Back in late 2011, I wrote a Music Spotlight post (FKA “Ni-Ongaku Spotlight”) highlighting a song released by South Korean actor Jang Geun Suk. At the time of writing he was the most desired actor Japanese fans wanted to see in the midst of the Korean Wave in Japan, trending above even AKB48, and performing at a sold out concert at the Tokyo Dome.
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This is a throwback post from December 2012 featuring Mai Kuraki (倉木麻衣). This a refresher for me after discovering her album again from a vendor several years ago at MTAC Omega, and getting lost in the Hallyu Wave. Returning to my J-Pop roots, I talked about what makes her different from a similar artist in her genre.
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Bringing back an old post from the early days of the “Ni-Ongaku Spotlight” for the newer audience under Music Spotlight. We take a look at this video of Shing02, and the music video of his single, “Ultimate High”. Shing02 is a Japanese indie Hip-Hop artist who has provided music for the soundtrack for the anime Samurai Champloo, along with the late Nujabes.
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I know what you’re thinking. Christmas was last week. Yes, it was. However, this draft has been sitting in my archives from 2007! Can I have an award for longest sitting draft under 300 words? Well, it might go over 300 words since I do have something to say about this post. Anyway, moving on! To end out the decade, and to finally give this post the light of day(break’s bell), I am highlighting a beloved Christmas song from one of Japan longest running J-Rock groups, L’arc~En~Ciel.
If you are into J-Pop, including K-Pop, then you may be wondering why you don’t see enough content outside of Japan of your favorite artists without having to go to great lengths to obtain the latest release. It might be due to a generational issue of complicated, and possibly financial, reasons. I was originally going to just Tweet about this, but this needs more than 280 characters. So I am going to just write about this in a form of a blog post. It’s about the reasons why K-Pop is as global as it is, with even a handful of male J-Pop bands embracing the style of K-Pop. And it all falls back to an interest in music from another country that is right across from South Korea.
The next Vocaloid Song of the Month is from kemu, which different from the previous post about love throughout one’s childhood. Instead, let’s imagine this song as a candidate for a new anime series involving notes and diaries with serious consequences.
As someone who is new-ish to the Vocaloid fandom, I would like to share my findings with those who are also curious of Vocaloid music, especially in 2019. For the first Vocaloid entry in the Music Spotlight series, here is an original song featuring Vocaloid GUMI by composer Last Note.
I came across a video the other day that was created by YouTube user “just a black guy who likes j-pop” featuring the latest of what Japan has to offer when it comes to Male J-Pop Groups. As someone who has been exposed to K-Pop for more than 15 years, this is familiar territory.
Watching the video, I couldn’t help but notice the familiar soundscape of each group presented in the video. What I heard in the video sounds–and looks–like a modern K-Pop group. Only if I pay attention to what I hear, it’s what modern J-Pop sounds like in the sound of many groups on the way of becoming global superstars, such as BTS, or even NCT 127.
