J/Rock and J/Pop: You Into It?

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Originally Posted by Smooth Operator

I don't care where the music comes from. . . as long as it makes my ears happy, I'm happy. My inability to comprehend the lyrical content doesn't bother me, as I think of lyrics as an unnecessary luxury. . .

I wouldn't listen to a song that sounds terrible regardless of the lyrical quality because imo, lyrics are meant to have meaning behind the musical quality of the singer's voice while the music is meant to be heard in a harmonic fashion. . . If you speak English and hear English lyrics, then you go beyond simply hearing the word and onto deciphering it's meaning.

With a foreign song you can't help but only hear the musical quality of what they say, rather than also understanding because you can't understand anything. If you are curious of the meaning behind the lyrics of a foreign song then you'd look them up, but you'd notice if you apply the translated lyrics to the same song the lyrics lose their musical quality and become dissonant and you're only left with the meaning of the words. . . which is really just poetry rather than music.

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Well said. You talked about some things that I didn't really consider. And I agree with you, it's the musical quality that matters. Saying something's bad because it's in another language is just plain ignorant IMO.

Alternatively, you can try to understand it :D.

What got me into seriously learning Japanese and translating stuff was a Japanese song, Mikadzuki by Ayaka. The melody was so sad, turning into longing, turning into a feeling of control. When I translated the title, I was surprised that it meant "Crescent Moon" and became curious as to the lyrics, and didn't find a full translation, so I learned how to read Japanese and translated the entire thing myself.

To my surprise, the lyrics conveyed the exact sentiments conveeyed by the music: a breakup, withdrawal, and then a promise to be stronger. The song does indeed get a lot more impact with lyrics that you can understand, but really good songs can convey the same feeling with or without the lyrics.

Songs that don't are what I would consider crap, regardless of the language.

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Originally Posted by xioaxioa

I agree with [JUiCE]. Mostly. The only thing I don't agree with him is the Kingdom Hearts thing. I don't like the game. Other than that I have the exact same stance of Japanese music as [JUiCE].

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:laugh:
well lemme correct some thing...lol
nah kh kicks ass

Actually, I dont really seperate J music from any other music if its in the same category. I listen to a lot of J-Jazz, as I think Europe and Japan have the most happening Jazz scenes going on currently. And besides, I treat lyrics as part of the beat. And I dont care what you say, it has to harmonize with the instruments for me to enjoy it. And "harmony" doesnt have to mean it in the traditional sense of the word.

Hajime Yoshizawa(well its actually Sleepwalker(band)). Just got into his stuff besides being relatively old in the industry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPaCdc--0KA

Not the entire song, but you get a good good bit of it(the real thing is 8:58 lol).

I listen to it as far as anime OPs and EDs go, and sometimes if I like a group I'll explore their music further. I like YUI a lot, and Asian Kung Fu Generation. And I have a couple friends who give me a lot of music...so I just kind of wait for it to come to me instead of seeking it out lol. But I treat it the same as any other music...it's just in a language I don't understand :laugh:

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Originally Posted by Aribelle

I listen to it as far as anime OPs and EDs go, and sometimes if I like a group I'll explore their music further.

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Basically describes me. I usually use Youtube for any Nico Nico Douga related videos and I usually tend to like what I find there.

if the song is good i listen to everything,but the songs i know are mostly from animes
so i dont know many groups or singer

I have a nice playlist that consists of Japanese music. A lot of them sound really wonderful and one of my favourite artistes is Akeboshi...Wind and Yellow Moon (from Naruto). He has such a wonderful voice.

The world of anime naturally is what drew me into J-music which is why the majority of my playlist consists of an anime soundtrack or the albums from someone who struck my fancy after listening to a sound track. I love the instrumental music more than the ones with vocals because I've always been more into instrumental, so half the time what I'm listening to has a word count of 0. :laugh:

I listen to anything I find that satisfies me. I've been told it sounds like crap, but what the 'ell do they know? Notin'......

Just some opening songs of anime I like, but that's it. It's not like I'd download a full album of a j-rock band.