Rock/Jazz/J-Pop: Ringo Sheena

Because of my recent visit to Japan I thought it would be a nice opportunity to talk about a Japanese artist again. This time I've chosen Ringo Sheena. As you can see from the title of this post I had some trouble defining the genre in which Ringo makes her music. Unlike the previously mentioned Koda Kumi, Ringo does not really sing typical J-Pop songs. More often than not her songs are a mix of rock, punk and jazz with a pinch of electronica.

The multitalented singer started out in 1998 with songs still very focused on rock (e.g. Queen of Kabuki-cho). In the early 2000s however she started to make more funky/jazz sounding songs like Chastity at Midnight. When I first discovered Ringo somewhere in 2009 I really had to get used to her, let's say 'unique', voice. Over time however I became more used to it and even started to appreciate the distinctive sound. What kept me hooked all these years however was mostly the amazing arrangements she makes. From the jazzy ones like Season and her collaborations with jazz band SOIL&"PIMP"SESSIONS (e.g. MY FOOLISH HEART～crazy on earth～) to the larger orchestrated pieces like The Leading Hitter and Carnation. And from the electronica influenced Detecting Love (awesome music video by the way) to the more rocking CollateralDamage. Every song she makes has an uniqueness to it which gets me excited every time she releases a new one.

Other favourites: Close Shave Assassin, APPLE, It Was You and A Long andShort Festival

Check out more of her songs on her Official YouTube Channel.

Metalcore: Killswitch Engage

Sometimes I'm in the mood to relax, but sometimes I need the complete opposite: loud energetic music with shredding guitars and fast double-bass drum rhythms. One of the go-to genres at times like those is metalcore. The first metalcore band I discovered was Killswitch Engage when I encountered their song My Curse in a videogame.

The thing that I love most about this music is the contrast between the loud parts (screaming/grunting, rhythmic guitar) and the more melodic parts (both singing- and guitar-wise). I find contrast in a song the best way to keep me engaged (pun not intended). When no or hardly any contrast exists within a song, for instance between the verse and chorus, I start to get bored after 1.5-2 minutes. With metalcore however your ears get bombarded with the loud parts, after which they have time to recuperate during the 'quieter' parts before the next loud part hits. It's similar to the quiet parts in horror movies when everything seems peaceful just before the evil strikes. This contrast I think makes both parts more enjoyable. But let me stop here before I start to get too philosophical. Try to listen to their songs, keeping what I wrote in mind, and maybe you'll start appreciating their music as well.

Other favourites: Starting Over, Holy Diver and In Due Time

Check out more songs on their Official YouTube Channel