re: jpop: i think i contradicted myself

[ndk <ndkent@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

J-POP is a term actually used by Japanese people to describe all their
own popular music and just as much a term to denote what isn't foreign made.

"Alternative" quite logicaly is alternative to the mainstream, okay, so
that still doesn't get you too far especially if you aren't used to the
mainstream's shifting but self-similar tastes. Even the acts that Taylor
mentioned, while definitely 'Top 40', stand out in part because they
were a genre that by force of sales was tranformed to mainstream. And
like anything you have that small percent of wonderful cracking the
mainstream (Sakamoto had a new age-ish solo piano #1, kahimi karie's
eccentric european pop and the deliriously nerdy/hot Tommy February6 - a
girl doing some sort of duran duran meets american 80s synth pop thing
to big sucess)

> so what's good? what is essential alternative jpop that needs to be
> listened to... it's something i know nothing about i'd be interested in
> checking something out...

It's really a matter of what you are into and how much you want to check
out until you find something you are into. You have to at least whittle
it down to the genre level

http://www.artcontext.com/music/artskool/jem/
You won't find a top 10 list on the site above. what you will find are
hundreds of album descriptions though for better or worse few recent and
trendy albums-du-jour

Taylor was mentioning Sugar Plant. I'd call them a sort of familiar but
in a good way act because they seem to have done quite a bit of playing
on the U.S. alternative scene. Sort of awash in guitar until it becomes
kind of dreamy and ambient. I have one by them that takes a stab at
electronica so one can't say they aren't electronic at all.

His Happy release seems to fit well with a style that's getting noticed
now. It's doing simple personal pop by experimental means. I think what
makes the Japanese approach stand out is an acceptance of doing it
yourself experimentally, fully accepting it isn't commercial sounding,
but also desiring to be pretty, a trait not yet found often in
experimental music elsewhere. Takemura's Childisc label definitely
helped make this approach known and accepted.

Relating too to an extent was Takako Minekawa, who's had sucessful US
releases, though she also relates to the artist as record collector
Shibuya-kei genre. In my mind since she's on holiday raising her baby
coupled with Childisc's renoun, a lot of composers, many talented and
not derivative, are trying out a related approach to semi-naieve
experimentalism (Noriko Tujiko).
Is this the new folk music? I'm not so sure. In my mind 'folk' is rooted
in  tradition, this seems more like experimenting into personal
expression, finding a simple language. 

daisyworld has the widest variety of the non mainstream, and in my mind
it's better, not worse that they don't get extreme
http://www.daisyworld.co.jp/
but aside from sketch show - which is said to be slated for UK release,
it's a glitch-pop act of pop legends Hosono & Yukihiro Takahashi with
Ryuichi Sakamoto and Cornelius sitting in much of the time. The Japanese
releases are real tough and pricey to get a hold of... and being
formerly indy, their back catalog got entirely deleted twice due to
manufacturer/distributers going out of business.

not much to do with what Taylor is up to (though more relavant than say
a Noise act)--

Susumu Hirasawa is definitely an all time favorite for me
http://www.s-hirasawa.com/teslakite/1000nen/e/
there is some MP3 if you route around and the very fine and slightly
Citizen Kane-like Anime feature "Millennium Actress" is being picked up
by Dreamworks.

Recently played: older Kuroyuri Shimai, gothic without the goth. (not
"ic" either whatever that is... ahem)

I'm consciously plugging Sonoko's 1980s album reissue "La Debutante"
because it still is this wonderous forgotten mysterious pop soundscape
-it's not really a Japanese album for one thing... (+hint+ - the CD is
carried by Amazon and is quite inexpensive)
http://www.sonokosite.com/sonography_e.html
(p.s. the second album on the page has the soundbytes, it's the same
album as the top one, which is just the current reissue)

I guess I can sum up this long thing by saying some music merely novel.
Some things do resonate with what you like and finding them is certainly rewarding.

nicholas d. kent

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