The Klassic Note Club Representatives (#KN15YEARS)

Thursday, 04 May 2023 arrow_back_ios arrow_forward_ios

Welcome back! In my series to talk about artists in the #KN15YEARS Klassic Note 15th year anniversary special!!! This one is going to be rough, we shall talk about artist genre. Yes, not song genre. Because it's hard to recommend an artist that is purely something these days, so maybe through this, we can figure something out.

For starters though, yeah, this is where we can ONLY talk about mainstream artists because if you look at a solo artist and tell me they only focus on one genre I will-

So let's! Let's... see how many music genres I actually know after so long haha *shakes head*

THE SELECTION PROCESS

I mean, as I sit down and think about how this works, and I could not fathom if I could do this properly considering music genres in itself is kind of ambiguous these days, I will try to find those who stay true to their style... for most of the time, enough for me to not think of them as multi-genre artists, I suppose. Otherwise, it's just more songs the more chances it can be in this, right? Representatives are also selected based on popularity, after all. And if any genre is more gender biased than others don't blame me, I am still a male listener anyways.

THE CLUB REPRESENTATIVES

[*As of 2022, not full representation of all artists in Klassic Note]

The Ska Representative - ORESKABAND

Well as you can see, it's not a lot, I can't define all the in-betweens to be honest a lot of them are diverse in many ways than other if you listen to enough of them, and yes that includes solo artists so a lot of them aren't in this. But that's the point, to show the diversity in genre of music I listen to or you may potentially find out there in Japan's music industry.

Other Members: TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA, pe'zmoku

The Jazz Representative - PE'Z

I don't know about this genre to be honest it kinda crosses with Ska in my opinion, but yeah, if you want Jazz Jazz from like the Western side then this is not what you might find in Japan. I've only heard of actual Jazz bands I think the last time was from Audioleaf I forgot who they are lol, but yeah I've only heard of PE'Z and think they are the only ones who carry the feel and are still the most popular. Even when they moved on and formed H ZETTRIO the feels did not go away, and that's a good thing.

Other Members: H ZETTRIO

The Hip-Hop/Funk Representative - HOME MADE Kazoku

Well, it used to be them. This genre set has been around in Klassic Note too much and too often, but only appearing in and out too much that it has caught my attention. Little do I have the chance to encounter artists who sound good and sound entirely different from their Pop and Rock counterparts to allow them to have a place in the music industry. Maybe Rap has to be a genre in here too, since it's hardly anything if not combined with this genre set, in my opinion. I don't give Pop/Rock with Rap because it's kinda lame, and these guys are enough to make me interested. That's pretty much it.
Other Members: Kroi, Creepy Nuts, CLIFF EDGE, Suchmos

The Electronic Representative - NEGOTO

Ah, about this. I have to say Electronic music is around in my life probably as long as Klassic Note itself to make me notice, but that doesn't mean it's the most dominating genre out there. Many artists have suffered at the hands of dropping out of mainstream using this genre, and we have seen its repurcissions of artists who disbanded. Nonetheless, the best songs I've heard of often come from this genre itself, and more than ever they make a better impression than other genres will ever.

Other Members: LILI LIMIT, Cwondo, LAMA, School Food Punishment

The Alternative Representative - VELTPUNCH

Ah yes, where all uncertainty exist. I mean, I look at the official genre list for ID3v1 specification and you can see that like so many of these "Alternative" genres are like they don't want to be with their main counterparts... I understand, genres that do not like popular mainstream? That's half the reason why Klassic Note even exists! Jokes aside, I have my selection of artists I like over the years also overlapping the Rock genre, no surprise, but to determine whether they stand out of their genre is another thing altogether, so I won't mention too much but touch only on the ones I know that are uniquely different.
Other Members: cinema staff, No Buses, ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION

The Pop Representative - YUKI

Okay, we are at the most popular genres now, this is going to be rough. *ahem* In an attempt for me to talk about what J-Pop generally should be, and in between what Pop genre itself should be represented, I chose to not talk about the former because damn that's every artist in the list, but instead let's talk about artists who hardly use the fusions to other genres to achieve great music. From mellow tunes to the most hype of feels, not playing with drums is probably the easiest way to talk about how these artists stand out. It's hard to define, but it's all out there. What Pop music have you not heard of, really?

Other Members: wacci, RYTHEM, Eve, Miywaki Shion

The Rock Representative - SPYAIR

And because I'm old, here's the only music genre I can get behind: The drum beats, the guitar riffs, the strong feels of wanting to ROCK the genre itself has become a verb in itself... I can only define as much as talk about the many songs that came after it. Decades old as a genre, many artists in Japan have come back time and time to either relive the classic genre or add new feels to it while preserving what essentially makes it great, inside every song they sing. And that is what is truly in it for me to be frank, for now and forever. It's a timeless genre, isn't it?
Other Members: Sambomaster, nano.RIPE, KANA-BOON, SpecialThanks, SID

Up next, and this might be the toughest post to do yet, is talking about how watching Anime for the similar amount of time also influenced me listening to music in Japan. See you then.