Arashi’s “Face Down” = Myon & Shane 54’s “The Beach”
I think within 7 seconds of this song I recognized what it was plagiarizing (sampling? I don’t have the liner notes so I’m not sure if there is any credit given). Look, I don’t mind that people are recognizing how awesome EDM is and are deciding to use it in all manner of pop songs on the Billboard, and apparently, the Oricon, but you should be really careful if you’re one of the biggest boy bands in Japan and are planning to snatch one of the most seminal prog trance songs on one of the most famous trance labels in the past fifteen years for your new single. Especially if you plan to make it to #1. Just saying.
That being said, of course I like Arashi’s “Face Down,” because I always loved “The Beach” and, I cannot stress this enough, they are pretty much the same song. However, I’m ambivalent about the pseudo-dubstep/distorted vocals breakdown because I don’t think they pull it off and also, this is not K-pop.
Listen to Arashi’s “Face Down”
Listen to Myon & Shane 54’s “The Beach”
mini's "ELECTRO HAKO BANBAN PICASSO"
A short review of mini’s ELECTRO HAKO BANBAN PICASSO.
Marty Friedman's "What is J-POP?": A response
I think it’s great that Marty Friedman is so enthusiastic about Japanese pop music. However, for someone who has apparently been living or traveling to Japan for so long and speaks fluent Japanese, it is astonishing how little he understands the full scope of it. And as a musician (former member of Megadeth, current guitar virtuoso), writer, and speaker, it’s even more astonishing how his lecture “What is J-POP? ~Exposing the Myth of Japanese Music Phenomenon” is partly a failure of articulation. Friedman has ideas, they just get tangled and sprout half-formed. His tone borders on less-then-conversational, barely scratching the surface of popular Japanese music, while exposing his biases and the kind of thinking that makes one believe everything off one’s radar doesn’t exist at all. So basically, it might sound like I’m tearing this to pieces, and I guess I am, but since Friedman takes the time to apologize for his tastes several times during the lecture, I guess I can take the time to do it at least once: this lecture just wasn’t my thing. Sorry.
Marty Friedman's "What Is J-Pop?"
Here’s an interesting section where he talks about singing styles in Japan:
One thing that I really like to point out, particularly about her song and many female singers in Japan, is that they just sing the melody. There’s no bullshit, there’s no like ad-libbing, there’s no gospel singing, there’s no screaming. If a girl sings high, she’s just singing high, she‟s just singing the melody. It’s almost like playing the melody one note at a time, on a keyboard; which is unlike American pop singing. Especially the female ballads, the American girls have to constantly show all of their vocal ad-libbing, how great they can riff and stuff like that. […] To me that’s all American Idol stuff and American Idol, in my opinion, is everybody is just searching for the next Celine Dion and the next Mariah Carey, and it’s all about the vocal skill and range.
This is one of those things that annoys me the most when watching Ayumi’s concerts. When she tries to pull off this stuff, like in the “forgiveness” intro during “POWER of MUSIC,” it fails horribly and actually exposes her limits rather than make any kind of impact. Vocal gymnastics aren’t always the ideal technique and J-pop flourishes without it.
On the other hand, this lecture is problematic in many ways.
Sexy Zone: This isn't it
Sexy Zone, one of Johnny & Associates newest groups: is it just bad Engrish or another symptom of Japan’s large focus on adolescence?
Perfume, GAME (2008)
Ayumi Hamasaki, 2001
Ayumi Hamasaki, ayu-mi-x II version Non-Stop Mega Mix (2000)
alan: “Minna de ne ~PANDA with Candy BEAR’s~” (2011)
I’m just hearing this now, though it was released about a month ago. As far as I recall, not much was said or made over this single, probably because alan really hiccuped when she tried to do straight pop instead of sticking to fully utilizing her vocals for epic ballads like this. It’s a wonderful return to form for her, allowing her vocals space to roam without trying to be trendy or compete with singers whose popularity reflects very little true talent as amazing as this. “Minna de ne ~PANDA with Candy BEAR’s~” might be the dumbest title in her discography, but it’s the best thing I’ve heard since Voice of Earth.
