Is the Jpop Us Gaijin Exposed to Really what's being listened to?

For a moment, i thought that was a pic of a line-up outside a Tim Horton's :110:

Hehe, I'll agree though, alot of the more recent J-POP stuff, honestly sounds alike, and neither in a good way. How many times can someone sing about being lost...or having a bloody effin bad hair day!

Most of the albums i've collected, i rarely will find more than 1 or 2 songs that are worthwhile, the rest just sound all the same.


R.A

 

I took a picture 6 weeks ago of that very same donut store in Shinjuku just over the bridge from Tokyu Hands. I commented to the person I was with that they are queuing for high fat content filled donuts and she even thought it was strange. Give me mochi anyday.

As for J-Pop, most of the Japanese people I know, admittedly they are nearly all women, seem to like western bands and music...

 

My theory is music sucks less when you have no idea what the hell the person is talking about......that explains why Nirvana is considered legendary.

 

Same w/ anime. The more you understand, the dumber it gets. W/ your theory, you must love the Cocteau Twins.

 

I beg to differ, and I can tell you've had very little exposure to Nirvana (which makes sense, because to appreciate Nirvana you have to be able to appreciate good music and you've already gone on record saying you like Jpop...). In any case, Nirvana is considered legendary because the milestones they landed in the little time they were around. At the time Nirvana had gone mainstream, Glam Metal had a strangle hold on the music industry (which it had for nearly 10 years up to that point). Nirvana was seen as nothing but a garage band from Washington that played dirty guitar and wore dirty clothes. However, the release of Nevermind and the single that shocked the world, Smells Like Teen Spirit, single handedly dethroned Glam Metal overnight and paved the way for other Seattle Sound bands like Pearl Jam (who released Ten before Nirvana released Nevermind, but got nearly no recognition until after Nirvana rocked the world with Smells Like Teen Spirit) and Soundgarden. And though a lot of Grunge bands were short lived (With a few exceptions like Pearl Jam, who became one of the most influential bands of our time), they helped the alternative rock movement gain momentum.

Anyway, the music Nirvana wrote was strong and actually had meaning. It was something different, a breath of fresh air from the overly commercialized and crappy Glam Metal acts of the 80's. And finally, it was just plain good.

 

I like really deep thought provoking shit like Lain and Ghost in the Shell.

Oh I apprecate good music. I'm not a huge nirvana fan but Songs like Inbloom, All Apologies, Lithium and what not are among some of my favorite songs.

Actually outside Jpop I'm a Huge Nine Inch Nails and Tool Fan. Used to be a Huge Metallica fan but now I'm liking them less and less especally the stuff after the black album.

I also enjoy Wu Tang, Mos Def, Kanye West, Jurassic 5, KRS-One,Usher, R Kelly,
AFI, Alice in Chains, Old Korn (everything up to Issues), White Zombie, The Doors, Led Zeppelin, Hendrix, Steely Dan, Cypress Hill and other stuff I forget.

 

Nirvana was big b/c ugly teenagers were ready to feel bad about themselves and didn't mind appearing so.

 

Ah, ok. I was under the impression that you only listened to Jpop. Seems as though you like a little of everything, which is good!

 

I've always seen this as bad. Being critical is good... adds diversity and makes the world go around. I like all kinds of different things but for music for example, there are only a few genres I don't like on the whole but can appreciate the production.

I cannot appreciate the production of any cookie cutter style of music. That is: young country, R&B, and J-Pop. I think most Rock sucks and is way overdone, but there's still plenty I can appreciate. Same w/ hip-hop, but I can really show love to a good DJ. If it floats your boat, cool. But, I think everyone should hate something.

 

Well, I think liking/exploring a variety of different genres is better than saying one genre is the end-all be-all of music and nothing else compares, which is what I was getting at. Blindly following mass produced, overly commercialized music just for the sake of being with the "trend of the times" was not what I was trying to advocate. Personally, I am very critical of music and am very picky with what I listen to, but I will give (almost) anything at least one listen to make that judgment. I've ended up liking plenty of music I never thought I would.

 

Donuts is spelled wrong in this picture.

Or is that like the old English spelling of the word?

 

Subway in Incheon Airport outside of Seoul has a Meetball Sandwich.

 

It's the traditional spelling, which is what Krispy Kreme uses to this day.

 

Ghost in the shell? yes. Lain? Uh.... no, not really. Although I'm very picky with my Anime. Most that are out there are very cookie cutter and rip off the classics.

 

Yeah good anime is hard to find these days.

You know as I sit at my desk top listening to Year Zero (great album so far but I'm a HUGE NIN fan so yeah......) I realized that there really isn't any industral music coming from Japanese Artists. At least not that I can think of.

Then again that genre is best left to Americans and Germans....