The 2016 Music Thread

[zeroryouko]

That wasn't the "O" word I was expecting.

[chestnutflowers]

Originally Posted by deadgrandma

Them mediocre vocals are way better than the highly trained ones for sure. At least you're getting something legit.

Speaking of which.
I'm really enjoying abusing my power to push unknowns on Arama

http://aramajapan.com/news/music/kud...i-album/58459/

And yes I know. It's irresponsible, it's biased as fuck. I say the "O" word just a little too much. But damn it made Kudo-Chan's day.

You do realize that those mediocre vocalists are most likely just as manufactured as the highly trained ones you're disparaging, right? They're probably only around so that they can be marketed to make money off of male fans of alt. music (such as yourself), making them not any more legit or authentic than the average pop star. I'm gonna have to agree with this comment on your article:
Kinda bored of these low budget edgy idols

Speaking of which, Ian Martin did a good write-up along with a follow up of this phenomena (and Seiko Oomori in particular) quite awhile back.

[K__]

so that's a no to Cicada then. My bad, jeez.

The Gerogerigegege reappeared and put out a new album a couple weeks ago, in case anyone here's a noise fan. I like it.

[deadgrandma]

OLD MAN RANT WARNING. SKIP IF YOU WANT!

RANT REPLY @CHESTNUTFLOWERS STARTS HERE
Neither of them Ian Martin articles say anything particularly negative about Oomori... hell, he says what I've been saying for years, particularly in the first one.

And he's not the best person to quote from to make a defense for the standard jpop scene either man... He is quite negative to anything. Infact, he only seems to like western music nowadays. And perhaps Tofubeats, which is 50/50 for him.

And if you knew me any better, you'd know I'm almost as blah towards the alt idol scene as I am toward the normal idol scene. I do have to ask, "what money?" though. (Sure Oomori's on Avex now, but she worked her ass of to get there. I'm not going to go into that again though.) A lot of these groups that are so manufactured as you say, are putting out CD-Rs, using their time, their cash, hell, a lot of them are producing their own stuff. I doubt it makes much of a return. If not that, they're releasing things digitally or on tiny labels. There's more love and soul in that than the big budget stuff for sure (granted there are exceptions on both sides, which I'm not denying either)

I just think I'd rather hear someone's actual voice and emotion. I also prefer to hear people who also are writing their own material, rather than some dude. I do show respect to decent singers too- but it's like techy guitar players- you can be as amazing as you want on a technical level- but it doesn't mean shit if your listeners can't feel it.

Anyway. I wasn't picking on any particular act when I said it, but you did get defensive. Who are you thinking of when you write this that you want to defend? Don't say Ringo... Your first article voids that argument. Isn't the best article for all those "DONT SAY Oomori is similar to Ringo!" arguments too it seems...

I dunno. I don't wanna start anything. or maybe I do. I couldn't really say. However, I really just want to use Arama to promote new faces/introduce the other side of the spectrum of J-music while I have that platform. Is there anything inherently wrong with that? Regarding the comments, I kinda expect it from Arama readers, who, in general, are coming from an entirely different view on music. And that's fine. But it's not gonna stop me. There are other people out there who DO like to read about new faces and less traditional pop music you know. A lot of them are right here on EMF.

Good enough answer for you?

RANT END

@K__ Oh and I like Cicada. I have their first album and their vinyl. Not really into the new single as much for whatever reason.

In other news, the new Bokutachi no iru tokoro. album will be the best Japanese rock album this year. I have no doubts about it. It's nearly perfect.

Also, I'm checking EMF solely to read reactions to the new Radiohead. Hope some of the older members decide to post too...

[FadedSun]

I was waiting for DG's rebuttal. ENTERTAINMENT.

Since it was my comment that sort of started this, I think I should add that I didn't mean these vocal that I deem "mediocre" lack emotion or what have you. I'm speaking purely from a technical stand point. I know that someone like Oomori sings with plenty of emotion, perhaps sometimes too much that her voice goes out of control (this could lead to potential damage to vocal chords, honestly). However, a lot of these female indie artists popping up recently could benefit from singing lessons to improve their technical singing abilities. When I go on Jpop Suki to find new artists, checking out the recommended sections, I'm honestly hearing a lot of similar sounding stuff recently and people seem to rabidly eat it up.

Having better technical singing skill does in no way ruin an artists sincerity or credibility, nor should singing at an amateur level make an artist more "legit" just because it seems more "raw". I don't always rep the music I like on here, but I listen to plenty of artists that probably can't technically "sing" , but they get the job done for their music.

Side note about new Radiohead: 'Burn the Witch' was meh, but 'Daydreaming' is spot on.

[deadgrandma]

Yeah I did write War and Peace there this time haha.

Anyway, here's some more awesome, legit music with "mediocre" vocals manufactured for guys like me.

Kaeru Okoku

Oh yeah... are we fans of Bottomless Pit? I haven't really had time to spin it yet tbh, but I liked most of what I heard.

[chestnutflowers]

Originally Posted by deadgrandma

OLD MAN RANT WARNING. SKIP IF YOU WANT!

snip

Of course there's nothing wrong with exposing your readers to different music (if anything, it's a good thing! ), but this is a forum afterall, and people tend to discuss things here. Anyway, with that aside....

I didn't post that article in order to attack Oomori, per say (I'm actually a fan of hers despite the criticisms I have) it's just that the comment I saw reminded me of something I read sometime ago. Since Oomori is pretty popular around these parts, I figured I might as well post it to spark some discussion and see other people's point of view. Also, I'm well aware of Ian Martin's reputation, but this place can be quite negative as well (not that I'm complaining). While I can see his outlook is tiresome, he definitely knows a lot about the Japanese music scene and has some interesting opinions, even if I don't always agree.

That all said, I didn't mean for my original comment to be defensive -- I'm not even a fan of many, if any, traditional jpop singers (Ringo excluded, of course). Though, looking back, it does seem rather hostile and I'm sorry for that. It's just that I find some of the vocalists you're defending to be just as bland/lifeless/whatever as the other singers you're attacking. I mean, for example, I personally find Seiko Oomori's screeching and screaming too try-hard to feel any real emotion from it and when she tones it down on her poppier tracks, she sounds interchangeable with any of the female jindie acts floating around nowadays. Not much about her singing comes across as genuine or compelling. I don't know, it's just that her voice (or daoko's voice, or Cicada's voice, etc.) isn't really a selling point for me, the music itself is.

[deadgrandma]

OK. I understand what you're saying. For me, I always go for the music first too.

However...

(This next part is gonna sound really wanky, and I apologise)

I've been face to face with Oomori and her fans now. There's something just... magical in the air at her shows. And her voice live shook me like no other show I've been to since Choirgirl era Tori Amos.

The fact she's got her copycat/tribute acts ALREADY is quite the testament to her impact on the scene. You may not find anything special in her- but I think, like Ringo, she came along at the exact right time for a lot of her audience. People see through things if they're try hard. Look at KPP for example, noone gives a fuck anymore.

Oomori's on album 4 and still hasn't faltered in my books. Hell, her latest, to me, is her best yet. This barely ever happens in Jpop. I can only think of a select few with this kind of run.

ANYWAY. I'm stopping there. I know I get annoying when I start talking about the big O. I apologise again.

[chestnutflowers]

Originally Posted by deadgrandma

OK. I understand what you're saying. For me, I always go for the music first too.

Fair enough. I haven't seen her live, but I can recognize that it's a completely different experience than hearing a recording, glad to hear she's a good performer. And no need to apologize.

[zeroryouko]

People judge musicians based on a set of technical criteria that are more-or-less widely agreed upon, but there is no universally accepted framework for quantifying the emotional aspects of performance. And if we agree that the value of music - what we get out of it - is the emotional response it evokes, then I would have to further argue that no one is really fit to judge another person's emotional responses. The irony is that, on some level, those technical skills are necessary to convey those emotional qualities to the listener.

So maybe the question to ask is not whether a particular singer is good, or mediocre, or whatever. The question is whether the singer's skills are enough to allow her to transmit the emotions she is trying to convey, to those listeners who are on the same wavelength. Clearly, Oomori does this for her devotees, and by that measurement she is excellent. It doesn't really matter what anyone else says.