Toddle is a band formed by ex-Number Girl and current Bloodthirsty Butchers guitarist Tabuchi Hisako. Toddle blends super melodic vocals with crashing guitars and overdriven drums to form pristine indie-rock gems ala The Pixies, The Breeders and other early '90s indie pop rock. Whatever you want to call it, it's loud and pretty and tough all at the same time.
During their seven year run, Number Girl were one of the most influential indie rock bands in Japan, with a wide variety of outside influences themselves (most notably Sonic Youth and The Pixies). At first listen you could be forgiven for dismissing the band due to its very noisy, almost chaotic sound, but further and closer listening will reveal the true genius of the band. Full of complex, ever changing rhythms, they often stray into territory far outside that of typical noise/indie rock, such and dub and reggae, being most obvious in the massive amount of reverb often present on the drums and vocals. Regardless of their approach, every song is exploding with energy and movement, due to each member being a master at their craft. After breaking up, guitarist Tabuchi Hisako joined Bloodthirsty Butchers, also forming Toddle, her own slightly more pop oriented band. Singer and guitarist Shutoku Mukai formed the even more insane Zazan Boys with drummer Ahito Inazawa, who then went on to form Vola and the Oriental Machine.
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
