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)

Movie Madness

I don't know about you, but I'm not that impressed with Hollywood's current fare. I mean, Little Miss Sunshine was a chuckle, but Academy Award material? You've got to be kidding. And I watched Brad in "Babel" last night, and came away less than enlightened, or satisfied for that matter. Where's Johnny Depp when you need him? I am, on the other hand, watching some fine foreign films - a few of which I've already mentioned in previous posts.

In the last week, I watched a couple of new titles worth mentioning. First: Vengo. A wonderful film that captures family and village life among Spanish Gypsies, Vengo features some great Flamenco music. Very authentic. The film also does a great job capturing the role of family honor, and the age-old practice of blood feuds among ancient cultures that disdain modern law and authority. The music is excuse enough to rent this film, the interesting plot, authentic setting and very credible acting are icing on the cake. Nobody makes movies about Gypsies better than film maker Tony Gatliff. His earlier works, Gadjo Dilo and Latcho Drom, are definitive cinematic reflections on Gypsy life and culture.

The second movie is a Mexican comedy entitled Benjamin's Woman. The unlikely and comedic tale pairs a blossoming seventeen year old girl with a middle-aged village suitor who, with the drunken assistance of the girl's uncle, kidnaps her and locks her away. How, you might ask, is this funny? Turns out the girl is no fool, seizes the opportunity, and in the end, somehow almost everybody wins. Quirky and improbable, the film also turned out to be enjoyably different and fun. Three plus stars. Here's my current list of Foreign Favorites.