So who can recommend some good J-Pop or J-Rock?

[ZenErik]

Aira Yuuki
Genki Rockets
Haruka Tomatsu
The iDOLM@STER
Kalafina
Lia
Mayumi Kojima
NIRGILIS
OLIVIA
P-model
Round Table feat. Nino
school food punishment
Shiina Ringo
Susumu Hirasawa
Tokyo Jihen
Yousei Teikoku
Yui Horie
Yui Makino

Except for P-model and Susumu Hirasawa (same singer), those are all female singers. I haven't really gotten into much male fronted Japanese music, to be honest. Yet 90% of what I listen to from the west is male fronted.

Not all my picks fit squarely into j-pop/j-rock either. But it's worth a shot.

[J T]

I'm really not very knowledgeable about J-Pop/J-Rock or whatever, but I dart in and out of the genre on occassion. Mostly I'm familiar with more Americanized versions of the music as that's what I have traditionally had more access to. I mostly liked this stuff in the 90s and early 00s, so my selections are a bit older.

Shonen Knife:

Cat Nip Dream:


ESP:


Cibo Matto

Know Your Chicken:


Sugar Water:


Pizzicatto 5

Twiggy Twiggy:


It's a Beautiful Day:


Cornelius (This guy's videos are AMAZING!)

Drop:


Another Viewpoint:


Tone Twilight Zone:

[J T]

Mayumi Kojima

I love this song by her:


I'm not familiar with many others on the list, but looking forward to checking them out.

[vlame]

Buffalo daughter especially new rock. It should be on emusic, google a free 100 song trial.

[Gamerforlife]

Mayumi Kojima

I love this song by her:


I'm not familiar with many others on the list, but looking forward to checking them out.

You and me both. I'm actually surprised I didn't find another thread on this already

[ZenErik]

Mayumi Kojima

I love this song by her:


I'm not familiar with many others on the list, but looking forward to checking them out.

You and me both. I'm actually surprised I didn't find another thread on this already

Well, I can say that I'm a huge Susumu Hirasawa/P-model fan. One of the people on my list. He is best known for his work scoring Berserk, Millennium Actress, Paprika, and Paranoia Agent.

[hashiriya1]

Not really a fan of Japanese music but X Japan (rock) and pre-rebirth (pre 2007) Chihiro Onitsuka (pop) tickle my fancy. Her song, "Infection", is very moving. I even traveled from one end to Japan to the other to visit Chihiro's hometown. I'm a stalker, yay.

Hostess group, Aldious, is starting to get my attention but they are just going to be a fad.

[Exile]

Last Alliance
Does
Acid
Asian Kung-fu Generation
Uverworld
Tommy Heavenly6
Aldious
9mm Parabellum Bullet
Back-ON
Mucc
Nico Touches the Walls
Stereopony
The Brilliant Green
Yui Sakakibara (Phantasm End Prophecy, don't know about the other albums)
Julia Mazda
Maximum The Hormone
..and maybe some Girugamesh

[Breetai]

Not really a fan of Japanese music but X Japan (rock) and pre-rebirth (pre 2007) Chihiro Onitsuka (pop) tickle my fancy. Her song, "Infection", is very moving. I even traveled from one end to Japan to the other to visit Chihiro's hometown. I'm a stalker, yay.

Hostess group, Aldious, is starting to get my attention but they are just going to be a fad.

My my, I love X Japan. I'm also not a big J-music fan, but years of living in Japan did get me to know some J-stuff (likewise with living in Korea for a time).

I'm not really going to go over a lot of J-music, or my brain will hurt. I'll just say that I think May'n is hot.

Ummm... Exile's Choochoo Train is often in my head for no good reason. I'm sure Hashiriya is rolling his eyes at that one.

L'arc en Ciel is nice.

Hiromi Go has the classic "240,000,000 Eyes" (aka. Okkusenman) that any of you who have watched the "Kung Fu NES game parody" video would recognize the main chorus probably.

Minako Honda was really cute and had some cute songs.

Boa has some sort of decent J-pop and K-pop stuff (K-girl, but does Japanese too).

Dreams Come True is a good pop band who has been around a couple decades (they did the Sonic 1 music, and I think maybe Sonic 2 and perhaps JPN/EU Sonic CD).

Ann Lewis' version of Roppongi Shinjuu is pretty cool, and the 80s fashion she had is pretty.... 80s. Her English is 100% fluent, which is a refreshing change from the little bits of Japlish that line a lot of other J-pop stars' music. Ayumi Hamasaki also has a newer version of that song.

I want to do VERY naughty things with both Ayumi Hamasaki and Kumi Koda. VERY NAUGHTY THINGS. I CANNOT EMPHASIZE THIS ENOUGH!!!

[Original_Name]

Let me throw in votes for Polysics and Shonen Knife as well! "Electric Surfin' Go Go" by the former is an instant-classic. I would start with "Polysics or Die!!!" and "Karate House".

If you're a very patient listener with eclectic tastes, I recommend picking up "Super Æ" by Boredoms. The most accurate description I've ever heard of it is that it's like if Meso-American demigods made an album after listening to lots of kraut rock. It's not one of those albums you can listen to a track or two off of and decide if you want to listen to the whole thing or not -- you have to dive right in and listen to it several times, but it's rather widely considered to be one of the best albums of the 90's. http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/ ... per-ae.htm

If you give a damn about punk, and metal-tinged punk for that matter, Japan has an unbelievably robust scene of very abrasive musicians, and also happens to be one of the most robust scenes for female punk vocalists (I have a penchant for this unfortunate rarity in the genre, so it makes their scene more attractive).

The Stalin lead the scene in Japan, and their work on the "Mushi" LP is absolutely stunning. They went through many phases, always mixing punk of varying intensity with the cutting edge in progressive artistic leanings for the time. "Romanchisuto" is widely regarded as their classic single:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3OMoHX7qzA

I'm in the minority though, 'cause this is my favorite stuff by them:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2DHpdWBFIk

Their lead singer, Michiro Endo, is also one of my favorite performers of all time:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8d2DdtHmawI

From what I understand, Razors Edge is probably the most prominent Japanese punk band today. Amazingly talented musicians -- I implore you to pick up "Sweet 10 Thrashers", which unfortunately isn't uploaded to YouTube, which has even pleased friends of mine who ardently dislike punk. The uplifting instrumental "Razors Wind" blasting right into "Toxic Toys" never fails to get the blood flowing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGgUScltkFs

G.I.S.M. may not be your style, but they're one of the most infamous cult-bands ever to exist. This article does alot to explain their significance:
http://querenciazine.blogspot.com/2008/ ... id-of.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BYOnhN4HoE

The Comes are probably one of the most underrated punk bands of all time. Their lead singer, Chitose, has a voice that was best described as "estrogenicide." It may be more abrasive than you gravitate towards in your music, but you have to respect a girl who forces her guts out of her esophagus to punctuate every scream, and the guitar work on their "No Side" LP is phenomenal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qC7SNH0tdGE

I mean, just LOOK at this girl:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5F3eWui-uI

Gauze, Lip Cream, SOB, and Death Side are all widely adored amongst Japanese punk and metal enthusiasts as well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6cSFSxfLcI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTwMVOHVSOE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VW6SAm_ABSY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBqkG_fS2a4

Last but definitely not least (actually first, in a sense), is The SS, which were one of the first hardcore punk bands not only in Japan, but in the world. Really fun stuff!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RS0aSJd-cGg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPsDqar4npI

And if you're not really interested, I hope someone with an interest stumbles across this at some point.