しあわせ

PolarC (aka BigHeadedMan, aka Chika-san) is dj at a club night in Life, Old Street on the 11 May. Interesting music is guaranteed. Chika-san had this to say in her flyer –
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I found a new (for me, they disbanded in 2006) jPop group called “Zone” while browsing Stage 6 (now defunct). They were a manufactured band from Sapporo, of four high school girls. The idea was that this would be a new genre called “Bandol” — band idol; they’d look good, could sing and dance. Apparently they couldn’t play instruments at first but they learned how.

Japan Teen Idol dodgyness to one side, they had great stylists and amazing energy. This feel good pop is what I like about them. They feel much more fun and genuine than the similar English and American manufactured bands like S-Club, Steps, Spice Girls (ゲッ）or the original boy band The Monkees.

Wikipedia article

The bassist, Maiko, has gone on to be part of a group called Maria,; I must see what they’re like…

You Tube has a lot of Japanese Music videos as well as fan-subbed drama and anime and also some clips of TV programs. However as all this is copyrighted material, it’s anybody’s guess how long this will continue. Either the rights holders will complain or You Tube will have a clean out. Enjoy while you can I guess.

YouTube doesn’t allow you to download video. However… If you go to Video Downloader a link will be generated to allow you to download a particular video. Also if you really want you can find the hidden cache where Flash stores the videos you watch and copy it out from there.

Other Interesting Music Videos on You Tube.
Not a lot at the moment. You Tube has been clearing house recently and a lot of things I found interesting have gone.

This guys videos are interesting. He tapes street performers in Tokyo.

Recently I’ve discovered the ウルフルズ。I have no idea what they are singing about most of the time but it sounds fun! The first track I came across was Banzai — Suki De Yokatta. I was given it on a compilation disc by a friend. I can now just about do a karaoke version! And have added to my repetoire with Ashita Ga Aru Sa.

Some Ulfuls videos are available on YouTube. And some have romaji and English subtitles. You will need Flash installed. However You Tube is cracking down and removing a lot of content that shouldn’t really be there, like these music videos.

My other source of Japanese music!

Some of the theme songs are ok, if short at 90 secs. But more importantly they are usually subtitled in Japanese (romaji) and English, so it’s easy to follow along.
I quite like John Denver’s Country Road in Japanese translation カントリーロード from 耳をすませば probably because the tune if not the words are familiar.

If you want the lyrics to Anime or Game songs Anime Lyrics (.com) is the site to head to.

Some anime title songs
damekko doubutsu

Kodo was probably the first Japanese music I bought and listened to. They are a troupe of Taiko drummers and probably the most famous from Japan. Taiko drums are their main instrument but they also use voice (not words) the Japanese flute (shakuhachi) and some other percussion instruments. I’m not sure if it really works on CD. Pieces like Monochrome which is 14 mins of a quick beat going from just under your hearing threshold to loud, then up and down again is not really something you’d put on for entertainment but would work quite well in performance. Lion with its African style, and Zoku with its guttural voices are probably my favourites from the album Best of Kodo.

Uzume Taiko is Canada’s first professional taiko group. They make more use of the shakuhachi and the pipa (a Chinese lute) as well as saxophone and bass guitar. Their album Chirashi is probably easier to listen to than Kodo and track number 9 even contains the Secret of Life.

To get the best from Taiko you’d need a good bass on your hi-fi and understanding neighbours. Fortunately I could play them full blast in a soundproofed studio.

The first time I heard Taiko live was at the Greenwich festival and you could feel the bass in your chest from about a street away.

The next time I saw Taiko was at the Barbican when I saw Kodo’s European Tour in 2006.
Very exciting stuff and certainly very physically demanding on the performers. I doubt there was a gram of fat on the drummer playing the O-Daiko. This is a 350kg drum 125cm across made from a single tree. The lighting gantries shook and virated with the base frequencies. The sweat poured off the performer who was using drumsticks more like baseball bats. Amazing
Another physical piece is where they drum in a seated position but are in effect holding a sit-up at 45 degrees. I’ve no idea how they can do it. If you ever get a chance I’d recommend you see a Kodo performance.

For more about Taiko