Quote:
Originally Posted by Tuljin
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The players in the band are good but I think the art and beauty of the shakuhachi and koto are very much cheapened by the sound of the American rock instruments.
Also, many foreign languages lose their character and poetry when they are written into Western sounding pop/rock songs, and this is a prime example. The rhythms and melodic lines in Western pop and rock do not necessarily fit with foreign languages and Japanese is one of them. It sounds strange. I also know this phenomenon very well from my knowledge of the Greek language and how horrible the Greek pop songs sound that are very much going for an Americanized sound. I can't stand it. I'm not sure what a Japanese person would have to say about this.
I think the koto player, shakuhachi player, and traditional percussionist should take their show on the road and the rest of the band should record Anime themes like the one from Death Note. I can see how this band would upset both classic rock music/metal fans and traditional Japanese music fans. I bet there's a lot of Japanese that love it though. IMHO The koto playing arpeggios during the verses with the shakuhachi playing as well sounds lame.
TL-DR - Neckbeards will be mad and think this sucks. It sounds a bit too "epic" and "lame" for my tastes but it is interesting and I don't think it totally sucks. Thanks for sharing
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The koto, shakuhachi and singer do/did have a traditional band and Wagakki Band sprang form that group. Wagakki band is more popular outside of Japan than in Japan because most Japanese aren't particularly enamored with traditional Japanese culture.
Japanese pop/rock also have unique stylistic qualities that set them apart from American groups and to some degree I sympathize with your assessment of the "cheapening" of Japanese culture by outside influences. The Japanese have an extraordinarily flexible culture that readily adopts outside elements that fit or and they find useful. Thanks for listening and sharing your thoughts ^^