Acid Black Cherry
The peculiarity of the Acid Black Cherry band is that the project consists of only one person - vocalist Yasu, who previously participated in the Japanese rock band Janne Da Arc, until they announced that they were going on indefinite leave.
For studio recordings, filming videos and live concerts, Yasu invites other musicians as additional members.
The only member of the group composes all compositions independently. In an interview, the artist shared that his work was greatly influenced by the Japanese hard rock band DEAD END.
Lead singer Yasu composed the name of the group from a Japanese abbreviation, which has a rather indecent characteristic:
- A – initially a kiss;
- B – petting in progress;
- S – sex at the end.
The soloist chose the first letters of these words to designate, as the musician explained, his erogenous zone – Black Cherry.
Yasu prefers to sing in the following genres:
- pop rock;
- heavy metal;
- Hard rock;
- progressive and alternative rock;
- power pop.
90s. A new generation of experimenters.
Tujiko Noriko
Noriko is often compared to Bjork. Both love to experiment and build viscous, spacious compositions with ambient elements. But the Japanese woman does not seek to create the image of an unearthly diva singing about inequality, victimization and mental anguish. Her music is more “childish”, does not carry a strong semantic load and does not edify. Noriko herself describes her work as “a slight departure from the laws of the genre.” She adds electronic effects, glitch and “pulsating” bass to the pop melody, which ultimately merge into hum and noise, from which it is difficult to isolate even synthesizer and drum parts. Over the years, the performer's music, which at the beginning sounded childishly naive, becomes more gloomy and melancholic.
Supercar
Supercar's lineup was assembled in 1995 through an advertisement placed in a local newspaper by Miki Furukawa, the band's bassist and vocalist. In their first albums, the musicians played a mixture of shoegaze and indie rock, but over time they plunged into experiments with electronic sound. If the first releases Three Out Change and Jump Up combined light pop melodies with simple lyrics, distortion of Western My Bloody Valentine and Ride and reverb atypical for Japanese rock bands, then after the third album Futurama the emphasis was placed on experiments with electronic devices. The harsh sound of shoegaze was replaced by soft and structurally more complex synth-pop. Guitars, as the main instrument, were replaced by synthesizers, and the lyrics became melancholic and poetic. In the last albums Supercar experimented a lot and added various instruments - violins, percussion and sirens.
OOIOO
OOIOO began as a side project of Boredoms drummer Yosimio in 1996. Each project album can be divided into sections, between which there is no connection. In the quartet's music, the rhythm constantly breaks and the processing of the voice changes. The melody may suddenly be interrupted and resumed in a completely different form. The group concentrates on improvisation and eclecticism in the studio, and during performances they shock with sound and keep the listener in suspense - it is not clear in what direction the melody will develop and how it will end. A slow, trance-inducing “groove” with an abundance of drums can suddenly turn into a psychedelic chaos of sounds, and an energetic ritual melody can be replaced by rough noise. It seems that music is created chaotically, and the musicians want to surprise the listener with unpredictability. But that's not true. In his interviews, Yosimio says that songs are created as a result of trying out various instruments and techniques. She takes work on tracks seriously. In the studio the band plays the way they would play live. Yosimio then reworks the recording and adds his own parts, often playing instruments that the band has not yet used.
Masakatsu Takagi
In the early 2000s, Masakatsu Takagi worked as an artist and videographer. He traveled a lot around the world and filmed the places he visited. Along the way, I recorded local music and unusual sounds. As a result of his travels, the Japanese collected many samples. He compiled them and then added piano and sequencer parts to them. This is how his first album Pia, recorded in the USA in 2001, turned out. The musician later moved to a mountainous area in Hyogo Prefecture. Living among the mountains greatly influenced Takagi's music. He began recording the sounds of nature coming from the window, the voices of passing people and flying birds. Takagi's music became famous in Japanese creative circles. The composer received offers of cooperation from theater directors and animators who wanted him to write music for their works. Among them are Studio Ghibli and director Mamoru Hosoda.
Takagi's concerts consist of a theatrical performance for which an orchestra of traditional and classical instruments, percussion and winds performs the music. Actors and musicians are constantly changing. The rhythm, mood and visual design, to which the musician pays special attention, also change.
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EXILE
EXILE is a Japanese pop boy group. Its peculiarity is its composition, numbering as many as 19 people.
The team performs in the following styles:
- pop;
- j-pop;
- dance-pop;
- modern rhythm and blues.
From 2007 to 2009, they won the Grand Prix award awarded by the Union of Japanese Composers (Japan Records Awards) three times.
It all started in 1999, when member Hiro of the ZOO team formed a new team called J Soul Brothers. After the idea was born, he invited two more vocalists there.
After 2 years, the ensemble was renamed to its current name. In 2007, the participants released their first single, which was able to win the top line of the Oricon music chart.
In the same year, Hiro gathers 7 people and unites them into a team called the J Soul Brothers.
One of the worthy achievements of the group Exile is its album Exile Love (2008), which becomes the best-selling album in Japan that year.
In 2009, two existing teams Exile and J Soul Brothers were united into one common group called EXILE.
X Japan
One of the most striking groups is the popular Japanese group of boys - X Japan.
This band was founded by drummer Yoshiki and vocalist Tosi from the city of Chiba in 1982.
Their genre choices changed over time: initially gravitating towards power and speed metal with symphonic elements, they moved on to a more progressive sound with a focus on ballads.
The activities of X Japan have reached a global level to such an extent that the team even began to be attributed to the pioneers of the visual key direction.
The original name of the Japanese group of guys was different and sounded simply X. In 1988, its first release was Vanishing Vision, during the writing of which bassist Taiji and guitarists Lida and Pata joined the team. The band gained real popularity after writing their second work, Blue Blood, in 1989.
However, after several years of musical activity, in 1997 the group gathers for the last time to give a final concert, which will finally end the team's career.
However, 10 years later, X Japan reunites and records a new single, IV
The achievements of the Japanese musical group of guys turn out to be stunning:
- 5 studio albums, 3 of which reached the first line of the Oricon chat;
- 6 live recordings;
- 21 singles;
- 40th place from the list of “100 Best Japanese Rock Albums”;
- over 30 million plates sold worldwide.
Popular singers of Japan
Many Japanese singers have become popular thanks to their successful voicing of famous virtual characters. Utada Hikaru became famous for her song for the video games Kingdom Hearts. She has released 11 albums in English and Japanese. The most famous among us are “The Devil Inside”, “Exodus”, “This is the One”, “Come Back to Me”, “You Make Me”.
Japanese singers can also become style models and trendsetters; the list is headed by Ayumi Hamasaki. She not only earned the title “Empress of Pop,” but despite her small stature, she became the face of the Panasonic brand, participating in an advertising campaign for the Lumix line of cameras.
Singer Itano Tomomi entered the popular group AKB48 in 2005, beating 7,924 applicants. At that time, the girl had just turned 14 years old. Now Itano Tomomi is a famous actress, solo singer and fashion model, she starred in the films “Majiska School”, “Bad Boys Jay”.
Nightmare
Nightmare is a Japanese group of guys who consider themselves to be in the visual key genre. This team is one of the most popular representatives of this genre, participating in the recordings of skeletons for popular anime such as Death Note, Claymore and Neuro Nogami.
The team arose thanks to the activities of two musicians - Sakito and Hitsugi - in 2000. They were subsequently joined by Yuji Baba (bassist), Yemi (vocalist) and Zennin (drummer). However, the latter soon left, and Karino Satoru (Hand) arrived in his place.
The band's debut demo sounded like Zange. In 2003, the musicians released their first album with the interesting title no ore wa mono ~Omae. In the same year, the Japanese label Nippon Crown already agreed to sign a contract with the still very young group (at that time). A couple of months later, the Believe record goes on sale, which takes 24th place in the Oricon top.
In 2004, the musicians released their debut work in DVD format, which featured 3 singles: Varuna, Cyan and Tokio Shounen.
A special feature of the group is its diversity in both sound and genres.
The deep voice of lead singer Yomi can sound heavy, bold, gentle, and melodious. As for directions, the group is trying itself:
- in alternative metal;
- blues rock;
- hard rock.
LADYBABY. Japanese Conchita Wurst and two little girls
07/07/2015 Blog The topic of legalizing homosexual marriages was graciously developed in the comments just now, so, gentlemen and ladies, today we’ll add a little transvestite hell to your night. Another Japanese hit - one that appeared, hopefully, not seriously and not for long. The group emerged on April 1 of this year (which seems to hint at a joke) - and on July 29 they are preparing to present their debut album to the world. The trio is called LADYBABY, which can be seen as a response to the success of BABYMETAL - however, this time the frontman is not another cute girl, but a large hairy man who growls menacingly, but at the same time looks like a lolita version of Conchita Wurst, with all these cute outfits, golf shoes and cosmetics.
The dude's name is Ladybeard, he is wildly popular in his homeland, largely due to his provocative image.
As the musician himself (part-time showman and wrestler) says, he first tried dressing up as a girl at the age of 14, coming to a masquerade ball in his sister’s school dress - and, feeling that all the eyes of those present that evening were focused on his person, I was extremely pleased. After which I began to use this feature wherever possible (and also impossible).
And not to say that it’s free: financial support for LADYBABY is provided by the company Clearstone, which specializes in themed outfits (lolita, geisha, school-style, etc.). On stage and in videos, the team advertises their costumes - and then they are successfully sold. Including with the help of the wildest design of the site of these beauties. So you can’t blame a peasant for a lack of commercial spirit.
You can check out how it all sounds and looks in the video for LADYBABY’s first single “Japan Manju”. Not that bad, actually.
Author: Anastasiya Number 746
Tags: Ladybaby, Ladybeard
The Gazette
The Gazette is a Japanese group of boys, moving in the direction of visual kei.
The name of the group comes from the word cassette, but the members modified it slightly, based on the opinion that in its current version it sounds better.
The highlight of the group: everything written and then sounded is their own handiwork.
In 2002, future members Ruki (vocalist), Uruha (guitarist), Aoi (guitarist) and Yune (drummer) formed the now world-famous group The Gazzete.
In April of the same year, the band released their debut single Wakaremichi and even two videos. In 2003, Yune was replaced by a new drummer, Kai, and the group still performs with a similar lineup to this day.
Since March 2003, the band signed a contract with the popular label PS Company, which collaborated with such famous musical teams as Alice nine, Miyavi and Kagrra.
For their activities, which continue to this day, the group received The Most Requested Artist awards in 2010 and 2012, which translated means “The Most Requested Artist.”
The team is known for its constant genre experiments:
- j-rock;
- visual key;
- nu metal;
- alternative metal;
- Hard rock;
- industrial metal;
- funk metal;
- metalcore
The “cherry on the cake” is the deep, velvety and rich in timbre voice of vocalist Ruka, adored by fans.
Other musicians
All the groups described above are just the tip of the iceberg of Japanese boy groups. Asian music is full of different genres that a wide range of people want to try.
So, quite popular Japanese performers are:
- Kagrra (1998) – alternative and folk rock, visual kei.
- Kra (2001) – j-pop, visual kei, jazz fusion, j-rock.
- Alice nine (2004) – formerly hard and punk rock, now alternative rock.
- Plastic Tree (1993) – pop rock, power and Britpop, gothic rock.
- Razor (2016) – j-rock, visual kei.
- The THIRTEEN (2016) is a Japanese boy rock band consisting of only two members: vocalist Mao and guitarist Mizuki.
