CAT5

Good idea, prz! Lots of cool stuff has come out of the "J-urban" sphere (aka Japanese ppl making traditionally "black" genres), so I'm glad to see that we have a place to discuss this area of music now! I tend to shy away from the mainstream side of things, and not only because I've hipster-ish tendencies. I just think a good bit of it tends feel caricature-ish - like the Japanese's understanding of the music is blatantly shallow, and comes off as a cheap imitation as opposed to a reinterpretation or an assimilation of the style. Granted, there's a lot of great mainstream J-urban (and crap indie stuff) - I just feel like there's a greater level of understanding and music done in earnest coming out of the indie/underground world. Never really tried misia, but vocally she reminds me of Bird - but better. Still need to try that one m-flo album you recommended. I never really tried Ken Hirai's music either, but that 2nd song definitely sounds like he belongs in this thread. @herpes might know better? ahaha, this beat is a blantant ripoff of Mary J. Blige's "Real Love" smh This kind of thing tends to happen quite often in Japan. Do you think they consider this a kind of homage to the originals or are the producers just being lazy and sneaky lol? I'm inclined to believe the latter, but I'm open to believing the beat culture over there might be different. As for some of the artists I enjoy? Here are a few: GAGLE These guys have been around since 1996 and i'd consider them a must-hear for anyone digging into J-hip hop. Their sound is very traditional/boom-bap type hip-hop. MC Hunger is imo, one of the best Japanese rappers to ever do it. Firstly, he understands how to flow properly over a beat (which seems to be a big problem for Japanese rappers), his lyrics are thoughtful, and his delivery is always compelling, without being abrasive - you can tell he means what he raps. DJ mitsu the beats is an excellent producer too - one of the finest I've heard out of Japan. Ovall Since this band has relations to GAGLE, and even released a collab album with them in 2012, i figured I'd talk about them next. From left to right in the pic, the band is mabanua (drums, and sometimes vocals), Shingo Sekiguchi (guitar), and Shingo Suzuki (bass/keyboard). They describe themselves as a "spiritual jazz/hip-hop " band and for me they're like an unheralded supergroup. All 3 of these guys are producers, with mabanua and shingo suzuki being especially into beatmaking. Mabanua has produced for and worked with a ton of artists, both abroad and in Japan - from yoko kanno, CHARA, daoko, izumi makura, ohashitrio, nakano pierre of ling tosite sigure, and more. He also has his own solo albums, which are in a similar vein to ovall's music. Sekiguchi and Suzuki both have their own music projects as well. Ovall is super smooth overall, with instrumental tracks, mabanua singing on a few tracks, and guest vocalists/rappers on others. In the spoiler are the trailers for 2 of their albums: Hanah Spring (Hanah) Continuing the collaborative trend, this woman has worked with Ovall as well. She originally appeared on a major label under the sole name "Hanah", creating *mostly* mundane pop-r&b, but she has now resurfaced as "Hanah Spring" on an indie label called pirates records. I'm not sure what happened (perhaps the label dropped her), but whatever it is, I'm glad a change was made. Her music under "Hanah Spring" is much more viable. She's taken on a more organic, slightly jazz-tinged approach and has actually managed to make some legit "neo-soul" music, which is difficult to come by in Japan. She's spent some time in the U.S. and has opened for acts touring Japan like Erykah Badu, The Roots, Brian McKnight, and Musiq Soulchild - so that may or may not have influenced her style. Her voice is fantastic, although I prefer it when she sings in Japanese, as i'm quite picky about Engrish. I will stop at 3 because this post is getting too big, but I will be back to add more artists and discuss further!

NIL was the first gazette release that really stuck with me, and as such, it has a nostalgic grip on me. Though my actual favorites from the band are DIM and BD.

Have some music you'd like to talk about, but not quite sure where to post about it? Then this thread is for you! This topic will be used for the discussion of all of the genres and artists that don't have enough fans here to warrant threads of their own. Feel free to use this thread to talk about any music that you feel wouldn't fit into existing topics or probably don't have enough fans to deserve it's own topic. Old or new, it doesn't matter. - I guess I'll kick things off. I'm really excited for some of the modern/"neo"-soul releases coming out. The new Hiatus Kaiyote album "Choose Your Weapon" just dropped this month and it's brilliant, though a bit lengthy @ 18 tracks. Still among the best records I've heard this year so far. Some great tracks from the album: Lianne la Havas just released the music video for "unstoppable" - from her upcoming 2nd album "Blood", set to be released on July 31st. It's sounding super lovely so far. I hope she hasn't ditched the guitar entirely - either way, I have extremely high hopes for this record. Bilal is dropping a new album called "In Another Life" in June, and a new track from it is now streamable via NPR: http://www.npr.org/2015/05/12/406162374/songs-we-love-bilal-satellites?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nprmusic&utm_term=music&utm_content=20150512 It sounds dope so far, but knowing Bilal, the album will likely veer off into the left field somewhere. Looking forward to it, though!

I wonder if this is the same vocalist from this supercell song? If so, then she has some MAD shiina ringo-ish vocal inflections going on. Either way, I can dig. Will have to check this one out.

This looks AMAZING! So many great bands/artists on there! Also, HOLY CRAP! I had no idea that a new NEGO album will be out tomorrow. It's titled "THE WORLD" and it's going to feature guest vocalists from KACICA and ANYO - in addition Terui Atsumasa (ハイスイノナサ) as a recording engineer, and mixing and mastering by KASHIWA Daisuke. This is going to be great. CD+DVD 2枚組 ￥2,300（税抜） 発売元：media factory / bayon production 発売元：media factory 1. Ants 2. Edge of... 3. Shadows 4. Lopez Summer 5. Hello World 6. Birth 7. Hermit Crab 8. Stratos 9. Diggin’ Dub 10. World

Decent band. Will be sure to check this out.

I come from a pretty conservative family (south of murrica yay). I remember showing some stuff to my brothers years ago and trying to explain to them as best I could, but ofc their opinions on it remained as follows: My sisters were a bit more open-minded about it. As a teen, I distinctly recall playing rentrer en soi (something from sphire croid) in the car with my dad and his response being "what the heck are we listening to?". If he'd actually seen some of the VK bands, I doubt his response would have been any better than that of my brothers.

I appreciate the votes, everyone - not just for me, but for taking a bit of time to contribute in general. However, I will humbly decline "staff of the year". @Zeus is by far the most deserving of that title. Naturally, everyone isn't privy to things that go on behind-the-scenes, but @Zeus is one of the major reasons this forum is still afloat. ; ) I'd also consider more deserving in that regard. ;3

We can postpone the hip-hop theme til a later date, as I'm not sure if I'll be around for Sunday's session yet.

I have to agree. I highly doubt that DOGMA will showcase a new direction for the band. If anything, the differences between it and past works will be reduced to minimal nuances. While I think most of us would appreciate the gazette trying new things, I don't think the band has ever shown any outstanding indications of being prone to stylistic or compositional wanderlust. I also don't think that musical experimentation, or straying too far from their known formulas is something that's within the scope of their brand. With that said, I'm looking forward to hearing this one. I'd even be satisfied with a refined DIM.

Vote up, please! Thanks in advance~

Indie-rockers Syurispeiloff will release their 2nd full album on May 20th, 2015! 2015年5月20日発売 New Album「その周辺」 価格―2,500円(税込) / BUMP-045 01. 空中庭園 02. 働きたくない 03. 憂鬱に踊る 04. その周辺 05. さよなら宇宙 06. スターレット 07. ルール 08. 夜の公園 09. 地球を歩く 10. エンドロール http://syurispeiloff.jp/