begin by saying Thank You for your tremendous effort to bring J-music closer to the fans in the west.  I am an avid listener to your channel on Live365.com.  And I have enjoyed sharing a dialogue with you on your MySpace pages.  It is because of people like you that we have the opportunity to discover amazing music we may never otherwise hear.

I also appreciate your dedicated promotion of Ketchup Mania, who are currently one of my favorite bands.  I have posted/promoted them many times on this blog.  I enjoy listening to your KM "one hour block" every Monday Night, and quite often I purchase a CD after listening to your programming.

I recently read the article regarding your concerns about LiveJournal and illegal filesharing.  I know this is a very touchy subject.  I do not own an mp3 player, and have never uploaded music or videos on to the internet.  I absolutely respect your desire AND your artists desire to protect their artistic and intellectual property.  I am also aware that without illegal uploading, I surely would have never discovered J-music in the first place.  And as a result wouldn't have had the opportunity to enjoy these amazingly talented artists.  It is a double-edged sword.  But this is not what this letter is really about...

What really bothered me was an excerpt of an e-mail allegedly sent by you regarding the LJ controversy... 

 

If there is a band/label that you don't see on JapanFiles, it is most likely because (a) the label is not currently interested in USA digital sales; (b) the label is currently prohibited due to other contracts; (c -- and most common) the label is waiting to see how many American customers will support legal purchases Japanese music. (*The Japanese labels clearly see the rampant piracy, even for artists they have licensed to high-profile legal-download services like iTunes. So the view of the American audience is overwhelmingly negative.)

 

Now I don't want to "shoot the messenger" here.  I realize that this is not necessarily your opinion of the American audience, and that you are merely informing us of the attitude about western fans held by the Japanese music labels.  However, you seem to have a dialogue with these labels, and maybe you can relay our reaction to their alleged stance.

Perhaps I am misinterpreting what you are saying here.  When you speak of "the view of the American audience" being negative.  Are you talking about marketing to us?  Or do the labels really prefer us not to be fans at all?  And is this really because of the supposed "rampant piracy"?  Or is there something else going on here?  Whatever the motivations are, it is quite surprising to infer that we are "unwanted" by the Japanese labels.

Speaking of "rampant piracy", this is the first I've ever heard of the U.S. being the world hub of pirating CD's and DVD's.  In fact, most every pirated product I have ever come across came from East Asia.  Yet the japanese labels seemingly don't have a problem marketing their products to these countries.  For better or worse, the U.S is one of the biggest "consuming" countries in the world.  And I would bet that on a per capita basis, music piracy is equally present in Japan, or any other country for that matter.

Now I am not implying that the labels should actively promote and license all of their products in this country.  It's the "overwhelmingly negative" attitude that I do not understand.  Personally speaking...

I have purchased over a hundred J-music CD's, over 50 DVD's, two dozen photobooks, and countless other souvenirs. And I have purchased these items almost exclusively from Japanese merchants and Yesasia.com.  Between the products and shipping I have contributed thousands of dollars to the Japanese economy.  But these Japanese merchants certainly aren't reporting how much of their sales are going overseas.  How would they?

As a result of my discovery of J-music, I have traveled to Japan to see the country and attend quite a few J-music concerts.  Not only financially supporting these artists, but contributing thousands of dollars to the Japanese tourism industry.  And I currently have another trip in the works.

I have attended J-music concerts here in the U.S. like Japan Nite.  Thus showing my support for the musicians' presence in this country.

I'm sorry, I just fail to see how these above actions are "overwhelmingly negative".

I am a realist, and I understand there probably aren't enough people like me in the U.S. to substantiate any heavy promotion of the Japanese artists here by their labels.  But in my travels I have met quite a few J-music fans with a track record similar to mine.  We invest our hard earned dollars to legally purchase their products simply because we love the groups.  And we continue to do it despite the labels' attitude.  And yes, we have been acutely aware of their attitude the entire time.  I am sure if you asked the artists themselves their opinion on the matter, it would be quite different from the label executives.  Per usual, it's the corporate hotshots that screw it up for everyone.  No different than in the U.S.  I would really love to know how the labels feel about American fans like me.

I don't think we are expecting some sort of paradigm shift in the access to J-music here in the west.  But as fans, we would simply like to feel welcome.

A J-Music fan

CK in California

This week I received my second Ketchup Mania CD...U.R.G.E

 

I loved "Greetings From Tokyo" so much, that it seemed fitting to sample their second full length CD.  I made many comments in the first review that their debut CD reminded me a lot of the first CD by The Ramones.  In many ways their second CD is reminiscent of The Ramones second CD, "Leave Home".  Where the first disc is straightforward punk/rock in successive short bursts, this CD is a bit more experimental.  KM keeps their basic sound, but branches out into different punk/rock styles and sounds.  This was definitely an attempt to "spread their wings" creatively.  The result was a couple of "near misses" surrounded by some creative gems.

This album had me thinking back to all of the punk bands I idolized so much in my youth.  Yes, like Nakazawa Yuko I was a bit of a punker in my formative years.  And it's easy to hear many punk influences above and beyond The Ramones on this album.  There are definitely some Dead Kennedys and Sex Pistols influences.  But what really grabs me are the similarites to my all time favorite L.A. punk band, "X".  HIRO has a tendency to sing a little "flat" on many of the tracks.  And no one sings flat quite as well as Exene Cervenka!  It's interesting, when I saw Ketchup Mania live I thought of them more as a straight rock n' roll group.

 

KM starts the album with a wierd intro (Welcome to the Ketchup World) much like their first disc.  It seems to be their signature bit.  But to be honest, it's my least favorite part of both CDs.  It then goes straight into their only "all English" track I've ever heard., KISS. (press the little button, it's the link to the song on lastfm)

 

This song reminds me a little bit of Hole (Courtney Love is another "flat" singer), but it's a great punk track.  There is no band quite like them, and they use a heavy echo dub on Hiro's voice.

 

The third track, Handcuffs of Love is pretty good.  Track 4 is the song I fell in love with at Japan Nite 2008.  Real Yaayo is a great example of the overall sound of the band.  I really love this PV (the only video I could find from the album)...

Track 5, TOKYO almost sounds like the rally chant for England's national Footie Team.  The musicianship on Doubt Mail sounds like like the classic sound of the Dead Kennedys.  All OK! is a pretty cool track, but the last two songs on the CD are by far my two favorites.  The first is Juicy Candy.  It's extremely fast-paced, and at the same time very melodic.  It's the one song on the CD I love listening to over and over again...

LAnd the CD ends with another great track, POP POP POP POP POP POP POP LOLLIPOP, which starts off like The Ramones' Rock and Roll High School.  I'm glad to hear them get back to their roots...

Although this CD holds up pretty well, I still prefer "Greetings From Tokyo" because I simply love more of the songs.  But I am really falling in love with this group (and obviously their lead singer)!  They sound great, and are a lot of fun to listen to.  And I'll give a little plug to japanfiles.com, where you can not only download their music, but listen to a one-hour block of KM every Monday night on their live365 radio show.  I hope they make it back to the U.S. very soon.  But I am planning to make two trips to Japan in the next eight months.  So I won't be too heartbroken if I have to see them on their own turf.

 Anything you say HIRO...CK in California

I swear I could freakin' cry!!!  I just spent 21/2 hours doing a review of this CD that I was totally proud of.  And (thanks to the Vodka) I accidentally deleted it just before hitting the post button!  Does that make me akin to Ernest Hemingway?  I will try to recreate it from memory.  I usually don't swear in my posts but...

MOTHERFUCKER!!!!!!!

Okay, I've put my $5 bill in the "swear" jar.  You could also say that I am "beating a dead horse" with this review.  But I don't want to incur the wrath from PETA.  Anyway, they are probably too busy in Maryland for the Preakness Stakes.

I received this CD (the regular edition) about a week ago.  It came in a package along with Perfume's "Electroworld" CD, which I love.  I remember getting hooked on that song after watching YouTube legend LucyMisser utilizing it for her latest sexy video.  And the same package contained the "totally out of place here" debut CD from Milky Way.  What the folks who put together my order were probably thinking...

"Jeez, this guy must've been tripping on Ecstacy to order these CD's AND Anataboshi!!!"

Now "techno" and "rave" music are not my usual cup of tea.  I am more of a hard rock guy.  In fact, it is a miracle I am into Hello! Project in the first place.  So developing an appreciation for this genre of music is quite a stretch for me.  It took me about a week to listen to the CD all the way through, as I kept switching back to the Electroworld single for another five plays before progressing to the next track.

The biggest inspiration for me to do this review was the post by Key's to Everything I read this morning.  I was having a hard time verbalizing my feelings about this CD until I read that review.  KTE mentioned that "This album really isn’t a casual listen. It’s underwhelming if you don’t give the songs your full attention, but when you apply yourself to the tracks it’s easy to see why Perfume are so popular." 

I completely agree with that statement.  When I listen to this CD in my house while I am doing other things, it doesn't grab me.  But when I listen to it "full blast" in my car, like I do with most of my J-music CD's, I have a totally different experience.  What the people in the #3 lane must be thinking when I play...

Anataboshi ~ "That guy is a total geek!"

AKB48 ~ It depends, "Dear My Teacher" is cool enough, but "Aitakatta"..."Who is the pedo in the sport utility?"

Ketchup Mania ~ "That is one angry dude in the fast lane!"

Anything by Buono! or Berryz ~ "Did the Chipmunks come out with a new CD?"

I am also prone to blasting "Rainbow Pinku" from Momusu's 7th CD while caught in rush hour traffic.  The sentiment from my fellow commuters couldn't be anything other than "What the f**k is that???"

Perfume is one of the first J-pop CD's I am not self-conscious about cranking up on my car CD player as I am heading down the Eastshore (AKA Nimitz) freeway in Northern Cali.  It sounds a lot like many other groups in their genre.  And quite often you can hardly tell that they are singing in Japanese (according to my friend Chanta, who is Cambodian).  But I find myself listening to the same few tracks over and over.  Those tracks are...

1) Polyrhythm ~ This is an amazing song!  One of the keys to me liking a techno tune is it usually has to have an "ethereal" quality to it.  Most of the songs I like on this CD have that same quality.  My favorite part is that "skip-py" part in the middle of it.  I find myself listening to track #1 & #2 more than anything else...

2) Plastic Smile ~ After I got over the fact the Perfume has an extremely 80's feel to it (especially this track), I really started to like this song.  Overall it is a fun listen with a "head-rockin'" beat.  Very pretty and catchy.

5) Chocolate Disco ~ Another fun song with a cute hook.  (Yes, I know I skipped Baby Cruising Love, it's just not one of my favs)  I can imagine myself in a club tripping on the strobe light after a little too much alchohol...

7) Ceramic Girl ~ This might be my favorite song on the CD.  It's a tough call between this and Polyrhythm.  It completely registers into my "ethereal" requirement.  And it has a fast beat/verse that I really like!  A song I really enjoy and highly recommend...

11) Twinkle Snow Powdery Snow ~  Man I never realized how much of a "trip" this group was!  It takes a while to get used to the heavily synthesized voices.  And all of these references to "snow" have me experiencing some major cocaine flashbacks...

This is a really good CD, even if it isn't the genre of music I usually listen to.  When listening to it for the re-review, I even started to like track 6) Macaroni and track 12) Puppy Love.  When I was visiting Japan in January Perfume played at Shibuya AX the week after I left, bummer!  I'll have to check out their tour schedule for my next return trip.  After seeing some of their "live" videos on YouTube, I would love to see them in person!  As far as recommening it, I am not sure it is for everybody.  But I can now understand why it is selling so well.  I'm not saying you need to be "high" to enjoy this CD either...but it helps!

Well, I still think my first post was superior, but I guess no one will ever know.  It is lost to the internet gods!

CK in California