Up above is "Pink Snow," one of two new videos from Plasticzooms. To say it's different from their past material would be a bit of an understatement. It's catchy and downright pretty, not words I would have used to describe their sound until now. Below is the video for "Bug," a song a bit more like what we would expect from them, but it too is more well-produced and clean than we've heard before.
Don't get me wrong, a really like their older material and I really like this new stuff. I'm just wondering what to expect next. Something that's always a good thing in my book.
YouTuber BPtequila69 recently uploaded a bunch of clips from a live show at CLUB ASIA. The show featured a lot of pretty cool bands. I've pasted in a few of my own favorites here, like this one from Plazticzooms. The sounds quality isn't super great, but the video is good.
Plasticzooms is a dingy goth rock band from Japan. Much like Lillies and Remains (more on them in a second) the band blends late '70s and early '80 goth punk with more modern-day post-punk with electro flourishes (My Bloody Valentine, Bauhaus etc...) Their production seems to be intentionally gritty most of the time. Both Sho (male) and back up vocalist TIF (female) sing entirely in English, though it's so heavily accented as to make it virtually another language.
Speaking of bandleader and front-man Sho, he is also the support bassist for the aforementioned Lillies and Remains. Both bands a quite similar, so it's safe to say that if you like one, you'll like the other. In fact, Sho even sings in the same low register as L&R singer Kent. The main difference is that Sho is much more likely to scream and screech. Plasticzooms is also more abrasive and raw, again due in no small part to Sho's performance. Unsurprisingly, the two bands often play live shows together.
Sho also seems to be the band's visual designer. He has a selection of art on their MySpace page, (the band doesn't seem to have any other web presence as of this writing) including the album artwork and t-shirts. As for albums, they have only one mini-album out so far. The five original songs are supplemented with five remixes by other artists, including the current buzz-band Selfish Cunt. A coup, indeed. Unfortunately, the remixes only detract from the album, as the band's own work is very good. On their own, the five originals make a spectacular debut devoid of the need for any embellishment. Keep your eyes on these guys.
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.
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