Things you never (or seldom) hear in Japanese music

[doombox 4421]

can give some Sludge bands i wanna see if its the same as downtempo. ummm those bands are working for me, nice though. and yeahh im kind of a slut when it comes to russian and this kind of music because usally i like what i find. My fav j-metal band right now is Infernal Revulsion, they seem to be the only brutal band left. but if Lycaon goes back which it looks like they might they will be my number one.

Sure, tho I can tell you Sludge can be over a ton of different styles of metal (lots of bands include sludge breaks ect.) and since downtempo isn't considered a genre here, I can't tell you if they are the same thing... possibly not entirely since it's a scene that's evolving in a totally different region. To use a description from a metal website

"Sludge metal is a form of heavy metal music that is generally regarded as a fusion of the doom metal and hardcore punk genres, often displaying southern rock influence. Sludge metal is typically aggressive and abrasive; most often featuring shouted vocals, heavily distorted instruments and sharply contrasting tempos. It originated in the American state of Louisiana during the late 1980s."

 

But some of the most popular sludge bands are EYEHATEGOD, Down/Superjoint Ritual, and one of my fav (unfortunately defunct) bands Acid Bath. Superjoint is more on the hardcore side. Acid Bath has a good mix of tempo. Eyehategod and Down are really slow but not that heavy (imo). So there is a bit of a vacancy in the slow (downtempo) and brutal side of sludge in my library, but maybe this list can help you if you're looking for more than my limited knowledge.

[God 264]

Double post, but apparently I have an album by this band. Looks like another case of musical alzheimer's as a result of hoarding too much stuff.

Would you mind sharing that album?  Wouldn't mind adding that to my collection.

[CAT5 9075]

Would you mind sharing that album?  Wouldn't mind adding that to my collection.

 

Already did.

[Bear 1817]

Some good Japanese stoner: Church of Misery, Eternal Elysium, Boris, Redwood Blues, Sonic Flower, Chūgakusei Kanoke, Greenmachine, King Goblin

 

Some good Japanese sludge: Corrupted, dot(.), Boris, Garadama, Wheel of Doom, Zenocide, Birushanah, Congenital Hell, Godgrind, Nerveless, Sithter, Solar Anus,

 

Church of Misery, Boris, Sonic Flower, Corrupter, Solar Anus and Congential Hell all have must-haves in their discograhy.

 

 

 

Also, sludge can be as fast as it can be slow. A lot of bands owes more to the old hardcore of Black Flag, while many others owes more to the bluesy doom og Black Sabbath, but in general sludge is a mixture of hardcore punk and traditional doom metal. But you can also mix hardcore and traditional doom without being sludge, so there is more to it than that. But in general, it's a fine way to recognize sludge. A filthy mix of hardcore and doom metal. Yummy!

 

Saint Vitus (one of the original doom metal bands) mixed Black Flag with their brand of traditional doom on Hallow's Victim without making a sludge album. But you get the point.

[blackdoll 907]

Changed my original statement, thanks digi for trying to help, bu i think i fucked up.

[hitsuji-hime 211]

Good English. (which is kinda understandable due to English not being their mother language obviously)

 

Some bands just like to try too hard to sing in English, and it's always terrible.

[Tokage 5930]

Klezmer-type music. I know of Asakusa Jinta, Death March Kantai and that other band whose name I can't remember at the moment, but those 3 are pretty much it.

 

Chanson and cabaret-type music, too. I can only think of Garage Chanson Show as a pure example. Maybe Kokusyoku Sumire too

[Rocket Shinobi 25]

NECRO'ING THIS THREAD

 

So yeah, Japan is in dire need of soul and neo-soul (I'm thinking mostly along the lines of Erykah Badu, Amel Larrieux, Jill Scott, Alice Russell, Bilal, Quadron, etc etc). There are quite a few soulful Japanese singers out there, but they usually fall into other genres and I shed tears everytime I think about it.

Yes. The two artists that rolls off the tip of my tongue would be Kyoto Jazz Massive and their sideprojects and Monday Michiru. Even then, if memory serves right KJM collaborated with mainly Western vocalists since music in that vein (Future/Nu-Jazz, Broken Beat, Neo-Soul) had orginated mainly out of the UK. So because of that I think music from those genres tended to stay in the UK and spread out to the rest of Europe and not really venture much outside beyond niche circles. I do remember around 2007-2008 that for whatever reason P-Vine seemed to be the only label in Japan putting out releases in those genres and they were all from Western artists.

Random thought but I've been thinking it'd be really cool if Broken Beat stuff started to get mixed in with Post/Mathy Rock music. I mean those genres already have disjointed rhythms and beats so wouldn't that be like a match made in heaven?

[Rocket Shinobi 25]

Klezmer-type music. I know of Asakusa Jinta, Death March Kantai and that other band whose name I can't remember at the moment, but those 3 are pretty much it.

 

Chanson and cabaret-type music, too. I can only think of Garage Chanson Show as a pure example. Maybe Kokusyoku Sumire too

チャラン・ポ・ランタン (Charan-Po-Rantan) mix up chanson and circus type music. They've been signed to Avex so maybe they'll spark some interest for more music in those scenes.

 

For chanson-acordion style there is 中山うり (Nakayama Uri):

 

 

 

For cabaret style there is 秋吉文絵 (Akiyoshi Fumie):

 

[violetchain 912]

Good English.

 

There's definitely a lot of terrible Engrish out there, but, to be fair, there are still quite a few bands with vocalists that sing in perfect English, and many that aren't too far off. 

 

Ken Lloyd (Oblivion Dust, Fake?, Atom on Sphere)

 

K (Pay money To my Pain)

 

Takeshi Hosomi (ELLEGARDEN, the Hiatus)

 

Taku Muramatsu (Nothing's Carved In Stone, Abstract Mash)

 

+ bands like coldrain, New Breed, HeavensDust, etc.

 

I think AA='s English is pretty solid too, most of the time.

[doombox 4421]

I find it harder to find good English while dealing exclusivly in vk, but when you go outside it you can find more fluent English speakers/singers.

Outside of what violetchain already said I have loads more flipping through my playlists...

After Tonight, [Alexandros], The Bonez (shares the vocalist of RIZE), Cleave, Crossfaith, FACT, LOKA (same singer as Supe & Undivide), MAN WITH A MISSION, Radwimps, Shores, SiM, The Winking Owl, etc....

 

Then there's bands like fade, Monkey Majik and Shark Ethic that have non-Japanese native English speakers for vocalists.

[CAT5 9075]

Yes. The two artists that rolls off the tip of my tongue would be Kyoto Jazz Massive and their sideprojects and Monday Michiru. Even then, if memory serves right KJM collaborated with mainly Western vocalists since music in that vein (Future/Nu-Jazz, Broken Beat, Neo-Soul) had orginated mainly out of the UK. So because of that I think music from those genres tended to stay in the UK and spread out to the rest of Europe and not really venture much outside beyond niche circles. I do remember around 2007-2008 that for whatever reason P-Vine seemed to be the only label in Japan putting out releases in those genres and they were all from Western artists.

Random thought but I've been thinking it'd be really cool if Broken Beat stuff started to get mixed in with Post/Mathy Rock music. I mean those genres already have disjointed rhythms and beats so wouldn't that be like a match made in heaven?

I guess as far as neo-soul, you have some obscure artists like Hanah Spring, tamala, and maybe ovall, but these acts are few and far between and the quality of it can often be questionable lol.

And broken-beat/nu-jazz fused with post/math-rock? With some sweet-ass vocals? ffffffffffffffffffffffffffff. That definitely needs to be a thing...my ears wouldn't be ready. And that would be ok.