It's hard to write about Japanese music these days without a sense of distance. I started listening to K-pop about 3 months ago and it has been a very interesting experience. It's not an understatement to say it changed me as a person as I had felt connected to Japanese music, particularly idol music, to the point it felt like a personality trait.
I had listened to ClariS' cover of Wink's hit Sabishii Nettaigyo (淋しい熱帯魚) before I started getting into K-pop and today I discovered there was a new version rearranged by SCRAMBLES, the team of musicians behind idols affiliated with the agency WACK. I would have to be the person I am today to fully appreciate this: anime singers performing a Showa idol song with a modern idol arrangement. That was the order by which I experienced Japanese music over the years.
It was an emotional experience, especially at this point in time. I don't think it's fair to compare this version with the original but I liked this reinvention very much. It's comparable to what I felt while listening to BiSH's cover of Moon Revenge, but with an additional Showa idol component that makes it even more fascinating.
Things feel very different now, but I doubt I will ever stop loving Japanese music!
Hello, Joana. I actually saw ClariS perform "Sabishii Nettaigyo" on NHK's "Uta Con" the other day. Perhaps it doesn't quite eclipse the original by Wink but the arrangement of this version is quite a dramatic one with the orchestral strings and the hard rock guitars.
ReplyDeleteRealizing that people can and do move on from one type of music to another over time, your observations are perfectly normal. I've had my own shifts regarding jazz and Western music in general over the decades. Hope you are enjoying both K-Pop and J-Pop.