The J-Music Lovers' International Assembly

[Mandilinn]

BENI slayed me with this teaser

 

 

 

This is the first good song she's done in a long time. I might actually check out this album now.

[Mandilinn]

I always urge people who claim to be getting tired of the Korean music scene to look into older Kpop releases. Most fans at this forum probably got into the genre between 2009-2012 so I always try to recommend good songs from the mid decade so that it isn't too retro, but also isn't too electropop/current.

For example, Lately I've been rekindling my love for old Ivy.

 

I really need to start a weekly "for those who missed" thread series in the k-section. But I'm just too damn lazy.

 

Ivy I loved her when I first got into K-Pop. When I got into it 2008-2009-ish, this is what I was listening to a lot along with Jewelry. Even though I liked SNSD and KARA around then, they got tiring really quickly.

 

I do the same thing with J-Pop when I get bored with the current music. Switching back and forth between old and new keeps things sounding fresh for me. I wanted to do a kind of J-Pop throwback thread (like you were thinking of for the K-Pop side) because I've been listening to a lot of older releases lately, but I don't know how many people would read it. 

Edited July 19, 2013 by Mandilinn

[Mandilinn]

I've done the same though since some of you are judging about getting into certain "modern" releases in kpop, I've been judged so much for saying I got into Japanese music through anime. Why or how that deserves judging IDK. 

 

Also, I've been looking into the KRock scene a lot lately. 

 

I wouldn't judge anyone who got into it through anime. There's a lot of great songs that were/are used for anime and video games. With me, Hikki led to Kuu, which lead to more gaming, which lead to me discovering bands like Every Little Thing, DEEN, Garnet Crow, and Do As Infinity, and soloists like BoA and Mai Kuraki. Information was so limited in the 90s, especially about Japan, so I'm grateful for things that helped me get deeper into the music scene. Once I discovered how good their music was, I wanted to search on my own about it, whether it was related to anime or not.

 

I don't really have an opinion on the K-Pop side, other than I think some of the newer fans are missing out by dismissing older releases.

[Mandilinn]

Kana's "Namida Iro" PV preview.

 

http://www.yinyuetai.com/video/715637

 

I bought Ni No Kuni finally... now if only I can find time to play it

 

Hopefully you will. It's so pretty, too <3 But the mechanics take a bit of getting used to.

[Mandilinn]

This movie looks funny. I'd like to see it when it's out on DVD/Blu-ray And this is probably E-Girls' catchiest song yet. VERBAL is pretty good here, too.

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x11ep31_%EF%BD%85-%EF%BD%87%EF%BD%89%EF%BD%92%EF%BD%8C%EF%BD%93-oha-%E8%AC%9D%E7%BD%AA%E3%81%AE%E7%8E%8B%E6%A7%98-%E3%81%94%E3%82%81%E3%82%93%E3%81%AA%E3%81%95%E3%81%84%E3%81%AE%EF%BD%8B%EF%BD%89%EF%BD%93%EF%BD%93%EF%BD%89%EF%BD%8E%EF%BD%87-%EF%BD%99%EF%BD%8F%EF%BD%95_music

Edited July 19, 2013 by Mandilinn

[Mandilinn]

An interview with MEG I translated: http://onehallyu.com/index.php?/topic/13215-a-zombie-and-warriors-chance-meeting-the-idea-behind-the-creation-of-meg-the-world/

 

 

I need that new Kana song to come out already =_=

 

PV should be out soon since they already aired a preview. ^^

 

 

I've heard several people say SNSD's Japanese is getting worse but people are trying to say that it's getting better now?

It depends on the day. Sometimes their pronunciation sounds decent, others they sound like complete beginners. It's clear they aren't really practicing that much and are still relying on their best speakers, though.

Edited July 20, 2013 by Mandilinn

[Mandilinn]

Please vote if you can. I'm going to use these results for something. ^^

 

http://onehallyu.com/index.php?/topic/13376-best-and-most-cohesive-studio-album-out-of-the-j-pop-queens/

[Mandilinn]

I left a lengthy ass response in your Korean thread. I'm sure there's more that I'm forgetting but lbr, trust me over most of the other replies in the thread. I didn't include Lee Hyori or BoA tho, for Hyori i think Uhm Jung Hwa did what people usually give her credit for tbh, Hyori was inspired by UJH.

I just couldn't think of anything influential about BoA tbh, besides I guess the Hallyu Wave.

 

Thanks. This will be helpful. ^^

 

And thanks to everyone else that left an answer, too.

[Mandilinn]

 

FAKY Update reveals one member Diane, they updated their website with her info

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrhbsLprqDM

 

 

Oh! She's the female vocalist winner of the Avex audition from several months ago. I wondered what they were going to do with her. Now I'm really interested.

That hair color, though...

 

One of the kids from my work is in the hospital so me and one of my coworkers went to visit her. But it was also thunderstorming and she's SUPER afraid of the rain so she was having anbreakdown and breaking stuff and knocking everything down. It got to the point where they are now trying to put her in seclusion until they will be ale to transfer her into a children's hospital. I understand the situation was bad, but they were SO rude about it. I totally lost a lot of faith in our country's nurses and medical staff.

That's awful. :( I hope she'll be okay.

 

Sadly, I can't disagree with you about medical staff. My mom used to work as a nurse and she's had some pretty bad experiences with doctors in private practices. But there are some good doctors out there. The doctor I had for most of my life until I left home was great.

Edited July 21, 2013 by Mandilinn

[Mandilinn]

was she good vocal-wise?

 

Well, she won along with another guy, so.....

 

I haven't seen any video of the audition. :( Maybe Avex will release that footage at some point.

[Mandilinn]

hmmm I hope so I don't want no helium voices 

 

I don't think it'll be that. Most "helium" voices come from their younger groups nowadays. They've been trying to debut artists with deeper and fuller sounding voices, I've noticed.

 

That comment section is a mess, though. "Japan is finally doing dubstep/EDM??? O_________O" I wonder where some of these people have been the past couple of years because Japan has been doing that for a while now. =/

[Mandilinn]

wat really....Japan has been on that boat a lil to long for my part...sigh..but it is good that they are straying away from the helium voices cause personally I feel to tear my ear with most of them

 

I'm not picky about the sound of a voice as long as the group/soloist in question can really sing. It would be boring if everyone sounded the same.

 

i don't see what's so bad about their name. It could be better but it's not as dumb or cheesy sounding as Girl's Generation. 

 

I laughed really hard while watching the movie Sunny when the two girl gangs were about to fight and they told each other what their gang was called. One said their name was Girl's Generation and the other laughed and said it was a stupid name. It was a good movie too.

 

I hope that date is when we're going to hear a song and not something stupid like the reveal of the next member. 

 

The name doesn't bother me much, either. I read their explination and it makes enough sense. And the date is supposed to be the date for their PV. They've had that from before they ever said anything about Diane.

 

You don't like the name "Girls Generation"? o_oa I mean, yeah it's cheesy, but I think this is the first time I've heard someone say they didn't like it.

[Mandilinn]

Not sure if this was posted Kaname did a small dance tutorial for Starships:

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10200756004879766

 

I don't get this either. What TK was doing back in the 90s essentially was EDM. And I was hearing dubstep in Japanese songs before I was hearing it in American or Korean songs:

 

2009

 

 

2010:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzeDEhjw9mc

 

That was when everyone thought J-Pop was boring and had switched to K-Pop, so no one was paying attention, I guess. -_- And what about AAA? They've been around a while and have done that style. They were getting fairly popular around 2009/2010, too. It's like these people only look at idol groups or something.

 

 

I don't think it's cheesy, it's better than the Wonder Girls, my friends who never listen to any Asian pop music, when they heard of Wonder Girls (from SYTYCD) it made a lot of them laugh really really hard, they thought the name was ridiculous and the group was cheesy while when GG appeared on David Letterman they said they were cool but didn't really think they were "girls" anymore

 

My only problem with the name is that they won't be girls forever (hell they aren't girls anymore now) and in a few years they will probably outgrow it 

 

and how do you even pronounce FAKY, is it just facky

 

Really? Everyone I knew was making fun of SNSD and how bad they were. But they'd probably make fun of the Wonder Girls, too. Some of them don't mind Japan's soloists and rock bands. Hikki is popular (for the obvious reasons).

Edited July 22, 2013 by Mandilinn

[Mandilinn]

This person's J-Pop piano covers are amazing They made Sakura, I Love You? work as a piano piece

 

 

Some others:

 

BELIEVE - Miliyah Kato x Shota Shimizu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Planetarium - Ai Otsuka

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mafuyu no Seiza - Yuna Ito

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This person's channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/UminChu100?feature=watch

Edited July 22, 2013 by Mandilinn

[Mandilinn]

I wonder if FAKY are going to have a bunch of english songs or have a lot of english mixed in with japanese. It would make sense if they said they want to go abroad and both members revealed speak english. 

 

There's also already been quite a few english heavy releases this year from illion, tommy, namie, and miyavi. 

 

It's possible it could happen in the future. But I think it would be risky to do something like that right from the start. They're a brand new group. Most of those artists you listed have an established fanbase, so they can experiment more with that sort of thing. I think their first few songs will be mostly Japanese with a few English words.

 

i love listening to piano covers! Too bad the audio was a little muddled. 

 

My favs were the kana and yuna ito ones. Subscribing.

 

someone analyze her technique and make sure she's actually playing the piano in these videos 

 

You made me choke on my tea

[Mandilinn]

yea i understand. I think they are definitely building themselves for that possible future though.

 

funfact: The Brilliant Green's first two singles were english songs.

 

That was in the 90's though, the market is different now. It would be too risky, i agree.

 

According to Anna, Avex will announce another member at midnight (Japan time). I wonder how many members they'll have total...

[Mandilinn]

Y'all may want to check out DJ DECKSTREAM's album when it comes out next month based off of the features:

 

Daichi Miura

Kaname Kawabata

AISHA

Reina from Flower

 

 

MUSIC FRIDAY on Google+ | Youtube starts Friday with Creephyp, with GLAY the week after and Leo Ieiri the week after that: http://www.google.co.jp/campaigns/musicfriday/

 

I saw that when Danseryu posted it earlier in one of the LDH threads. Definitely going to check it out. Will try to catch Ieiri Leo on Google+, too.

 

 

i billed it with this cause in honesty it is true cause the older gen. girls is what got the group 'popular'......but I think one of the comments was logical pointing out kpop groups and EXILE

 

EXILE's dome tour is massive, though. 17 dates between the 5 domes. That's a lot of people. I wouldn't expect them to completely sell out all the dates. If the tour had been scaled back a bit, then I think they would have sold out all of the dates.

[Mandilinn]

Switching up my idea and instead going to use younger female soloists instead of the J-pop queens for this.

 

So...best album from Kana Nishino, Miliyah Kato, Crystal Kay, and Beni?

 

 

cool. 

 

I really hope they're good. I need a girlgroup to follow after Bright's disbandment and Dream stuck in between trying to please their old fans and new fans from E-Girls. 

 

Dream... -_- On the one hand, I'm glad their single sold relatively well compared to their past LDH releases, but at the same time I wish they'd stuck to the style they had from their previous album. They're too close to E-girls' sound right now.

 

EDIT: Ha, seems like FAKY is still recording things. Anna revealed one of the songs.

 

 

http://instagram.com/p/cGiCztjxoI/#

 

"FAKY / Better Without You"

 

Can't tell because the lyrics aren't clear, but it looks like the song is fully in English. I guess they are going that route, after all. Sounds like it could be a B-side.

Edited July 23, 2013 by Mandilinn

[Mandilinn]

This is worse than the EXO one D:

That can't be...I didn't think anything was worse than the EXO one D:

[Mandilinn]

does he actually do this mandi?

._.

 

 

I don't remember. I didn't like the game much, so I wasn't really paying attention. .___. He was really creepy (his tongue ). That's all I remember.

Edited July 24, 2013 by Mandilinn

[Mandilinn]

SM is still doing this?

 

http://onehallyu.com/index.php?/topic/13853-ftc-has-ruled-that-sm-has-been-unlawfully-restricting-jyjs-activities-through-various-actions-have-been-ordered-to-stop/

 

EDIT: Nevermind. It is recent. The news was posted just a little while ago.

 

http://mwave.interest.me/enewsworld/en/article/41650

 

Even worse, SM is denying they're blocking them and says they're going to make this a legal matter. Leave them alone already.

Edited July 24, 2013 by Mandilinn

[Mandilinn]

SM's a mess.

 

Can you translate this for me please: http://www.wwdjapan.com/blog/shima/2013/07/15/00005650.html

 

I got this gist but I want it to be clearer.

 

He's just saying she graciously made an appearance in the photobook since she was in the area while they were shooting and he thanked her at the end after all the photos.

[Mandilinn]

Yeah, the photobook. It's his photobook, right? Not hers?

 

Seems like it's his, yeah.

[Mandilinn]

EXO's follow-up track for their repackage is titled "Growl". SM needs to stop.

Edited July 25, 2013 by Mandilinn

[Mandilinn]

Repackage? What song are they following up?

 

Wolf.