Recommend some Japanese music!

[TheYellowMonkey]

My favourite Japanese artists/bands are .. The Yellow Monkey, Rip Slyme, and B'z. (i like jrock) Can you recommend some bands.. and i dont like the jpop that much . thx. ( and btw. is there any fans of the yellow monkey, rip slyme or b'z ? )

[sentaku]

When I was in Japan I went into a music store and asked an employee for some "classic" japanese music. Immediately he picked up the B'z greatest hits. The Blues style is great and a lot of their music without lyrics is extremely well done.

[keatonatron]

The Yellow Monkey is definitely in my top 3.

I don't like B'z very much though

If you like イエモン, I would recommend Luna Sea. They don't really have much in common style-wise, but they are from the same era and you might like them.

The bands you mentioned are quite vocal-heavy, with slower musical accompaniment. Do you like that more than instrument-centric music, or is it just a coincidence?

[Pork Chop]

I know some of these bands are a bit hard, but what about bands like Zard, Buck-Tick, X Japan, Hide (greatest hits album is pretty decent), Hyde, L'Arc~en~Ciel, or even Asian Kung Fu Generation?
Punk stuff is pretty good too like Blue Hearts and Mods.
From time to time I also get in the mood for a little bit more chill stuff like Southern All Stars and Spitz.

[sei]

I don't know many J-rock bands, and I tend to like more softer Japanese music... But I recently fell in love with Ikimono Gakari. The music and the lyrics are truly great, imo. It's a bit soft, but it's still classified as J-rock (Indie rock and alternative rock according to wikipedia).

[astaroth]

If you like vocals more, you might enjoy 'Dream Comes True'.

[TheYellowMonkey]

Thank you all! I will definetly check all those suggestions out!!!

[Mike Cash]

Miyagi Mariko's ガード下の靴みがき

青い山脈

Tony Tani's さいざんす・マンボ

[Pork Chop]

Wow Mike, nice finds.
I really like the first one.
Think my wife likes the last one.

[NocturnalOcean]

One of my favourite Japanese artists is 中島 みゆき. (Nakajima Miyuki).
She is one of the greatest song writers ever in Japan, and I really recommend listening to her.
She has also written songs for other artists such as TOKIO, with famous songs such as:
空船(sorafune) Original version can be heard: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FONEwKIao-E
and 本日、未熟者: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnqIzuee4Ms

Listening to those can be a great start to your journey into Nakajima Miyukis wonderful music:)

[two_heads_talking]

Tony Tani's さいざんす・マンボ

Tony Tani has an interesting useage of the abacus in that video.. lol

This is him from a live show somewhere.. he really gets into that Abacus.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWxPh7W9dtA&feature=related

[NocturnalOcean]

Since the thread is already rolling I just have to mention my favourite Japanese artist.

小田和正(Oda Kazumasa).

I just love his voice and his songs.

[Ryouka]

I don't really listen to a huge variety of Japanese (or any music, for that matter) but I can say without a doubt that Maximum the Hormone is one of my top 5 favorite Japanese bands. Such crazy lyrics, they always make me laugh. I also have taken a liking to L'Arc en Ciel and all of Hyde's side projects. I also like Orange Range too, and not just the weird stuff.

[TheYellowMonkey]

I also forgot to say that I like L'arc en Ciel, Gackt, and Malice Mizer.
Any fans here of them? You should give them a listen!

[RayMasaki]

IF you like 80's Metal you have to check out Loudness
-EZO - Earthshaker - Vow wow.