I don't listen to much Japanese music and don't really keep up with it at all. The fact is, the people I know in Japan that were really into music mainly listened to foreign bands so I didn't get much info.
Sometimes, it is just quite hard to explain why you like something and it appears contrary to what you think you like. This may be one of those times, it may not. I did persuade one person to listen to a bit of one song and the question I was asked was "That is a girl, right?".
The band themselves supposedly got popular through a song called "Starlight Parade" which was used in an advert for [1] and it was also the first song I heard on television (this is explained at the end in a separate section) and it is appropriately advert friendly being quite catchy although eventually feeling a little empty. It is also the first proper song on the album, although it is preceded by an "Entrance" track.
As a fairly long album, it weaves through to the end via quite a few styles although all rooted in an "indie-ish" punk sound with significant elements of polish. The album is overall, quite a mixture of speeds and instrumentation so it is quite hard to pin down.
This seems to be a fairly central theme in the Japanese pop culture that I have consumed and enjoyed of late but I cannot be sure that this is a particularly central thing in reality. In fact, that is one of the things about listening to music isolated from the culture - it can be hard to know what it means within that culture or the time without a true context[2]. I have later been told that the band are very popular amongst "young people" - a euphemism I'd imagine!
Fittingly, I had a mild addiction to the album as a whole when I first heard it and I always consider the repeat playing of songs or albums to be teenage and it is a really coherent album with simple, clear hooks. The different sounds and the production style is very fun and sing-a-long throughout (linguistic issues aside) and feels quite carefully crafted. The polish comes from the use of quite spacey post-effects with twinkling, tingling starfalls being implied and the use of many other instruments such as xylophones and piano/keyboards. To be honest, it is probably the production that has elevated the album and I am quite ready to fall for gimmicks and suchlike at time. The last track (深い森/Fukai Mori), for instance has two sections to it and there is not a smooth split between the two but the first section just sounds as if it broken by the second and it is not a smooth transition at all. I loved it and it made me smile - a rarity.
The linguistic issues will be there for a lot of people, understandably, as the album is sung in Japanese (apart from a few sections). My understanding is probably not sufficient to get the lyrics but I was quite struck by how the meaning was still fairly clear without knowing the words. Nemuri Hime[眠り姫] for example has a simultaneously upbeat and downbeat feel to it, as if the happiness is muted and it is actually about (as far as I can make out, anyway) the sadness the singer feels when he is happy, as he knows that happiness will cease in the future. I think that is a relatively complex idea but it was still hinted at musically.
Why not have a listen?
Sometimes, it is just quite hard to explain why you like something and it appears contrary to what you think you like. This may be one of those times, it may not. I did persuade one person to listen to a bit of one song and the question I was asked was "That is a girl, right?".
The band themselves supposedly got popular through a song called "Starlight Parade" which was used in an advert for [1] and it was also the first song I heard on television (this is explained at the end in a separate section) and it is appropriately advert friendly being quite catchy although eventually feeling a little empty. It is also the first proper song on the album, although it is preceded by an "Entrance" track.
As a fairly long album, it weaves through to the end via quite a few styles although all rooted in an "indie-ish" punk sound with significant elements of polish. The album is overall, quite a mixture of speeds and instrumentation so it is quite hard to pin down.
This seems to be a fairly central theme in the Japanese pop culture that I have consumed and enjoyed of late but I cannot be sure that this is a particularly central thing in reality. In fact, that is one of the things about listening to music isolated from the culture - it can be hard to know what it means within that culture or the time without a true context[2]. I have later been told that the band are very popular amongst "young people" - a euphemism I'd imagine!
Fittingly, I had a mild addiction to the album as a whole when I first heard it and I always consider the repeat playing of songs or albums to be teenage and it is a really coherent album with simple, clear hooks. The different sounds and the production style is very fun and sing-a-long throughout (linguistic issues aside) and feels quite carefully crafted. The polish comes from the use of quite spacey post-effects with twinkling, tingling starfalls being implied and the use of many other instruments such as xylophones and piano/keyboards. To be honest, it is probably the production that has elevated the album and I am quite ready to fall for gimmicks and suchlike at time. The last track (深い森/Fukai Mori), for instance has two sections to it and there is not a smooth split between the two but the first section just sounds as if it broken by the second and it is not a smooth transition at all. I loved it and it made me smile - a rarity.
The linguistic issues will be there for a lot of people, understandably, as the album is sung in Japanese (apart from a few sections). My understanding is probably not sufficient to get the lyrics but I was quite struck by how the meaning was still fairly clear without knowing the words. Nemuri Hime[眠り姫] for example has a simultaneously upbeat and downbeat feel to it, as if the happiness is muted and it is actually about (as far as I can make out, anyway) the sadness the singer feels when he is happy, as he knows that happiness will cease in the future. I think that is a relatively complex idea but it was still hinted at musically.
Why not have a listen?
Songs such as Fight Music, 生物学的幻想曲 (Seibutsu-teki Gensōkyoku) and Fantasy drive along with pace, where others feel more sedate and mournful. It is a good mix and one I would recommend to those that are open to it.
Although this has been on my playlist since May, I have been quite unsure about how much of a fleeting enjoyment it would prove to be but it has been a few months and I am still not bored of it so i feel a lot more comfortable with recommending it.
How did I come across this?
There is a programme called J-Melo[link] on NHK-World that I record (amongst a few other things) and then usually forward through and see nothing of note on. I think I have been doing that for a few years and, other than a few songs that were not bad, it is a fruitless task to try and listen to decent music like this. The majority of bands on there very much fall into J-pop and that is not really my favourite of genres. Actually, the presenter, May-J is also a pop star (of sorts, not sure how popular) and she sometimes sings and usually interviews some people.
I usually "watch" J-Melo with my back to it or doing something else and listening to it as if it is radio and so I only look over if my interest is piqued. Apart from the strange costumes of SEKAI NO OWARI, I was also struck by the fact that the interview was done in (imperfect) English. The interview was superb and I actually laughed out at one answer, delivered by the drummer in a clown mask - which is actually what made me continue watching. May J looked genuinely perplexed at the answer and it was brilliant. Upon being asked about why they made music and appealing to foreign fans, the band members spoke in turn of wanting to connect with different cultures and wanting to learn from them. The drummer (to paraphrase):
I want to grow as a person. Not just mentally but physically too. I want to be taller.
1.Adverts have a little musical note icon and the name of the song noted on the advert itself when it plays on TV, so it is easy to find out what song is used and who it is by.↩
2.For example, I remember quite liking the first Babyshambles album when it came out but that I did so oblivious to the circus surrounding Pete Doherty at the time and so many friends were somewhat surprised I could like it. I wonder if I would have had I been in the middle of the stories too.↩
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