Can anybody recommend any Japanese artists to me?

ILoveGeniuses · #1 23rd July 2013, 06:18 PM

I've been looking to branch out even further from my current Japanese music. I've already been exploring KPOP, American & British music as well, but I'm having trouble finding some more Japanese artists I like. So here's two lists. One of the artists I already like/love & listen to, and the 2nd of ones I've tried, but didn't care for. Can anybody think of any others for me to give a try?

Listen To Already (Love/Like)

Ayumi Hamasaki
Kumi Koda
Namie Amuro
BoA (both Japanese & Korean)
Hikaru Utada
MiChi
Miho Fukuhara
MAA
Mika Nakashima
Hitomi Shimatani
alan (dawa dolma)
B’z
Crystal Kay
Do As Infinity
DOUBLE
Every Little Thing
L’Arc~en~Ciel
May J.
m-flo
MISIA
Sifow
Yuna Ito
Gackt
ayaka
Tomiko Van

Tried, But Didn’t Like

Kana Nishino
AAA
hitomi
SCANDAL
Dir en Grey
the Gazette
GLAY
Kaya
the pillows
SOUL’d OUT
Kinki Kids
AKB48
Nana Mizuki
Perfume
Shoko Nakagawa
An Café
Miyavi
Ai Otsuka
AI
aiko
globe
TRF
Nightmare
SID
Smap
Maki Goto
the brilliant green
Tommy February6
Ikimonogakari
MAX
Orange Range
Arashi
Aqua Timez
alice nine.
Angela Aki
Aya Matsuura
Bonnie Pink
Chihiro Onitsuka
EXILE
Garnet Crow
High And Mighty Color
KAT-TUN
Lead
Leah Dizon
Mihimaru GT
moumoon
Moi dix Mois
Mr. Children
Dream
ONE OK ROCK
orange pekoe
Rina Aiuchi
Sowelu
YUI
ZONE
Superfly
Asian Kung Fu Generation
w-inds.
Aira Mitsuki
Mai Kuraki
Chemistry
misono
day after tomorrow
ZARD
BRIGHT
Aya Kamiki
Daichi Miura

EDIT: My updates from your recommendations

YES I LIKED

JASMINE

NO, I DIDN'T

BREAKERZ
Rie fu
LiSA
Kuroki Meisa
Amano Tsukiko
Kou Shibasaki
ragdoll
Halcali
OLIVIA

Any not on either list I havent gotten to yet or still deciding.

primavera♥ · #2 23rd July 2013, 06:29 PM

Eh, that's a lot. And I don't know many Japanese artists outside of the ones you mentioned since I spend a lot of time on my favorites and non-Japanese music.

But may I suggest Jasmine?

There are also the I've Sound artists (and former ones)...

my favorite being Eiko Shimamiya, but idk if you'd like them. I don't listen to all of them but I have select fav songs from them. like this one compilation album that has my favs lol. It's complicated.

khan5 · #3 23rd July 2013, 06:33 PM

some that i like:

- kalafina
- Eri nobutchika ( listen to yume no kakera its so awesome)
- uverworld (rap jrock band)
- seiko matsuda ( listen to baby make love tonight)
- yuki ( cute singer but has some good songs like Watashi no Negaigoto )
-capsule ( listen to recent stuff like sugarless girl)
- salyu ( interesting singer but you might not like her but theres no one like her in jpop)
- kokia ( Fantastic singer songs i recommend: tomoni, so sad so bad, Follow the Nightingale, il mare dei suoni, Chouwa, Sono Mama de Ii ~ be as you are, and Road to Glory ~ for Dragon Nest)

Delicious n Bold · #4 23rd July 2013, 06:41 PM

Try:
- hiromi (jRnB)
- kyary pamyu pamyu (ninjya ri ban ban, invader invader and fashion monster only)
- halcali (first album only)

x-megumi-x · #5 23rd July 2013, 07:41 PM

Some of my favorites

Miliyah Kato
lecca
BENI
miwa
OLIVIA
JASMINE
mini

Kacku · #6 23rd July 2013, 08:44 PM

I second miwa. Her newest album Delight is really good and looking at what you like, I think she might be the right blend of pop-rock to fit your taste.

I'd also recommend GILLE. She's a rather new artist and I think she's a bit like MiChi in some ways: lots of English, many uplifting songs, does both covers and original songs - but she has a whole different edge than MiChi, not a copycat by any means. Her first original album GILLEsound Vol. 1 came out earlier this year and it's amazing, I'd recommend her to anyone.

girl next door might be to your liking, try their third album Destination maybe?

If you're into house at all, try DAISHI DANCE, his music is mind-blowingly good. His newest album, WONDER Tourism, in addition to just generally being phenomenal, has a collaboration track with Crystal Kay; I'd recommend checking the album just for that.

Sad to see you don't like globe, they're one of my favorite groups. ;_; I don't want to be annoying, but if you've only tried them once, maybe give them another chance? They've got a variety of amazing stuff and you may be missing out on something you might really like. There's a download thread with all of their albums available right here at AHS (and the links even seem to be working!) so it should be easy to try one if you feel like it.

Should their trance stuff interest you in the future (I think the trance era is the best thing globe ever did), try Lights or LEVEL 4, or if pop-rock is more your thing, globe2 pop/rock or the mini-album new deal might be good to try out.

I don't see Nami Tamaki on either of your lists? You've probably heard of her before, I think she was a pretty big name some years ago. You might want to try her if you haven't already, she has a bunch of really good stuff. I think her fourth album, Don't stay, is her best, but opinions seem to vary on that topic.

Out of the things others have mentioned, I second capsule, JASMINE, BENI, Kalafina and ESPECIALLY everything I've Sound related (Eiko Shimamiya is my absolute favorite artist, KOTOKO, Mami Kawada, MELL and the I've Girls Compilation albums are definitely worth trying).

Oh, and one more thing! I really like yanaginagi, she's definitely worth a try. Her stuff is a bit different, but maybe you'll like it! Her new album euaru came out just a few weeks ago, I think it's a very interesting collection of songs.

ILoveGeniuses · #7 23rd July 2013, 09:00 PM

@Kacku I liked some of Nami Tamaki's early albums but her more recent stuff doesnt catch my attention as much sadly. And Girl Next Door is one I forgot to add to the "dislike" list. Thanks. Its not so much their voice. I think its mostly cuz I heard em early on n their first two albums the songs all sound the same to me. Have they changed since then?

I'm gonna give miwa and Jasmine a listen to before the end of the day though. Tried Miliyah Kato's Heaven album... Not too impressed....

Earth_maiden · #8 23rd July 2013, 09:23 PM

Have you tried Maaya Sakamoto? I have most of her albums uploaded somewhere in the requests thread

primavera♥ · #9 23rd July 2013, 09:24 PM

^^Jasmine's Gold album is good....

My favorite songs from her are Jealous, This is Not a Game, LIPS, High Flying, and Dreamin

But she has a lot of great ones so yeah lol

ILoveGeniuses · #10 23rd July 2013, 09:29 PM

^Could u upload it for me please?

Oh and I'm gonna EDIT my first post with lists of both Yes(Like) and No(Dislike) as I go through everything everybody suggests to me just to keep track.

Kacku · #11 23rd July 2013, 09:41 PM

@SoldierofSilence: Yeah, girl next door has changed big time since then. Their newest album, Life of Sound, almost ditches the synths completely and has a much more natural sound. Debatable whether it's an improvement for them, but I liked having something different for a change. Unfortunately, many of the songs aren't that good on their own. :|

I'm not a huge fan of girl next door myself, for the same reason as you (so much of their early stuff was all the same), but I really liked Destination - I think their sound was finally evolving and improving on that album, there were many great songs - and the three singles that came after; Dada Para, ROCK YOUR BODY and Boogie Woogie Night were all great songs, super catchy and lovable, something new for gnd and the singles were well-rounded with solid b-sides and bonus tracks.

JASMINE's Best Partner single is awesome, you should definitely hear that if you're trying JASMINE!

YuriChan · #12 23rd July 2013, 09:51 PM

Since you like B'z, I'd like to recommend giving Koshi's solo music a try!

My favorite albums are Shian and Hadou!

Oh and I also like to recommend Porno Graffitti. They make some AMAZING music and it's incredibly catchy too! <3

I'm gonna throw these artists in. (Warning! It's long! lol):

Spoiler:

primavera♥ · #13 23rd July 2013, 09:51 PM

Not at home with my laptop to upload anything (I'm on my phone), but here is a link on the forum if that helps for one of her latest singles that I liked. I could at least find that lol....Also, I don't think I have GOLD at home anyway because I lost a lot of my music when my mom took the liberty to clean my laptop for me before college. And I doubt it's still on the forum. Someone else should have it. All the best songs are on Gold imo lol

High Flying Single

ILoveGeniuses · #14 23rd July 2013, 09:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YuriChan

Since you like B'z, I'd like to recommend giving Koshi's solo music a try!

My favorite albums are Shian and Hadou!

Oh and I also like to recommend Porno Graffitti. They make some AMAZING music and it's incredibly catchy too! <3

I'm gonna throw these artists in. (Warning! It's long! lol):

Spoiler:

Let's start. Hmmm... Well i do listen to Tomiko Van's solo stuff. I just categorized it under DAI when I wrote the list. I used to like day after tomorrow years ago, but they grew stale on me. I also dont like misono's solo stuff. I like a few songs from Nana Tanimura, but that's all. Aya Kamiki is another one I forgot to add to my dislike list. I tried to think of them all, but I guess I can't be perfect. LOL
f(x) is another I've heard, but don't like. However since theyre Korean, I didn't list em. Then with with ZARD, I just dont care for her voice.

Same with BRIGHT. TM Revolution I heard a very very long time ago and I think I might give 'em another listen since my tastes have changed since then. I will say there's a lot on that list I'm not even familiar with at all, so you've given me a lot. Thanks.

x-megumi-x · #15 23rd July 2013, 10:12 PM

Regarding Maki Goto, did you listen to her Hello Project stuff or her latest music?

HEAVEN is my favorite album by Miliyah, but a lot of people like Ring better. Maybe you should give it a try too? If you need a download link, I uploaded it a few days ago in the request section.

YuriChan · #16 23rd July 2013, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoldierofSilence

Let's start. Hmmm... Well i do listen to Tomiko Van's solo stuff. I just categorized it under DAI when I wrote the list. I used to like day after tomorrow years ago, but they grew stale on me. I also dont like misono's solo stuff. I like a few songs from Nana Tanimura, but that's all. Aya Kamiki is another one I forgot to add to my dislike list. I tried to think of them all, but I guess I can't be perfect. LOL
f(x) is another I've heard, but don't like. However since theyre Korean, I didn't list em. Then with with ZARD, I just dont care for her voice.

Same with BRIGHT. TM Revolution I heard a very very long time ago and I think I might give 'em another listen since my tastes have changed since then. I will say there's a lot on that list I'm not even familiar with at all, so you've given me a lot. Thanks.

You're welcome!

I would of listed Jaurim, but they're mainly a Korean band (though, they have a Japanese version of their song "Hey Guyz")!

There's also Silent Siren, AMIAYA, Tohoshinki, and Tenjochiki (both are Korean artists that release Japanese music).

ILoveGeniuses · #17 23rd July 2013, 10:29 PM

@x-megumi-x Both Hello Project and latest. Dont like either.

@YuriChan I'm not a fan of most Korean music. And I'm not into boy groups. Sorry. Actually I probably should have mentioned this before, but majority of male artists I listen to are Rock music (ie. B'z & Laruku) or hiphop/rap. However for female artists I don't tend to like the women's voice doing that type of rock. Actually only Korean singers I like are solo females like Chae Yeon, BoA & Ivy. I've tried to get into Lee Hyori over the years, but only song I've EVER gotten into from her is "U-Go-Girl". I even heard her latest album "monochrome" and didn't like it. Then Younha just bores me.

..... then only group I like is 2NE1. However I have tried tons of the female groups. SNSD, Kara, T-ara, f(x), APink, Brown Eyed Girls, Wonder Girls.... list goes on and on... but had no luck at all.

Chibi-Chan · #18 23rd July 2013, 11:06 PM

I would recommend Acid Black Cherry. It's a solo project from Janne Da Arc's vocalist yasu. I really love his music and he is a really great musician! He also sings really good, that's for sure, but if you will like his voice or not depends, 'cos he hasn't a typical (japanese) singing voice.
Maybe you already listened to him, 'cos his "2012" album was the one that got the number one spot instead of Party Queen. But I would also give his albums BLACK LIST and Q.E.D. a try, 'cos they are somewhat different than "2012".
I also really like him because he has a great sense of humor! Here are two PVs, the first one is the first song he released as Acid Black Cherry and the second one is his new single which will be out in August.
http://vimeo.com/65657460
http://vimeo.com/65657460

If you would like to try his albums, I would be glad to upload them for you.

**Yoake** · #19 24th July 2013, 12:24 AM

Maybe you can try:

- BREAKERZ
- LiSA
- The Sketchbook
- Ieiri Leo
- Yoshioka Aika
- Shishido Kavka
- Shibasaki Kou
- angela
- Kanon Wakeshima
- Amano Tsukiko
- Komine Lisa
- Maon Kurosaki
- mao
- Kuroki Meisa
- Ragdoll
- Rie fu
- T.M. Revolution
- U (Shirota Yu)
- Yasuta Nao
- WEAVER

Bigtop · #20 24th July 2013, 02:58 AM

Can I throw in Sayuri Sugawara please???