Robyn Writes

J-Pop Sunday – The Gazette

Sitting here in a red Hawaiian shirt I feel far too brightly dressed to be writing about The Gazette, yet here I am. The Gazette is the sort of band that appeals very much to a certain faction of the Tumblr crowd: After all, attractive Japanese guys acting all edgy and dark while attacking guitars on stage make for a good .gif animation – I should know; my ex sent a few of them my way on many occasions. But we’re here for the music, so let’s rock.

And every 16 year old alternative girl in the room swoons.

Quick Guide:
Act Name: The Gazette
Line-up:
Takanori Matsumoto (松本孝則) A.K.A “Ruki” (ルキ): Lead Vocals & Guitar
Kouyou Takashima (高島宏陽) A.K.A “Uruha” (麗): Guitar
Yuu Shiroyama (城山優) A.K.A “Aoi” (葵): Guitar, Acoustic Guitar & Backing Vocals
Akira Suzuki (鈴木亮) A.K.A “Reita” (れいた): Bass Guitar & Piano
Yutaka Uke (受毛豊) A.K.A “Kai” (戒): Drums & Backing Vocals
Years Active: 2002 – Present
Genre: Metal
Kaito’s Choice Tracks: Silly God Disco (2006), Remember the Urge (2011), Shiver (2010)

The Gazette falls firmly into the J-Rock sub-category of “Visual Kei”. We’ll quickly touch upon that before we talk about The Gazette themselves. First appearing in the late 80s/early 90s – mainly thanks to rock band X JAPAN – Visual Kei is what would have happened if glam rock went all edgy and gothic and moved to Japan when it was a teenager. In the world of VK the look and style of the band is just as important to their success as their music is and VK bands – including The Gazette – often make regular appearances in glossy photo-shoots in fashion magazines as well as the Visual Kei subculture focused magazine SHOXX. You just need to scroll back up the page to the photo of the band to understand the concept of Visual Kei. Although blessing it with the word “concept” seems a bit far. “Thing” might be more appropriate.

On to the music! I find that most of The Gazette’s music falls into one of three categories: The first is catchy upbeat melodic heavy rock – these are usually the tracks that I like. The second category is typical heavy metal shouty noises set to heavy metal guitar noises. Those I’m not so fond of. The third category would be the ballads that are included in albums to break up the stream of heavy noises. In hindsight my three track choices for this edition of J-Pop Sunday all fit into that first category which doesn’t make for great journalism – and I apologise for that – but I’m not a journalist, I’m a columnist. So I’m allowed pick, choose and say whatever I like. Anyway, here’s my first pick “Silly God Disco”, from 2006.


I picked this track without watching the video beforehand…so…um…Enjoy those thighs, ladies!

Contrary to what you made be thinking, I did not choose “Silly God Disco” as a pick because it has a daft title. It’s the funky bassline that I enjoy as well as the challenge of trying to determine when Ruki switches between singing in English and Japanese.


We get it; cameras are bad.

“Remember The Urge” features a mix of The Gazette’s three styles in one song. The majority of it falls into the band’s melodic heavy rock category however it also features a shouty metal segment as well as a ballad section. Three styles come together to create one cracking song. As well as one obligatory nonsensical video.


Another video from the “Black & white looks soooooo edgy!” train of thought.

“Shiver” is my favourite track from the band. I love the chorus: I don’t know the lyrics, but I always try to sing along. The music itself also feels right, everything seems to come together the beat of the drums with the occasional tinkle of the ride cymbal, along with the ride and falls of the guitars which switch seamlessly between sharp staccato leaps and drops and more fluid changes in pitch and tone. It’s a fun song to listen to.

As always, this is just a small sample of what The Gazette has to offer. I’ll leave you with a few links to various official sites if you’re curious to find out more about the band and of course – with the band being so popular worldwide – there are no shortage of fansites, blogs and Tumblrrrssses devoted to the boys if you’re feeling adventurous which I’m sure you’ll be able to find using your internet search engine of choice. I just prey they don’t find this column; they’ll no doubt find something wrong with it. 16 year old girls are scary.

More on The Gazette:
Official Website (Japanese): http://www.pscompany.co.jp/gazette/
Facebook (English): https://www.facebook.com/pages/the-GazettE-Official/255684944526717
Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/gazetteSMEJ

Until Next Time!

J-Pop Sunday – Berryz Kobo

We haven’t had any idol pop in a while. Considering how big a part of the Japanese music scene it is I think it’s time for some more idol nonsense. To be honest I’ve been trying to avoid writing about idol groups; there are only so many times I can say “Look at this horde of cute Japanese girls and their super happy pop!” and I will eventually have to talk about AKB48 at some point if I do too much on idol groups. I’m trying to avoid that. I don’t dislike AKB48 – “Flying Get” is one of my favourite J-Pop songs – I just dread the day when I have to properly research them. A lot of skeletons in that cupboard, you know? Plus the obvious comparisons to NWA and then all their spin-off groups and then-No! I’m not getting into that right now! We’re going to look at Berryz Kobo today! Simple, straightforward, Berryz Kobo!

Love that zebra print.

Quick Guide:
Act Name: Berryz工房 (Berryz Kobo/Berryz Workshop)
Line-up – 7 lovely young female vocalists:
Saki Shimizu (清水 佐紀) (Group Captain)
Momoko Tsugunaga (嗣永 桃子)
Chinami Toknaga (徳永 千奈美)
Maasa Sudo (須藤 茉麻)
Miyabi Natsuyaki (夏焼 雅)
Yurina Kumai (熊井 友理奈)
Risako Sugaya (菅谷 梨沙子)
Years Active: 2004-Present
Genre: Pop
Kaito’s Choice Tracks: Shingisukan (ジンギスカン/Dschingis Khan) (2008), Ryuusei Boi (流星ボーイ/Meteor Boy) (2009) Ajian Serebureishon (アジアン セレブレイション /Asian Celebration) (2013)
Fun Fact: I honestly don’t know which one is which.

Although just a moment ago I was bemoaning the many offshoot groups of AKB48, Berryz Kobo are distantly related to the idol powerhouse that is Morning Musume. The Berryz are another group that operate under the supervision of producer Tsunku and are a part of his “Hello! Project” idol group empire. In 2002 Tsunku set up auditions for new “Hello! Project” talent and in 2004 – after two years of professional training – eight of the girls who auditioned became Berryz Kobo. Unlike many idol groups Berryz Kobo doesn’t have a constantly changing member line-up and has had the same members from the day of its’ foundation – with the exception of Maiha Ishimura who left in 2005 to focus on her studies. Good for her!

The first song we’ll have a look at is the group’s biggest selling single. And the strangest. “Shingisukan” was released in 2008 and is a Japanese cover of Germany’s 1979 Eurovision Song Contest entry “Dschingis Khan”. I’ll let that sink in; a J-Pop cover of a 70’s German Eurovision entry. “Dschingis Khan” was originally performed by the group “Dschingis Khan” – which of course is the German pronunciation of Genghis Khan. Yes, the song is about Mongolian emperor Genghis Khan. It’s a J-Pop cover of a German 70’s Eurovision song about Genghis Khan. And I love it. Although, the Berryz Kobo cover tones down the more explicit lyrics of the German original that referred to war, sexual conquest or the alcohol. Which does beg the question, what could be left?


Somehow, this sold over 37,000 copies in Japan.

Moving away from Mongolian conquerors and slightly closer back towards the realms of sanity – or at least as close we can get in the world of J-Pop – we have “Ryuusei Boi” (Meteor Boy). My favourite Berryz song: The combination of the funky detective vocal, guitar and drum riffs in the backing track – in fact the whole backing track – and naff green-screen effects in the video give it a certain charm.


“Never Give Up! Never Give Up! 1, 2, 3! GO!”

“Asian Celebration” is one of the more recent Berryz Kobo singles. Released back in March “Asian Celebration” is catchy, cheery, upbeat, has random Engrish in the chorus and legs. Your J-Pop Trope Bingo cards should be full by the end of this one. I didn’t actually like this one at first, but it grew on me, although I’m still not too keen on the electronic harmony towards the end.


Love the floor tiles.

More Berryz Kobo:
Official Website: http://www.helloproject.com/berryzkobo/
Official Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/berryzchannel
Official Twitter (Japanese): https://twitter.com/Berryz_kobo

J-Pop Sunday – The Telephones

Right, hello! It’s summer. That means it’s unbearably hot. Which means my motivation to do anything plummets to zero. Summer also means festivals. You know, live music? And these four guys from Saitama city have a sound and energy that would shine when played out in a field on a sunny day. Well, I think so anyway.

Wizards!

Quick Guide:
Act Name: The Telephones
Line-up:
Akira Ishige (石毛輝) – Vocals, guitar & keyboard
Ryohei Nagashima (長島涼平) – Bass & chorus. (He’s kind of cute…)
Nobuaki Okamoto (岡本伸明 ) – Keyboard & chorus
Seiji Matsumoto (松本誠治) – Drums
Years Active: 2005 – Present
Genre: Um…Slightly electronic, shouty Engrish new-wave indie rock? I don’t even know any more. We’re pretty far down the rabbit hole by this point.
Kaito’s Choice Tracks: “Love&DISCO” (2008) “Yeah Yeah Yeah” (2011), “Keep your DISCO!!!” (2013)
Favourite Word: “Disco”

The Telephones formed in 2005 and for their first few years performed at venues local to their hometown of Saitama and nearby Tokyo. Their sound took off and in 2007 they released their first mini album. By 2009 the band were known across the land having performed at major Japanese music festivals including “Rock in Japan” and “Summer Sonic” as well as television appearances.

Right, let’s dive into the music. One thing that I find quite novel about The Telephones is that – although it might not seem like it – a lot of their songs are English. (Wait… Does that mean I can’t class them as J-Pop?!) Although just because they’re in English it doesn’t mean that they make any sense. Take note of the opening line for “Yeah Yeah Yeah”.


Oh Japan! Stay Japan-y.

Yes, the opening lyric to “Yeah Yeah Yeah” was indeed “I want to be your shoe box.” It could be some kind of mad metaphor. Or a parody, the video for “Keep Your DISCO!!!” demonstrates the band’s fondness for parody. The video is nothing more than spoofs of Japanese television programmes and advert tropes. The song itself falls into the Japanese rock safe zone of “Head-nodding riffs and easy to learn and shout chorus.”


The [Well Known Chain of Japanese Electronics Shops]* parody is my favourite.

“Love&DISCO” is a much mellower track. Again with a silly video. And I like it. I’m sorry, that’s all I can think to say: The Telephones are very much a band that speak for themselves in their music and in their videos anything I could say would be somewhat redundant. So I ask you just to listen and enjoy.


The video for “Love&DISCO”

More from The Telephones:
Official website: http://thetelephones.net
Twitter: https://twitter.com/thetelephonesjp
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetelephonesjp
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/thetelephonesjapan

*I’ve given Yodabashi Camera more than enough free publicity over time. They’re not getting any today!

J-Pop Sunday – Access

Goodness me, the 90’s were awful weren’t they? I’m sat here trying to find a nice photo of 90’s Japanese pop duo Access and finding a photo that doesn’t make them look ridiculously camp is proving an extremely difficult task. Even the photos taken after their 2002 reunion are a tad awful: The pair now look as though they’re trying to deny the fact that they’ve aged to themselves. I suppose it suits them though. They are a little bit awful: Something of a guilty pleasure. However, Access – like wearing Hawaiian shirts or dipping chocolate brownies into a chicken tikka masala – are definitely something I’d recommend once in a while.

I went for an early camp photo in the end.

Quick guide:
Act Name: Access (Sometimes stylised as “AXS”)
Line-up:
Daisuke Asakura (浅倉大介): Composer, keyboardist & producer. He’s the blonde one. Eventually he discovered a young man named Takanori Nishikawa – but that’s a story for another day.
Hiroyuki Takami (貴水博之): Vocalist. His real name is Hiroyuki Fukuda and according to Google he has carried out work as a professional camera assistant on a number of US films and television series. Never trust Google.
Years Active: 1992-1995, 2002-Present
Genre: Pop
Kaito’s Choice Tracks: “Yume Wo Mitai Kara” (夢を見たいから /”Because I Want to See Dreams”) (1994), White Lights (2003), Doubt & Trust (2007)

The duo launched Access in 1992 after Hiroyuki spent some time working as a guest vocalist for an earlier project of Daisuke’s. Together they (somehow) managed to take Japan by storm, releasing three albums in three years before splitting in 1995 to work on various other projects. However the story of Access didn’t end there! In 2002 the pair reunited: Picking up exactly where they left off – including the dubious fashion sense. The pair continues to delight us with their music to this very day. And I’m pretty sure their main fan-base today are the same – now middle-aged – ladies who liked them in the 90’s.


“Yume wo Mitai Kara” brings the keytars, cheese & a smiling crowd of children to the party.

“Yume wo Mitai Kara” is such a happy song and the video is delightfully cheesy. I think it captures early Access quite well, as such I had to share it. Keytars, Engrish, a generic message of hope/encouragement and a chorus anyone can single along to providing they know that one line combine to create something great. Plus, it means I don’t have to scare you with some of the early 90’s CGI that appears in many of their other early music videos. “Misty Heartbreak” is the worst offender of that crime. (Don’t worry; I’ll spare you the horror.)

While I could spent the entirety of your time focusing on Access’ early works and their embarrassing charm, I feel we should move swiftly on to modern day Access. We’ll skip ahead to 2003, and chill out with “White Lights”. While only ever released as an album track, “White Lights” stands out to me on the Access back catalogue. Relaxed in the main melody, yet busy with the keyboard riff and harmonised vocals in the background, I think it’s a great track to listen to while wandering around town on a sunny day.


“While “White Lights” may be relaxing that album cover has me worried that Daisuke is about to punch me.


Judging by the crowd at this live performance of “Doubt & Trust” I think I was right about the earlier “long-time fan-base” comment. (Strobe Warning, people!)

“Doubt & Trust” was the first Access song that I stumbled across – a good while ago. (And by “Stumbled Across” I actually mean “Got thrown my way by the lady who is now my editor”.) It was the piano riff at the start that caught my attention. That combined with the cheesy Japanese blokes performing caused me to investigate their back catalogue. To normal people Access’ back catalogue would cause them to run a mile in the opposite direction, but for myself it meant that later that evening a 3CD compilation album was on its way to me from the far-east. I have never regretted that decision and I doubt I ever will.

Yes, the 90’s were terrible, and Access don’t exactly prove that statement to be in any way wrong. But if the 90’s created Access then I suppose it means that something good came out of that decade. Well, that, the Super Nintendo and the fall of communism in Europe, I guess.

Until next time!

More Access:
Official Website (Japanese): http://www.access-web.jp/
Official Twitter (Japanese): https://twitter.com/access_official

J-Pop Sunday – Bump Of Chicken

“Cowards Strike Back”. Apparently that’s the name this week’s band “Bump of Chicken” wanted for themselves but something was lost in the translation. I suppose we should pause for a moment and have a giggle at the Engrish.

…Eheheheee. “Bump.” “Chicken.” They’re funny words. Hehe.

Have we all got it out of our systems? Good! Let us begin!

Quick Guide:
Act Name: Bump Of Chicken (…Hehe.)
Line-up:

  • Motoo Fujiwara: Composer, Lyricist, Vocalist & Guitarist. He also drew the artwork for two of the band’s albums. Can’t eat spicy food.
  • Hiroaki Masukawa: Pessimistic Guitarist. Likes video games and anime.
  • Yoshifumi Naoi: Bassist who jokes that he falls ill exactly four times per year.
  • Hideo Masu: Drummer with great eyesight but claims he can’t write kanji very well.

Years Active: 1994 – Present
Genre: Mellow upbeat rock.
Kaito’s Choice Tracks: “Tentai Kansoku” (天体観測/Amateur Astronomy) (2001), “Karuma” (カルマ/Karma) (2005), “Arue” (アルエ/R.A) (1999)

First meeting in nursery school, the members of Bump of Chicken were classmates throughout their school years. First performing as a band together during a 9th grade school festival, Bump of Chicken is now one of Japan’s most popular rock acts, with all but two of their 14 singles failing to make it into the top ten of Japan’s Weekly Oricon charts.


I don’t trust the kid with the telescope.

Taken from the band’s third album “Jupiter”, “Tentai Kansoku” was the song that brought Bump of Chicken to the attention of the world – and coincidentally the first track of theirs I ever heard – so it’s definitely worth mentioning. Chilled, up-beat and rock-y, it sums up Bump of Chicken’s general sound quite well as well as being an enjoyable track to listen to.

Bump of Chicken often receive a lot of praise for their lyrics, as such the vocals tend to take up a lot of the focus in each of their songs. Sadly, my Japanese is somewhat limited – I can ask where the loo is and I can order food; that’s enough for me for now. Being unable to understand the majority of the lyrics means that some of their songs – while still enjoyable – end up sounding similar. Well, to my foreigner ears anyway. However “Karuma” seems to stand out, maybe it’s the guitar riff at the start? I’m not entirely sure why. Give it a listen and see what you think. Maybe I’m just going mad…


2005’s Karuma

“Arue” (Or “R.A.”) is my favourite song of Bump of Chicken’s. Yes, it’s another pleasant, chilled, rock anthem with lovely lyrics, but the reason it’s my favourite is for a much sillier reason. “Arue” was written as a tribute to Rei Ayanami, a character from the sci-fi anime franchise “Neon Genesis Evangelion”. Evangelion is one of my favourite anime franchises, with Rei being mai waifu my favourite character. This makes Bump of Chicken and I total bros for life. Or at least in my eyes. And that’s the main reason I like it.


Only in Japan would an emotional rock and roll tribute to a 2D girl reach number 2 in the charts…

Until next time!

More Bump of Chicken:
Official Site: http://www.bumpofchicken.com (Japanese)
Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bocjapan (Japanese)
Official Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/BUMPOFCHICKENch