EXILE
EXILE is a Japanese pop boy group. Its peculiarity is its composition, numbering as many as 19 people.
The team performs in the following styles:
- pop;
- j-pop;
- dance-pop;
- modern rhythm and blues.
From 2007 to 2009, they won the Grand Prix award awarded by the Union of Japanese Composers (Japan Records Awards) three times.
It all started in 1999, when member Hiro of the ZOO team formed a new team called J Soul Brothers. After the idea was born, he invited two more vocalists there.
After 2 years, the ensemble was renamed to its current name. In 2007, the participants released their first single, which was able to win the top line of the Oricon music chart.
In the same year, Hiro gathers 7 people and unites them into a team called the J Soul Brothers.
One of the worthy achievements of the group Exile is its album Exile Love (2008), which becomes the best-selling album in Japan that year.
In 2009, two existing teams Exile and J Soul Brothers were united into one common group called EXILE.
Visual kei
A derivative genre of Japanese rock and glam metal that appeared in the mid-80s thanks to the groups X Japan, Seikima II, etc. One of the main principles of the direction is a great emphasis on the appearance of the performers, which is based on the androgynous ideal of beauty. Another feature of the genre is the variety of creativity of the groups. So most bands add elements of many different directions to their music and do not adhere to a clear genre of music. Most bands play rock music, but it also has a strong electronic (Adapter, Blam Honey) and pop (TM Revolution) scene. But almost always the music of such groups contains electric guitar and other elements of rock music.
X Japan
One of the most striking groups is the popular Japanese group of boys - X Japan.
This band was founded by drummer Yoshiki and vocalist Tosi from the city of Chiba in 1982.
Their genre choices changed over time: initially gravitating towards power and speed metal with symphonic elements, they moved on to a more progressive sound with a focus on ballads.
The activities of X Japan have reached a global level to such an extent that the team even began to be attributed to the pioneers of the visual key direction.
The original name of the Japanese group of guys was different and sounded simply X. In 1988, its first release was Vanishing Vision, during the writing of which bassist Taiji and guitarists Lida and Pata joined the team. The band gained real popularity after writing their second work, Blue Blood, in 1989.
However, after several years of musical activity, in 1997 the group gathers for the last time to give a final concert, which will finally end the team's career.
However, 10 years later, X Japan reunites and records a new single, IV
The achievements of the Japanese musical group of guys turn out to be stunning:
- 5 studio albums, 3 of which reached the first line of the Oricon chat;
- 6 live recordings;
- 21 singles;
- 40th place from the list of “100 Best Japanese Rock Albums”;
- over 30 million plates sold worldwide.
Japanese noise
Emerging in the early 80s, the Japanese noise scene with its absolute musical freedom is as unique a national phenomenon as anime or sushi. There are several hundred noise musicians and bands in Japan, among them: “Merzbow”, Masonna, Aube, “Contagious Orgasm”, “Melt-Banana”, “Pain Jerk”, “KK NULL”, “Ruins”, “CCCC” , “Boredoms”, “Killer Bug”, “Government Alpha”, “Diesel Guitar”, “Incapacitants” and others. Japanoise has a special influence in America. Japanoise is a very radical subculture, obsessed with sadomasochism, scatology, sexual anatomy, torture, pornography, futurists and dadaists, all kinds of deformities and pathologies, and the performances of Japanoise musicians are often accompanied by violence and end in pogroms.
The Gazette
The Gazette is a Japanese group of boys, moving in the direction of visual kei.
The name of the group comes from the word cassette, but the members modified it slightly, based on the opinion that in its current version it sounds better.
The highlight of the group: everything written and then sounded is their own handiwork.
In 2002, future members Ruki (vocalist), Uruha (guitarist), Aoi (guitarist) and Yune (drummer) formed the now world-famous group The Gazzete.
In April of the same year, the band released their debut single Wakaremichi and even two videos. In 2003, Yune was replaced by a new drummer, Kai, and the group still performs with a similar lineup to this day.
Since March 2003, the band signed a contract with the popular label PS Company, which collaborated with such famous musical teams as Alice nine, Miyavi and Kagrra.
For their activities, which continue to this day, the group received The Most Requested Artist awards in 2010 and 2012, which translated means “The Most Requested Artist.”
The team is known for its constant genre experiments:
- j-rock;
- visual key;
- nu metal;
- alternative metal;
- Hard rock;
- industrial metal;
- funk metal;
- metalcore
The “cherry on the cake” is the deep, velvety and rich in timbre voice of vocalist Ruka, adored by fans.
Other musicians
All the groups described above are just the tip of the iceberg of Japanese boy groups. Asian music is full of different genres that a wide range of people want to try.
So, quite popular Japanese performers are:
- Kagrra (1998) – alternative and folk rock, visual kei.
- Kra (2001) – j-pop, visual kei, jazz fusion, j-rock.
- Alice nine (2004) – formerly hard and punk rock, now alternative rock.
- Plastic Tree (1993) – pop rock, power and Britpop, gothic rock.
- Razor (2016) – j-rock, visual kei.
- The THIRTEEN (2016) is a Japanese boy rock band consisting of only two members: vocalist Mao and guitarist Mizuki.
Nightmare
Nightmare is a Japanese group of guys who consider themselves to be in the visual key genre. This team is one of the most popular representatives of this genre, participating in the recordings of skeletons for popular anime such as Death Note, Claymore and Neuro Nogami.
The team arose thanks to the activities of two musicians - Sakito and Hitsugi - in 2000. They were subsequently joined by Yuji Baba (bassist), Yemi (vocalist) and Zennin (drummer). However, the latter soon left, and Karino Satoru (Hand) arrived in his place.
The band's debut demo sounded like Zange. In 2003, the musicians released their first album with the interesting title no ore wa mono ~Omae. In the same year, the Japanese label Nippon Crown already agreed to sign a contract with the still very young group (at that time). A couple of months later, the Believe record goes on sale, which takes 24th place in the Oricon top.
In 2004, the musicians released their debut work in DVD format, which featured 3 singles: Varuna, Cyan and Tokio Shounen.
A special feature of the group is its diversity in both sound and genres.
The deep voice of lead singer Yomi can sound heavy, bold, gentle, and melodious. As for directions, the group is trying itself:
- in alternative metal;
- blues rock;
- hard rock.
Japanese rock music
J-Rock (Japanese rock) is a general name for the genres of rock music common in Japan. Often confused with Visual kei, which is incorrect since Visual kei is a subgenre of J-Rock . Often used to refer to all genres of Japanese rock in general, but sometimes the designations J-metal, J-punk and J-ska are also popular for Japanese groups of these genres.
Story
The significant rise of Japanese rock began with the popularity of the metal band X-Japan, which appeared in the mid-1980s, when the entire Japanese music industry was experiencing a significant rise. In their music, X-Japan use not only traditional rock instruments, but also others (for example, violin, piano). Hard rock also had a great influence on the BUCK-TICK team, who, along with X Japan , began to use makeup, and were the first to show the now popular fan service .
Influence and origins
The genre was greatly influenced by such musical movements as jazz, alternative rock and metal. So very often in the work of Japanese rock groups you can hear moments or entire songs written in the direction of blues or jazz, regardless of the direction of the group. For example, Mad Tea Party (from the album “Yami no Kuni no Alice – Hamon” by the metal band), Kinebi (single by the band Aicle) and throughout the work in general – THE GOLDEN SPIDER, Sugar, D=OUT, Asakusa Jinta, Glacier. From alternative rock, J-Rock inherited experiments with sound and strong mixtures of different directions, especially noticeable in such groups as the GazettE, DIR EN GRAY, Maximum the Hormone, etc. Usually bands experiment with sound, recording each new release in new directions or mixing several directions in one song. It is also worth highlighting the influence on Japanese rock of such heavy movements as metal and hardcore, as a result of which most bands use heavier tuned guitars than is customary for other national rock scenes. Thus, the Japanese pop-rock group An Cafe has screaming in its songs and often has heavier musical accompaniment than Western pop-rock groups. Metal has mainly spread among Western-oriented groups, such as X-Japan, Metal Safari and Galneryus, and among the visual kei movement - Kote kei . Hardcore and its derivatives are most popular among modern “youth groups” and groups of the Nagoya kei .
Division: Indis (eng. indie), Major (eng. major)
Of great importance for Japanese music in general is the division into indies and majors:
Indie (eng. indie) - bands recording on indie (independent) labels, or on their own. Unlike major artists, they try harder to attract listeners with their appearance or music. Most bands start out as indie bands. Soon after gaining fame, many bands move to major labels, often at the same time partially or completely departing from the visual image.
Major (eng. major) - a group that has a contract with major record labels. These are mainly groups or individual performers who have already gained great fame and recognition, such as Miyavi or X-Japan. Receiving Major status in Japan is considered a great honor for an artist, but often fans of indie bands perceive receiving such status as commercialization of the group. This view is most often shared among fans of heavy bands.
Visual style has approximately 15-20 categories, differing not only in appearance, but also musically; In addition, it should be noted that some groups may have characteristics of 2 or more styles.
All performers
Aube // Musicians of Japan // May 14, 2011... At one time, Genesis P-Orridge very accurately described music as a kind of sound ritual. In this regard, recorded in the winter of 1994-95 in Kyoto and dedicated, like previous works, to the study of the very nature and character of sound, Aube... Views: 7665
Contagious Orgasm // Musicians of Japan // April 27, 2011
| Stylistically, the project is close to dark ambient; it is often classified as noise ambient. The first recording, 'Impregnate', was released in 1987. During the existence of the project, its sound has evolved from harsh and dark noise to soft,… |
Ju-ken // Musicians of Japan // May 11, 2011
| Currently, Ju-ken takes part in the recording of a large number of CDs, DVDs, PVs of the most famous and commercially successful musicians in Japan, and his concert schedule is filled for six months in advance... |
Kokia // Musicians of Japan // May 07, 2011
| The singer loves dogs. She had four of them: Donna, Muta, Nero and Titty. Donna and Nero died in February 2010. Kokia dedicated several songs to dogs, such as Shiroi Inu to Odoru Yoru and Say Hi!!, which mentions, in particular... |
Merzbow // Musicians of Japan // May 01, 2011
| Merzbow did many collaborations with such stars of the underground scene as Genesis P-Orridge), Alec Empire, Mike Patton, Eliot Sharp, Twiggy Ramirez, Gore Beyond Necropsy, Masonna, Smegma, etc. He used a simple method... |
Agatsuma, Hiromitsu // Musicians of Japan // January 22, 2011
| To date, the musician has more than a hundred annual concerts and appearances on television and radio, both in Japan and abroad. Agatsuma continues to pursue his idea of researching tsugaru-jamisen,... |
Ishiwatari, Daisuke // Musicians of Japan // January 22, 2011
| A less significant step in Ishiwatari's career was his work as a designer on the little-known real-time strategy game Sangokushi Taisen, released in 2005 outside of Japan. For this… |
Kawasaki, Ryo // Musicians of Japan // January 22, 2011
| In 1991 he returned to jazz and produced albums for a Japanese label with the right to sell records by his company in the United States. Thanks to his extensive experience, Kawasaki masters styles from bop to... |
Kanno, Yoko // Musicians of Japan // January 23, 2011
| Yoko Kanno's most famous musical compositions are “Tank!” and "Rush", "Voices", "Dance of Curse", and "Gravity". She leads the band "The Seatbelts", created for the sole purpose of recording the soundtrack for the anime series "Cowboy Bebop". By her... |
Kikuta, Hiroki // Musicians of Japan // January 23, 2011
| Stylistically, the composer's music is very diverse, but in genre it is rather closer to rock. He himself noted that the band Pink Floyd and guitarist Allan Holdsworth had the greatest influence on his work. When writing music... |
Mana (musician) // Musicians of Japan // April 12, 2011
| Mana is considered an unusually talented person and is very popular among both girls and boys. His talent is vast. At the same time, the musician’s personal life remains a secret. Mana owns many... |
Matsueda, Noriko // Musicians of Japan // January 23, 2011
| Noriko Matsueda is best known for writing soundtracks for Squaresoft video games. Some of her most significant creations include music for games such as Front Mission, Bahamut Lagoon, Racing Lagoon, The Bouncer and Final Fantasy X-2... |
Nijo (writer) // Musicians of Japan // February 24, 2011
| At the end of her life, she creates an autobiographical “Unsolicited Tale” in five scrolls, where she talks in detail about her life. The story is an unsurpassed combination of the traditions of the diary genre and the story. ... |
// Musicians of Japan // August 20, 2011
| In December, Tokyo Jihen released the single "Noudouteki Sanpunkan" for the album Sports, released on February 24, 2010. Sweet Spot's next singles, "Tengoku e Youkoso" and "Dopamint!" Available only in digital format... |
Shimomura, Yoko // Musicians of Japan // January 23, 2011
| Kingdom Hearts was very successful, selling over four million copies worldwide. Shimomura's music was considered a staple of the game, and the title track was considered one of the top four tracks of all time... |
Furukawa, Miki // Musicians of Japan // January 23, 2011
| In 2006, Furukawa released her first solo album, Mirrors, which mixed guitar-based rock and electronic dance-pop. The album Bondage Heart set a new direction for her work, with a strong influence... Views: 7906 |
Hayashi, Yoshiki // Musicians of Japan // January 23, 2011
| After Hide's death, Yoshiki, along with Mana, remained most revered as the founder and popularizer of the Visual kei movement. At the moment, Yoshiki has created the group SKIN consisting of other iconic Japanese musicians, where... |
Hizaki // Musicians of Japan // January 23, 2011
| In early 2007, Hizaki and Kamijou teamed up to work on the Node of Scherzo project, inviting Kaya, Dzuka and Yu. At the first Node of Scherzo concert, which took place on May 14, Hizaki and Kamijou announced the creation of a new project,… Views: 7965 |
Tsunku // Musicians of Japan // January 22, 2011
| Outside Hello! Project, Tsunku also founded his own record label, organized another girl group, Nice Girl Project, and also periodically records solo work. For example, Tsunku is the composer of the first number 1 hit... |
Tsuchiya, Anna // Musicians of Japan // January 23, 2011
| Although Anna was born and raised in Tokyo, she often uses Kyushu and Okinawa slang in her speech and speaks southern Japanese dialects. According to her, most of the Seventeen models she interacted with were from the south... Views: 9190 |
Yagami, Toll // Musicians of Japan // January 23, 2011
| At the end of 1985, when the original Buck-Tick vocalist, Araki, left the group, and Atsushi Sakurai, who had previously played drums, became the new vocalist, Yagami's younger brother, Buck-Tick bassist Yutaka Higuchi, persuaded Toll... |
Yamaguchi, Goro // Musicians of Japan // January 23, 2011
| The lessons were held in the spirit of the old samurai tradition. According to Goro Yamaguchi’s recollections, the difficulty was not so much in the details of the game as in the teaching style - his father never stopped and repeated one and... |
An Cafe // Japanese musical groups // May 10, 2011
| Just recently, Miku, the vocalist of An Cafe, released his own photo book, which included many of the artist's personal photos. The author himself gave a presentation of this book and answered numerous questions at an autograph session at LAFORET…. |
AYABIE // Japanese musical groups // June 08, 2011
| Ayabie is a Japanese oshare kei group. The group is the founder of the Koteos movement and is known for combining aggressive metal with soft and positive pop rock in its work. A large number of group costumes... Views: 7832 |
Back-on // Musical groups of Japan // May 01, 2011
| A Japanese rock band from Tokyo, which gained popularity after recording the opening track for the anime Air Gear - the song Chain. Outside of Japan, the group performed for the first time at an American anime festival held in… |
Berryz Kobo // Japanese musical groups // May 14, 2011
| In July, the group released a new single, "Maji Bomber!!", the title song with claws was used as the ending theme for the anime Inazuma Eleven and the game based on it. The final ending theme of this anime, "Shining Power", was released as a single 10... Views: 7952 |
The Black Mages // Musical groups of Japan // May 11, 2011
| A Japanese instrumental rock band formed in 2003 by Nobuo Uematsu, the composer of most of the soundtracks in the Final Fantasy series of games. The group performs Uematsu's rock music, often similar to… |
Boredoms // Japanese musical groups // May 03, 2011
| One of the founders of the group, vocalist Yamantaka Ai, while continuing to be a member of Boredoms, in the 80s founded the third-party punk noise band Hanatarash, each performance of which was accompanied by destruction and “causing damage ... |
Boris // Musical groups of Japan // May 07, 2011
| Boris is a Japanese musical group that plays rock, metal, ambient, noise, punk, and elements of all of this can be present in one album. The band is called Boris after the title of a song from the album of sludge/grunge band Melvins... |
BUCK-TICK // Japanese musical groups // June 14, 2011
| And, as before, despite the group’s considerable age, they not only retain old fans, but also constantly attract new ones, creating new albums and experimenting with new styles. Currently, the group... |
Buono! // Musical groups of Japan // May 01, 2011
| This page contains text in Japanese. Without East Asian script support, you may see question marks or other characters instead of Japanese characters. Buono! — J-Pop idol group from Japan consisting of... |
`C-ute // Musical groups of Japan // April 26, 2011
| The 16th single, "Momoiro Sparkling", debuted at number 4 on the list on the day of May 24. He has already spent two weeks on the Oricon weekly chart, first being in 6th place, and now in 17th place... Views: 7878 |
Capsule // Japanese musical groups // May 04, 2011
| Album “MORE! MORE! MORE!”, which was released in November 2008, reached the top ten on the Oricon chart for the first time. It reached number three on the daily chart and number six on the weekly... |
Compostela // Musical groups of Japan // May 04, 2011
| The album mainly consists of lyrical compositions, that is, its general mood differs from the light and encouragingly ironic implied by traditional ting-dong. This album was released in 1997 on the Tzadik label... |
Deathgaze // Japanese musical groups // April 20, 2011
| On November 19, the new voice of Deathgaze became their bassist Ai, who had to perform in this role more than once in the entire history of the group. Deathgaze have announced that they will be releasing 3 new singles between January and March, each featuring... |
Due le Quartz // Musical groups of Japan // April 26, 2011
| In April, the group performed a live concert in Osaka, and in December they released their first mini-album, titled "Mikansei no Jekyll to Hyde ~Wakage no Hitari~". The group's songs were presented on two albums - "Tribal Millenium Arrival" and "Matina Prelude". Their… |
FictionJunction // Japanese musical groups // May 01, 2011
| The duo's first full-length album, "Destination", containing mainly songs they had previously recorded, was released on November 23, 2005 and took ninth place on the Oricon weekly chart... |
Flow (group) // Musical groups of Japan // February 24, 2011
| The chain of singles lasted until 2005, when the group released their third album, Golden Coast. Songs "GO!!!" and "Re:member" became the opening songs for the Naruto anime. The song “Colors” in 2006 became the first opening theme for the series “Code... Views: 8576 |
Hello! Project // Musical groups of Japan // May 13, 2011
| H!P artists cover almost all styles and directions in music that remain in the already inflated, at least balloon-like, niche of pop music. Morning Musume is a great starting point, but every band and… |
Hey! Say! JUMP // Japanese musical groups // June 04, 2011
| In October 2008, the group released their fourth single, "Mayonaka no Shadow Boy", the song of the same name was used as the theme song for the Japanese television series Scrap Teacher, which starred the boys from... Views: 8830 |
Himekami // Musical groups of Japan // May 03, 2011
| Despite the fact that Hoshi's music differs from that written by Kitaro, Gandalf and others, experts combine their work into one genre, Electronic New Age. Himekami's music combines elements of traditional Japanese, symphonic... Views: 7878 |
Ikd-sj // Musical groups of Japan // April 27, 2011
| Ikd-sj is a group from Tokyo who define their musical style as HAG. Since forming in 2004, the group has released three full-length and two mini-albums without the help of labels. Vocalist Ouugiiishi Akira described... Views: 7855 |
Ikimono-gakari // Musical groups of Japan // April 28, 2011
| Ikimono-gakari is a Japanese rock band that was formed in Kanagawa Prefecture in February 1999 by Hotaka Yamashita and Yoshiki Mizuno, with vocalist Kiyoe Yoshioka joining in December of the same year... |
IOSYS // Japanese musical groups // May 23, 2011
| IO.SYS is an integral kernel file of DOS-like operating systems, responsible for working with disk devices. How this inspired IOSYS to choose its name is unknown... Views: 7307 |
Kagrra, // Musical groups of Japan // May 15, 2011
| Drummer. Leader. Izumi has a calm demeanor and is quick to forgive, and he is cool-headed on the inside. He is the main stone in the foundation of Kagrra, and Izumi's eternal calm, his ability to assess the surrounding environment, and the ardor of his work... |
Kanjani 8 // Japanese musical groups // July 19, 2011
| Kanjani 8 is a Japanese boy band consisting of seven Kansai natives. The group was created by idol agency Johnny & Associates in 2002. At the time of their debut, Kanjani 8 was billed as a "modern enka group", but after 2006... Views: 8428 |
Kishida Kyoudan // Musical groups of Japan // May 15, 2011
| They started out as an instrumental electro-rock doujin band creating cover versions of the Touhou video game soundtracks. Their lineup at that time was the same, but without Ichigo and with T-Tsu. They released their first album at the 69th Comiket in 2005... Views: 7900 |
Lareine // Musical groups of Japan // May 02, 2011
| Lareine is a Japanese visual kei rock band founded in 1994. The team has released several albums. Latest lineup Kamijou – vocals Emiru – bass guitar Former members Mayu – electric guitar Kazumi –… |
Lolita23q // Japanese musical groups // June 30, 2011
| On February 22, 2006, the mini-album “~Murasaki no Yume~” was released, which included a DVD with some video clips. On March 1, Lolita23q performed at Liquidroom Ebisu, and in May the mini-album “Shinyaku: Baitai Shoujo... |
