The End of an Era

m.o.v.e announced today that they were disbanding.

Even in the midst of work, finals, and a lot of stress, this news strikes me and saddens me. Enough to break my silence on this blog. (I’ve been doing Japanese music-related things. Went to the Yoshida Brothers x MONKEY MAJIK concert, for example. But that’s not for this post.)

I remember listening to this on the flight to Hong Kong in 2001 and falling in love at first listen. I remember downloading the MP3s from Napster and online sites and burning them and replaying them over and over, both on Winamp and in CD format. I remember hunting down their CDs in Kinokuniya and Book-off and playing them in the school store when I worked. They were my first music fandom, and the efforts they make to keep in touch with their fans no matter where in the world they live or what language they speak astounds me.

It might be safe to say that without them, I wouldn’t be as into Japanese pop music as I am. This blog wouldn’t exist. (Hell, the name is derived from one of their songs.)

I’m always going to regret never being able to go to one of their lives.

But for 15 years of music that I still genuinely enjoy, I’m grateful, and I wish yuri, motsu, and t-kimura all the best in whatever paths they pursue from here on.

CHEMISTRY at Otakon 2011

Otakon has announced one of their musical guests for this year’s convention: R&B duo CHEMISTRY!

In all honesty, I’m very much considering going even if there won’t be autograph sessions or any of the like. I may not stan them as much as I did AAA way back when, but they make some great music. Apparently the dance quartet (now trio) Synergy, whom they worked with for the regeneration tour and singles Shawty & Keep Your Love, may also come?

Between this and Kinkakuji at the Lincoln Center Festival… be right back, I’m rearranging my plans and my financials for this summer.

Obligatory Ranking Post (the very belated and lengthy sequel)

I gotta say, I love posts that inspire discussion and all – I really do, even if I’m not a very talkative person myself – but let’s take a different track this time. Sorry to say, not every post can be as awesome and provoking and thought inspiring. Or maybe just plain provocative.

At long last, I finally offer you another ranking post.

Charity Auction!

Hello, adoring public! It’s nice to see people weigh in on the subject of fandom, and what makes a good or a bad fan, but let’s move a bit past that for a moment, shall we?

International Wota is currently holding a charity auction to benefit Japan, and I’ve put up some things from my own collection for it. If you’re a fan of AAA, w-inds., or girl idols in general, you’re probably going to be interested, so check it out!

The Bad, the Worse, and the Ugly

I have a very simple question to pose to you today. (Perhaps not so simple, given that I’ve been mulling over it for the better part of two years.) What is a bad fan?

Fans can be generally defined as people who fanatically like something – but what actions separate the good from the bad?

Is it a person who doesn’t financially support the artist, but downloads everything instead?

Is it a person who wants to become a major player in the fandom and resorts to harassment, stealing, and other sorts of wank in order to spread their name?

Is it a person who is delusional regarding the subject of their fandom, such that they believe s/he is their *~*ONE TRUE RABU*~* and may even stalk her/him, if the option is available?

Is it a person who likes only one part of the whole, instead of the whole?

Is it a person with absolutely nothing to contribute to the fandom other than inane and potentially insulting commentary?

Is it a person who automatically jumps to insults and derogatory words (see: bitch, whore, slut) when referring to people they dislike?

Is it a person who is insultingly outspoken about what they consider immoral only so that s/he becomes known as a major speaker on the fandom in question?

Is it a person who, despite being a fan, abuses language in their fanhood? (Note that this is not the same as not being proficient in the main language in which you are communicating – usually English. See: “hi minasan ginki des ka” as an opener, usage of the word “bakka” in reference to an idiot instead of the proper “baka”, random usage of the terms “kawaii” and “kakkoii,” and ending every other sentence in “ne.”)

Is it a person who may like the fandom in question, but are very outspoken regarding parts they do not like?

Is it a person who thinks that they have the right to judge who is a “true” fan and who isn’t?

Is it a person who is truly fanatical, someone who is almost rabidly unforgiving of anyone who holds a different opinion in regards to their fandom, even in a public forum for the open discussion of the topic?

Is it all of the above?

Or is it something completely different?

You tell me.

Ahoy, V6 stans!

So for those of you who haven’t heard from your local flailing V6 fangirl (unless that’s me, in which case I’m doing my job right now), Go will be coming to New York to perform Kinkakuji this summer, July 21-July 24, as part of the Lincoln Center Festival.

Those of you who think you might be able to make it, you’ve got plenty of time to start planning and preparing.

Those of you who don’t give a shit, well, too bad. Even ignoring the V6 connection, look up Kinkakuji. It’s a surprisingly compelling tale.

And for those of you who just want to know when I’ll post more often on this blog… I did say this blog was operating under the pretenses that I didn’t give a crap. (Well, that’s a lie. I care, I do. We blame school.)

CHO-KO-RE-I-TO DI-SU-KO!

I recently found out that thanks to a happy show by the name of Music Fair, a doomsday collaboration had occurred.

“Recently found out” being just “tonight” (It is two minutes to 5AM as I type this, and I am told I finished this post and its tumblr accompaniment at 5:42AM…) while procrastinating on a paper due in about 8 hours, and “doomsday collaboration” being a situation of the “wow, I didn’t think this would ever occur” variety.

But apparently I’m pretty slow on the uptake, since this particular episode aired 4 days ago.

Basically, HOME MADE KAZOKU, Johnny’s duo Tegomass, and AKB48 subunit Watarirouka Hashiritai 7 got together and covered Perfume’s Chocolate Disco.

Some things were great about this:

• Watarirouka Hashiritai being the main singers.  What better cover of a cute girl group than with a cute girl group.
• KURO being effin’ cool-as-hell KURO. MICRO also gets points because the interjections didn’t seem out of place, but c’mon. KURO was rocking the shades.
• DJ U-ICHI. You can never go wrong with DJ U-ICHI.
• The original dance!
• Massu enjoying the hell out of himself.
• Massu and KURO bopping to the song together. I have an OTP for this song now. And I don’t do pairings.
• I adore those schoolgirl uniforms Watarirouka were wearing. So much. You don’t even know.

But others were just bad:

• Sorry to say, AKB48 stans, Watanabe Mayu’s (I think?) solo singing here. Too heavy on the cute. Group sounded great together. Mayu solo made me wince.
• Hell, even Massu sounded kind of off because it was a bit too high for him.
• Tegoshi trying to be cool-as-hell when he wasn’t flirting with the camera. Yeah… that’s what HMK were there for. You looked like some of the girls rejected you.
• Going back to Massu… the skirt? Even for Johnny’s, that’s a pretty big WTF.
• MICRO not singing. Man’s got a good voice. What I wanted to hear most was him singing.

But hell, in the end it was fun. Still not gonna stan AKB48 or Tegomass, and my interest in HOME MADE KAZOKU is definitely much lower than it was about 3 to 4 years ago… but can we get more along the lines of this from Japan, please?

Baby girl, you blow my mind. [Coming Century’s Hello-Goodbye]

There’s a common music meme that is ageless. By which I mean it was likely floating around even before the Internet. It’s also very simple. You’ve no doubt heard of it – and even if you somehow haven’t you’ll get the idea right away.

It usually goes like this: What are your [X number] desert island albums? If you were stuck on a deserted island with only a music player, which 1/5/10/whatever number albums would you want to have?

If you somehow still don’t get it, then let’s take it in a different way – what album(s) would you be able to listen to over and over?

While I will always be the first to admit that, hell yes, obviously bias plays a major part in any statement I make… when I tell you that Coming Century‘s second album Hello-Goodbye is second on my personal desert island album list, you should trust me.

What is J-Pop?

On Saturday, January 22nd, 2011 (I give you the exact date so you can see either how much I’ve been thinking about this subject, or how much I’ve procrastinated on this post. Exactly which of the two is a matter I leave to your imagination.), my Twitter feed was bombarded by a bunch of tweets from Taku Takahashi of m-flo fame. Well, the bombarding was actually quite normal. It turns out DJ Taku has a lot to say.

Back on topic – the main subject of these tweets? The use of “J-Pop” as a category.

Y’see, I am one of those people. I’m anal about the tagging of my MP3s. I’ve gotten called out on it, and I’ve verbally displayed my annoyance at people who don’t. I don’t care if you know what the song is, why the hell would you leave “[insert mp3 site that you probably didn’t get the song from here!].com – [Generic Song Title]” in the Song Name tag? For one thing, you’d have to wait for the site name to scroll past before the actual title comes up; for another, sometimes the title isn’t even in there. To say nothing of it fucking with tag-reading things like Last.fm, any iPod games involving music information, or MP3s uploaded to tumblr.

I like to think I’m not too bad about this obsessive behavior. All I really need is the

• Song Name
• Song Artist (as styled officially, whether in kanji or with Up AnD dOwN letters)
• Year
• Track Number (# of # – even if all I have is the one MP3 from a release with 30 tracks)
• Album Title
• Disc Number (Only if there’s more than one CD)
• Genre
• Album Art – preferably in a size at least 300×300, but I’ll put up with less if that’s all that is available. (JOHNNY’S! I SHAKE MY FIST AT YOU!)

I usually fill out “Album Artist” with either the romanized name (if in Kanji) or an associated grouping (every one of the 188 tracks on the BEMANI BEST for the 10th anniversary compilation is under “Beatmania”) and I’m a bit less anal about composer – I’ll fill it in if the information is available, but I won’t hunt it down like everything else.

“No,” you’re telling me, “All that’s pretty anal already. Isn’t all you need for the tag stuff the name and the artist, anyway?”

Well, here’s the kicker, then – for someone so anal, I’m guilty of just shamelessly labeling the genre tags with “JPop” over and over and over. It matters not whether it’s Johnny’s or Pay money To my Pain or SOUL’d OUT or Vocaloid that I’m tagging – ctrl+I in iTunes, “JPop” in the genre box, and I am satisfied.

Not so much since that tweet.

“J-Pop”, obviously, is Japanese Pop. “Pop” being pop music, and quoting Wiki:

Pop music (a term that originally derives from an abbreviation of “popular”) is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented towards a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.

So is there something wrong with saying that a track has popular appeal? Just take m-flo, seeing as the tweet sparking this post originated from one of the members. Though categorized as hip-hop, the fact that they are chart toppers alone speaks to the fact that they have popular appeal. The music in question was undeniably a hit with the younger generations (teenagers and early twenties) – and besides, as he says in the original tweet “I think it is ok to make something ‘pop'”

Perhaps it’s the Japanese part? Well, it is Japanese in origin, debuting in the Japanese music market, with Japanese lyrics. And he does admit, generally, m-flo is jpop. He also tweeted this and this, and let’s face it – Japanese pop, as mass-produced can be corny, stupid, or both.

But let’s make it simple. Here, he just says outright that he thinks the term “JPop” is lame. And going back even further, here he asks if the term “JPop” is necessary anymore, for both users and people working in the industry. When you get down to it, he’s got a point – music is globalized. Even if you don’t listen to Japanese music (and what the hell are you doing reading this blog if you don’t?), at some point, you have very likely listened to something that has played elsewhere in the world. Perhaps it’s time to drop the language boundaries. Away with the K, away with the C, away with the J, away with the Euro – wait, europop is a legitimate genre. Never mind that last one. But the terms “JPop”/”KPop”/”CPop” and even “Anison” (anime songs) are admittedly extremely loose. As long as it’s Japanese, Korean, Chinese, or tied to an anime, it will technically fit into the respective “genre”. And when you rip a Japanese music CD, the automatic MP3 genre tag is “DOMESTIC POPS” – which doesn’t work quite as well when you’re overseas, but makes it very clear that, of course, to the Japanese, J-Pop is just pop.

So saying, would you tag Nightmare‘s the WORLD as Japanese Pop? It was in the Japanese music market, after all. Japanese Rock? Since it is undeniably Japanese, and undeniably rock. Or perhaps the more specific subset Visual Kei? (Though that technically applies more to the visual style than the musical style.) Can we say it’s an anison? It was the first opening theme song to the Death Note anime. Do we drop it altogether and let them be the rock/heavy metal they are?

And furthermore – should you tag each song in a release individually? Take a mixture album like the Dance Dance Revolution soundtracks where there are many different musical genres. Is this one trance, this one happy hardcore, this one ska? Or are they all just unceremoniously filed under “Soundtrack” or “Game”? CHEMISTRY is primarily a R&B duo, but if you listen to their regeneration album (also primarily R&B), second track Period is clearly rock-tinged pop. Oh, it was a theme song for Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, too. How to squeeze anison in there?

I know. I’m making a huge deal out of this. All this really comes down to is – in the end, I want my MP3s tagged properly. And yet if an artist is going to say that s/he doesn’t want to be called “JPop,” I want to respect that. Until I figure that out, and manage to retag over 25000 MP3 files*, my music library is going to give me a headache.

*Barring Johnny’s and other idol groups, of course. C’mon, those are unrepentantly Japanese pop.

It’s been a long time… [Tamaki Nami’s Missing You ~Time To Love~]

I am on a continuous quest for songs with really, really, really long names. It’s hilarious to see them at karaoke, squished in tiny font into a tiny space. I don’t actually sing them, because half the time I don’t know them. But it’s hilarious.

That brings us to Missing You ~Time To Love~ feat. KWANGSOO, JIHYUK, GEONIL (from Choshinsei). I think it’s self explanatory.