j-pop
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Vibe with me for just a bit longer. As you can surmise, lately, I’ve been touching on a more universal kind of music. It’s this shift that’s letting me to revisit and share some of what I think has flown under the radar. And in today’s case, it’s Yoshimi Iwasaki’s daring and quite forward-thinking reemergence…
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Do you know who I don’t envy? Pop stars. Out of all the careers or aspirations one can hold in the music business, none holds a candle to the sheer amount of stress, anxiety, work, and all-encompassing human problems that one will endure to simply make it as a pop artist. Rockers, jazz artists, and…
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While I was writing about “Korea’s Madonna”, mentally, my mind going elsewhere, as well, thinking about that other Madonna: the late, great, Minako Honda. Putting myself, mentally in their shoes, I kept thinking about how as a young woman (especially of that ‘80s era) all the nonsense they must have gone through to simply: a)…
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I have a confession to make. I have a distinct aversion to “girl” singers. I like my male singers to sound like adults. I like my female singers to sound like adults, too. Basically, I can’t stand when someone plays the role of a tart (with no irony), no matter what gender normative noun they…
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Guest post by Giacomo Lee. You’d think being in one of the biggest cult Japanese bands of the ’90s would make one of your biggest side projects pretty well known, but Yasuharu Konishi’s Girl Girl Girl must be the exception to that rule.
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I have a confession to make: I didn’t quite “get” Criola’s Winter Songbook, for a long time. Looking back, though, this season, I’ve been blessed with many things in life and one of them has been running this blog. Never have I been so inspired, influenced, and devoted to maintain this running conversation with people…
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“Why are there so many songs about love?” that’s the heavy question posited by one Terry Day in “Luv, Luv, Luv”. As he goes about trying to deduce the many reasons we love one another, he fails to land on a specific motive. Terry figures it out the answer, and comes to it, as an…
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Do you know what I love about Mioko Yamaguchi? That no matter what she attempts, she finds a way to actually do it, and do it quite well. That’s why I struggled mightily to chose what is my favorite album of hers to pitch to you, dear reader. Heart of hearts, I’ve made up my mind, and 月姫 Moon-Light…
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Sometimes it’s wise not to outpace the group. An album, or at least a collection of tracks, I love to recommend (whenever I can) is the debut from Mari Iijima, Mari Iijima’s Rose. There is a problem inherent in this recommendation. The problem lies in me forgetting that what I know, or have access to, isn’t…
ambient art pop art rock balearic brazilian electro-acoustic england environmental music experimental folk-rock fourth world Funk fusion japan jazz minimalist neo-folk neoclassical new age walearic