Never thought I would ask this, but.. Jrock recommendations?
 

I have been avoiding Jrock for a long time and I'm finally giving in and asking for recommendations

I think that everyone would be able to understand my musical tastes the best from http://last.fm/user/mynameswomen [my favorite artists are Ayu and Morning Musume] but here are a few more specifics:

- No screaming in ears please!
- Female voices preferred, but not nessesary
- Doesn't have to be "Soft" or "Hard" I'm willing to try any sort of background music
- I like quieter creepier music than I do guitars blasting with drums though x_x.



Any recommendations?

Hmm..you say female vocals preferred? I think HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR is considered J-rock kind of....? :shrug The band is headed by a female vocalist.

For me, the line between J-pop and J-rock is a bit blurry..

I really liked Aya; Onitsuka Chihiro, perhaps? High and Mighty Color are good too.
For male voices: Luna Sea, L'Arc~en~Ciel

Meh, I'm not that good at suggesting. =P

I'd recommend L'Arc~ as well ^^

as for female... hmm... try Shiina Ringo, though she can have a very creepy voice ^^;

^ I think Shiina Ringo is an "acquired taste" persay...some Westerners find her voice very annoying. A good example: Last week I went to several keitai (cellphone) shops here in Japan w/a few other American students and at the au cellphone shop they were playing some music through one of their newest cellphones (the cellphone had speakers attached to it for store display purposes)....first there was an Otsuka Ai song playing, then one of Shiina Ringo's songs started playing right after that one...one of the guys I was with was all "I gotta turn this crap down before I hurt someone!" So he went over and turned down the speakers....x___x

Ringo does have a unique vocal, and most of her songs are weird. Somehow I like her voice tho :P.

Why not try and see if you like it then :P
Shiina Ringo - 本能

Definitely Shiina Ringo, she is just flat-out amazing and her voice is simply incredibly great. She has great range and everything, just amazing. Her music isn't too accessible, especially not her later works, so start with Shouso Strip or Muzai Moratorium

Another recommendation is fra-foa, easily one of the greatest and most underrated Japanese rock bands ever. Great stuff, too bad they split up.

Some other random recommendations: Tokyo Jihen (with Shiina Ringo on vocals), Mikami Chisako (fra-foa's ex-vocalist), Tommy heavenly6, AJICO.

-Ningyou
-Koe
-Same

I love Amano Tsukiko, she so cool!
She breaks the rule about noise though. .-.

may i also have reccomendations? http://www.last.fm/user/micster

I don't listen to a lot of female rock artists, but I recommend Mika Nakashima's Glamorous Sky mini album. I like the titel track in particular.

Hyde and Gackt are great artists too. Hyde's first solo album (Roentgen) isn't rock at all, but his second one (666) is, and he's releasing another one (Faith) soon. From 666, I recommend Prayer, Horizon and Hello.

It's hard for me to recommend stuff cos the line between j-pop and j-rock is kinda blurry to me too. I think by some definitions hitomi , for example , could fall under 'j-rock' too.

I'm kinda embarrased to admit I like Shunsuke Kiyokiba's debut album. He's one of the few male j-artists I listen to , and I think his music falls under j-rock.
here's few songs off that album:

Sayonara Iitoshii hito yo
Utai Hito

The only female vocalist I listen to that is for sure jrock is Cocco, this is my favorite song from her.
Cocco - Kumoji no Hate
I don't have my Love Psychedelico cd with me, but they're rockish, and they have a female vocal.

Judy and Mary is...sort of rock. o_O
Judy and Mary - Sugar Cane Train

Favorite songs from other j-rock bands (none of these are the makeup wearing femme men bands. I can't seem to find one of those who's vocalist doesn't irritate my brain. x_x).
Asian Kung-fu Generation - Loop & Loop
ELLEGARDEN - Lonesome
OCEANLANE - Ships and Stars
Hanaregumi - On Time (acousticy rock)
SPITZ - CHERRY (Words can not begin to describe my love for SPITZ and for this song. One of my favorite songs ever written.)
THE BACK HORN - Aoi Sora(there's some yelling in here, but it's not too grating on the ears)
Straightener - Rocksteady
The Pillows - Little Busters
Chikuzen Sato - Carnival (Pillows cover)
Bump of Chicken - Hybrid Rainbow (another pillows cover, the only thing I've heard from them, but it's very good)
Porno Graffitti - Ageha Chou

Others have already reccomend Shiina Ringo, but this is the only song I've heard by her that I like. It's a SPITZ cover, and it's almost better than the original.
Shiina Ringo - Supika

These three are less rock and more pop, but they're not Ayu and Momosu kind of pop. I love them, and I didn't see them on either micster or walking_proud's playlists so...
Tsuji Ayano - Clover
Tsuji Ayano - 愛の真夏 (more 'rockish', with James Iha on guitar and bg vocals)
Chara - Skirt (also with James Iha, western artists who work with japanese artists are love)
Bonnie Pink - Souldiers

And if anyone would like to hear more from any of them, I'll be happy to upload more stuff.

EDIT : Ahh. It's too early in the morning. XD I forgot to do my html in BBS type. x_x; I'll fix it. ...fixed! XD *is dumb*

Totally forgot Bonnie Pink, Cocco and Judy & Mary (the last of which I'm listening to right now even, lol). They're all brilliant as well.

Hm... Have you tried the brilliant green yet?
I highly recommend 'Los Angeles' and 'THE WINTER ALBUM". :)

My best recommendations would be (of course) miyavi, Gackt and Dué le Quartz. And if you prefer females, then D [di:]

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/75/fsm0240cs.th.jpg

I don't listen to much female Jrock, so I can't really help you with that, other than Nanase Aikawa.

I'd say try Kagrra,. Their music for the most part isn't heavy at all and Isshi has a great voice.

Definitely check out Olivia Lufkin. She hasn't released anything new recently (except for the Nana anime closing) but her album The Lost Lolli and her earlier mini albums are wonderful. She has a beautiful voice and her songs are very jrock.

A relatively new jrock singer is Anna Tsuchiya. Get her song "Change Your Life". I love it! Her mini album Taste My Beat is great as well.

I would also recommend Nanase Aikawa (I love 7 Seven album the best), the Brilliant Green (such a wonderful group - so sad they disbanded), and Tsukiko Amano (I love her song "Chou").

^i was gonna recommend Olivia as well. And in addition to Judy and Mary, try Yuki. She was J&M's lead singer before they split up. Love her new material.

I always think of DAT(Day After Tomorrow) as a rock band so you should try them out, and I definitely reccomend Glay, and L'arc~en~Ciel.

I second Anna Tsuchiya . I didn't remember her :P