Base Ball Bear are set to release two new albums simultaneously at the end of September, Detective Boys and Cypress Girls. For the past few months they've been releasing short clips of songs from the albums along with rough video of the band in the studio fooling around. This video for "十字架 YOU and I" is the first that features an entire song as well as a proper video. It's animated in a style that seems to cross bits of Evangelion, FLCL and classic Gainax imagery. There's also some nice water coloring going on. The song isn't spectacular, but along with the video it makes for an enjoyable few minutes.
Well, looks like this is quickly turning into little more than a video blog! I assure you, I'm doing all I can to get be to some sort of normal schedule. But until then, hey! More videos!
[UPDATE: Shoot, looks like it was already taken down. Well, just imagine one shot on a white screen with three girls mouthing the lyrics and not moving much.]
Here's one of the new videos from Perfume from their new album/DVD Triangle. I did a quick review of it for Japanator, and I didn't exactly give it a thumbs up. I want to make it clear that I don't hate the album or them. I simply don't think it's a very good album and that the group, on the whole, is sort of played-out. If you like them, great! If not, well that's good too.
But seriously, look at that video. I mentioned it on Twitter yesterday:
How does the biggest pop group in Japan make a video? They rent an HD camera, some lights and a fan for 5 minutes: http://is.gd/1vyY5
Benu, one of my Twitter friends, took me to task for hating on them, and I basically said the above. Also this:
@Benu Oh, and I'll admit that it does look like they put at least twice as much thought and time into the blocking. :D :D <3 <3
All I'm saying is that a little more effort would be nice. That's all!
I must admit, I lost my shit when I first saw this new video from Vola and the Oriental Machine. There are far too many incredible things going on in it...I can't even begin to go into it all. Suffice it to say that I want to immediately fly to Japan after watching it. I'm sure it's like this all the time, right? I cannot get my hands on their new album soon enough!
Here's an example of how to make a simple and cheap video, but also a very interesting one to watch! I think it also helps that the music is crazy good. The best bit? The parts where the drummer is moving his hands fast enough to see the pictures projected on his sticks! It's subtle, but amazing.
I've been waiting for something a little more ass-kicking from these guys, and there's some pretty interesting stuff going on in this song. The video, not so much. But hey, it's certainly orange!
Here's a brief clip featuring the new Abingdon Boys School single that's the opener for the new anime series Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 (as pointed out over on Japanator). Not too much to say about this one other than it's not the greatest thing ABS has done, IMO. All of their recent releases seem to be a little on the weak side. On the other hand, I just might have to check out the anime!
A Plus D - "Stanky Whip"
I love everything about Bootie Blog. This video should be explanation enough.
Formed, like so many other bands, in high school and as something of a one-off lark, the band that would eventually become Base Ball Bear managed to stick together and become one of the more prominent bands in the modern Japanese music scene.
They say they were influenced strongly by Supercar, and Base Ball Bear's warm, upbeat and slightly nostalgic rock does echo that of Supercar at times. It helps that they also have a female bass player who contributes occasional back-up vocals and harmonies just as Supercar did. Yet while Supercar could be a bit abrasive and experimental at times, Base Ball Bear sticks more toward the straight-up pop/dance rock style. They do have a slight indie-rock vibe from time to time, but they are decidedly more mainstream than their now-defunct progenitors.
Their pop mentality only strengthened once they signed to a major label. While their early work is a bit angular and brash, their newer material is predictably refined and focused, both sonically and melodically. Their disco/dance beats also gained prominence, holding precedence over their earlier rock approach. Their songs are still just as catchy and upbeat as ever, if not more so. If you find bands like Vola and the Oriental Machine to be a little too intense, or Ogre You Asshole to be a little to twee and indie, then Base Ball Bear might be the perfect fit.
Formed in 2000 in Osaka, Bacon is a hard rocking, upbeat band featuring lots of big guitar chords and a signature Moog synth. Over the past seven years, Bacon has only released two full length album as well as a split single with the now hugely popular Base Ball Bear in 2005. While Bacon hasn't managed to obtain the same success as their friends, they certainly have the same positive sound and feel-good vibe. The Moog elements have a strong feel of The Rentals or early Weezer, which fits nicely with their solid indie-rock songs. Much like Asian Kung-fu Generation and Yogurt Pooh, who they also sound a bit like in their more rocking moments, Bacon is the sound of emo before emo was emo. Namely, extremely melodic and slightly retro, but with very loud rock guitars and earnest vocals.
J-Pop and J-Rock are only the beginning. The modern Japanese music scene is just as vibrant and varied as any other music scene in the world. I'm Zac Bentz, writer, musician, designer and all around Japanese music fanatic. Here I hope to share with you a comprehensive (!!) list of Japanese artists and bands (with a strong focus on underground and indie acts) that you may or may not have heard of, in the hopes of expanding our mutual awareness of Japanese music.
I don't mean to suggest that everything I listen to is great. Quite the contrary, I hope that you will take the time to recommend your own favorite artists in the comments so that we can all learn a bit more about the huge range of Japanese music that's out there.
"The best Japanese music blog in the world." - Door Slam "Definitely a must-visit for J-pop and J-rock fans!" -The Otaku "Zac Bentz loves music. A lot." -Japanator "Very cool!" -J-ENT "...one of the foremost blogs and information centers on all J-pop and J-rock...the top source for tour information on Japanese bands in the US..." -YankeeOtaku "Wer mehr darüber wissen will, der sollte sich mal hier umschauen, ein sehr gutes J-Music Blog übrigens." -CommandSheep "...very well-written, and there’s an excellent range of artists...a useful resource." -International Wota "не плохая энциклопедия японских исполнителей/групп" -Diary.ru "Great resource for Japanese music fans who want to explore today's J-rhythms beyond Johnny's Entertainment bishonen music and anime music. XD" -Kaishi "If you are a J-Rock fan, [ZB's A-Z] is a must see." -Crunchyroll community "Otaku USA magazine finally got wise and hired Zac Bentz as a J-music contributing editor."-Radicalpatriot "Reviews practically every Asian band that has ever created a recording."- Zallie "Gewährt spannende Einblicke in die japanische Musikszene." -Laut.de
