Japanese Invasion

In my previous blog post, I did mention that I wasn't much into Japanese pop music (or J-Pop). Yesterday, I tried listing down the Japanese music I was exposed to in the past 10 years and guess what ? My eclectic preferences for J-Pop run the gamut from disco to indie, techno to lounge. J-Pop did and still rock my world.

1. Pink Lady - Pink Lady (ピンク・レディー, Pinku Redī?) was a Japanese female pop music duo of the late 1970s and early 1980s, featuring Mitsuyo Nemoto ("Mie" - pronounced "Mee") and Keiko Masuda ("Kei"). In Japan, they are remembered for a run of pop-chart hits from roughly 1976 to 1979, but in the United States, they are best known for their short-lived 1980 NBC TV variety show Pink Lady, later released on DVD under the title Pink Lady and Jeff. Pink Lady is one of only two Japanese artists to have reached the Billboard Top 40. Pink Lady reached #37 with the single "Kiss In The Dark".

2. TRF - TRF (which stands for Tetsuya Komuro Rave Factory) are a popular Japanese group, featuring DJ Koo (Rapper) and Yuki (lead vocalist) with Chiharu, Etsu and Sam (gancers) completing the line-up. They first debuted as trf during some point in 1993 and through the peroid of 1994-1995 released five singles (produced by Tetsuya Komuro) under Avex, each reportedly selling over 1 million copies. In 1996, they changed their name to TRF (written in all-capitals) upon releasing the single Hey! Ladies & Gentlemen. In early 2006, they put out a new single Where to begin and album Life-e-Motions for the first time in almost six years, to a moderate amount of success.

3. globe - globe is a dance-oriented Japanese pop band, formed in 1995 by legendary producer and songwriter Tetsuya Komuro (小室哲哉). Originally consisting of Komuro, Keiko Yamada and Marc Panther, the group has been another triumph in a long line of successes associated with Komuro, with its singles consistently hitting the charts even to the present day. In 2002 Yoshiki from X Japan joined the group, alternately playing drums, keyboards, piano and guitar. Their debut album, globe, sold over 4 million copies, and the band was awarded the Japanese record industry’s highest honor for their single Wanna Be A Dreammaker. After a two-year hiatus (in which time Tetsuya Komuro and Keiko got married), globe released a new single entitled Here I Am on June 29, 2005. A new album, globe2 pop/rock was released on August 10, 2005, in commemoration of their 10-year anniversary. Komuro also mentioned there will be some collaboration work with other artists with the artist title of globe feat. XX (where XX is the artist name), and globe extreme for collaboration with Yoshiki.

4. Pizzicato Five - Pizzicato Five (often P5), a Japanese pop group best known to audiences in the west in their later incarnation as a duo of Nomiya Maki (野宮真貴) and Konishi Yasuharu(小西康陽). They are widely credited to have spearheaded the “Shibuya-kei” movement of Tokyo in the 90s, along with Flipper’s Guitar. They are known for their eclectic and energetic compositions, which often sound like “new” releases from the late 1960s hipster scene. Their catchphrase—“A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular”—captured the group’s ironic stance but eager attitude. The group broke up in March 2001. A hugely prolific group, Pizzicato Five would release at least an album-per-year along with various EPs and remix albums during their 16 year-career. Both Nomiya Maki (野宮真貴) and Konishi Yasuharu(小西康陽) currently enjoy solo careers - with Konishi Yasuharu(小西康陽) producing other artists ranging from Puffy and Smap to Cornelius and Kahimi Karie(カヒミ・カリィ) - alongside collaborative remix compilations - from Ella Fitzgerald and The Supremes to classic Disney and Thunderbirds (as in Super-Marionated) music on his Shibuya-based Readymade Records label.

5. Fantastic Plastic Machine - Tomoyuki Tanaka (田中知之, Tanaka Tomoyuki) is a J-pop artist/DJ, better known by his stage name of Fantastic Plastic Machine. He is considered to be part of the Shibuya-kei movement, drawing heavily from bossa nova, lounge music, house music, and ’60s movie soundtracks, but he also incorporates many other types of music. Tanaka was born in Kyoto, Japan.

6. Cornelius - Cornelius' real name Keigo Oyamada (小山田圭吾 ), is a Japanese recording artist and producer. His name is a reference to the Planet of the Apes chimpanzee character of the same name played by Roddy MacDowall. Oyamada’s first claim to fame was as a member of the pop duo, Flipper’s Guitar, one of the key groups of the Tokyo Shibuya-kei scene. Following the disbandment of Flipper’s Guitar in 1991, Oyamada donned the “Cornelius” moniker and embarked on a successful solo career, while also producing for Pizzicato Five. Cornelius’s musical style is often described as being similar to Beck’s, whom he acknowledges influenced him along with The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Jesus and Mary Chain, and Primal Scream, among others.

7. Kahimi Karie - Kahimi Karie カヒミ・カリィ (born Mari Hiki 比企マリ) is a Japanese female Shibuya-kei vocalist. Kahimi sings in English, French, and japanese (among other languages) with breathy child-like vocals. Her music can be considered ethereal, whispery pop; a number of songs have been written for her by Momus. She also has a strong connection to Cornelius, who collaborated on many early works, and whose trendy Trattoria label released many of her EPs in the mid-’90s. Karie currently lives in Tokyo, Japan, though she spent much of her career in Paris.

8. Perfume - Perfume (パフューム) is a female technopop group from Hiroshima, Japan consisting of Ayano Ōmoto, Yuka Kashino and Ayaka Nishiwaki, who debuted locally in 2001, making their transition to a major label in 2005. As of June 2009, the group has released nine major label singles to great success. Since 2003, Perfume has been produced by Yasutaka Nakata, founder of the group capsule and the contemode label. The group's original post-Shibuya-kei sound made a sharp transition to electro house and technopop upon their signing to a major label. Marty Friedman, ex-guitarist of Megadeth, named Perfume "The group which had the biggest influence on the Japanese music industry in 2008". The group has often been compared to Yellow Magic Orchestra and Aira Mitsuki.

9. Yoshinori Sunahara - Yoshinori Sunahara is a Japanese DJ and club programmer, particularly prominent in the Shibuya-kei and chillout scene.His style consists of a mixture of funk, bossa nova, Shibuya-kei, and 70’s music. He is known to be infatuated with airplanes, as several of his albums have to do with flight.

Additional information from Wikipedia and Last FM.