So because the language barrier on my radio show has not only been broken but shattered by Indonesia's
White Shoes and the Couples Company
(They always elicit calls every time I play them, and it psyches me up every time. I also play some Spanish language rock, but that's not *so* rare here.) So I want to see how far I can push this boundary.
Before I discovered White Shoes, I'd try to sneak some of my own foreign acts into my Indie Alternative set, like I'd play "Radio Tokyo" from Puffy or Number Girl's cover of The Pixies "Wave of Mutilation." More important to me was not so much these songs fit the format -- but were in english.
It's not that *I* cared, but I felt my audience did. In '05 when I had a night show, whenever I played a song that was in Japanese (Puffy's "Akai Buranko" or Shiina's Mayonaka for examples) it didn't seem like they were not well received, so when I came back this summer I wanted to play it safe.
But with the White Shoes' success at my station, I find myself listening to Kaela Kimura's debut cd and contemplating the possibility. I think Untie or Happiness could possibly work...
So by now I'm sure most of you know what I have in my library (or if you don't, just play along
) So maybe you guys could pitch what songs you think could be passable on an Indie Alternative, college-rock station.
Another possibility ive been thinking of is Kent (not japanese =p). I'd play some of their english songs before, and the audience used to respond very well to them, so I'm pondering playing the original vers.
QUICK EDIT: My station
does run an actual J-pop/J-rock show on Saturday nights, but when I talkedto the guy that runs it, almost every act I mentioned he'd never played or heard of. =(