J-pop music

Sailorasteroid · Post by **Sailorasteroid** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 7:31 pm

With all the anime fandom here, are any of you also fans of J-pop music? I've found a few songs here and there and most of it is really good stuff. I'll talk about individual artists and songs as I think of them, but here's why I think it's better than most contemporary Western music:

-In my opinion, Japanese is a more beautiful language than English. It's got a higher vowel/consonant ratio, and the vowels are soft and breathy. There's no abraisive th's or kh's, no throaty ng's, no words ending in harsh plosives. It's great for singing.

-J-pop has things that simply aren't being done over here. When was the last time you heard an orchestral song on the radio? And some of the young singers they have make the Britneys and Hillarys sound positively old.

-J-pop is still doing tender love songs, which are becoming passe here. When something like "My Heart Will Go On," or "Only Time" makes it up the charts, the commentators scream about how sappy they are and how they're the stuff of a previous generation and only nostalgic kooks should be listening. So the airwaves and record stores are saturated with the same semi-upbeat, semi-dance amalgamations bereft of sentiment or melodic nuance.

So what do you all think? Do you have Japanese artists you prefer or songs you like?

Starscream · Post by **Starscream** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 8:21 pm

I'm not sure whether the primary purpose of this toipc is to trash Western music, to discuss music or artists, or both, but I'm going to go with option (B).

In general, I am NOT a fan of this genre. Granted, there are some songs that grab my fancy - things that come to mind are "Simple and Clean" and a few PGSM Character Image songs - but, for the most part, I'm just not a fan of popular, vocal music, and J-pop clearly falls under this distinction; no matter how many ways you slice it, there really isn't much of a difference to me between idol singers and Hillary Duff.

Now, this isn't to be taken as saying that I think J-pop is "bad", per se. I wouldn't go out of my way to skip over it on my iPod if it's buried away somewhere, but on the other hand, I'm not the one that puts it there to begin with (glares at Ni-Ban Neko). Really, I'm more of a classical, rap and dance/techno/electronic person lately (quite a motley, I know), and so the vocals in pop music, in general, don't really appeal to me.

LadyFlameSniper · Post by **LadyFlameSniper** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 8:42 pm

I'm going with option B here too... J-pop is alright. I haven't found too many j-pop style songs outside anime soundtracks that I love though. I like some American pop songs, as well as many other music styles. Such as rap, r&b, rock, reggae, ska/punk-ska, and dance. Yeah that's plenty. ^^;

I don't find j-pop and American pop to be all that different, besides the language obviously. And I'd say 95% of the j-pop I've listened to didn't use a lot orchestral instruments, maybe you can recommend some that do. They used a lot of synth like American pop. And my favorite j-pop singers are Megumi Hayashibara, Masami Okui... again mostly for any anime songs. Hikaru Utada is pretty good too.

Ni-ban Neko · Post by **Ni-ban Neko** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 10:44 pm

Like David already hinted at, I'm a fan of J-pop. To be honest, I don't think it's any better or any worse than Western music - it falls into that category of "music I like".

I'm not really actively following J-pop anymore, though. I'll download a song now and again by one of my favorites, but I've cooled on it a lot.

ParaKiss_Groupie · Post by **ParaKiss_Groupie** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 11:00 pm

I enjoy J-pop, but it's not my favourite. I like music that you can dance to, or that's just very gothic (Garbage, Marilyn Manson). While I love listening to Hikaru Utada, Gackt, Plastic Tree, Pierrot, (though I guess it's different, since PuraTuri and Pierrot are J-rock, and technically so is Gackt), there's really not enough dance beats to it. I'd rather listen to Techno, Dancepop, or Europop.

Post by **Tiff** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 1:14 am

Starscream wrote: In general, I am NOT a fan of this genre. Granted, there are some songs that grab my fancy - things that come to mind are "Simple and Clean" and a few PGSM Character Image songs

I'm going to be nitpicky here for a moment.

The original song title is "Hikari". The dub title is "Simple and Clean". ^^; Sorry.

As for my opinion of J-Pop...I prefer J-Rock to J-pop, but there is some J-Pop I like...Utada Hikaru, for example. But some J-Pop can be really annoying.

doodlebuguk · Post by **doodlebuguk** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 2:53 am

Hmm, not really sure I can comment, the only J-pop I've heard has been anime soundtracks and an album by Chemistry that a guy from school was kind enough to give me a copy of.

I do like the music but again it's not my favourite, I'm more into trance and rock music. Though I was amazed at how many ballads I heard, you don't really hear many these days.

But I really love the way japanese is sung. I swear I'm going crazy, but I think japanese sounds a lot like french when it's being sung. It has that same flowing beautiful sound that most latin languages like french have, also like italian or spanish. <--- Own crazy opinion

Sailorasteroid · Post by **Sailorasteroid** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 5:37 am

Well, this may be a first--I went off topic in the first post of a thread!

I thought most people here would be big into it, but then again music is a very personal thing.

In any case, right now I'm listening to Chara, who I think has the sweetest little voice. Also, I picked up some of the songs of Chieco Kawabe, who you might remember from such roles as Naru from PGSM. Good stuff, say I.

Akarui Kibuno · Post by **Akarui Kibuno** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 6:12 am

doodlebuguk wrote:But I really love the way japanese is sung. I swear I'm going crazy, but I think japanese sounds a lot like french when it's being sung. It has that same flowing beautiful sound that most latin languages like french have, also like italian or spanish

*glomps* every time I see a message in English saying the person likes French, I can't help glomping the author. LOL!

As for being a J-Pop fan...

Okay, I'll admit it, I'm a J-Pop addict. It's not only the "music I like". It's the one I like best, I think, though my music listenings go through cycles, and I've had a Evanescence/Linkin Park/Limp Bizkit cycle, as well as an anime cycle, a Morning Musume cycle and so on.

Right now, I'm with all PGSM songs, as well as Chieco Kawabe's (which does sound like Hillary Duff, don't you think so ?).

Other singers I like:

- Utada Hikaru (hehe)
- Chihiro Onitsuka
- Moeco Matsushita (gotta love ol' little Hina, heh

)

Other than that, if I come across a song I like through anime, generally I'll look for the singer and try to get more songs from that person. That's how I fell in love with Chihiro Onitsuka, though I heard one of her songs in a movie. *_*

RoastedTwinkies · Post by **RoastedTwinkies** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 10:20 pm

I personally love J-pop music. Even more so than most of the stuff on the radio these days. I think most stuff played on the radio now is garbage. I miss the music that was played on the radio like 6 years ago. Old school Hanson, Savage Garden and Chumba Wamba were so awesome! As far as J-pop music goes, I love the music from BSSM (anime and live action) and the music from Utena. It's really fun and exciting. Some of my favorite J-pop artists include Ayu (Ayumi Hamasaki) and Puffy (Amiyumi).

Tyra · Post by **Tyra** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 1:07 am

I love the themes from Inuyasha & that's about the only J-Pop songs that I listen to. I guess it's hard to follow the artists since they don't actally come here to promo or to perform live. J-Pop do have a different style than north american pop (or whatever you call it), it kinda reminds me that I'm still Asian.

doodlebuguk · Post by **doodlebuguk** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 3:41 am

Akarui Kibuno wrote: *glomps* every time I see a message in English saying the person likes French, I can't help glomping the author. LOL!

Yay! I've been glomped! *feels so special* LOL!

I've heard a lot about Utada Hikaru and have always wanted to hear her music. It's quite hard in britain to get J-pop or J-rock CDs anyway, most of the stuff I have heard has either been through anime, MP3s i've found or through very nice people at college.

Sailor Wind · Post by **Sailor Wind** » Mon Jun 07, 2004 5:31 pm

There are some types of J-pop I like and some of it i don't so i think it's ok in someways.

I'm more into rock bands such as red hot chili peppers and Linkin Park, and also i'm into some regular pop music (only idol ones).

KoiNoVash · Post by **KoiNoVash** » Fri Jun 11, 2004 4:17 pm

All I listen to anymore is J-Rock and J-Pop, I think it's a nice alternative since I hate most of the modern American music. I adore Gackt, he is the god of J-Rock. Some of J-pop can be kinda annoying, but some of it can be really nice too. I like the really fun J-pop songs from Utada Hikaru and Weiss and such.

marspeach · Post by **marspeach** » Thu Jun 17, 2004 4:29 pm

Pretty much all I listen to is J-Pop and R&B now. I've lost interest in the American artists I used to like. I don't like the music just because it's Japanese, but because I like the artists and the songs. My favorite artists are Utada Hikaru, MISIA, Onitsuka Chihiro, Hirahara Ayaka, Crystal Kay, Do As Infinity, Dreams Come True, and YeLLOW Generation. If I turn on the radio now I usually hear maybe one song I like, but the rest just makes me change stations until I get fed up and shut it off.