Things you never (or seldom) hear in Japanese music

[CAT5 9075]

As diverse and expansive as Japan's music scene is, there are still some things that you rarely (or never) hear coming out of Japan. For instance, country music is something you really don't hear coming out o Japan. Off the top of my head, I can only think of 2 Japanese acts that make country music (??ン??ート ??ン??ート and 中????り).

I'm not very well versed in Japanese metal, but I know their extreme metal scene is lacking compared to the European and American scenes.

Anyhow, what are some things you all don't hear in Japanese music that often (or ever)? Doesn't necessarily have to be genres - it can be anything music related (instruments, vocal styles, whatever).

[Mamo 1172]

Country ewww thank god not in Japan. I don't know of any R&B groups in Japan correct me if I'm wrong.

[LIDL 692]

^ actually what i rarely hear is brutal kei. Is that even exists? j/k Btw, R&B artists are like alot in Japan, but labelled again with J-Pop like say, Misia, Early years of M-Flo, Nujabes, The Gospellers, etc etc etc

on topic, i rarely (actually never, yet) hear tenors from Japan. I am sure they have some, but just never see any albums from this genre.

[Senedjem 510]

sume7 doesn't know much about japanese music.

Yodeling, there should be more yodeling.

[LIDL 692]

speaks about country, i think the group doa sounds like one, too? Country rock perhaps?

Their open D album sounds so wild wild west <3

[Guest]

I'm not very well versed in Japanese metal, but I know their extreme metal scene is lacking to other European and American countries.

Not at all. THe japanese Metal scene is good, and have been like that for years now. Especially the Extreme Metal scene. The Punk scene is also amazing in Japan, and especially the more extreme forms of Punk.

[Aion 184]

Country ewww thank god not in Japan. I don't know of any R&B groups in Japan correct me if I'm wrong.

xD

niw, not that I listen to Gospel, but I don't know a lot of christian bands from Japan. But then again, the Christian community in Japan is also pretty low...

[Champ213 1858]

Yodeling, there should be more yodeling.

Here you go.

But yeah, it seems that for any genre that you find in the "west", there are at least a few japanese artists that do it too. From viking metal to... err, yodeling. Obviously you have to broaden or modify the definitions in some cases (as we discussed with Neo-Folk earlier), and sometimes there might only be a very few artists in a particular niche genre.

Personally I found the melodic death metal scene to be somewhat lacking, things like Serpent or Shadow of Tranquility. At least they are somewhat eclipsed by the more prominent power/heavy metal stuff. Then again I never really looked deeper into it. There are gazillions of bands from that genre all around the world, and since origin is of no concern to me it's not that I would have difficulties finding something for my taste.

[Senedjem 510]

Here you go.

My mind is now broken.

[Guest]

Country ewww thank god not in Japan. I don't know of any R&B groups in Japan correct me if I'm wrong.

1st part: It's ridiculous to say an entire genre is "ewww", unless you've heard the entire breadth of it.

2nd part. GUUUUUUUUUURRRRLL PLEASE.

-

Haven't heard much VK Hiphop. There was some awful neo-visual band - tokyo shitei or something - who did it a bit, same with glacier and some of new Mucc. But nothing else along the lines of this classic:

AO3wneBtx4I

Or Japanese dubstep. But that's probably because I haven't looked into it enough.

[CAT5 9075]

I'm not very well versed in Japanese metal, but I know their extreme metal scene is lacking to other European and American countries.

Not at all. THe japanese Metal scene is good, and have been like that for years now. Especially the Extreme Metal scene. The Punk scene is also amazing in Japan, and especially the more extreme forms of Punk.

Well, I didn't say it was bad. What I mean by "lacking" is that it just doesn't seem as prevalent compared to other European countries...the more extreme forms of metal anyways. For instance, It would probably be easier to find more technical death metal from some European country than from Japan. Basically, I know this stuff exists, I'm just questioning the quantity of it...

I've come across a good amount extreme punk/punk-ish bands from Japan, so I don't doubt that!

@sume7 - there are plenty of Japanese r&B acts out there....whether they do it well or not is another story...

@Chianti - that's a good one. brutal-VK...as hard/heavy as a lot of VK bands try to be, you'd think that some bands would push it to that extent...but then again, isn't the number of VK bands that even play "real" metal pretty low?

[Guest]

I'm not very well versed in Japanese metal, but I know their extreme metal scene is lacking to other European and American countries.

Not at all. THe japanese Metal scene is good, and have been like that for years now. Especially the Extreme Metal scene. The Punk scene is also amazing in Japan, and especially the more extreme forms of Punk.

Well, I didn't say it was bad. What I mean by "lacking" is that it just doesn't seem as prevalent compared to other European countries...the more extreme forms of metal anyways. For instance, It would probably be easier to find more technical death metal from some European country than from Japan. Basically, I know this stuff exists, I'm just questioning the quantity of it...

Maybe. I don't like Techincal Death Metal (except for a few good bands such as Death and old Cryptopsy

), but I know that Goats' "Collective Unconscious" and Vortex' "Colours Out From The Emptiness" are both seen as classic TechDeath, and both are japanese. Probably worth a try if you like that kind of music.

But it depends on the coutnry as well. Even though Norway or Ukraine has been huge as far as Extreme Metal goesI can only think of one band from Norway that's a TechDeath band, if you can even consider them a Death Metasl band at all.

But Germany, Finland and Norway, for an example, have been huge as far as Extreme Metal goes, ever since the begining. It's been accepted for a lot of years over here. Japan on the other hand, not so much. But it has been growing really fast the last 10 years, especially the Extreme Metal scene. And it's getting eccepted. And on top with that, Japan really is, if you like good music that is( ), it's filled with quality band. Especially Death, Thrash, Black and Grindcore. I don't know much about the Melodic Death Metal scene down there, but I know a lot of them have been praised and such. But MeloDeath tend to suck 97% of the time, so I never checked it out. But yeah, if you ask me at least, Japan has the same ammount of good Extreme Metal bands as what Norway, Germany, Finland, Sweden and so on have got. Lots of good Heavy Metal bands as well.

But it all has got to do with taste, and how much you've checked out and all that. And I'm sure our tastes are extremely different, so our views will be as well.

Rant, rant and rant.

[Number Girl 48]

But nothing else along the lines of this classic:

AO3wneBtx4I

You win for posting this. One of my favorite songs in the whole wide world.

[Peace Heavy mk II 7200]

Fansei meitingu yuu heaa

Now this is going to be stuck in my head all day DX

Edit: Just listened to the yodeling video. My favorite part is when he was throwing stuff all over the place at the street-venting stall and everyone was just kind of awkwardly staring.

[Mamo 1172]

Country ewww thank god not in Japan. I don't know of any R&B groups in Japan correct me if I'm wrong.

1st part: It's ridiculous to say an entire genre is "ewww", unless you've heard the entire breadth of it.

2nd part. GUUUUUUUUUURRRRLL PLEASE.

I live in fucking Kentucky seriously ewwww!

[SUBLIMINAL 52]

Someone link me to a Japanese song that uses steel drums.

[CAT5 9075]

Someone link me to a Japanese song that uses steel drums.

I know I've heard steel drums in various Japanese songs, but none that I can think of off top. I'll have to consult my music collection, so I'll get back to you on that...

[Guest]

Country is more culturally-exclusive to The US, so that's probably why you don't see much of it anywhere else. The very few groups that show up in Japan, are just mere imitations.

Though the scene is growing, I do not hear much Japanese Hardcore. They are starting to get a straight edge scene (which is funny), and there are a few bands such as Versus the Night that were getting some good publicity, but that's really all I've heard of aside from a few others here and there.

Other than a small Hardcore scene, I really don't think japan is lacking that much...

[CAT5 9075]

Country is more culturally-exclusive to The US, so that's probably why you don't see much of it anywhere else. The very few groups that show up in Japan, are just mere imitations.

I wouldn't quite call them imitations. By that logic, anyone who isn't African American is merely imitating hip hop, rock&roll, and jazz lol...

Though the scene is growing, I do not hear much Japanese Hardcore. They are starting to get a straight edge scene (which is funny), and there are a few bands such as Versus the Night that were getting some good publicity, but that's really all I've heard of aside from a few others here and there.

Indeed..there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of pure hardcore in Japan, but it's def. out there. The few that I know of are waddling in obscurity, though. =/

There aren't a whole lot of straight-up Japanese funk bands around either. Tons of funk-influenced bands out there, but few that strictly play funk.

[lukrecia 22]

Though the scene is growing, I do not hear much Japanese Hardcore. They are starting to get a straight edge scene (which is funny), and there are a few bands such as Versus the Night that were getting some good publicity, but that's really all I've heard of aside from a few others here and there.

Indeed..there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of pure hardcore in Japan, but it's def. out there. The few that I know of are waddling in obscurity, though. =/

Maybe?

[Guest]

There aren't a whole lot of straight-up Japanese funk bands around either. Tons of funk-influenced bands out there, but few that strictly play funk.

True, but I'm hazarding that it's because funk isn't too much of a stand-alone genre, most Western funk band I've heard often are a mix of disco, pop and jazz too.

[Peace Heavy mk II 7200]

Japanese reggeaton?

[Neon 6]

I know that japan has some reggea artist but not eny reggeaton

[LIDL 692]

Teri the Aki- 06 A.K.A the ??り??りマザファッカ??????was a good, influential and huge reggaeaton rapper

R.I.P

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[tosinn 3]

Japanese reggeaton?

Oh god no. Someone shoot me if this actually exists.