J-Rock: Wagakki Band

I can hear you think 'no, please not another Japanese Rock band, don't you have anything else to show us?' but trust me, this one's different.

What separates Wagakki Band from other rock and visual kei bands is described by their name. Wagakki (和楽器) literally means: traditional Japanese musical instruments. So besides the regular rock instruments the band features a shamisen (three-stringed instrument comparable to a banjo), a koto (13-stringed instrument, a bit similar to a harp) a shakuhachi (a bamboo flute) and taiko drums. These traditional instruments accompanied by the unique voice of singer Yuko give the band a very distinct and recognizable 'Japanese' sound.

The band started out in 2013 doing covers of vocaloid songs (songs made using voice synthesizer software) like Roku Chounento Ichiya and Tengaku. Their breakthrough came with the song Senbonzakura which currently has almost 50 million views on YouTube. Their music videos are always highly entertaining and make you feel like you're watching a Japanese action movie. In Ikusa for instance they are battling each other while in Akatsukino Ito they have to defeat a dragon.

Although it took me some time to get used to the singers voice I'm now a huge fan of her sound. Wagakki Band's last album already dates from a year ago so I'm patiently waiting for a new album of traditional Japanese epicness.

Other favourites: Hangekino Yaiba, Hanabi and Strong Fate

Watch more videos on their original and official YouTube channels.

A cappella pop: Pentatonix

The human voice is just another instrument, that's how I see it. Whether a melody is performed by a guitar, a flute or a voice, it's all the same to me. In the case of A Cappella music this fact is taken to the next level since all parts of the song are solely made up by the human voice. Percussion, bass, melody and harmonies are all created by the singers' vocal cords. One of the absolute best groups in this style is Pentatonix.

Pentatonix started out in 2011 and participated in the a cappella talent show 'The Sing-Off', which they won. After winning the show they started to regularly upload a cappella covers of existing songs to YouTube of which Somebody That I Used To Know is one of their most watched videos. As their popularity grew they also started to make original songs like Sing, and even went on a world tour.

This however doesn't mean that they've quit their YouTube activities. Once in a while for instance the group releases an Evolution of... video. Evolution of Music, Beyoncé, and Michael Jackson are all equally impressive.

Last but not least Pentatonix also likes to sing Christmas songs. Now I know it's still October at the time of writing, but nevertheless I urge you to check out the absolute extraordinary Carol of the Bells and The First Noel which are some of my all time favourite renditions.

Other favourites: Thrift Shop, Problem and Perfume Medley.

Check out their Official YouTube Channel for more videos.

Symphonic Metal: Epica

I was introduced to symphonic metal in 2007 by my dad. At the time it came as quite the shock to me since up until then I'd never hear my father listen to rock music, let alone metal. But after hearing the music for the first time it all started to the make sense. The music combines the traditional metal instruments like electric guitars and heavy drums with classical instruments like strings and brass. The way in which melodies and harmonies are build up and the combination of choirs with a (usually) female lead singer give the feel of an operatic piece. My father was hooked, and so was I.

My favourite symphonic metal band is the Dutch band Epica (for whatever reason we Dutch are great at making symphonic metal). Although the band already exists since 2002 it wasn't until 2009 that I discovered their music with the songs Unleashed and Martyr of the Free Word. Especially that last one excellently showcases the duality between the animalistic grunting of Mark Jansen and the almost heavenly sounding voice of Simone Simons. A voice that is also expressed nicely in the band's more calmer songs like Solitary Ground and This is the Time.

Last month the band released its latest album titled: The Holographic Principle. It's an album in which they've again outdone themselves with epic songs (pun intended)  like Universal Death Squad and Edge of the Blade.

Other favourites: Never Enough, The Essence of Silence and Unchain Utopia.

Check out their Official YouTube Channel for more videos.

K-Rap: Jay Park

As I've mentioned in an earlier post I discovered K-Pop in 2009. Since I'm also a big hip hop fan you might assume that I therefore also dove right into K-Rap. However at that time hip hop wasn't very popular in Korea, making it difficult to find on YouTube. It wasn't until 2012, with the start of 'Show Me the Money' (a kind of Idols, but with rappers i.o. singers), that hip hop gained some traction. One of the first Korean rappers I discovered, and still one of my favourites, is Jay Park.

Born in the US Jay Park decided to come to Korea in 2005 to become singer in a boyband. However only a year after debuting in 2008 with his group '2PM' he decided to leave the group. Probably not pleasant for him at the time, but a fortunate event for hip hop fans around the world, since this meant that Jay could focus on hip hop instead of generic pop songs.

The first song I heard of Jay was the raw hip hop song 1HUNNIT which is a collaboration with fellow rapper Dok2. This song sounds very different from the more recent On It which has a more classic hip hop sound to it. In addition to hip hop he also has several nice R&B tracks like Solo and Aquaman. In 2013 Jay started his own record label: AOMG. Label mates LOCO and Ugly Duck regularly make appearances in his works as seen in NaNa and the NSFW Mommae. For those of you who still aren't convinced: Fire, dancers and dope beats, cause there Ain't No Party Like an AOMG Party.

Other favourites: My Last, Worldwide and Me Like Yuh.

Check out Jay Park's Official YouTube channel for more videos.

Electronica: C2C

Sometimes finding a new artist is just a lucky coincidence. This was the case when I discovered the song Aracades by the group C2C, which just happened to be the first video to be displayed when I opened video website Vimeo a couple of years ago.
C2C is a group formed by the four french DJs: Atom, pFeL, 20Syl and Greem, all proficient in the art of turntablism. As the name implies the art involves the use of turntables, though not in the usual way of 'just playing music'. In turntablism the DJ makes use of scratching, crossfading and looping to transform the turntable into a music instrument of its own. The resulting songs are however not as chaotic as you might think.

Take for instance the slightly Daft Punk sounding DownThe Road. In this song the harmonica part is heavily affected by the scratching, but in my opinion this only enhances the part, making it more exciting to listen to, while still sounding smooth.

So far C2C has only released one album called Tetra, from which almost all songs are equally impressive, including: Delta, F·U·Y·A, Happy and The Beat. 
The guys mainly focus on live performances, which is great of course for fans who want to see them perform, but less so for the fans (like me) who are eagerly awaiting new songs.

Check out C2C's Official YouTube Channel for more songs and remixes.

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