Name: Maria Sex: Who knows? (lol) Birthday: May 24 Occupation: Dream chaser E-mail: beautymaria@ezweb.ne.jp Height: 178cm Weight: I’ve recently gained weight Hobbies: singing, cosmetics Special skill: vocal range Hairstyle: rainbow Favorite words: beautiful, Maria Personality: extremely narcissistic, extremely selfish Favorite Food: thick, juicy steak Least Favorite Foods: shrimp, squid, octopus, crab, all shellfish Favorite Drink: melon soda Least Favorite Drinks: sake, shochu Favorite Book: I hate reading (lol) Favorite Perfume: One I have at home, I forget what it’s called (lol) Favorite Sport: practicing vocals Favorite Animal: Hamu Taro Favorite Pastime: street performing Favorite Karaoke Song: I sing my own songs (lol) Dream for the future: to mobilize 1000 people without ever having to set foot in an office. That and to sing at the Budokan
Last Friday night on the way home I came across a duo playing outside Shinjuku Station. They’ve got the typical J-Pop sound that makes all the OL’s (office ladies) swoon. Well, in theory at least. No CD yet, but their home page is here.
Podcasting neurosis update: I’m almost OK with the thought of nearly 1,000 people from around the world listening to each episode. (15,000+ MP3s served this month.) I can brainfart while recording without becoming overwhelmingly self-conscious. But to be honest, I still think I suck. I should be over that after another 10 or 20 more episodes. Old habits die hard, or something like that.
The song is from Daiki and Little Wing. Check out his photo. He looks like a pirate. Arrrrrh.
Right now, for the first time I’m listening to the title song from the CD I bought from them earlier tonight. Holy shit. If I’s CUBE doesn’t end up making it really really big here, then either there’s something seriously wrong with collective musical taste of this country, or there are hordes of incredibly talented Japanese female vocalists that I don’t know about yet, and Ai Ujita is just a drop in the bucket.
And to think that not just me, but all of us were less than a minute away from totally missing their performance. It’s funny how fate works sometimes, isn’t it?
Links go right to the RSS feeds to save ya’ll some trouble. If you know of any good music podcasts from Japan that actually play music, let me know and I’ll add them to the list.
Monochrome Cafe – Professional, very, very mellow. Do not listen to while operating heavy machinery.
Pod the Music – Professional, J-Pop. If you like J-Pop, this one’s probably your best bet.
Progressive Music Cast – Amateur, infrequent, not sure if they actually get around to playing any music, but it’s highly ranked.
abcdefg*record – Podcasts from an independent label. More talk than music. The music is definitely not mainstream. Might appeal more to the pink haired, body-pierced, tattooed crowd.
BEATCLUB – 1 minute samples. Very popular, maybe I’ll like it more if I give it a chance.
NETZ_MUSIC – Commercially sponsored, mostly talk, songs not played all the way through. Perhaps interesting if you’re fluent and curious to hear famous musicians just be themselves.
Oricon Single Top 40 – Commercial, professional, no music, just listing off the chart-topping song titles.
Radio Sakamoto – Ryuichi Sakamoto’s podcast for J-WAVE FM. He’s articulate and easy to understand in comparison to other podcasters, but unfortunately no music, which seems to be typical for podcasts produced by radio stations. They strip the music from the their radio shows and recycle them as podcasts.
In summary, I haven’t been able to find a music show I like by searching the podcast rankings, but keep in mind that J-Pop really isn’t my thing. I guess it’s like someone who lives in Nashville but would rather have his ears chewed off by rabid weasels than listen to country music. If you can read Japanese, check out po-di-um.net’s blog or Staff Picks for other recommended podcasts. They review all kinds of podcasts, not just J-Pop ones.
Update: Listener recommended J-Pop podcasts:
Jpop Blast – Definitely not podsafe. I don’t owe the price-gouging music industry here any favors for putting out a never ending barrage of homogenized bubble gum pop songs sung off key by here-today-pumping-gas-tomorrow cookie-cutter teenie bopper dance troops, so tune into to their show if that’s your kind of thang. (…Did that come out of me? Golly gee, who says you need a vagina to turn into a PMS monster?)
Muzie – Not a podcast but rather a community site for indy & independent artists in Japan. The should have a podcast, really, because on sites like this, sifting through the sludge for gold nuggets is an arduous process.
Last Friday night on the way home I came across a duo playing outside Shinjuku Station. They’ve got the typical J-Pop sound that makes all the OL’s (office ladies) swoon. Well, in theory at least. No CD yet, but their home page is here.