Ayumi Hamasaki Sekai - [book] Jrock, Ink.

Jrock, Ink. : A Concise Report on 40 of the Biggest Rock Acts in Japan
by Josephine Yun

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Book Description

The growth of anime has spurred fan interest in Japanese music. Unlike its sweet-confection sister jpop, jrock is edgy, all about talent and filled with dazzling musicality. This book introduces 40 of the hottest names in jrock with histories, pedigrees, critiques and discographies, all in a stunning full-color package highlighted by original art and photographs. Among the familiar artists featured are Shonen Knife, B'z, Love Psychedelico, L'Arc~en~Ciel, and Gackt, plus Japan favorites X Japan, Glay and Luna Sea. Many of these bands have toured and released CDs in North America and do work on anime and movie soundtracks.

Josephine Yun lives in Baltimore and is an editor for jrockonline.com.

About the Author
Josephine Yun has covered classical music and Japanese pop for City Paper, Baltimore's alternative weekly, and is also an editor at jrockonline.com. She wrote the official English biography for the breakthrough band X JAPAN and presented a panel on Jrock at the Anime Central anime convention in 2004. She is a member of various online communities dedicated to alternative music.

There is a long review of the book (with pictures) at SFgate: ASIAN POP Hello Kitty! Rock! Rock!.

Some excerpts from the review:

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Lovingly written and gorgeously produced, it's the first book published in the United States to survey the delirious landscape of Japanese rock. Yun, a critic for the Baltimore alternative weekly "City Paper," selects 40 of the most popular j-rock performers for her "concise report"; its chief flaw is perhaps that it's almost too concise. At just 124 pages -- with each band getting a page-long profile and a delightfully impressionistic illustration -- it's like an oh-so-savory appetizer at a nouvelle cuisine restaurant: It leaves you desperately hungry for more.

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"When I started getting into j-rock, I stopped listening to the radio. I kind of wasn't interested in listening to American music anymore," she says. "What I was hearing filled a void. Not a conscious one, maybe, but it was like, 'Wow, where has this stuff been all my life?'"