Japanese Bands You Should Listen To -PART 3-

HEY PEOPLE!

It has been a while since I've done this, and thought it might be about time.
Yes, time to introduce some Japanese music to your ear holes.

In the past I've listed five bands/people in each list, but that takes way too long and I stop writing much after the third entry.

SO! This list and probably all the lists from now on will have THREE bands for you to check out. I'm also going to post two songs rather than one this time so you can get more of a fell of what they're like.

Heeeere wee goooo~!


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ROSSO

This is band is fronted by Chiba Yusuke from Thee Michelle Gun Elephant, that plays fast paced punk/rockabilly. It also features the awesome bass lines by Toshiyuki Terui from the legendary band Blankey Jet City, and crisp drumming of Masato from.....ASSFORT (Haven't listened to their music, might be something to do with asses and castles, I don't know...). The first song I heard by them was "Sharon", which, although I didn't particularly like at first felt something about it that was really attractive. I dunno, but it eventually became song that I extremely like, and do not get tired of listening to. If you come by the translated lyrics, you'll notice they don't seem to make much sense. Maybe they're metaphorical or poetic or something. I dunno lol. It's still a great song though.


Second song is "Hakkou" (Emissions). This is a very long track, so if you're the type that likes short and quick to the point songs, this may not really be for you. But, as with any long song, they have different phases with different tunes, so you shouldn't get too bored. Unless if you hate this type of music of course. Hakkou is a slightly different track to the rest of ROSSO's discography, and is quite slow and quiet until about half way through. Anyway, you can decide whether you like it.


If that was too long for you, here's a quick 1 minute song.




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PETROLZ

This is slightly unknown band, even in Japan. It's lead by Nagaoka Ryouske (aka Ukigumo) the guitarist and occasional vocalist from the band, Tokyo Jihen. These guys have quite a light sound, which is easy on the ears. It's quite funky, sometimes jazzy. Overall, they have a unique fresh sound that is quite unlike other bands. I instantly became a fan after seeing videos of Nagaoka Ryousuke playing his acoustic guitar and singing in the streets of Tokyo somewehere (probably Shibuya or Shinjuku). This is one called "Ame" (Rain).





And another called "Kohan" (Lakeside). He plays this while walking around.






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BUMP OF CHICKEN

These guys are quite famous in Japan, and probably outside it because of their One Piece theme song. Personally, I don't like that song though (heh). They are a pop/alternative rock band who have quite a lot of songs used in anime and video games. I remember listening to them back when I first started to get into Japanese music, and frankly, I didn't like them. Well, I didn't like rock very much back then so that's not surprising. But even after I got into rock I still didn't like them very much. My motto about music is that nothing is unlikeable (usually...). If you don't like something at one time, you sometimes end up loving it later on in life once your tastes change a bit. Who knows, I may get into idol music and death metal and stuff at some point. At the same time even.

Anyway, the song that finally got me into Bump of Chicken was "Zero" the theme song for the Final Fantasy 0 game on PSP. It's quite a haunting but magical song. It reminds me of a dark European forest for some reason. I've never been to one though (so how should I know what it's like?).


ゼロ　bump of chicken by dm_509f23c1656ff


Another song, is only one of my favourites after watching a video on youtube. It's a song called "Dandelion", and is about a lonely lion that befriends a dandelion. Yeah, a bit childish right? Except the song coupled with this video made me laugh and sort of tear up a bit.

Translated lyrics are here
http://utau-inu.com/centj/translations/dandelion_bumpofchicken.htm




And lastly, here's the song Harujion.
I can't be stuffed writing anymore.....lol