[camille]

i'm more of a female-vocalist type for JPop. haven't dipped into JRock or anything. so here are a couple of recommendations:

aiko (any of her 7 albums -- each are truly amazing!)
KOKIA - remember me & ai ga kikoeru
Jun Shibata - Tsukiyo no ame (recommended)
Eiko Shimamiya - O (highly recommended)
both Angela Aki albums (Home and TODAY) -- if you love piano and vocal those albums are a must
Mika Nakashima's albums are good too (do check out the BEST album if you'd prefer not to buy her first 3 albums)
also albums from Takako Matsu and Ayaka Hirahara are good to look into.

try to stay away from albums made by hello! project. they'll just suck you in. i know, i have a few

. they are merely guilty pleasures.

happy hunting! cheers!

 

[laxx]

I'm a big fan of Yui, Namie Amuro, and Nightmare.

 

[Caution]

Sorry for the slight off topic bump but does anyone know where to buy X japan albums :/ CDjapan and Yesasia are out of stock

 

[SuperNothing]

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra. A really different sounding Japanese band I would check them out.

 

[Facade19]

One of my favorite J-Rock/visual kei bands has to be Kagerou. Too bad they broke up.

 

[Shiki]

Some other bands I recommend are Judy and Mary (pop-rock with a female vocalist), Kagrra (rock with a traditional Japanese sound to it) and Kuroyume (later sounds are punk-ish, older ones are, not sure how to describe it, but kind of gothic).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caution /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sorry for the slight off topic bump but does anyone know where to buy X japan albums :/ CDjapan and Yesasia are out of stock

Hmm, that's really weird. Not even HMV and eBay have them now. They used to be plentiful a while ago. They'll probably re-issue new prints sometime in the future.

 

[tensaichen]

Lately, I've been listening to a bit of KOKIA, MISIA, aiko, and Rurutia.

 

[Bon]

Try a bit of 'Chemestry' or 'High and mighty colour'. Ikimono Gakari are another fantastic band or if your after something a little toned down try Utada Hikaru or Rei Fu. Kat-tun are another worth a listen and huge in Japan right now

 

[Fungi]

X Japan remasters were just released recently; weird that you can't find them. I've *cough found cough* Blue Blood and Jealousy online at least.

As for recs, advantage Lucy's Fanfare is excellent.

 

[Caution]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fungi /img/forum/go_quote.gif X Japan remasters were just released recently; weird that you can't find them. I've *cough found cough* Blue Blood and Jealousy online at least.

My post was from last year but I'm very pleased to find out they released remasters

woo!

 

[Rednamalas1]

Dir en Grey is amazing (their harder stuff is sometimes too hard for my taste) Cage, The final, etc I love.

MONO is a fantastic post-rock band, but they're quite different from most of J-pop.

Nakashima Mika has a beautiful voice in my opinion.

Ayaka is not bad as well.

M-FLO is not bad, but I got sick of them after a while.

Shiina Ringo isn't bad- quite creative IMO.

Not a big visual rock fan, but I love songs by Luna Sea for some reason.

 

[LostOne.TR]

[X Japan remasters]The remasters more or less just seemed like a "louder" re-release of the original. Not sure it there were improvements per se to the audio.

I'm not a huge visual fan, but I do like a bit of it. Luna Sea not included weirdly enough.

Artists whos' past music I liked alot, but not so much their recent ones: Namie Amuro, Mika Nakashima, Hamasaki (not sure), Utada Hikaru,
Nightmare (especially didn't like the Death Note ones), Dir en Grey (current style is too wild for me).
Tomiko Van (great in DAI, solo career is ehhh.)

Would like to 2nd Bon's recommendation of Ikimono Gakari and Rie Fu, great band/great soloist. Would also like to throw Onitsuka Chihiro into the mix.

Kat-tun though, is not for me. I avoid Johnny's almost like I avoid Hello!Project.