What do you think of Japanese pop and rock music? Heard anything you like?

J-Pop is awful. The bands usually sing in unison, as opposed to multipart harmonies, and the performers seem incapable of moving their hips. Many of the female bands promote a sexy-child image, which I find creepy. The Korean scene, by contrast, is light years better.

The Babymetal rocks!

Vince Black - plenty of Japanese Rock - just most is not mainstream. Here's some.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uds7g3M-4lQ

The Yellow Monkey rocks!

Well, they used to anyway.

If that doesn't work -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=Uds7g3M-4lQ

Kinoko no Teikoku.

Not earth-shatteringly brilliant, but they’re at least competent and interesting.

First Japanese music I’ve downloaded for aeons....

The Babymetal rocks!

The One

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZRvO0S-TLU

My favorite is Falilv.

Let Me Hear

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-SQqppuGvc

BAND MAID "THRILL" Check it out.

Boris.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=855klBq2fnQ

Play loud.

Where to start?

Chai, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Happy End, Towa Tei, Cibo Matto, Shonen Knife, and check out ITA and Bim One Production's output of seriously good reggae sounds.

I don't normally do youtube stuff but on this subject, why not...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9TUTkIWiH0

Nice one Alfie! I'd add Church of Misery to that string.

Some of my favorites from the past and present:

The Golden Cups, Takeshi Teruachi & the Bunnies, Flower Travelling Band, The Jack, High Rise, Acid Mothers Temple, Les Rallizes Denudes, Speed Glue & Shinki, Fraction, Guitar Wolf, American Soul Spiders, Teengenerate, Cracks, The Gimmees, Dead Vikings, Tokyo Cramps, Nujabes, Pizicato Five, Fishmans, Too Much, Osaka Monorail, Green Machine, Thee Michelle Gun Elephant, Ghost, Melt Banana, Taj Mahal Travellers

There is tons of great Japanese music! Haruomi Hosono made magic with YMO and Happy End, Tatsurou Yamashita is a legend, but my all-time favorite groups are Mucc and lynch. Of course there's also a lot of average poppy junk, but I feel the Japanese music-scene is really large and varied.

No.

Acid Mothers Temple, Takeshi Teruachi!

Good call, J-Drake. I'd forgotten them. If we're doing psychedelia, would the great Damo Suzuki count? Or would that be more under the German umbrella?

Les Rallizes Denudes

These are brilliant, thanks for the tip J-Dake! Apparently the singer was selling carpets in Oldham in 1997.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSRcQ6eV10Q

Perfume is my first favorite Japanese band, and it leads me to many artists such as Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, Capsule, Gesu no Kiwami Otome, One Ok Rock, Bump of Chicken, ORESAMA, and so many more!

There are a lot of new artists/bands coming in and I am looking forward to it very much :D

Perfume and Kyary Pamyu Pamyu! Both produced by an amazing music producer, Yasutaka Nakata. I love them all

Still stuck in the past glory of psychedelic J-Rock:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15g9nz2TZTI

It's hard to find Japanese Rock Ballad Bands like Black Hole from South Korea, also music genre like Guckkasten and Wings of Isang from SK as well.

The only ones i know from Japan are TMGE, The Birthday and Blankey Jet City but still not similar music.

I really got into Peace Sign by Kenshi Yonezu. J-pop is quite diverse and finding your own niche among them shouldn't be difficult.

Alfie,

Always happy to spread the joy. Yes, that band has the most interesting history of any Japanese band I can think of. Formed in 1967 and active up through the 90s yet never released an official studio record and one member was involved in the 1970s yodo-a-gogo pilot to steal an airplane and fly to to North Korea. Crazy stuff. Kind of makes other underground bands look like AKB haha.