Teach Us About Some New Music

[tsukinobyouin]

Just about every thread that pops up in the H!P section ends up including one post about how this is the final straw that's making someone leave H!P, or how this is the first H!P thing someone has listened to in years. Most of you all know this is just a game we play here at the board and that most of us haven't really left H!P, but let's pretend that we have.



What are you listening to now? Or, alternatively, what keeps you entertained in between H!P releases? This is not the what-are-you-listening-to thread where you just list a song, this is where you tell us all about some artist that you think is the shit and maybe even share some music (or youtube links, whatever). Anything goes! This is not limited to Jpop, or even any other type of Asian music.



Artists that are not allowed:

- Anyone in Johnny's. Get your ass over here.

- Idoling!!! Go contribute to Trike's thread here.

- AKB48. Again, here.

- Hamasaki Ayumi, Koda Kumi, etc. Your artist doesn't need to be brand new or even obscure, but try to avoid artists that probably 95% of the forum has heard of.





Educate away! <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... lesson.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':ph34r:' />

[Hana]

- I'm still a big fan of Abe Mao's album.

(Favorite tracks: Free, 17sai no Uta, Hitomishiri no Uta)



- CHERRYBLOSSOM is also a group I enjoy.

(Favorite tracks: Dive To World, Harukaze Lover Song, Cycle, Sakura Rock[Those are all A-sides], GO!!)



This actually kind of ties into an idea I'd had for the audio section where I'd upload a new (as in not what you've got listed in the first post) artist/group's album (or a couple singles in cases where they don't have an album), as kind of a recommendation of the month sort of thing. So expect to see these two artists coming up at some point. XD

[EmEl]

When I'm not listening to H!P or other idols, I listen to pop-rock that are somewhat descendants of the ZONE genre who fall more on the band side of "bandol" rather than idol.



Chatmonchy is my favorite of these. A trio of girls who operate as a classic three-piece band--bass, guitar, drums. They've been around for a while now, and had their major debut in 2005. This song is the one that I normally use to draw people into the group. I'm constantly impressed by their songwriting. Their tenth single just came out, and the third full-length album comes out this week (awesomeeeee). I suppose I could babble more about them, but really I don't know if you care enough.



Another group in the same vein is a new group, Stereopony, that I fanboy about with Peach. They only have two singles out so far, but they are both songs for anime so they've already grown pretty big. This also means that if you start following them now, it'll be easy to catch up. This is their debut single.

[story]

Meisa Kuroki http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVhr_LRc-vc



I wasn't much for her first single but her new song Bad Girl is super hot!

[Sabaku Ika]

[quote name='Story' post='61430' date='Mar 3 2009, 05:05 PM']Meisa Kuroki http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVhr_LRc-vc



I wasn't much for her first single but her new song Bad Girl is super hot![/quote]

It is indeed super hot, but all I can think of while listening/watching is that article about Autotune that was posted here last week. It's not bad, just a little distracting.

[tsukinobyouin]

[quote name='Story' post='61430' date='Mar 3 2009, 05:05 PM']Meisa Kuroki http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVhr_LRc-vc



I wasn't much for her first single but her new song Bad Girl is super hot![/quote]



It's pretty catchy, but not quite my style. I first saw her in the drama Haikei, Chichiue-sama and kept thinking how much she looked like a prettier Mika of Coconuts Musume. She looks a lot less like her when she's made up all sexy, but the image is still in the back of my mind and it weirds me out XD Like it doesn't mesh with her super-sexy image.

[mizer_unmei]

Meisa Kuroki's song is really catchy. I might pick up her album.



I became interested in her in like 2005 when she was advertising for a Kose product. I was kinda waiting for her to branch out into music then but kinda stopped keeping track of her. I'm really excited that she's finally putting stuff out. She couldn't really do this type of music when she was 17 though. Haha.





Not Jpop, but I found and fell in love with Swedish Veronica Maggio last year. The one called "Stopp" was my favorite from her. Swedish sounds so lovely. <3

[Melon]

[quote name='EmEl' post='61379' date='Mar 2 2009, 09:08 PM']When I'm not listening to H!P or other idols, I listen to pop-rock that are somewhat descendants of the ZONE genre who fall more on the band side of "bandol" rather than idol.



Chatmonchy is my favorite of these. A trio of girls who operate as a classic three-piece band--bass, guitar, drums. They've been around for a while now, and had their major debut in 2005. This song is the one that I normally use to draw people into the group. I'm constantly impressed by their songwriting. Their tenth single just came out, and the third full-length album comes out this week (awesomeeeee). I suppose I could babble more about them, but really I don't know if you care enough.



Another group in the same vein is a new group, Stereopony, that I fanboy about with Peach. They only have two singles out so far, but they are both songs for anime so they've already grown pretty big. This also means that if you start following them now, it'll be easy to catch up. This is their debut single.[/quote]



I love Chatmonchy(you should babble more), so I went ahead and tried Stereopony too. Thanks for the rec, because I love them too! <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... iggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' />

[edit] Hana, I tried Cherry Blossom too and they rock my socks! <3



And I'm going to go ahead and pimp TAKUI NAKAJIMA because he's dope and superfly or whatever the cool kids say nowadays. I'll put up some single tracks later.

[zlilzlilzlil]

At this time, I hear two groups:



Hinoi Team & Dream...



You may know dream from the song "my will" - inuyasha first ending...



The both are Jpop groups, and I listen to them after I listen to too many H!P songs or when I get annoyed from them...

[peachgirldb]

One singer that I really love is Natsukawa Rimi. She's sort of an Okinawan folk singer, iunno. xD Her song, Nadasousou, became a HUGE hit several years ago (although it is a cover, hers is the most famous). It's a little quiet and um, restful, but her voice really makes it gorgeous. A lot of her music is really relaxing, some of it is interesting, and it's interesting to hear her sing things that are in Okinawan or Ryukyan languages sometimes?



These are really pretty:

Shimadachi

Tokotowa no uta



But if you ignore everything else in this post, just watch this video:

Wasurete wa ikenai mono



Watch the whole thing xD You can see what an amazing live performer she is, especially after 2:50.

[tsukinobyouin]

I LOVE Natsukawa Rimi. I discovered her when Nino did a cover of Nada Sou Sou on one of Arashi's older variety shows and I looked up what I thought at the time was the original. I've ended up getting into a lot of people that way XD I downloaded whatever album of hers was latest at the time and man *_* Her voice is just gorgeous. Thanks for the youtube link, I've never heard that song before.



In the same vein of Okinawan folk singers, you might like Yanawaraba if you haven't heard them before. This is their first major single "Yume wo Mita":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5pzFkYAshk



I wish I could find a live performance, they sound gorgeous harmonizing live.

[peachgirldb]

Thanks for that! I really like them so far.



Speaking of semi-traditional stuff, one of my favorite groups ever would have to be Rin'. They're three women who sing and play traditional instruments, but with modern arrangements and stuff, and just all around kind of amazing.



My favorite of theirs, Sakura Sakura

Murasaki no yukari, futatabi

I really like how the sound suddenly picks up in these. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /laugh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':cryalot:' />



They're also the featured band in AAA's Samurai Heart, and they even released a U.S. album with a song featuring Lisa Loeb.

[Kaworu]

Peach and TnB, can I PLEASE get mp3 for all the artists you've mentiones today??? I just LOVE traditional okinawan-ish music.

[EmEl]

On the subject of folk music, there's an artist named Douji Morita from the 70s that I've always loved. I suppose she'd be considered psych folk or something, but I don't do genres. She always hid behind her glasses, big hair, and her guitar. Her music can be really depressing, but she has a beautiful voice.



Her most famous song is Bokutachi no Shippai. A similar song that I've heard more than one rock band cover is Tatoeba Boku ga Shindara.



Her songs sometimes included more varied acoustic instrumentation than just the piano and guitar like in Haru Ranman. She was also not adverse to having sound effects like crashing waves and bird songs adding to the mood of her songs.



When I was first getting into her, it was really hard to find her music (she hasn't been active since the early 80s I think). But when I was looking now to share with you guys I found that this dedicated fan seems to have put up these nice video montages of lyrics to all of her songs. He even recently seems to be adding her live album.

[tsukinobyouin]

I remember hearing Bokutachi no Shippai before. She has some gorgeous songs, but her airy voice kind of irks me. It's very suited to the folksy style though.



Peach - I know you like alan too, so I take it you've heard her collaboration with Rin' ?



Kaworu - I only have 3 songs by Yanawaraba, unfortunately. Yume wo Mita, Ichigo Ichie, and their cover of Shima Uta. I zipped them for you and uploaded here. I also have one song by the group BEGIN which is a pretty famous Okinawan group. I'm not sure if you already have it, but if not here's Shimanchunu Takara.

[Jessui]

Nice idea for a thread! I find that a lot of the Japanese music I listen to outside of idol music are artists that even most Japanese people haven't even heard of (or they might know one major song or something, but even then they wouldn't be able to identify the artist).



The first group is doa. I'm bad at describing/classifying music so I don't even know where to start, but... <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... hahaha.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' /> They're an acoustic pop/rock band on the Giza label. I've heard people compare the lead singer's voice to Fukuyama Masaharu's and I can definitely hear it. 英雄 and 白の呪文 (not the actual PV, some anime thing) are a couple of their more rockish songs, and 地球の中で二人っきり,サザンライツ, and はるかぜ are some examples of their softer acoustic side. Harukaze has a great buildup, I love it.



Another group is SunSet Swish. It seems they have had some moderate success with some of their songs being used in anime (My Pace). They're poppier than doa but I love their sound. If I have time I'll upload some of their songs; on Youtube all I could find where the same two anime openings/endings <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... hahaha.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':weeeh:' />



As for solo artists, Daichi Miura!! He used to be part of Folder when he was little. His songs are a nice mix of pop/hip-hop with great beats, he's a phenomenal dancer, and he's got a great voice. Some of my favorites are Inside Your Head, Be Shining (feat. Hi-D <3), Magic... I could go on XD

[Tallgeese]

Hey, does anyone here know WTF Saifuun (or Saihuun) is?! I'm almost 100% sure it has at least some or all of the guys in AAA in it because I can hear one of their voices in this clip. It has 15 guys in it. Maybe they're trying to compete with the new super EXILE (which is now 14 man). <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... hahaha.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':cryalot:' />



http://www.saihuun.com/index.html

[Jessui]

LOL, I was curious so I looked them up on wikipedia and this is what I found in their entry:



正体は謎のままなので誰だかまだわからないが、

声はAAAに似ていてAAA説がある。

"It is not yet known who they are as it has been kept a secret, but there are theories of them being AAA since the voices sound alike.



So.... that doesn't reveal anything useful! <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... R#>/XD.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':omgwtf:' /> I wonder when we'll find out. I'd never heard of them before.