GLAY (東京都)
Aside from the messed up MySpace layout which covered up the audio player (at least on my machine, using Firefox, it was covered up) and aside from the little snippets of songs rather than full songs, I really liked this band.
I hate it when they don't put up at least one or two full length songs but instead only put up soundbites. It's like watching a movie preview when you were expecting a movie. You can tell they are signed; I expect some marketing bigwig thinks that he or she knows best and doesn't want the public to have anything for free...sad. Personally, if I like what I hear online, I go out and buy a CD...I'd much rather have a professionally made and guaranteed CD over a wonky download everyday. Can you tell I don't use iTunes??? :)Anyway, GLAY (東京都) is robust and energetic with driving beats, great musicality and impassioned vocals. Here's another band whose music you might expect to find on anime shows like the fun but edgy Bleach, Ghost in the Shell, DeathNote and so forth. Except this isn't a grunge, goth or metal band, it is a rock J-POP blend, but in a great way. Think rock band with hits that span into and appeal to pop fans as well.
I just wish they'd put up some full samples on their MySpace page and do something about the wonky layout...but listen to them anyway, I think you'll like them.
You can find their MySpace page here (and other links I didn't visit) at
http://www.myspace.com/glayofficial
KOKIA
And if a Tokyo, Japan group is actually based in France, does that count as part of my world tour? The MySpace page is generated and written in French, the band is Japanese J-POP/Pop and a bit of Opera in style.
KOKIA, when I first started to listen didn't impress me. As I listened to the echoing overlayed soprano-like vocals, I thought I was going to listen to yet another singer and group that spent too much time showing off their vocal range and other tricks and not enough time showing that they could execute a song with passion and timing.
I was wrong.
Those fragile, self-indulgent vocals suddenly transformed into a
grandiose theme with reach and power. The song, Follow the Nightingale, was mesmorizing, building in drama and intensity until it crescendoed and exploded.Frankly, it reminded me of Alanis Morisette's song 'One', the complexity, the sense of a lone singer that is suddenly surrounded yet not overwhelmed by a powerful symphony of musicians and intricate music--it was there in this song.
So I listened to the other songs. I liked them as well. Some were playful and simplistic, like the songs children sing in complete innocence, some were complex but with rather annoying voice-over bits that I could do without, but happily others were deeper and complex.
Great vocals, intensely impressive instrumentals and composition and best of all, entertaining and powerful--enough to sweep you away to distant worlds only available in movies or your own imagination. Grand, sweeping, overwhelming -- give them a listen and see what you think.
And I'm counting France as part of my world tour with this group--regardless of it being a Japanese group. :)
Find KOKIA at
http://www.myspace.com/kokiavoice
TOOKOO
Finally, I stopped off in China and after wading through some popular bands (according to their stats) that didn't sound so special to me, I did happen upon a very Rock band called TOOKOO. They say they are a blend of Emo, Indie and Rock. I would place them more firmly on the Rock side with a bit 70's psychedelic and right on the edge of being Metal, but not quite.
Wild, fun and off the wall -- what more can you say except listen to those driving beats and irrepressible energies yourself.Really, they were a blast to listen to -- just plain fun!
They are at
http://www.myspace.com/tookoo
Enjoy, gotta go!
CG Anderson
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