Hey all, I'd like to start listening to music in Japanese and don't really have any idea where to start. Any suggestions? I plan to plug the band names into grooveshark.com (check it out, it's awesome!), but I don't know too many to stick in.
What bands do you like? (And what kind of music in general do they play?).
What's your style? Japanese pop, can range from wow this is amazing to oh god kill it with fire.
Here's some favs of mine. I personally love a lot of pop from the late 70s and 80s through the early 90s. Though I have a self indulgence in a crappy boyband called Kanjani8.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkmnW_V5OeU Masahara Noriyuki - Donna toki mo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pquM7TCznL8 - Kome Kome Club - Kimi ga iru dake de http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGRe01O-ysE - Hideaki Tokunaga - Chiisana inori ~ps i love you~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhbEQFqdIt0 - 20th Century - Ore jya nakya kimi jya nakya http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlhwQ1eHUdo - Hotei - Poison http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzhFFbUcOis - Dreams Come True - Yasashii Kisu wo Shite http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSQ461SQwUs - Ken Hirai - Elegy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd5e6j_AiXk - Crystal Kay - Ex Boyfriend http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4UojoRJ4hM - Crazy Ken Band - 12/17 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLTTf1qOTHA - Yamaguchi Momoe - Manjushaka http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giAj_iHUwdQ - Weaver - Bokura no Eien ~Nando Umare Kawatta mo~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN9eBIafCNY - Pink Lady UFO http://tvpot.daum.net/clip/ClipView.do?clipid=26202363 - Kanjani8 - Life ~ me no mae no mukou e~
[b]Visual Kei/hard rock/metal/maybe a bit screamo[/b] gazette / がぜっと (gazetto) L'arc en ciel nightmare
[b]I also like electronicy stuff like[/b] perfume T.M revolution Ali project
[b]and nu metal/pop rock/i guess electric rock, kinda hard to label![/b] Brilliant Green High and Mighty Color (HnMC)
[b]Female Singers of varying types of music[/b] ayumi hamasaki utada hikaru nami tamaki ;D - love her so much have her DVDs for dancy times tommy heavenly6 - kinda avril lavigne like, her britney spearsy alter ego is called tommy february6
[b]Anime OP/ED/OST[/b] Ouran High School Gundam Seed & Seed Destiny & 00 Code Geass 1 & R2 Rozen Maiden Oran High School Host Club Death note
Hopefully that is enough to search around for now, let me know what you do and don't like and if you discover anything you think I might enjoy ;D
P.s try out http://www.last.fm similar idea to grooveshark and I know it is good for Japanese music. Just type in a genre (tag) or artist then hit play XXX radio and it will play you stuff very similar to that continuously and it kinda evolves you your taste overtime if you hit the <3 button on songs you like.
Everyone has such different tastes in music, the replies will be/are all over the place ;D
I like upbeat music. And also lots of other types of music. But mostly things that are energizing and fun. UVERworld is a current favorite group~ I don't want to bog down the thread with a billion other recommendations, but I can :o
[quote author=Togii link=topic=1064.msg6207#msg6207 date=1291354718] Everyone has such different tastes in music, the replies will be/are all over the place ;D
I like upbeat music. And also lots of other types of music. But mostly things that are energizing and fun. UVERworld is a current favorite group~ I don't want to bog down the thread with a billion other recommendations, but I can :o [/quote]
ooh I'll second UVERworld too, I know you don't wanna bog the thread down but I think it is good for us all to share as much as possible so any more suggestions? ;D
if you're looking for Japanese music to help your listening, I recommend some of the older standards - many of them are pretty easy to understand, and will bowl over any Japanese you encounter if you can sing them Karaoke! Not sure about band names at the moment (at work :P) but some song titles (you can put them into youtube) are 上を向いて歩こう (The original version of 'The Sukiyaki song' ::)) もしもピアノが弾けたなら あずさ二号 ペチカ また君を愛してる 卒業の写真 いい日旅立ち ルビーの指輪 I sang all these in choir, and my coworkers are always shocked and amazed (and inordinately pleased) whenever I whip them out at karaoke parties! If your taste doesn't run toward the oldies, I'd reccomend Hirai Ken Amuro Namie Glay Gackt (and that's a two-for-one deal, because there's his Malice Mizer phase and then the pop-ish solo phase) Angela Aki Dir en Grey L'arc en Ciel Exile SMAP and of course, everyone's favorites recently: Arashi Kat-Tun AKB48
安努龍： yes! thee michelle gun elephant is amazing. the bartender at my favourite bar in kyoto played them all the time. now I have to track some albums down!
other Japanese bands that I like:
zoobombs (kinda bluesy alt-rock): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhKVYATu5Oc envy (somewhere between post-rock and metal): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXzVxKUZlpc mono (instrumental rock): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1B00qU5uc58 toe (partially instrumental rock...some vocals): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Va-MpUQyoQg - vox on that video are handled by Toki Asako from Cymbals (another good band: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XedvzTKsmsQ)
Finally someone knows what I'm talking about! I DJ'd at a school radio back in college and somehow found the album "Gear Blues" by Thee Michelle Gun Elephant in the radio library. It was definitely a fortunate find, and I've stuck with them since then! Check out "Hotel Bronco" if you want a good laugh.
Ellegarden (try 月 @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psFCDUe6so0), Asian Kung Fu Generation (try アフター・ダーク @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFSXlPi3Ojw), and キマグレン (try LIFE @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IS407iRcHZU&feature=related).
I asked some 神戸大学 people when I was in the area 2 years ago what their favorite rock bands were (J-pop is a no-no for me), and I have a few written down in a notebook somewhere. This is a good reminder for me to go find it!
NEWS (and Tegomass) Ikimono Gakari Koda Kumi And Matsushita Yuya
[b]NEWS[/b] is one of those Johnny's boybands that half of everyone hates, but I love. XD Fabulous boys <3 Favorite songs: Fighting Man, WeeeeK, and Taiyou no Namida. [b]Ikimono Gakari[/b] is a pop group, but not bubblegum. Lots of fun. Favorite songs: Kaeritaku natta yo, Joyful, and Kimagure Romantic [b]Koda Kumi[/b] is more Hip Hop/R&B. <3 Favorite songs: Taboo, Ecstacy, Universe, and Lady go. /can't choose with her [b]Matsushita Yuya[/b] is also Hip Hop/R&B but more hip hop. Favorite songs: Foolish Foolish, Four Seasons, and Honesty.
But there are so many amazing things on this page you could go with any of them. ^^
