These are basically to show the other stuff I listen to and to open a door way into blogging about other music besides that of H!P. [oh also some these groups are pretty new to me so don't expect really in depth stuff]. To aclimatise those of you stuck in a H!P bubble, I shall talk about a safe topic first:
Japanese Female Music
This area of music was not the first place that I ventured when expanding my asian music horizons but its an easy place to start. so let us begin. The first group up is................
AKB48
Aaaaaahhhhh!!! Alarm bells ringing everywhere! .....Yes AKB48 the eternal arch enemy of Hello! Project. OR, a good female pop idol group.
AKB48, a group made up of loads of girls [thier numbers fluctuate], which not only release music but also perform stage plays on a very regular basis.
Now music wise they are a very simple group, they release great pop songs, sometimes with other genre influences, but for the most part just great music.
I only started listening to them recently as when I was breaking out of my H!P bubble, the extreme fear of AKB by H!P fans had a knock-on affect on me. This is silly I know, but being surrounded by H!P, this mindset embeds itself in your mind, so when you think... "Hmm I think I might listen to one of their tracks to see what they are like." something in your mind says, No! they are the enemy of your H!P idols. This is utter bollocks and of course, does not apply to all, but it did with me and probably to others.
Let me say this though. Branching out to other idol groups that might be in competition is not your problem. All you need to do is listen to the music and enjoy it, let the management and businessmen worry about competition.
That being said, the songs I like from this group are:
AKB48, a group made up of loads of girls [thier numbers fluctuate], which not only release music but also perform stage plays on a very regular basis.
Now music wise they are a very simple group, they release great pop songs, sometimes with other genre influences, but for the most part just great music.
I only started listening to them recently as when I was breaking out of my H!P bubble, the extreme fear of AKB by H!P fans had a knock-on affect on me. This is silly I know, but being surrounded by H!P, this mindset embeds itself in your mind, so when you think... "Hmm I think I might listen to one of their tracks to see what they are like." something in your mind says, No! they are the enemy of your H!P idols. This is utter bollocks and of course, does not apply to all, but it did with me and probably to others.
Let me say this though. Branching out to other idol groups that might be in competition is not your problem. All you need to do is listen to the music and enjoy it, let the management and businessmen worry about competition.
That being said, the songs I like from this group are:
Vocaloid
This isn't strictly a female thing. Vocaloid refers to a series of singing synthesizer which have a certain sound and are characterised by persona's which have names and images. The most famous of these vocaloids is Hatsune Miku.
These synthesixers are used by fans to create their own music. For the most part die to the sound the vocaloids make when they sing, most of these songs are techno/electronic pop songs. Some other songs made have influences of rock and folk music. There are numerous vocaloids including, Hatsune Miku, Kagamine Rin & Len, Megurine Luka, Meiko, Kaito, Gakupo Kamui, Gumi etc. Most of the vocaloids sond different, Miku having quite a high voice, Luka having a low voice and Rin having something in between. This also affects the songs being made. Miku tends to have hyper songs where as Luka usually has a more rockish or more pure techno sound. Wih the amount of vocaloids, the variety of songs being made is excelent.
Songs I like include:
Songs I like include:
Perfume
Perfume are a Trio which now release music in a electro/techno pop sound. The difference here from the vocaloids is that these girls sing the songs but have their voices altered. The girls didn't start off with this sound however. They began their days singing pop songs without distortion with some techno music as the backing track. From there however they changed to the full electro sound they now have. Not much to say really except that you really need to like this genre of music to like these girls.
songs I like from perfume are:
Perfume are a Trio which now release music in a electro/techno pop sound. The difference here from the vocaloids is that these girls sing the songs but have their voices altered. The girls didn't start off with this sound however. They began their days singing pop songs without distortion with some techno music as the backing track. From there however they changed to the full electro sound they now have. Not much to say really except that you really need to like this genre of music to like these girls.songs I like from perfume are:
Weird, I thought I listened to more female japanese stuff. That shall be rectified as I will be looking into expanding my musical horizons by listening to Ayumi Hamasaki, Namuro Namie, Koda Kumi, Utada Hikaru. Also if you have any recommendations, please do post a comment with their names, thanks :)
Next in this series is the Japanese Males.
Next in this series is the Japanese Males.
Yay for everything else but AKB..You disapoint me Liam