Postby animate » September 28th, 2006 11:53 pm
As a music lover, and someone who really loves music from Japan, let me give you a tip and say, "stop thinking in racial terms". Not trying to sound condescending here, but if you confine yourself to "I want J-Rock, but I want it to sound like [popular American group]," you're not going to get very far.
Looking over the recommendations that people have given I can see that you've gotten your feet wet. Yes, the Pillows are pretty good when they want to be, and hell, even Puffy (AmiYumi) is something I enjoy from time to time; these groups are all very bland though and don't really represent what Japan has to offer, musically. Here are some recommendations. Call this a crash course in Japanese rock:
First and foremost--Boris! Not only are they becoming increasingly popular in America, but they've been the world's best rock band for some years now. 2005's album, Pink, was definitely one of the highlights of the year, musically, and is something I really recommend. You say you don't want something "too heavy," but I'm telling you that you don't really know what you want---until you hear Boris. "Pink" is widely available in mainstream record stores (FYE, for example) and should be pretty easy to find. Do yourself a favor and pick it up ASAP.
After you've come to appreciate Boris, go and look for albums from High Rise, Ghost, Acid Mothers Temple, and Nagisa Ni Te. Nagisa Ni Te is highly accessible psych-rock; usually constructed with an acoustic underbelly and easy vocals. [Someone in a previous post had trouble hearing words in songs, but Nagisa is one group that I find very accessible in language as well.]
You could also try Michio Kurihara, who is also a member of the band Ghost. He put an album out a while back, "Sunset Notes", that is one of the most compelling solo guitar works I've heard in some time (excluding jazz records here). If you like that, search for Ghost's album "Snuffbox Immanence" and I'll let you thank me later.
If you're into more "classic" rock sounds, try Yoshida Takuro and Happy End. The latter appeard on the Lost in Translation soundtrack; they were around for only a brief time in the 1970's, but they put out some pretty interesting work; really accessible as well is Yoshida Takuro who was proclaimed "Japan's Wannabe Bob Dylan". Meh, that title is off-putting to someone like myself, but regardless--Mr. Yoshida put out some good work in his career.
If you like that, check out Kyu Sakamoto--the only native Japanese to ever hit the American charts. He did so in the early 60's with "Ue wo Muite Aruku," which was titled in America is "Sukiyaki". Your parents may remember it! My mom was the one who alerted me to his fame, and I enjoy his music. If anything, check out that single song and look up the lyrics--they're quite sad. He's also famous for dying in the world's worst plane crash. A sad ending to what would have probably been a prosperous life.
I have more knowledge and interest for avant-garde and jazz music, when concerning Japan, but I'll not rush you into anything you don't care for. If you'd like anything I listed above, send me a message and I will upload some samples for you. This goes for everyone else as well. : )
