How did XOXO and Hotel miss the top ten for those Namie ballads? Only MINMB and So Fever deserved top ten for Kumi. And Kana';s last song deserved better. Good riddance to Itano.
In regards to that article you posted Newt, I believe they're on to something when discussing Namie, Kana and Ayumi...
Namie
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for her desperate trend-chasing ways and lack of artistic ability
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I like her mid-tempos and ballads, but don’t really like her up-tempos, because I feel that those become a mess of ideas.
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Kana is this generation’s “It” girl, but one who I think has pigeonholed herself since people want a very specific type of song from her.
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More than anything else, I think Ayu needs to act her age musically and image-wise.
However, Koda Kumi music doesn't fall into three categories at all. "Dance In The Rain" doesn't fall into any of those categories mentioned and neither did 'Hotel'. I can understand their point to some extent as her music releases are ballad one moment and then her next release is more urban, but I honestly think they have misunderstood her role in J-pop. I would counter their argument and say that she is diverse and demonstrating how versatile she is as a music artist.
So, hey J-pop section of ATRL. I hope you're welcoming to strangers because I feel like I'm about to ask for a lot.
I really want to delve into J-pop, but it's really overwhelming because I don't know where to start or how to discover artists. To begin with, it's hard to find anyone but very mainstream J-pop artists (or artists that are specifically trying to appeal to Western audiences) on U.S. iTunes, and I'm afraid that limits and skews my perception of J-pop. I also know nothing of music trends in Japan or popular producers or really even the musical differences between J-pop, K-pop and C-pop. It's so intimidating. Every time I try to pry into J-pop, it feels like I've fallen into Wonderland and I'm not familiar with anything in the environment so I give up. This isn't even to mention the commercial scene, which, while not important for enjoying music, is something I want to know to get involved.
The only artists I really know are Kyary and Nana Mizuki. I've listened to Kyary's three albums and quite a few of Nana's. I'm familiar with Ayu's, Kuu's, Namie's, Utada's, and Perfume's biggest hits, but their discographies are so big and they release so frequently that it's just .
Would any of you please mind giving me a J-pop 101, a rundown of the major things I need to know, or a website where I can get started and learn about these things?
So, hey J-pop section of ATRL. I hope you're welcoming to strangers because I feel like I'm about to ask for a lot.
I really want to delve into J-pop, but it's really overwhelming because I don't know where to start or how to discover artists. To begin with, it's hard to find anyone but very mainstream J-pop artists (or artists that are specifically trying to appeal to Western audiences) on U.S. iTunes, and I'm afraid that limits and skews my perception of J-pop. I also know nothing of music trends in Japan or popular producers or really even the musical differences between J-pop, K-pop and C-pop. It's so intimidating. Every time I try to pry into J-pop, it feels like I've fallen into Wonderland and I'm not familiar with anything in the environment so I give up. This isn't even to mention the commercial scene, which, while not important for enjoying music, is something I want to know to get involved.
The only artists I really know are Kyary and Nana Mizuki. I've listened to Kyary's three albums and quite a few of Nana's. I'm familiar with Ayu's, Kuu's, Namie's, Utada's, and Perfume's biggest hits, but their discographies are so big and they release so frequently that it's just .
Would any of you please mind giving me a J-pop 101, a rundown of the major things I need to know, or a website where I can get started and learn about these things?
I can recommend you a few stuff from ayu and kuu.
The first ayumi album I've heard was "NEXT LEVEL". It's one of the easiest for western fans to get into and it is actually a good album. "I am..." is also very solid. A BEST is her best selling album and compiles all her hits before "I am...", it's pretty good. If you still want more and don't mind too much information: A COMPLETE ~ALL SINGLES~ compiles all her singles before next level.
Recommending koda is more complicated imo. BEST ～first things～ contains all hits before her breakthrough (which wasn't from debut like ayu). After that, her sound changed a lot and it's hard to indicate one album cause I feel like her best stuff is all spread. JAPONESQUE was her last really consistent album though. You can also check out my most played songs by her, it obviously involves a lot of personal taste, but most of it is unanimously liked anyways.
If you're interested in Miliyah Kato, Ring and Heaven are really amazing albums.
At last, the best way for me to get into them is watching their concerts. These girls really slay in this department, putting most of the western pop girls to shame in both concert production and stage presence.
So, hey J-pop section of ATRL. I hope you're welcoming to strangers because I feel like I'm about to ask for a lot.
I really want to delve into J-pop, but it's really overwhelming because I don't know where to start or how to discover artists. To begin with, it's hard to find anyone but very mainstream J-pop artists (or artists that are specifically trying to appeal to Western audiences) on U.S. iTunes, and I'm afraid that limits and skews my perception of J-pop. I also know nothing of music trends in Japan or popular producers or really even the musical differences between J-pop, K-pop and C-pop. It's so intimidating. Every time I try to pry into J-pop, it feels like I've fallen into Wonderland and I'm not familiar with anything in the environment so I give up. This isn't even to mention the commercial scene, which, while not important for enjoying music, is something I want to know to get involved.
The only artists I really know are Kyary and Nana Mizuki. I've listened to Kyary's three albums and quite a few of Nana's. I'm familiar with Ayu's, Kuu's, Namie's, Utada's, and Perfume's biggest hits, but their discographies are so big and they release so frequently that it's just .
Would any of you please mind giving me a J-pop 101, a rundown of the major things I need to know, or a website where I can get started and learn about these things?
I can recommend to you some Namie & Perfume!
Perfume only have five albums, even though one of them is basically a compilation of their first singles, but of the ones that really make an impression, I'd recommend listening to GAME to get a feel for who they really are. It has the biggest impact with Perfume fans because it's so good from start to finish. As for singles, I'm unsure which ones you've already heard, but their singles really appease better with the PV they shoot for it. So, I'd recommend watching "Nee", "GLITTER", "SPICE" & "LASER BEAM". Even though their first album is their best, their videos weren't. Around the JPN era, they were really shelling out quality videos and choreo… definitely what got me into Perfume!
Namie is a mixed bag… there's "Dance-Pop-Namie", "Pop-Urban-Namie", and "Ballad-but-not-really-a-ballad-more-of-a-slow-jam-Namie"… But, of all the albums I've listened to her, I still return to my first time I fell in love with her… PLAY! This album is a godsend… almost every song is enjoyable to an extent! It's right on the cusp of her transition from Queen of Hip-Pop to Queen of Electro-Pop! This is the perfect gateway to getting into this girl. As for singles, like I said, she's a mixed bag. I really can't recommend any ballads, but I will tell you that her bops are BOPS! "WILD", "WANT ME, WANT ME", "NAKED", "Hands on Me" and my personal favorite from PLAY, the opener "Hide & Seek"!
The sad reality is that while electro seems like a "Japanese" trendy thing, only a few electronic groups have long-term success, following, and staying power (Perfume for example). The Japanese GP aren't really here for music that isn't overtly family-friendly, cute, or ballad.
They likely will release at least one more single (since Nicola Formichetti was on group with the styling of this video), but I don't see them sticking around for more than 2 years honestly. It's a sad reality, but one that I've come to accept - so it's best just to enjoy any possible one-shot releases we get.
I mean, I had HIGH hopes for HYNA... (girls, if you haven't, get your life to the Japanese "Telephone"):
So, hey J-pop section of ATRL. I hope you're welcoming to strangers because I feel like I'm about to ask for a lot.
I really want to delve into J-pop, but it's really overwhelming because I don't know where to start or how to discover artists. To begin with, it's hard to find anyone but very mainstream J-pop artists (or artists that are specifically trying to appeal to Western audiences) on U.S. iTunes, and I'm afraid that limits and skews my perception of J-pop. I also know nothing of music trends in Japan or popular producers or really even the musical differences between J-pop, K-pop and C-pop. It's so intimidating. Every time I try to pry into J-pop, it feels like I've fallen into Wonderland and I'm not familiar with anything in the environment so I give up. This isn't even to mention the commercial scene, which, while not important for enjoying music, is something I want to know to get involved.
The only artists I really know are Kyary and Nana Mizuki. I've listened to Kyary's three albums and quite a few of Nana's. I'm familiar with Ayu's, Kuu's, Namie's, Utada's, and Perfume's biggest hits, but their discographies are so big and they release so frequently that it's just .
Would any of you please mind giving me a J-pop 101, a rundown of the major things I need to know, or a website where I can get started and learn about these things?
I mean the differences between J-K-C-Pop are simply the regions they come from Japan-Korean-Chinese. I don't really listen to K or C pop enough to be able to distinguish the pop music from these countries. Jpopsuki.tv is great, like someone mentioned. I also really like JpopAsia.com
They have a fairly large database of these artists, including their discography, lyrics (most of them), translations, music video links. albums released. The site itself is a bit messy and doesn't have things like opinions on the albums so I really recommend just going to large J-Pop forums, like their community one.
Shout It Out is just cute ugh I should rate it lower 
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i mean you can break it up into mando-pop, canto- taiwanese-, etc but why does the beginner need to know that lol