I’m not ready to write up some grand thesis on the matter, but I believe one of the biggest differences between American and Japanese pop is the degree to which their audiences go along with the star’s images. In the U.S. message boards chirp with discussions about the politics of Lady GaGa and don’t question…
Tokyo quartet The Insect Kids play the sort of sun-spotted ’60s rock where having a chorus of nothing but “la la las” isn’t detrimental. It’s great, simple no-guilt pop. Here’s “City Lights,” which features a sweet breezy flute running through most of the track. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJVcrnHw0mE&hl=en&fs=1&] The Insect Kids have a new album out this Friday…
80kidz announced the tracklist for their remix collection This Is My Works over at their blog. No Metric rework in sight, but plenty of good tunes nonetheless. The Shoes / Knock Out (80kidz Remix) Crystal Fighters / I Love London (80kidz Remix) Numero / J’aime La Bourgeosie (80kidz Remix) autoKratz / Stay The Same (80kidz…
The little I’ve read about OMODAKA seems to emphasize how great the artist’s videos are. Very true, but I hope the music isn’t getting shortchanged by this praise for the visual side. What I’ve heard from OMODAKA (mostly from this MySpace page) offers an interesting take on pop music. Though bathing a pop song in…
The logical side of me that also took an advertising class in college understood perfectly why OGRE YOU ASSHOLE headlined over Sunset Rubdown – 95 percent of the people crammed into Osaka’s Unagidani Sunsui venue came out to see OGRE and probably never heard of Sunset Rubdown. The geek in me who also absolutely loathed…