It's been almost a year (268 days to be exact, but who's counting) since my sister and I started up this blog in the hopes to introduce some good music to our extended group of friends, and I'm starting to think that I'm doing this for my own amusement as much as for you guys out there reading and listening to the posts. It's kind of become some sort of musical diary that I can look back on some time in the future and see what I was listening to back then. I was trying to think of something special for post number 100 and thought that it would be appropriate to dedicate it to some music that I doubt many of you would ever be exposed to; some of my favourite songs from a couple of my favourite Japanese artists.
When you think of music coming out of Japan you could be excused for automatically thinking of something like this... however, I assure you that they have much more to offer than ultra-cute (yet slightly disturbing) girl bands that churn out super bubblegum-pop with no substance. Throughout my time in the land of the rising sun I had the pleasure of being introduced to some of the quality musicians and DJs that Japan has to offer. In light of the current catastrophic events occuring over in Japan it feels appropriate to highlight some of my favourite Japanese musical talents, so here goes:
Nujabes
It was only yesterday when I was searching for my favourite Nujabes track that I stumbled across the news that it has already been a year since Nujabes was killed in a car accident in a car accident in Tokyo. Nujabes is my favourite Japanese DJ, and one of my favourite DJs period, and amongst the sadness of the earthquake and tsunami the news of his passing shocked me. His music has that timeless feel to it, and I have a feeling that his life works will live on well into the future. I was introduced to his music through a friend in Osaka who played me 'Reflection Eternal' and I was instantly hooked. I hope you will be too.
Nujabes - Reflection Eternal
Radwimps
December 2006, I was working at a cafe on a ski resort in Niigata and MTV was playing this Radwimps clip like 5 times a day. I decided to investigate and buy their 4th album and it was my first exposure to good Japanese music. I started introducing the Radwimps to all my Japanese friends and they loved them, especially the lyrics to the track 'Me Me She', one of my friends even started to cry just from reading the lyrics in the album sleeve... plus I always loved the video, and you can check it out below.
Dragon Ash
This track from Dragon Ash became my go-to track when I would enter the karaoke booth. It has great lyrics, a really catchy whistle track, and more importantly it was slow enough for me to be able to sing it in Japanese. Always reminds me of epic karoke nights back in Osaka.
Teriyaki Boyz
Probably the better known group in this post for their involvement in the Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift soundtrack. This Japanese rap supergroup was spearheaded by their DJ (and founder of Bape clothing) Nigo, who created walking, rapping billboards for his clothing brand, creating a cult following like few others in the world today. Through Nigo's connections the Teriyaki Boyz have collaborated with some of raps biggest names including: Kanye West, Pharrell, Busta Rhymes, DJ Premier, and DJ Shadow. Check out they're collaboration with DJ Premier below, one of my favourite Teriyaki Boyz tracks.
Teriyaki Boyz - You Know What Time Is It
I hope that I have had the opportunity to introduce you to some music that you wouldn't usually hear on a day-to-day basis, and despite the fact that you may not be able to understand the lyrics I hope you can appreciate the music in one way or another. Japan has been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons and I hope that you all keep this beautiful country and it's people in your thoughts and prayers (if you are religously inclined). I hold a special place in my heart for Japan and hope that the nation can bounce back from this tragedy and look forward to the future...
R. Hunter
Congrats on the 100th post poobs, keep it up!
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