For myself, it's taken years to accumulate a huge catalog of Japanese bands I love and I really don't mind having engaged the time and effort. I've been dedicated to it long enough that RUclips and Spotify recommendations are including same-day releases of new artists that align to my very varied tastes. I'm currently finding roughly 12 new artists that I especially like each month. If you're as particular about music as I am, you'll probably find very little value in charts based on who's currently selling well. Your best bet might be to sample through the artists represented here, follow the ones you dig, let the recommendations come, follow the recommendations you dig, repeat... If you're a critical listener, this will absolutely work for you as well as it has for me. Also watch for collaborations/side projects/solo work among the artists you like. Watch the other artists that the artists you like produce or take on tour. This playlist is evolving over time and will continue to do so -- breeze through it, skip the ones that don't resonate, follow the artists that do resonate and that world will reveal itself to you in a big way. ruclips.net/p/PL8r8yVoff2DJWQFqXqkLQZ6Ykuhsn8HjS open.spotify.com/playlist/5Kot699hNBeyQS2vB6ihCi?si=29bc3abfdf364b60
I see some great artists there, Glim Spanky and Polkadot Stingray being my favourites. I personally miss some Band Maid, Wagakki Band, Scandal or One Ok Rock. Cheers!
Japan has the 2nd largest music industry in the world. And I'd say it has the widest variety of sounds in the world. The depth of their market is insane, I still manage to find great artists even though i listened to thousands of album.
The one that has the highest variety is definitely the US. Literally more diverse background so cultures music mix more. While Japanese really just does American music, but with a different accent (music accent not actually one).
Most people start to learn Japanese for understanding anime and/or manga, but I actually started to understand and learn more about Japanese music. It's really cool to go from just enjoying the singing and music of a song to being able to fully understand the lyrics and subtleties of meaning and wordplay in the language.
The pillows have allways been my favorite japanise band, almost evry song is nostelgic. Im not technical with music but my freind compared their music to the beatles singing over a navarna backing. Im glad there getting more recognition now. Hybrid rainbow just does something to me
not to diminish this video (or the extensive effort behind it) at all, but i think the difficulty of 'getting into' japanese music as a westerner is a huge part of what makes it borderline magical once you learn how to navigate it all it's been about 12 years for me now, almost entirely consumed by it, and it's still hard to accurately lay out my journey/approach (not that anyone asked); basically just a never-ending cycle of reading interviews, looking up bands/artists mentioned in those, paying attention to shows and who plays with who, repeat forever, training my algorithms along the way imo the biggest boon for us breaking into their realm is the fact that it's all so goddamn intertwined. my best friend in Japan is a guy i "met" through email after the guitar player of Tricot mentioned his band in an interview 8 years ago. my current favorite band i discovered because of posts from a girl in a punk-idol group. shit like this happens all the time and i think that's what really draws me in the hardest. japan's broader "music scene" is a lot like the west 15-25 years ago, especially the midwestern "underground" scene i grew up in: music in general is the strongest binding factor, not the genres or styles or fashions, etc. "music is music", plain and simple. the passion for music itself is what brings everyone together, not just a 'favorite genre', and the friendgroups are as tight-knit and supportive as they are overlapping and expansive i took my first trip to japan back in march, finally met my aforementioned friend in person, and went to more shows in 30 days than i have in the last probably 15 years in the States; i've been preaching the gospel of japanese music for a very long time and i still ended up feeling a little unprepared for the sheer scope and dynamics of it. again, no disrespect to anyone, but if i may: while i don't want to post a playlist or a list of names, i *will* strongly encourage you to look into Gezan if you haven't already: ruclips.net/video/-UrAwDmDl48/видео.html ruclips.net/video/ut4lYGQ-3M4/видео.html (two live performances that basically cover their range of sound) and a two part pseudo-documentary covering the annual music fest they put on (i think you'll enjoy this in particular; probably spot some familiar faces as well): ruclips.net/video/lWNSCw1jD1o/видео.html ruclips.net/video/sSYqCXkNAQo/видео.html (i gotta stop rambling) i generally don't like the "guide" or "playlist" approach, but you give some solid starting points here and explain them briefly but well; nothing like what i would do if i were to try. lmao long-winded curse forever if you ever want to engage in a tailspin conversation about JP music, hit me up. haha also peep Downt if you like American Football anyway, great work/video, man! ok bye 👋
Nano, hitsujibungaku, and Ai Higuchi fill my trifecta of artists that perfectly reflect my inner feelings. Ai Higuchi’s “minamikaze/south wind” is probably up there with my favorite songs of all time and I want everyone to hear it
Another one of my favourite japanese math rock bands is "toe". I would consider both "for long tomorrow" and "the book about my idle plot on a vague anxiety" to be some of the best music in the genre, and from japan in general I like it that much. But yeah really good blend of post-rock atmosphere with the crazy drumming of math rock.
ive only been listening to them for about 3-4 years, but man they are sick! to say that "goodbye" is my favourite song sounds a bit cliche but everytime i listen to it that just hit. "sonny boy rhapsody" is also a good one.
Great choice! Here is some my favorite. 相対性理論(Soutaiseiriron) きのこ帝国(kinoko teikoku) 青葉市子(Aoba Ichiko) ゆらゆら帝国(Yurayura teikoku) 神聖かまってちゃん(Shinsei kamattechan) Thanks from Japan!
I love that you used a song from Charly García at the beginning, he is one of the greatest artist from Latin America, a must listen for everybody that loves great music. He's one of the most versatile artist that I ever seen
This video is unreal. I'm half Japanese and grew up in the UK, but I mostly listened to Japanese bands in high school and University. I’m genuinely shocked how in-line the suggestions in the video are with the bands I listened to growning up - AKFG, Nujabes, Fishmans, Tricot, Number Girl, Mass of the Fermenting Dregs, Cornelius... all so amazing and you did a brilliant job describing their music (even the bands that you didn't delve into but showed little clips of like Pillows, Quruli, Ling Tosite Sigure, Toe and My Dead Girlfriend, love them all) The way you explained understanding Number Girl's sound was perfect - I also didn't really get them on the first few listens, but I think it was Omoide in my head that suddenly unlocked everything for me, and now they're probably my favorite band of all time. Will definitely be sharing this video with friends - great work!
I skimmed through the comments to see what bands are mentioned and if the video mentions what you just listed then maybe we've all got a similar taste in music. Actually makes me happy because now I know the recommendations that I haven't heard from here are gonna be good!
Awesome video! I took a college class last semester on how music evolved through Japan, all the way from pre-western contact into the hyperreal JPOP stuff. A lot of the more modern material we covered, you covered as well. Glad to see you covered the Yamashita, Hosono, Ohnuki, and Sakamoto connection, as when I found out about that I was super blown away. Interestingly with regards to Tatsuro Yamashita, a lot of his big hits were due to tie-ins with commercials and movies such as his tie-in with the JR Tokai christmas commercial in 1989 (if I recall correctly).
Same! It’s funny I discovered him back in middle school, but at the time his name wasn’t very well known outside of the underground hip hop scene. Now though it feels like he’s finally getting the recognition he deserves! The godfather of Lo-Fi! ❤❤❤
@@griffins5655 Lo-Fi comes from early underground hip hop far predating Nujabes :) It comes from the fact that the music was homegrown, with low budget. So everything was low fidelity just because of where it came from. It became a defining stylistic choice of underground hip hop, which greatly influenced Nujabes. Lo-Fi is not a genre. Rather, like flanging guitar is to Goth Rock; it is a characteristic feature of the genre of "underground hip-hop" (basically just hip-hop that isn't pop-ified). Thus, it spreads to other sub genres based on hip-hop, like chillhop, trip-hop, and Jazz-hop (which is where Nujabes fits more cleanly). I attribute people using "Lo-Fi" as a genre specifically to younger generations being exposed to underground hip-hop subgenres and hybrid genres primarily through youtube compilations that used "Lo-Fi" as a title tag rather than the actual genre names.
Woah, 4 minutes in and I feel like you've already given a coherent breakdown of the reason behind the struggle to dive into Japanese music (and other world music). I would have left pretty satisfied with even just that, but that was only the first 6th of this video??! Amazing. This is an easy thumbs up from me. I'm pumped about this video.
If you haven't checked out Shiina Ringo. I highly recomend it. She is really one of those artists that the more you find out about her the more you realize how amazing she really is. Shoso Strip and Kalk Samen are both easily 10/10s.
I found out about her through Unchain’s cover of Marunouchi Sadistic which was used as a fan ED for Chainsaw Man and I’ve loved all the music I’ve come across from her. Loved the opening she did for Jigokuraku so much too
As an Asian Kung-Fu Generation fan since 2009 I appreciate you shouted out one of their albums. For me their "Magic Disc" album is one of their best because this album is the signal of their "maturity" as a musician, as you pointed out how Goto's approach to vocal, their songs seems to "soften" in later years. So you can have both of the styles in Magic Disc. I also appreciate how you shouted out similar-genred bands such as Chatmonchy and Fujifabric, they're pretty cool also if "power pop" is your own preferences. Overall I love how this video "comprehensively" summarize Japanese music. Keep rocking!
this video made me remember a vlog I watched a long time ago, where the vlogger attends a Japanese music festival. There, one of the foreign musician that he interviewed said something about the reason why he loved Japanese music that struck me. He said that Japanese music has some sort of wonder created by oxymorons. Japanese music consists of songs with a sad melody paired with a happy and energized beat, blues songs with lyrics that encourage you, or happy songs full of melancholy lyrics. And that, for me, is one of the biggest reasons why I always fall back to Japanese music as my comfort songs
Was it the video posted by Adam Neely when he played with the J- Music Ensemble and interviewer Patrick Bartley? Mixing Jazz and J-Pop m.ruclips.net/video/gFXcwv9XISc/видео.html Interesting discussion about what he feels is distinctive about Japanese music (Jpop, anime, jazz) from the perspective of a jazz musician and how he traces the various factors that influence its evolution.
Awesome, I've been waiting for a video like this! I too got into Japanese music through anime. You know how they say that the music you listen to in your teens ends up being your go to music for the rest of your life? Well that's pretty much me with Japanese music. Some favorites are: Sotaisei Riron, Jun Togawa, Kaneko Ayano, Bokutachi no Iru Tokoro, Seiko Oomori, Shinsei Kamattechan, Frenesi, and L'Arc en Ciel.
Nice list, I'm friends with some of the members or Boku tachi no iru tokoro, you're the first person outside Japan I've ever seen mention them! Seiko was also my fav before her whole scandal thing.
I discovered Visual Kei nearly 20 years ago, and fell in love with the genre immediately. After that is was easy to fall in love with the different kinds of music Japan has to offer, and I still listen to it more than music from other languages. There's just something about the language and use of instruments for me.
Fun fact about the live Dregs footage, that was their first ever european show at Arctangent festival 2022! I saw them there and even met them, genuinely some of the nicest people on earth
Kinda surprise you didn't mention L'arc en Ciel as the most common gateway to Japanese music for most people. Maybe make a part 2 video, considering how well received this video are?
What's incredible is that all the words in Japanese end with vowels (a, i, u, e, and o) with one exception for the letter n. Yet their rap music is impactful n powerful.
I think it is important to note one thing that you got a bit wrong in this. Japanese definitely changes depending on vowel length, but that is mainly a rule in conversation. In music there isn't any real issue with elongating syllables. Much like in English, listeners will still understand what is being said, so long as the sentence makes sense. There are definitely cases where a syllable will still be kept short for clarity, but it's not a hard rule. Even in Japanese traditional music, there are a lot of examples of this. For example, early shamisen music was usually accompanied by very drawn out syllables to the point that it can be quite hard to understand, especially considering the very old grammar and diction used. And in the example that you gave of と (to) and とう (tou), it's still two syllables, so if you wanted to, you could elongate the first to, and then use an elongated u. After all, although it is generally pronounced as a drawn out to in conversation, it's still two distinct sounds
Yeah I think a while after uploading I was listening to the vocals of some song and realized that wasn't quite right, or at least certainly wasn't one of the bigger issues in singing in Japanese. In anything I've watched/read on that issue since I still can't fully grasp what the main difficulties were so I assume at this point you gotta have really good understanding of the language to get it.
I jumped into the Japanese music wormhole almost 20 years ago, and I still found a couple new listens from this video! I can tell how much you really love and appreciate stuff from across the whole spectrum from having Fishmans and a 2 second cutaway clip to a theater stage of Idol Nante Yobanaide in the same vid lol. That's what I truly love about the JPN music scene is that there is so much unique crossover between all genres, and no matter where I end up I can find something to add to my library. To any new listeners, this is a fantastic video to watch, and every album I knew I recommend. Don't be intimidated by the album art flow charts or long lists of "essentials" that float around. Find one album, artist, or even just a song you really like, find some people who like that same thing, and see what else is on their lists. I've found other fans are always the best resource for what to try next. To throw some personal recs out there, try Gacharic Spin for some high-power zany rock, lyrical school for a mix of pop and hip hop, and producer Mondo Grosso for some jazzy electronic beats.
As a Japanese music nerd I'm fascinated with this video. Haruomi Hosono is my favorite artist, and I truly feel he deserves more recognition in the west. Also I love that you threw in B roll of lesser know artist like Seagull Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her who I never expected to ever see thrown in to a video. Great job!
Almost cried when I saw the Ryo Fukui album cover. Not as obscure as he used to be but everything about him is perfect to me. Music without words can move so much more when it's made by people this talented.
I feel like Midori - Aratamemashite, hajimemashite, Midori desu. is an important Japanese album that wasnt mentioned, This album truly is one of the most important and unique Hardcore Punk albums of all time and it was the reason that made me fall into the world of Japanese rock/hardcore scene and they inspired some bands like Otoboke Beaver, Its such an artistic album that with every listen i just like more and more. And thanks a lot for the video, I really wanted something like this to send to people who want to get into Japanese music and i usually just text them the names so now i just have to send a simple link lol
couldn't agree more!! It was one of those albums that made me realize my love for Japanese hardcore punk and only dragged me deeper. Led me to discovering other hits like melt banana and otoboke beaver
huge number girl fan here! i dont quite remember how i found them but it was during a rough period of my life, and all the noise and angst really resonated with me. its so true how u like the albums more the more u listen to them, and the way u described them makes me feel like i understand just why i loved them so much at the time, and why i continue to love them years on. thank u for spreading the word abt them, and all this other lovely music! (akfg are also one of my favorites ever.. lovely video!)
Honestly man. Well done on intro to Japanese music. You provided giants for every different genre. Starting there we can explore associated artists to each. You really know your Japanese music.
I've been listening to number girl a lot recently and it's probably the reason why your video appeared in the recommendations section. I love this band, they're great especially when you read lyrics of some songs. They use simple yet really emotionally powerful lines from which you can directly imagine things they're singing about. Also their cover of bloodthirsty butcher's "poolside" is great
wow you bringing up Ryo Fukui, Taeko Ohnuki, Cornelius, Nujabes (obviously), Asian Kung0fu Gen., Tricot, AND Mass of Fermenting Dregs, has truly validated my inner music dweeb for Japanese music instilled into me since ever. I appreciate that level of goat-edness
Loved the video! Japanese "hyperpop" or whatever (with a strong foundation in the Japanese netlabel scene) is really cool atm. Pas Tasta, Peterparker69, Starkids, Tohji, e5, cyber milk chan, trash angels, okadakun, hirirhiri, amane uyama++
just earned a sub. It's unbelievable how youtube doesn't promote this type of passionate, well researched, and just generally way more interesting content. Like you absolutely did to me what I expected of your video: you introduced me to a world I now want to explore by myself. That's what it should be about. So a big thank you for your video.
Asian Kung fu Generation is my favorite band and i watched they live in Sao Paulo in 08/07/2017 was probably the best day of my life. I love Tricot, mass of the fermeting dregs too. Today i "found" "Cody Lee" too, wich is an amazing band too. Also, great job my dude.
I'm a simple guy, you mention DJ Krush and Nujabes in the same section, you automatically end up being a must-watch for the guy that introduced me to the joy of listening to some good music; my father. Thank you so much for the video, it was refreshing to listen to your voice talking about so many good artists I want to discover. And buy vinyls of. With a great sound system. ... WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?!
As someone who religously listens to Japanese music, MOTFD is easily my favorite band. Even though they are mildly popular, I still think they are underrated. Also, I've found that chou chou merged syrups reminds me a lot of them.
Found your video on Nujabes subreddit, I am surprised how well this video is done from research, scripting and editing perspective, definitely something I would not expect from someone below 100k subs let alone 100 subs. I had been trying to find a guide to enter Japanese music for so long, since my only introduction to those were Anime openings or soundtracks, but this video definitely made me aware of a lot of things that I didn't care to explore, thanks for this.
Check out this Japanese band called Blue Hearts. It's a punk group from 90-s, and they are super well-known in Japan. Try watching one of their live performances cuz their frontman's energy is just mindblowing.
I find city pop is so powerful, words can't describe all the emotions it conveys. Just the covers alone constitute a world in themselves. And it gets better and better every time you listen to it.
as a Japanese,it's interesting to see how international people think of Japanese music. I like supercar,number girl,sakanaction,denki groove,The Novembers.
I prefer more so the old stuff. No offense but i have a deep seated aversion to modern Japanese music like j and idol pop. I also don't care for modern anime soundtracks or as I like to call it "Laundry pop"
Every country has its specific kind of music. Some have more some have less. What you listed feels like something you could find in many countries. Meanwhile something like City Pop or Visual Kei are Japanese unless someone actually copies it specifically in other countries. That's what the vid is mostly about, I think =] Future funk is an interesting one. Although not Japanese, it kind of reflects how Japan was from westerners perspective. It's like Casiopea - Galactic Funk but modern, electronic and with city pop fusion.
My exact point in making my first playlist in the channel. Cause i wanted to share my view of a niche genre booming in a different country. The albums you listed here are great choices in expanding your horizon!
for further reading specifically about Perfume, i recommend Patrick St. Michel's book on the GAME album since it does a nice job of providing some context and history about nakata drawing influences from YMO and how the girls were on the verge of disbanding/dropped by management before the full album debut
I've listened to most of these albums, but getting to hear about their careers, influence and tragedies gives me so much more appreciation for their music, so thanks for that. Solid list, and I'm gonna go re-listen to them now.
BOØWY is my fav Japanese band, huge in the late 80s. Their guitarist Hotei has an incredible discography too. possibly my favourite music I’ve ever listened to
man, it's great to see a video on the japanese music scene. Amazing picks for introduction to different genres. Since u talked about number girl you should cover bloodthirsty butchers, i'd love to hear what you have to say on their catalog or at least kocorono and birdie. i made one which focused mostly on the 7e.p label-related artists who make this sort of folky music that incorporates some naivist/noisy/dissonant stuff from time to time
I haven't done the deep dive on Bloodthirsty Butchers yet but after getting into Number Girl I did check out them and Zazen Boys and really liked what I heard. Don't know anything about the folky bands in your video though. A chunk into it and Yumbo with their Neutral Milk Hotel, weird ass instrumentals are at the very least interesting to me lol.
Wow this video took me back. I became a huge Japanese music fan starting in the early 2000s. So much of it now is just nostalgia for me, and this video certainly delivered on the nostalgia. If you think it's hard to find obscure Japanese music now, imagine what it was like back then. I used to watch a show called Hey Hey Hey that was a talk show where they'd bring on artists and have them perform. I found a lot of what I liked listening to through that show. Also Japanese music forums back when forums were a thing. Those were good times. Two bands I really liked that I still have never seen anyone talk about are Advantage Lucy and Quruli. I'm glad you pointed out how good the drummer is in Asian Kungfu Generation. I can't even wrap my head around some of the stuff he does. Also I'm glad I got to be a fan of nujabes back when he was still alive. Those were good times. There's definitely artists out there who were greatly influenced by him, like Marcus D.
Dutch/Belgian artists to check out in several different genres: Spinvis, LPG, Hangyouth, Das Pop, Zita Swoon, Triggerfinger, Heideroosjes, the Travoltas, Doe Maar, Herman van Veen, Brainpower, Def P, de Jeugd van Tegenwoordig, Pé Daalemmer en Rooie Rinus, Plain Bizarre, Golden Earring, John Coffey, Klein Orkest, Opgezwolle, de Huilende Rappers, Party Animals, Peter Pan Speedrock, Mean Machine, Vandenberg, Herman Brood That should get one started, should one want to. There is plenty more to get. The music scene in the netherlands is pretty varied.
MOTFD and The Pillows where my gateway to Rock in general. My current favorite english bands are LUSH, The Delgado's, and Bôa. my favorite Jrock bands are Plastic Girl In Closet, The MUSMUS(or upliftspice) and Itsue( disbanded sadly)
Haven’t heard of all of these but judging by the ones I do recognize, you have excellent taste. I’ll try checking out the ones I don’t know when I can!
Here's a fun one. The (now defunct) band Girlfriend did a bunch of J-Pop covers, mostly translating highly produced if not a bit fluffy pop songs into pretty effective jams. A while back I compiled the list into Original/Covers so you can see how much of an adaptation the songs underwent, but it also serves as a great tour through some Japanese radio faves of the last 10 years or so. ruclips.net/p/PL7Wnk2-Q0l6xZXy9-qyo_l3JOS7xnh9aO
girlfriend??? you mean "scandal jr"? hahaha i liked them i was sad to see they broke up i didnt realize they had released so many different covers thx for sharing
Japanese rock is what actially got me into music. I started from asian kung fu generation and branched off from there. Straightener, ellegarden, special others, and art-school i got introduced from their nano mugen fes. Beat crusaders was the same. Got into them after watching beck and they would introduce me to aspargus, husking bee, and even hidaka (beat crusaders vocalist) introduced me to his current band the starbems. It goes on and on but i think u get the idea.
I'm hearing Japanese music from 2012 (not as deep as him) To me Japanese music is like comfort food or a safe zone, it doesn't matter what mood I'm in i can just start one and listen (of course i don't understand most of it) but it just feels good. Thanks for the video, learned a lot about Japanese music.
this is really interesting to see this perspective from non japanese person, because i would never have thought to suggest these bands as an introduction to japanese music
What’s also difficult to track a lot of Japanese music is the region-locked exclusivity. It’s also evident in the recent addition of their music in streaming services. But even with their addition, they didn’t add all songs (even ones within one album) just because of that.
I personally haven't seen exclusivity being the reason for exclusion from streaming services? While my input is primarily informed by Japanese hip-hop, I find that albums are most often not online either due to a. obscurity/administrative difficulty (i.e. finding master recordings from a group's indie era), or b. copyright irregularities that resulted from sampling or collaborations.
@@scotty1101 My basis for my comment came from anisongs, specifically in some franchises. I get that obscure anime would have more chances of being region-locked, but even some popular ones have region-locked albums. Uta no Prince-sama and Diabolik Lovers come to mind, in my experience. They were long-standing franchises where the majority of their albums are still region-locked. A lot of female fans resorted to piracy just to share their songs and drama cds. Thankfully, it’s not much of a case for more recent franchises like Idolish7 and Hypnosis Mic. They were previously region-locked during release, but they dropped the exclusivity once they realized that a lot of international fans (like me) exist.
22:35 I haven't seen many people talk about Chatmonchy and they're definitively one of my favorites. You have made me very happy just by mentioning them!!
As a Japanese who was a college student in the late 90s, I am happy to see that Japanese music I loved at the time, such as Fishmans, NUMBER GIRL, KURURI, SUPERCAR, Ringo Shiina, and Yurayura Teikoku, are being appreciated overseas and gaining new fans. What I regret, however, is that while LAMP is highly regarded, Sunny Day Service, which I loved the most at the time, is not so well received overseas. Their music is full of Japanese sentiment and seasonality, so maybe it is the type of music that is less appealing if you don't understand Japanese, but their albums are so great pop music that they will go down in Japanese music history, so if you like LAMP or Kirinji, you should definitely give them a listen. You can listen to almost all of their albums in full on their official RUclips page. The album of theirs that I recommend is MUGEN because it is still summer right now. Most of their albums are masterpieces though.
Great video, also props for mentioning Number Girl since they didn't really get as much appreciation in the west, which is a shame since they're one the most influential figure in Japanese Rock scene. From this video AKFG, Tricot and Mass of the Fermenting Dregs have mentioned them as their influence especially for Masafumi Gotoh from AKFG (listen to Flashback by AKFG's and compare it to NG's Touch). Beside Japan's rock scene, artist from different genres has also cited Number Girl as their influences, TK from Ling Toshite Shigure, Asahi/Ishifuro from Necry Talkie, Chiaki Sato from Kinoko Teikoku and of course Sheena Ringo which apparently is a big fan of Mukai Shutoku, Number Girl's lead singer. Also, small correction for Number Girl's last live in Sapporo's Penny Lane the last song was Iggy Pop Fan Club not Omoide in my Head which they played immediately after.
I got into japanese music, by most people, because of anime intros, that were very rockish. But the more i got into it, the more i was enjoying stuff that sounded like what i'm already used to. Im Brazilian, and I can identify the Bossa Nova's influence in many popular japanese artists as Masayoshi Takanaka, the band Lamp, Casiopea, Tatsuro Yamashita and so on. The way the japanese got the melodies of it and re-arranged in their own way got me pretty impressed and pleased.
As someone who has spent the last couple years trying to branch out within the Japanese music space but never has any context as to how well known or influential a group is, this is a fantastic resource. I put several new groups in my "to listen to" playlist and learned how to find more similar to a couple I already loved.
I saw ryo fukui on the thumbnail and knew this would be a great place to broaden my love for Japanese music, and heard you also talked about the legend himself tatsuro yamashita (which I appreciate, since my hard core anime friends who say they love Japanese music, didn't know this man at all was insane to me) really hit it home for me to go hear your recs. So, now I'd also like to recommend hearing to Takashi Kokubo and hear his oasis of the wind series. It's super soothing, with the ambience of nature and all things heard in a typical forest with chimes and other ways he uses instruments to orchestrate them like they're a part of the forest making the album even more peaceful. I suggest hearing it as the whole album. Again, thanks for the recs.
For those looking for more current music that might serve better as an appetizer for people just getting into Japanese music, I recommend Vaundy and Gen Hoshino. Gen Hoshino's music is upbeat and almost always gives a peppy feeling, but he does have a few songs that are on the slower, almost R&B/smooth jazz-like side. A few of his songs I'd recommend starting with are Fushigi, Comedy, Pop Virus, Sarashi-mono, and Ain't Nobody Know. Vaundy is actually a fairly new artist who started and rose to fame in 2019 and has already made multiple songs for TV shows. His music can range from a cozy "staring into the rain through the window" vibe to an exciting "come on, let's go party!" vibe, but I personally think his cozy songs are better. Some chill songs of his that I'd recommend are Tokyo Flash, Napori, Mabataki, Odoriko, Sekai no Himitsu, Yuukai Sink, and Life Hack. If you listen to these songs and end up liking them, some other artists you should check out are Official Hige Dandism(dism should get you the same results), Fujii Kaze, Kenshi Yonezu, and King Gnu. I think these artists will give you more of that authentic Japanese pop sound and if you like listening to all of these artists, then you could probably listen to anything Japanese and like it. Once you fully get into J-music, search up "THE FIRST TAKE" on YT and you'll find a large variety of artists to start listening to. I hope this helps someone wade their way into the J-music swamp.
For myself, it's taken years to accumulate a huge catalog of Japanese bands I love and I really don't mind having engaged the time and effort. I've been dedicated to it long enough that RUclips and Spotify recommendations are including same-day releases of new artists that align to my very varied tastes. I'm currently finding roughly 12 new artists that I especially like each month.
If you're as particular about music as I am, you'll probably find very little value in charts based on who's currently selling well. Your best bet might be to sample through the artists represented here, follow the ones you dig, let the recommendations come, follow the recommendations you dig, repeat... If you're a critical listener, this will absolutely work for you as well as it has for me.
Also watch for collaborations/side projects/solo work among the artists you like. Watch the other artists that the artists you like produce or take on tour.
This playlist is evolving over time and will continue to do so -- breeze through it, skip the ones that don't resonate, follow the artists that do resonate and that world will reveal itself to you in a big way.
ruclips.net/p/PL8r8yVoff2DJWQFqXqkLQZ6Ykuhsn8HjS
open.spotify.com/playlist/5Kot699hNBeyQS2vB6ihCi?si=29bc3abfdf364b60
I see some great artists there, Glim Spanky and Polkadot Stingray being my favourites. I personally miss some Band Maid, Wagakki Band, Scandal or One Ok Rock. Cheers!
Check out LUNA SEA. This Jrock band influenced many other Japanese bands.
What do you recommend to radiohead guys?
@@hadisyuaib8613 therapy
Thanks!! Will definitely check this out.
Japan has the 2nd largest music industry in the world. And I'd say it has the widest variety of sounds in the world.
The depth of their market is insane, I still manage to find great artists even though i listened to thousands of album.
thousands of albums???????????????????
@@belii3426 easy to listen to that many if u really love music.
@@imrananif8351 yeah, during the pandemic i listened a 1000 albums, which doesnt sound too much but it is indeed a lot
You're absolutely right
The one that has the highest variety is definitely the US. Literally more diverse background so cultures music mix more. While Japanese really just does American music, but with a different accent (music accent not actually one).
Most people start to learn Japanese for understanding anime and/or manga, but I actually started to understand and learn more about Japanese music. It's really cool to go from just enjoying the singing and music of a song to being able to fully understand the lyrics and subtleties of meaning and wordplay in the language.
Same here. I am doing it for Japanese music!
I’d love to learn their language in order to understand more about their music and their cars!
Same
Mass of fermenting dregs is the goat
Hell yeah!
fishmans my goat
One of my favourite bands ever
Thhhhheeee goat
True
I got into Japanese music around 2004 with L'Arc~en~Ciel and X Japan, i think them were a big discovery for a lot of people outside Japan
based. theyre a couple of my favourites
yhea, me too!@@jetenginee.
I loved Driver’s High
@@Shockwave99999Yeah was introduced by GTO
the passage into japanese music is a never ending one. it's the type of music that makes you want to search deeper and deeper for more.
fr, I find myself listening to even more obscure and experimental Japanese music each day
@@patatasfritas490 it's quite hard
real shit james harden
@@abigfatpotato8468😂
The pillows have allways been my favorite japanise band, almost evry song is nostelgic. Im not technical with music but my freind compared their music to the beatles singing over a navarna backing. Im glad there getting more recognition now.
Hybrid rainbow just does something to me
More of a Last Dinosaur guy myself, but I see it
I looove BUMP OF CHICKEN’s cover of Hybrid Rainbow on The Pillows’ tribute album!
@@samt3412 🤝
not to diminish this video (or the extensive effort behind it) at all, but i think the difficulty of 'getting into' japanese music as a westerner is a huge part of what makes it borderline magical once you learn how to navigate it all
it's been about 12 years for me now, almost entirely consumed by it, and it's still hard to accurately lay out my journey/approach (not that anyone asked); basically just a never-ending cycle of reading interviews, looking up bands/artists mentioned in those, paying attention to shows and who plays with who, repeat forever, training my algorithms along the way
imo the biggest boon for us breaking into their realm is the fact that it's all so goddamn intertwined. my best friend in Japan is a guy i "met" through email after the guitar player of Tricot mentioned his band in an interview 8 years ago. my current favorite band i discovered because of posts from a girl in a punk-idol group. shit like this happens all the time
and i think that's what really draws me in the hardest. japan's broader "music scene" is a lot like the west 15-25 years ago, especially the midwestern "underground" scene i grew up in: music in general is the strongest binding factor, not the genres or styles or fashions, etc. "music is music", plain and simple. the passion for music itself is what brings everyone together, not just a 'favorite genre', and the friendgroups are as tight-knit and supportive as they are overlapping and expansive
i took my first trip to japan back in march, finally met my aforementioned friend in person, and went to more shows in 30 days than i have in the last probably 15 years in the States; i've been preaching the gospel of japanese music for a very long time and i still ended up feeling a little unprepared for the sheer scope and dynamics of it.
again, no disrespect to anyone, but if i may:
while i don't want to post a playlist or a list of names, i *will* strongly encourage you to look into Gezan if you haven't already:
ruclips.net/video/-UrAwDmDl48/видео.html
ruclips.net/video/ut4lYGQ-3M4/видео.html
(two live performances that basically cover their range of sound)
and a two part pseudo-documentary covering the annual music fest they put on (i think you'll enjoy this in particular; probably spot some familiar faces as well):
ruclips.net/video/lWNSCw1jD1o/видео.html
ruclips.net/video/sSYqCXkNAQo/видео.html
(i gotta stop rambling) i generally don't like the "guide" or "playlist" approach, but you give some solid starting points here and explain them briefly but well; nothing like what i would do if i were to try. lmao long-winded curse forever
if you ever want to engage in a tailspin conversation about JP music, hit me up. haha
also peep Downt if you like American Football
anyway, great work/video, man!
ok bye 👋
Nano, hitsujibungaku, and Ai Higuchi fill my trifecta of artists that perfectly reflect my inner feelings. Ai Higuchi’s “minamikaze/south wind” is probably up there with my favorite songs of all time and I want everyone to hear it
Another one of my favourite japanese math rock bands is "toe". I would consider both "for long tomorrow" and "the book about my idle plot on a vague anxiety" to be some of the best music in the genre, and from japan in general I like it that much. But yeah really good blend of post-rock atmosphere with the crazy drumming of math rock.
ive only been listening to them for about 3-4 years, but man they are sick! to say that "goodbye" is my favourite song sounds a bit cliche but everytime i listen to it that just hit. "sonny boy rhapsody" is also a good one.
Yeah man, toe just got the vibes. I had the pleasure of seeing them live in Singapore back in 2015 and they did not disappoint.
SO REAL! I LOVE TOE
Shocked to not see mervilles by Malice mizer one of the most unique and amazing albums out there truly one of the best Japanese bands of all time
Great choice! Here is some my favorite.
相対性理論(Soutaiseiriron)
きのこ帝国(kinoko teikoku)
青葉市子(Aoba Ichiko)
ゆらゆら帝国(Yurayura teikoku)
神聖かまってちゃん(Shinsei kamattechan)
Thanks from Japan!
Kinoko teikoku my beloved
I love that you used a song from Charly García at the beginning, he is one of the greatest artist from Latin America, a must listen for everybody that loves great music. He's one of the most versatile artist that I ever seen
Another big one, Casiopea that’s relatively underrated, especially since it’s more so jazz fusion. Great band definitely belongs in this discussion.
T-Square entered the chat
@@noamsiebert5056 T-Square 🔛🔝
was looking for thissss
@@noamsiebert5056 T square and casipea are THE GOATS!
one of the greatest bands i've ever listened to.
This video is unreal. I'm half Japanese and grew up in the UK, but I mostly listened to Japanese bands in high school and University.
I’m genuinely shocked how in-line the suggestions in the video are with the bands I listened to growning up - AKFG, Nujabes, Fishmans, Tricot, Number Girl, Mass of the Fermenting Dregs, Cornelius... all so amazing and you did a brilliant job describing their music (even the bands that you didn't delve into but showed little clips of like Pillows, Quruli, Ling Tosite Sigure, Toe and My Dead Girlfriend, love them all)
The way you explained understanding Number Girl's sound was perfect - I also didn't really get them on the first few listens, but I think it was Omoide in my head that suddenly unlocked everything for me, and now they're probably my favorite band of all time.
Will definitely be sharing this video with friends - great work!
I skimmed through the comments to see what bands are mentioned and if the video mentions what you just listed then maybe we've all got a similar taste in music. Actually makes me happy because now I know the recommendations that I haven't heard from here are gonna be good!
Awesome video! I took a college class last semester on how music evolved through Japan, all the way from pre-western contact into the hyperreal JPOP stuff. A lot of the more modern material we covered, you covered as well. Glad to see you covered the Yamashita, Hosono, Ohnuki, and Sakamoto connection, as when I found out about that I was super blown away. Interestingly with regards to Tatsuro Yamashita, a lot of his big hits were due to tie-ins with commercials and movies such as his tie-in with the JR Tokai christmas commercial in 1989 (if I recall correctly).
I cant express how happy i got when the Nujabes part started
Same! It’s funny I discovered him back in middle school, but at the time his name wasn’t very well known outside of the underground hip hop scene. Now though it feels like he’s finally getting the recognition he deserves! The godfather of Lo-Fi! ❤❤❤
@@griffins5655 Lo-Fi comes from early underground hip hop far predating Nujabes :) It comes from the fact that the music was homegrown, with low budget. So everything was low fidelity just because of where it came from. It became a defining stylistic choice of underground hip hop, which greatly influenced Nujabes. Lo-Fi is not a genre. Rather, like flanging guitar is to Goth Rock; it is a characteristic feature of the genre of "underground hip-hop" (basically just hip-hop that isn't pop-ified). Thus, it spreads to other sub genres based on hip-hop, like chillhop, trip-hop, and Jazz-hop (which is where Nujabes fits more cleanly). I attribute people using "Lo-Fi" as a genre specifically to younger generations being exposed to underground hip-hop subgenres and hybrid genres primarily through youtube compilations that used "Lo-Fi" as a title tag rather than the actual genre names.
@@TheBurrito171I learned something new thanks for the information
Woah, 4 minutes in and I feel like you've already given a coherent breakdown of the reason behind the struggle to dive into Japanese music (and other world music). I would have left pretty satisfied with even just that, but that was only the first 6th of this video??! Amazing. This is an easy thumbs up from me. I'm pumped about this video.
If you haven't checked out Shiina Ringo. I highly recomend it. She is really one of those artists that the more you find out about her the more you realize how amazing she really is. Shoso Strip and Kalk Samen are both easily 10/10s.
I found out about her through Unchain’s cover of Marunouchi Sadistic which was used as a fan ED for Chainsaw Man and I’ve loved all the music I’ve come across from her. Loved the opening she did for Jigokuraku so much too
Shiina Ringo is awesome!
Tokyo Jihen is AMAZING!
Souretsu is the most epic song about abortion you'll ever hear
youtube recommended a recorded live show of her like 4 years ago and now she is one of my favourite artists, i love her sound
As an Asian Kung-Fu Generation fan since 2009 I appreciate you shouted out one of their albums. For me their "Magic Disc" album is one of their best because this album is the signal of their "maturity" as a musician, as you pointed out how Goto's approach to vocal, their songs seems to "soften" in later years. So you can have both of the styles in Magic Disc.
I also appreciate how you shouted out similar-genred bands such as Chatmonchy and Fujifabric, they're pretty cool also if "power pop" is your own preferences. Overall I love how this video "comprehensively" summarize Japanese music.
Keep rocking!
Hell yeah!
Agreed 💯
this video made me remember a vlog I watched a long time ago, where the vlogger attends a Japanese music festival. There, one of the foreign musician that he interviewed said something about the reason why he loved Japanese music that struck me. He said that Japanese music has some sort of wonder created by oxymorons. Japanese music consists of songs with a sad melody paired with a happy and energized beat, blues songs with lyrics that encourage you, or happy songs full of melancholy lyrics.
And that, for me, is one of the biggest reasons why I always fall back to Japanese music as my comfort songs
I'm glad you mentioned this! I love the contrast of happy and sad sounds in Japanese music. It has a nostalgic, melancholy feel. It is very relaxing.
Was it the video posted by Adam Neely when he played with the J- Music Ensemble and interviewer Patrick Bartley?
Mixing Jazz and J-Pop
m.ruclips.net/video/gFXcwv9XISc/видео.html
Interesting discussion about what he feels is distinctive about Japanese music (Jpop, anime, jazz) from the perspective of a jazz musician and how he traces the various factors that influence its evolution.
Awesome, I've been waiting for a video like this! I too got into Japanese music through anime. You know how they say that the music you listen to in your teens ends up being your go to music for the rest of your life? Well that's pretty much me with Japanese music.
Some favorites are: Sotaisei Riron, Jun Togawa, Kaneko Ayano, Bokutachi no Iru Tokoro, Seiko Oomori, Shinsei Kamattechan, Frenesi, and L'Arc en Ciel.
Nice list, I'm friends with some of the members or Boku tachi no iru tokoro, you're the first person outside Japan I've ever seen mention them! Seiko was also my fav before her whole scandal thing.
Sick list dude, I love your videos!
@@xbob808x scandal?
Kaneko Ayano is fantastic!
frenesi and Seiko Oomori? incredibly based pick
I discovered Visual Kei nearly 20 years ago, and fell in love with the genre immediately.
After that is was easy to fall in love with the different kinds of music Japan has to offer, and I still listen to it more than music from other languages.
There's just something about the language and use of instruments for me.
Fun fact about the live Dregs footage, that was their first ever european show at Arctangent festival 2022! I saw them there and even met them, genuinely some of the nicest people on earth
I wish I went. I like to think they will come back to the UK one day, but I highly doubt it
Kinda surprise you didn't mention L'arc en Ciel as the most common gateway to Japanese music for most people. Maybe make a part 2 video, considering how well received this video are?
Same! When he mentioned the 90s I thought it would get to that music scene
What's incredible is that all the words in Japanese end with vowels (a, i, u, e, and o) with one exception for the letter n. Yet their rap music is impactful n powerful.
Very.
Yep, consonants are *always* followed by a vowel, except in the case of the ん "n" you mentioned
To be fair, it's a lot easier to rhyme when you have so few options
@サニャSanny its about number of options. U into jpns rap?
@@no-brakes I've heard a fair share of it and have a few favorite artists
I don't know if I'd go as far as to say I'm "into it"
I think it is important to note one thing that you got a bit wrong in this. Japanese definitely changes depending on vowel length, but that is mainly a rule in conversation. In music there isn't any real issue with elongating syllables. Much like in English, listeners will still understand what is being said, so long as the sentence makes sense. There are definitely cases where a syllable will still be kept short for clarity, but it's not a hard rule. Even in Japanese traditional music, there are a lot of examples of this. For example, early shamisen music was usually accompanied by very drawn out syllables to the point that it can be quite hard to understand, especially considering the very old grammar and diction used. And in the example that you gave of と (to) and とう (tou), it's still two syllables, so if you wanted to, you could elongate the first to, and then use an elongated u. After all, although it is generally pronounced as a drawn out to in conversation, it's still two distinct sounds
Yeah I think a while after uploading I was listening to the vocals of some song and realized that wasn't quite right, or at least certainly wasn't one of the bigger issues in singing in Japanese. In anything I've watched/read on that issue since I still can't fully grasp what the main difficulties were so I assume at this point you gotta have really good understanding of the language to get it.
I jumped into the Japanese music wormhole almost 20 years ago, and I still found a couple new listens from this video! I can tell how much you really love and appreciate stuff from across the whole spectrum from having Fishmans and a 2 second cutaway clip to a theater stage of Idol Nante Yobanaide in the same vid lol. That's what I truly love about the JPN music scene is that there is so much unique crossover between all genres, and no matter where I end up I can find something to add to my library. To any new listeners, this is a fantastic video to watch, and every album I knew I recommend. Don't be intimidated by the album art flow charts or long lists of "essentials" that float around. Find one album, artist, or even just a song you really like, find some people who like that same thing, and see what else is on their lists. I've found other fans are always the best resource for what to try next.
To throw some personal recs out there, try Gacharic Spin for some high-power zany rock, lyrical school for a mix of pop and hip hop, and producer Mondo Grosso for some jazzy electronic beats.
As a Japanese music nerd I'm fascinated with this video. Haruomi Hosono is my favorite artist, and I truly feel he deserves more recognition in the west. Also I love that you threw in B roll of lesser know artist like Seagull Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her who I never expected to ever see thrown in to a video. Great job!
Almost cried when I saw the Ryo Fukui album cover. Not as obscure as he used to be but everything about him is perfect to me. Music without words can move so much more when it's made by people this talented.
I feel like Midori - Aratamemashite, hajimemashite, Midori desu. is an important Japanese album that wasnt mentioned, This album truly is one of the most important and unique Hardcore Punk albums of all time and it was the reason that made me fall into the world of Japanese rock/hardcore scene and they inspired some bands like Otoboke Beaver, Its such an artistic album that with every listen i just like more and more.
And thanks a lot for the video, I really wanted something like this to send to people who want to get into Japanese music and i usually just text them the names so now i just have to send a simple link lol
couldn't agree more!! It was one of those albums that made me realize my love for Japanese hardcore punk and only dragged me deeper. Led me to discovering other hits like melt banana and otoboke beaver
huge number girl fan here!
i dont quite remember how i found them but it was during a rough period of my life, and all the noise and angst really resonated with me.
its so true how u like the albums more the more u listen to them, and the way u described them makes me feel like i understand just why i loved them so much at the time, and why i continue to love them years on.
thank u for spreading the word abt them, and all this other lovely music!
(akfg are also one of my favorites ever.. lovely video!)
Through listening to number girl I came across the band eastern youth, i think you might enjoy their music too!
Honestly man. Well done on intro to Japanese music. You provided giants for every different genre. Starting there we can explore associated artists to each. You really know your Japanese music.
I've been listening to number girl a lot recently and it's probably the reason why your video appeared in the recommendations section. I love this band, they're great especially when you read lyrics of some songs. They use simple yet really emotionally powerful lines from which you can directly imagine things they're singing about. Also their cover of bloodthirsty butcher's "poolside" is great
wow you bringing up Ryo Fukui, Taeko Ohnuki, Cornelius, Nujabes (obviously), Asian Kung0fu Gen., Tricot, AND Mass of Fermenting Dregs, has truly validated my inner music dweeb for Japanese music instilled into me since ever. I appreciate that level of goat-edness
I think Spitz is one of the most influential bands in Japanese 2000-2020s music
I think their heyday is 90s but yes one of the most influential for sure
Loved the video! Japanese "hyperpop" or whatever (with a strong foundation in the Japanese netlabel scene) is really cool atm. Pas Tasta, Peterparker69, Starkids, Tohji, e5, cyber milk chan, trash angels, okadakun, hirirhiri, amane uyama++
just earned a sub. It's unbelievable how youtube doesn't promote this type of passionate, well researched, and just generally way more interesting content.
Like you absolutely did to me what I expected of your video: you introduced me to a world I now want to explore by myself. That's what it should be about.
So a big thank you for your video.
Asian Kung fu Generation is my favorite band and i watched they live in Sao Paulo in 08/07/2017 was probably the best day of my life.
I love Tricot, mass of the fermeting dregs too. Today i "found" "Cody Lee" too, wich is an amazing band too.
Also, great job my dude.
I'm a simple guy, you mention DJ Krush and Nujabes in the same section, you automatically end up being a must-watch for the guy that introduced me to the joy of listening to some good music; my father. Thank you so much for the video, it was refreshing to listen to your voice talking about so many good artists I want to discover. And buy vinyls of. With a great sound system.
...
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?!
As someone who religously listens to Japanese music, MOTFD is easily my favorite band. Even though they are mildly popular, I still think they are underrated. Also, I've found that chou chou merged syrups reminds me a lot of them.
Found your video on Nujabes subreddit, I am surprised how well this video is done from research, scripting and editing perspective, definitely something I would not expect from someone below 100k subs let alone 100 subs.
I had been trying to find a guide to enter Japanese music for so long, since my only introduction to those were Anime openings or soundtracks, but this video definitely made me aware of a lot of things that I didn't care to explore, thanks for this.
Check out this Japanese band called Blue Hearts. It's a punk group from 90-s, and they are super well-known in Japan. Try watching one of their live performances cuz their frontman's energy is just mindblowing.
Came from your Reddit post on shibuya-kei, glad it was given a good mention.
I find city pop is so powerful, words can't describe all the emotions it conveys. Just the covers alone constitute a world in themselves.
And it gets better and better every time you listen to it.
as a Japanese,it's interesting to see how international people think of Japanese music.
I like supercar,number girl,sakanaction,denki groove,The Novembers.
Supercar are so good. They were very far ahead of their time.
I prefer more so the old stuff. No offense but i have a deep seated aversion to modern Japanese music like j and idol pop. I also don't care for modern anime soundtracks or as I like to call it "Laundry pop"
Every country has its specific kind of music. Some have more some have less. What you listed feels like something you could find in many countries. Meanwhile something like City Pop or Visual Kei are Japanese unless someone actually copies it specifically in other countries. That's what the vid is mostly about, I think =]
Future funk is an interesting one. Although not Japanese, it kind of reflects how Japan was from westerners perspective. It's like Casiopea - Galactic Funk but modern, electronic and with city pop fusion.
It’s crazy how one video may change your life.
Mass of the Fermenting Dregs is an incredible band, really glad to see more people talking about it
Perfume is so incredible, they're genuinely my favourite musicians alive, they have my entire heart
King gnu is one of the most creative bands I’ve ever heard. Not a single bad song, only in Japanese music do you get that.
Personally I prefer Daiki Tsuneta's other project, millenium parade
I was looking for this comment
Not a bad song? The Ranking of Kings OP was abysmal
@@electricant55 boy? nah you tripping my guy
@@electricant55 if you say boy was bad youre tripping balls. I get its your opinion but Im sorry, that opinion is just wrong 😂
My exact point in making my first playlist in the channel. Cause i wanted to share my view of a niche genre booming in a different country. The albums you listed here are great choices in expanding your horizon!
Great video!! Perfume and Tricot are two of my favorite bands, not only from japan, but all-time!!
I was so happy to see Mass of Fermented Dregs on here. I haven't heard of anyone talk about the band and I find their music so captivating and unique.
for further reading specifically about Perfume, i recommend Patrick St. Michel's book on the GAME album since it does a nice job of providing some context and history about nakata drawing influences from YMO and how the girls were on the verge of disbanding/dropped by management before the full album debut
I've listened to most of these albums, but getting to hear about their careers, influence and tragedies gives me so much more appreciation for their music, so thanks for that. Solid list, and I'm gonna go re-listen to them now.
This video is amazing. Looking across the timestamps and seeing literally all of my favorite musicians felt so beautiful. Thank you for this!
BOØWY is my fav Japanese band, huge in the late 80s. Their guitarist Hotei has an incredible discography too. possibly my favourite music I’ve ever listened to
would also recommend the work of hide Matsumoto. To me he is the most influential Japanese musician of all time :)
this is a great vid dude, and i love fishmans
Lamp, Boredoms, Les Rallizes, Sheena Ringo ... should be in the video too ❤
Lamp is amazing
Les Rallizes 😍
i own a vinyl of "heavier than a death in the family" and its so wonderfully scratchy.......... thank you mizutani
日本の音楽についての深い考察、研究素晴らしいですね！
とても面白かったです！
What a surprise ! Didn't expect to see Bombino right out the gate haha, I'm a fan
Holy shit I love MOTFD. I discovered them in a Japanese shoegaze playlist and fell in love
Even got their most recent album on vinyl ♥️
Thank you so much for making this! I'm going to japan soon and want to bring back music! This seems like a great place to start.
man, it's great to see a video on the japanese music scene. Amazing picks for introduction to different genres. Since u talked about number girl you should cover bloodthirsty butchers, i'd love to hear what you have to say on their catalog or at least kocorono and birdie.
i made one which focused mostly on the 7e.p label-related artists who make this sort of folky music that incorporates some naivist/noisy/dissonant stuff from time to time
I haven't done the deep dive on Bloodthirsty Butchers yet but after getting into Number Girl I did check out them and Zazen Boys and really liked what I heard.
Don't know anything about the folky bands in your video though. A chunk into it and Yumbo with their Neutral Milk Hotel, weird ass instrumentals are at the very least interesting to me lol.
Hey this video opened up an entire world for me and I'm glad you made it. Thanks a million, big dog!
Haven't heard of perfume before, but other than that I LOVE every single album you've talked about. I'll be sure to check Perfume out. Great video!
Wow this video took me back. I became a huge Japanese music fan starting in the early 2000s. So much of it now is just nostalgia for me, and this video certainly delivered on the nostalgia. If you think it's hard to find obscure Japanese music now, imagine what it was like back then. I used to watch a show called Hey Hey Hey that was a talk show where they'd bring on artists and have them perform. I found a lot of what I liked listening to through that show. Also Japanese music forums back when forums were a thing. Those were good times. Two bands I really liked that I still have never seen anyone talk about are Advantage Lucy and Quruli. I'm glad you pointed out how good the drummer is in Asian Kungfu Generation. I can't even wrap my head around some of the stuff he does. Also I'm glad I got to be a fan of nujabes back when he was still alive. Those were good times. There's definitely artists out there who were greatly influenced by him, like Marcus D.
great video! love all the artists you presented here, they deserve the spotlight!
all of the artists here are amazing, great video and taste in music!!!
Dutch/Belgian artists to check out in several different genres:
Spinvis,
LPG,
Hangyouth,
Das Pop,
Zita Swoon,
Triggerfinger,
Heideroosjes,
the Travoltas,
Doe Maar,
Herman van Veen,
Brainpower,
Def P,
de Jeugd van Tegenwoordig,
Pé Daalemmer en Rooie Rinus,
Plain Bizarre,
Golden Earring,
John Coffey,
Klein Orkest,
Opgezwolle,
de Huilende Rappers,
Party Animals,
Peter Pan Speedrock,
Mean Machine,
Vandenberg,
Herman Brood
That should get one started, should one want to. There is plenty more to get. The music scene in the netherlands is pretty varied.
MOTFD and The Pillows where my gateway to Rock in general. My current favorite english bands are LUSH, The Delgado's, and Bôa. my favorite Jrock bands are Plastic Girl In Closet, The MUSMUS(or upliftspice) and Itsue( disbanded sadly)
Haven’t heard of all of these but judging by the ones I do recognize, you have excellent taste. I’ll try checking out the ones I don’t know when I can!
Itsue is such a hidden gem
Glad to see Mass of Fermenting Dregs here. i just recently discovered them and i absolutely love them. 100% give them a listen
Here's a fun one. The (now defunct) band Girlfriend did a bunch of J-Pop covers, mostly translating highly produced if not a bit fluffy pop songs into pretty effective jams. A while back I compiled the list into Original/Covers so you can see how much of an adaptation the songs underwent, but it also serves as a great tour through some Japanese radio faves of the last 10 years or so. ruclips.net/p/PL7Wnk2-Q0l6xZXy9-qyo_l3JOS7xnh9aO
Thanks for sharing!
girlfriend??? you mean "scandal jr"? hahaha i liked them i was sad to see they broke up i didnt realize they had released so many different covers thx for sharing
My friends going to see dregs live in a few months, couldn't be more happy/excited for him!
Japanese rock is what actially got me into music. I started from asian kung fu generation and branched off from there. Straightener, ellegarden, special others, and art-school i got introduced from their nano mugen fes. Beat crusaders was the same. Got into them after watching beck and they would introduce me to aspargus, husking bee, and even hidaka (beat crusaders vocalist) introduced me to his current band the starbems. It goes on and on but i think u get the idea.
The Beck compilation albums were on repeat throughout my entire first year of college. What a great show, btw.
MASS OF THE FERMENTING DREGS YESSS finally someone who is giving them the recognition they deserve.
Great job. Definitely an intimidating endeavor.
I'm hearing Japanese music from 2012 (not as deep as him)
To me Japanese music is like comfort food or a safe zone, it doesn't matter what mood I'm in i can just start one and listen (of course i don't understand most of it) but it just feels good.
Thanks for the video, learned a lot about Japanese music.
I pretty much exclusively listen to Japanese music and seeing mass of the fermenting dregs on a big channel like this was so cool lol
Never would I imagine that I´ll be hearing Charly Garcia in a video about Japanese music.
Thanks for that!
Greetings from Argentina
I've listened to Cornelius' Fanstasma and was totally blown away! Thank you for this discovery!
I'm so happy that you brought my two favorite band, tricot and mass of the fermenting dregs!!
this is really interesting to see this perspective from non japanese person, because i would never have thought to suggest these bands as an introduction to japanese music
i recently found out about casiopea and i just can't get enough of them, best japanese funk band ever
where is midori tho
as a jazz head, scenery for Gen Z jazz musicians is like, THE gold standard jazz piano record now.
What’s also difficult to track a lot of Japanese music is the region-locked exclusivity. It’s also evident in the recent addition of their music in streaming services. But even with their addition, they didn’t add all songs (even ones within one album) just because of that.
I personally haven't seen exclusivity being the reason for exclusion from streaming services? While my input is primarily informed by Japanese hip-hop, I find that albums are most often not online either due to a. obscurity/administrative difficulty (i.e. finding master recordings from a group's indie era), or b. copyright irregularities that resulted from sampling or collaborations.
@@scotty1101 My basis for my comment came from anisongs, specifically in some franchises. I get that obscure anime would have more chances of being region-locked, but even some popular ones have region-locked albums. Uta no Prince-sama and Diabolik Lovers come to mind, in my experience. They were long-standing franchises where the majority of their albums are still region-locked. A lot of female fans resorted to piracy just to share their songs and drama cds.
Thankfully, it’s not much of a case for more recent franchises like Idolish7 and Hypnosis Mic. They were previously region-locked during release, but they dropped the exclusivity once they realized that a lot of international fans (like me) exist.
22:35 I haven't seen many people talk about Chatmonchy and they're definitively one of my favorites. You have made me very happy just by mentioning them!!
while listening to your description of ryo fukui, I stared at my copy of scenery on my shelf
As a Japanese who was a college student in the late 90s, I am happy to see that Japanese music I loved at the time, such as Fishmans, NUMBER GIRL, KURURI, SUPERCAR, Ringo Shiina, and Yurayura Teikoku, are being appreciated overseas and gaining new fans. What I regret, however, is that while LAMP is highly regarded, Sunny Day Service, which I loved the most at the time, is not so well received overseas. Their music is full of Japanese sentiment and seasonality, so maybe it is the type of music that is less appealing if you don't understand Japanese, but their albums are so great pop music that they will go down in Japanese music history, so if you like LAMP or Kirinji, you should definitely give them a listen. You can listen to almost all of their albums in full on their official RUclips page. The album of theirs that I recommend is MUGEN because it is still summer right now. Most of their albums are masterpieces though.
Great video, also props for mentioning Number Girl since they didn't really get as much appreciation in the west, which is a shame since they're one the most influential figure in Japanese Rock scene. From this video AKFG, Tricot and Mass of the Fermenting Dregs have mentioned them as their influence especially for Masafumi Gotoh from AKFG (listen to Flashback by AKFG's and compare it to NG's Touch). Beside Japan's rock scene, artist from different genres has also cited Number Girl as their influences, TK from Ling Toshite Shigure, Asahi/Ishifuro from Necry Talkie, Chiaki Sato from Kinoko Teikoku and of course Sheena Ringo which apparently is a big fan of Mukai Shutoku, Number Girl's lead singer.
Also, small correction for Number Girl's last live in Sapporo's Penny Lane the last song was Iggy Pop Fan Club not Omoide in my Head which they played immediately after.
The uniqueness and sheer variety of Japanese music is what drew me to it
I got into Do As Infinity after watching Inuyasha as a kid. She has got one of the most beautiful and moving voices I've ever heard in music
I got into japanese music, by most people, because of anime intros, that were very rockish. But the more i got into it, the more i was enjoying stuff that sounded like what i'm already used to. Im Brazilian, and I can identify the Bossa Nova's influence in many popular japanese artists as Masayoshi Takanaka, the band Lamp, Casiopea, Tatsuro Yamashita and so on. The way the japanese got the melodies of it and re-arranged in their own way got me pretty impressed and pleased.
As someone who has spent the last couple years trying to branch out within the Japanese music space but never has any context as to how well known or influential a group is, this is a fantastic resource. I put several new groups in my "to listen to" playlist and learned how to find more similar to a couple I already loved.
I think you criminally undersold Mass Of The Fermenting Dregs! Their instrumentals and stage presence are absolutely bonkers
I saw ryo fukui on the thumbnail and knew this would be a great place to broaden my love for Japanese music, and heard you also talked about the legend himself tatsuro yamashita (which I appreciate, since my hard core anime friends who say they love Japanese music, didn't know this man at all was insane to me) really hit it home for me to go hear your recs. So, now I'd also like to recommend hearing to Takashi Kokubo and hear his oasis of the wind series. It's super soothing, with the ambience of nature and all things heard in a typical forest with chimes and other ways he uses instruments to orchestrate them like they're a part of the forest making the album even more peaceful. I suggest hearing it as the whole album. Again, thanks for the recs.
For those looking for more current music that might serve better as an appetizer for people just getting into Japanese music, I recommend Vaundy and Gen Hoshino. Gen Hoshino's music is upbeat and almost always gives a peppy feeling, but he does have a few songs that are on the slower, almost R&B/smooth jazz-like side. A few of his songs I'd recommend starting with are Fushigi, Comedy, Pop Virus, Sarashi-mono, and Ain't Nobody Know.
Vaundy is actually a fairly new artist who started and rose to fame in 2019 and has already made multiple songs for TV shows. His music can range from a cozy "staring into the rain through the window" vibe to an exciting "come on, let's go party!" vibe, but I personally think his cozy songs are better. Some chill songs of his that I'd recommend are Tokyo Flash, Napori, Mabataki, Odoriko, Sekai no Himitsu, Yuukai Sink, and Life Hack.
If you listen to these songs and end up liking them, some other artists you should check out are Official Hige Dandism(dism should get you the same results), Fujii Kaze, Kenshi Yonezu, and King Gnu. I think these artists will give you more of that authentic Japanese pop sound and if you like listening to all of these artists, then you could probably listen to anything Japanese and like it. Once you fully get into J-music, search up "THE FIRST TAKE" on YT and you'll find a large variety of artists to start listening to. I hope this helps someone wade their way into the J-music swamp.
I'm glad you started with Happy End. Fell in love with them when I lived there.
bro just shoved the best jazz album I've heard in years on the thumbnail and expected me not to at least hear the intro, smh