I
first started listening to Jpop, because I happen to be at the mall in Pinellas
Park and saw a Shonen Knife CD back in 1994. In the early 90’s the whole
grunge thing was going on and having lived through it, I honestly didn’t care
for grunge because of the whiney lyrics and repetitive riffs that got old
quick. I was looking for something different so I picked up Shonen Knife Rock
Animals (1994), which is a poppy sounding punk album. I liked Rock
Animals back then mainly because it offered something different from grunge
but I no longer listen to it.
My second exposure was as a college student during the 90’s. Hiro, my Japanese
roommate from college, had a girlfriend who was coming to visit him from Kyoto
and he asked me what gift I wanted from Japan. I remembered an old catalogue
from Video Search of Miami, that had videotapes for sell and one ad was for the
Jpop singer named Chara. I wanted to look cool so I said I wanted a Chara
CD. I got lucky because she had a hit single, Yasashii Kimochi, high on
the charts. So I stumbled into that one. I realized that the Japanese
only buy CDs that are currently popular and then when something new comes along
they discard it and move on. So, his girlfriend arrived 2-weeks later
with a copy of Chara’s Junior Sweet (1997). Hiro and Junnichi, my
other roommate, suggested that I learn to sing Yasashi Kimochi to make a
good impression when I went to Japan, to study, for singing at karaoke
bars. So both Hiro and Junnichi translated the song and wrote out the
lyrics in romanji so I could read the kanji.
It is great
practice for Japanese learners to take a CD and just try to sing a song a few
times and then singing that song at karaoke.
Ok, that was my background and a whole new world opened up when I discovered
J-Indies (Japanese independent music.)
In college at Kansai Gaidai Unversity, a language school in Osaka, I was
listening to standard Jpop by Morning Musume, Suzuki Ami, Hotei, Dreams Come
True, and Speed, and all the groups that were popular with college students in
the late 90’s.
Looking for something different, I hooked up with my good friend Eric, who had
a vast knowledge of J-indes. We would go to various Virgin Megastores and
Tower Record stores all over Osaka and Kyoto, to look for something different
that was outside the mainstream.
At Virgin Megastore, I was introduced by Eric to Fantastic Plastic
Machine (FPM.) FPM is a
musical project created by DJ Tanaka Tomoyuki that utilizes remixing with dance
beats, Bossa Nova, and Latin rhythms. Back home in Florida, I had Luxury
(1998) by Fantastic Plastic Machine so at Virgin Megastore I saw the first
FPM album, The Fantastic Plastic Machine, that had the single, Bachelor
Pad that was used during the opening sequence of the second Austin Powers
movie, The Spy Who Shagged Me. FPM has a lot to offer the anime
fan because the music is fun, upbeat, goofy humor, and the singing is in
English.
It wasn’t until Eric and I found a cool store in Amerika-mura (American
Village), in Osaka, that I made the switch from mainstream pop. In
Amerika-mura, across from Tower Records, is a cool store that is in the
basement, underneath a clothing store. That is where I found a lot of good
Shibuya-Kei CDs that have enormous appeal to the Anime fan.
A little background before I get started on the CDs. Shibuya-Kei is an
eclectic mix of Jazz, pop, dance music, Bossa Nova, French Ye-Ye, and lounge
music. Fantastic Plastic Machine took old uncool lounge records and remixed
lounge with strong dance beats to make that music cool. The French
composer, Serge Gainsbourg strongly influenced Shibuya-Kei. Shibuya-Kei
was popular in the late 90’s and then started to wan, it is still currently
heard in Japan more as a influence on current stars where it has entered the
mainstream.
Here are some of the CDs that I accumulated from the basement store, and
occasionally from Vrigin and Tower Records and other online shopping sites. All
the bands either sing in English or sample songs with English lyrics.
With Shibuya-Kei its more about the music and less on the words.
- 800 Cherries Opuscula (2000) A great CD that is able to convey a wide range of emotions from the uber happy whimsical, Le Papillon Et La Fleur (Lucky Butterfly) to the bittersweet melancholy of Winter Calling (Once Again, Alone.) 800 Cherries is the perfect music to create an interesting background for your next party. One of the tracks should spark your emotions and move you. Possible Western equivalents would be Stereolab and Lush.
2. Kahimi Karie Minty Fresh (1998) Its rare that I
like a US release from a Japanese artist but this self titled CD is a good
place to start. Since I liked Chara, Eric recommended Kahimi because she
has a similar whispering singing voice. The music here is very jazzy and
it covers some simple lyrics like Good morning world its so nice to be
a beautiful girl from the song Good Morning World to the darker
subject of Lolita love in Candyman that has Candyman everyone
says that your too old for me. My own personal favorite is Lolitapop
Dollhouse written by Momus because of the way it looks at Lolita Goth
in the following lyrics:
I’m sick of
being Alice in Wonderland
Sick of
Living in Victorian England
I’m sick of
being a porcelain girl in a porcelain world
Is that all
you ever wanted me to be?
- Yukari Fresh Cityrama (2000) This is a highly addicting album that draws you in from the very beginning. When I listen to this CD I have to keep listening to it until it is over. I can’t just listen to one track and stop. Cityrama has very happy sounds mixed with cute singing and cartoon music. It reminds me of all the good cartoon theme songs used in 70’s and 80’s Saturday morning cartoon shows.
4. very best of PUNCH THE MONKEY!
in the mix
various artists (2000) This is a compilation of Lupid the Third remixes
by Shibuya-Kei and mainstream artists like Crazy Ken Band. I like
the theme song remixed by Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra because it combines
ska and jazz and is just a fun song to listen to. The cool aspect of this
CD is the Lupin the Third dialogue samples used throughout the
tracks.
5. Plus-Tech Squeeze Box Cartoom! (2006) Next is
this offering that takes the cartoon theme song approach of Cityrama
and speeds it up. I like the songs Dough-Nuts Town’s Map and Uncle
Chicken’s Drag Rag because they are both whimsical and upbeat.
6. MacDonald Duck Éclair Short Short (2004) This is
a group that Eric found in that basement store I mentioned (see above)
that take French Ye Ye music with punk guitar riffs and keyboard pop. A good
place to start is the opening track of Short Short called Mac
Teenage Riot. MacDonald Duck Éclair reminds me of Polysics and
Devo.
Ok that’s
enough for now. I have thousands of CDs that I might get around to discussing
in future blogs if anyone is interested.
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