What's Up With J-Pop?

So I confess, I like Puffy Ami Yumi, that ever-so-cute J-pop duo that owns the charts in Japan and has a host of adoring fans in North and South America as well. I mean, everybody’s got a cartoon these days, right? And a video game. What’s up with that music video that features the pair singing to an image of Jimmy Hendrix? I totally don’t understand it, but I want it. Here's a sample of their music.

Perhaps the most famous of recent J-pop divas, Hikki Utada, has sold over 35,000,000 albums worldwide, according to her bio on Wikipedia. Fluent in both Japanese and English, she released her very first album, Cubic U, in the U.S. Other, J-pop girl bands of note include Morning Musume, SPEED and Perfume. Solo artists of note include Kyary Pamu Pamu and Namie Amuro, a Japanese R&B singer.  On my Jpop Youtube playlist, I've got some great examples of Jpop stars & groups. I'm also very fond of Shiina Ringo and the time she spent with Tokyo Jihen. She's my personal favorite, but alas, has just retired. This is her best tune with the band. Also been listening to a bunch of "Capsule" tunes, what I'd classify as Jpop "electronica." 

Regular listeners to J-pop begin, over time, to recognize a certain similarity to a lot of the tunes. The players also seem to be regularly refreshed. I think Morning Musume has had six or seven different line-ups. It’s what my favorite Japanese pop-culture blogging maven Neomarxisme calls “the template.” Though producing mega-Dollars (actually, mega-Yen) in Japan, the world’s second largest consumer of retail music to (you guessed it) the U.S., actual sales of new music in Japan have been trending down. That’s the logical product of digital music sharing and the highest CD prices on the planet. But in the U.S., musical explorers, gamers who love Japanese graphics and anime fans are driving a modest, but reliable market for J-pop.

I really admire the “whatever” confidence and the unbridled creativity of J-pop cute. Even if there is some “templating” involved. Though I can’t quite put my finger on the magic, it works. As the sales of gazillions of dollars of merchandise will attest. But there’s more to J-pop than cute. And more ways to explore and appreciate the sub-culture than music. Fashionistas will second that.

If you’ve got NetFlix or a Blockbuster account with a good foreign section close by, dial-up Kamikaze Girls, a contemporary Japanese “chick flick” that features an irresistibly cute heroine who is absolutely obsessed with Rococo fashion. That’s Rococo. Think Marie Antoinette. Our protagonist is completely oblivious to everything and everybody around her until she accidentally hooks-up with a biker chick with tats on a café racer. That’s what I’m talking about: cute with attitude. Here's the IMDB page.

For a serious dose of J-pop attitude, check out Fruits and Fresh Fruits by Shoichi Aoki, two volumes that explore the colorful, multi-layered teen fashion of Tokyo's Harajuku district in its heyday. No text, just image-after-image of creatively dressed teens pushing all the limits.

(First posted in 2007. Edited with updates and new links in 9/14)

Just What Is SteamPunk?

The author's latest passion is for all things "steampunk." Movies, animations, books, music and fashion - all now have steampunk sub-genres. If you love science fiction, brass, leather, fine-wood and all things mechanical, it's like being a kid in a candy store.

There have been a number of attempts to properly define the movement, and many have fallen short. Just what is steampunk?  And where did it come from?   What's up with the whole "Victorian" thing? The video below is one of the best explanations to date.


So Steampunk is a movement loosely organized around retro-science fiction and fantasy expressed through the style, materials and craftsmanship of the Victorian era. Nowhere has that fantasy world been better captured than in the radical MASKS associated with the genre.

 

Ukrainian artist Bob Basset is the most celebrated.  The author's favorite blog, Boing Boing, has done a fine job of covering Basset's work here and here.

Steampunk has definitely had an impact on fashion. The melding of fantasy Victorian with modern-day technologies - as the Victorians would have implemented them - creates an irresistible science fiction palate that is well-exploited by contemporary fashionistas.

 

 

One of the best media for Steampunk themed storytelling is animation. And the seminal animated short film in that regard (author's opinion) is "The Mysterious Explorations of Jasper Morello." A personal favorite, included below.

"A Gentleman's Duel" is another, outstanding animation - recently voted to the YouTube "recommended" list.

Finallly, Steampunk has had a profound affect on music that we're likely to see more of as this movement continues to catch on. Abney Park is the Author's personal favorite Steampunk band. They're the whole package.

When I was a boy, my father was a devoted deep-sea fisherman. He had an all-wood construction fishing boat that slept four. Among his collection of nautical instruments, he had one of those great metal and glass compasses in a wooden box with metal screws. It was mounted inside on it's own cool frame and the top of the box was lined with purple silk inscribed in gold thread. It made quiet an impression on me. He also had one of those bulky but very cool wrist compasses, with a weathered, leather strap. Steampunk makes me feel like I did then, handling his mechanical treasures. Just like I did the first time I saw Captain Nemo's fantastic ship in the early 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea film; or, watched the original Dune.

Street Fashion

The Author is an incurable people watcher and traveler -- enthralled by the endless combinations of alternative, individualistic fashion found on the streets of urban centers worldwide. After all, human beings tend to adorn themselves as expressions of their personal taste and individuality. It was actress Susan Catherine that aptly observed: "Remember that always dressing in understated good taste is the same as playing dead."

Street Fashion often conjures up images of the Harajuku district of Tokyo and the wild and creative combinations that adorn the young Japanese who hang out there. Though often relying on a variety of brand names, Japanese street fashion is totally authentic in practice. Lolitas mix with Goths, cosplayers and Baroque princesses. (image: Cover of Fresh Fruit by Shoichi Aoki)

There are a number of great street fashion sites and blogs. CoolHunter is one of the best known. The site employs a worldwide network of correspondents with taste and cameras to seek out fashionable expressions on the streets of their own home towns. Their Paris correspondent has started his own blog, FaceHunter, which I really like. His images are great. This site has a list of links to other, street fashion web resources.

I've posted before about vintage baseball apparel from the Negro, Cuban and minor leagues, here. Though spendy, these garments are 100% authentic and made to very high standards. I like them. There's also a favorite post about a southern California family business that provides Zoot Suits to LA's barrio barons and players who are into Mexicanismo. It is clear that major brands have saturated the fashion market and are being discredited due to their lack of creative authenticity and their almost universal Chinese manufacturing. So what are the fashion-conscious to do? Why, make their own fashion statements of course. With whatever suits their fancy.

street fashion

The Zoot Suit - East LA's Fashion Revolution

Quick, imagine the most elegant male figure you've ever seen. If he's not in a Zoot Suit, then think again. Who can forget the image of Edward James Olmos as El Pachuco in the film version of Luis Valdez's famous play. Or Jim Carrey in that bright yellow Zoot Suit in The Mask.

Though the distinctive suits, first called "drapes," made their original appearance in Harlem, it was the large Chicano population in East LA that made the look their own. And during the repression of the 30s and 40s, the suits became a symbol of resistance and rebellion. The ensuing "Zoot Suit Riots" inspired the Valdez play and subsequent movie - forever enshrining the Zoot Suit in Chicano culture. (image courtesy of El Pachuco, used with permission)

A proper Zoot Suit can still be hard to find. The ensemble includes long, wide-legged trousers called Tramas, and the long Carlango coat replete with wide lapels and notoriously padded shoulders. Shoes must be European, preferably French and often two-tone, made from the finest leather with pointed toes. The look is completed with a long chain that dangles prominently from the belt to the knee and back - tucked into a side pocket. A colorful, brimmed felt hat with a feather tops it all off. Oh, then there's the pose. One foot forward, weight on the back foot with a slight backwards lean, hands in pant pockets or resting on the belt, and a very serious look around the eyes. It helps if you've got a thin, black mustache and a tailored goatee.

You know, when you work hard all week and the system isn't structured to provide your community with all the rewards of the American dream, you make your own dreams. You create your own look, and you wear your best with pride. You dress up for whatever you've got going on on the weekend, and you look sharp. That's what it's all about.

There's this shop in my old neighborhood - Fullerton, California - that has been making Zoot Suits since 1978. That's right, the real deal. Inspired by the play, by the symbolism and by the fashion, Phyllis Estrella made it happen. Now a larger, family enterprise with a really good-looking web site, El Pachuco is a legend in Southern California. These are the suits you see in Lowrider magazine. If you love fashion, and are looking to make a serious statement, check out this place. You won't be sorry.

The Quest for Authenticity

By now, we've all heard Jessica Simpson utter what arguably is becoming her most famous line: "I totally don't understand it, but I want it." That's the way most consumers feel about authenticity. Don't know exactly how to define it, but will expend large amounts of energy and juice to own it.

So what is really authentic, anyway? That's a big, burning question. In William Gibson's riveting novel, Pattern Recognition, the protagonist Cayce Pollard's vocation is "coolhunter," an authenticity seeker with a keen eye for trends. In a global marketplace, early identification of the authentic is a profound competitive edge.

I backed into my personal analysis of the issue by looking at what authenticity isn't. It is most assuredly not a constant, at least mass perceptions of what is authentic are fluid - changing direction in unexpected and unpredictable ways. But the notion of authenticity is a constant. That which is genuine.

Authenticity is also not spin or affectation, it is not designed by committee, manufactured from focus group data or influenced by polls. Authenticity is not bestowed from external sources, it radiates from a perfect set of internal markers. Over the years, we've charted some of those markers, including: the obvious pride of craftsmanship; quality components; measured, thoughtful construction; and, meaningful impact, to name a few.

Authenticity is also reflected in proper naming and categorization. A tree farm is not an authentic forest. Knock-offs are knock-offs, no matter how you cut it. Categorizing a primitive, but mass-produced piece as "folk art" doesn't make it so.

The perception of authenticity would seem to require some Limbic System activity. That's the region of the human brain that ascribes meaning to situations, symbols, interactions and is the source of emotions. I could be overstating the issue, but for me, authenticity has a "feel," a sense of rightness, value and meaning that makes the moment and all of its attendant associations genuine. After all, one of the dictionary definitions of authenticity is: correctness. I believe that correctness can be perceived and measured, in all its shades of gray. I use those benchmarks in my choices of music, fashion, art and even politics.

I have a former friend who has spent his adult life building an authentic gentleman's estate. A complete eccentric with the taste of a Scottish Earl, he spent several years and some 40,000 paintbrush strokes re-creating a hand-painted highlands clan motif on the ceiling of his small kitchen.

I have other friends and acquaintances that take the quest for authenticity into serious role-playing and re-enactment spaces. Two serious techie friends of mine are members of the Society for Creative Anachronism, a group of medieval history fanatics that get together in the country with their horses, drink a lot of highly alcoholic Meade and tilt with wooden lances in full body armour. Don't laugh, they're a very serious and dedicated bunch. A physician friend is a prominent member of a national "mountain man" organization that stages an annual backwoods rendezvous attended by unshaven individuals in buckskin with muzzle-loaders in tow. They are all looking to re-create an authentic experience.

Authenticity is inexorably intertwined with history and nostalgia. If it's old, it must be authentic. But, of course, every generation has had its knock-offs. Still, it is accurate to assert that basic traditional products, well-made for everyday people with regular jobs, are quite likely to viewed as the real deal, genuine goods - authentic. Like Filson luggage; Carhart, Pendleton and Daspu fashion; Ebbets Field Flannels sports apparel, African Trader Beads and Irish woolens.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, specialty items made in small numbers for select purchasers have an aura of authenticity. Like handmade bamboo fly-fishing rods; fine Ghanian Kinte cloth; late 60s psychedelic posters, hand-blown glass and single-estate Assam tea.

Cost is not necessarily an issue, value and creativity are. An utterly authentic "look" can consist entirely of thrift-store purchases. The goal is to avoid sameness, formulaic uniformity, mind-numbing mediocrity -- all the sense-stifling emanations of uninspired, mass produced goods.

Latino Baseball Swag

New Colors from Classic Leagues

Baseball may by the US "national pastime," but in Cuba, the game is a passionate, national obsession. Always has been.

Both US & Cuban pro leagues were formed in the mid-1800's. The American leagues were formed in 1869, with the emergence of the Cincinnati Red Stockings team. Cuban professional leagues followed in the 1880's.

Cuba learned of the game from Cuban students sent to the US and American sailors who brought the game to Cuba, where it quickly became wildly popular. So popular, in fact, that early Cuban teams pioneered branding and merchandising techniques that would take their US counterparts decades to discover and employ.

For example, each of the four major Cuban teams - the Alamendares; Habana; Cienfuegos; and the Mantanzas clubs - had an established team color, slogan, and mascot. As a result, fans became even more attached to their teams and strident in their support. Families were sometimes separated and estranged due to conflicting club loyalties.

According to Jerry Cohen, owner of vintage baseball apparel manufacturer Ebbets Field Flannels, "Cuban professional teams always paid special attention to the appearance of their uniforms and gear including the use of vibrant colors, fancy-script fonts, beautiful women and animal mascots so cute they would make teenage girls squeal with delight."

Ebbets Field Flannels, for example, features a line of T-shirts emblazoned with Cuba's version of "the girls of baseball." Cuban artist Andre Garcia, often compared to Playboy Magazine's Vargas, produced a series of highly stylized images of team pinup girls, barely clad in revealing team jerseys and an early version of hot pants. "Each team had its own look, and Garcia successfully melded graphics and sex appeal to create some truly memorable images," says Cohen.

Baseball history makes it clear that in addition to memorable images, Cuban teams played a lot of memorable ball games - even holding their own against some US major league clubs.

According to a Wikipedia article on the subject: "Beginning in 1908, Cuban teams scored a number of successes in competition against major league baseball teams, behind outstanding players such as pitcher José Méndez and outfielder Cristóbal Torriente. By the 1920s, the level of play in the Cuban League was superb, as Negro League stars like Oscar Charleston and John Henry Lloyd spent their winters playing in Cuba."

There are many connections between the early American Negro Leagues and Cuban Pro teams. Since the Minor Leagues including the Negro League played in the Summer like the Majors, and Cuban pros played Winter ball, players were sometimes shared between teams. Negro League greats like Josh Gibson and Sam Bankhead joined Charleston and Lloyd along with a host of their contemporaries to play ball in Cuba. Just imagine some of those games, featuring teams comprised of the best Cuban pros along side the very best of the Negro Leagues. It was probably some of the greatest baseball ever played.

Cuba, of course, has a large Afro-Caribbean population and prejudice there is muted at worst and non-existent at best. That fact served to facilitate the exchange of players between leagues.

A little-known story including the Brooklyn Dodgers, Branch Rickey and barrier-breaking player Jackie Robinson involves the first season after Rickey had stunned baseball by signing Robinson to play for the Dodgers. Like today, the team conducted Spring Training in Florida - which was still practicing segregation in 1947 when Robinson joined the Dodgers. To avoid the prejudice sure to dog practice and the segregated society that would not even permit Black players to set foot legally on a field occupied by Whites, the Dodgers moved their Spring Training to Havana. After his brief but illustrious career in the Negro Leagues, Robinson must have felt right at home in the Cuban capital.

Today, there are 30 Negro League players and five league executives in Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame. The recent deaths of two of the league's oldest surviving players, Buck O'Neill (94) and Silas Simmons (101), has refocused attention on the important role that the Negro League teams played in the communities they represented and in the evolution of the Major Leagues.

As interest has grown, so has the line of vintage baseball apparel. Ebbets Field carries a full-line of historically-inspired Jerseys, T-shirts and hats from great Negro League teams like the Monarchs; the Homestead Grays, Birmingham Barons, Cleveland Buckeyes, Detroit Stars, and of course, the New York Cubans. This swag is unique, classy and way cool. Take it from me.