Shibuya-kei
| Shibuya-kei | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | J-pop electropop jazz bossa nova yé-yé lounge |
| Cultural origins | 1960s-1990s in Shibuya, Japan |
| Typical instruments | Guitar - Bass guitar - Drum kit - Vocals - Synthesizer |
| Mainstream popularity | Late 90s |
Shibuya-kei (渋谷系) is a sub-genre of Japanese pop music which originated in the Shibuya district of Tokyo. It is best described as a mix between jazz, pop, and electropop.
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[edit] Overview
Shibuya-kei gained popularity from the Japanese music corner of some foreign-affiliated retail music chains in Shibuya (Tower Records, HMV[1]) early in the 1990s and it spread through Japan rapidly.
The term was applied to bands strongly influenced by French yé-yé music and its most notable proponent, Serge Gainsbourg. Typical artists are Flipper's Guitar, Pizzicato Five, and Original Love. As the style's popularity increased at end of the 90s, the term began to be applied to many bands whose musical stylings reflected a more mainstream sensibility. Although some artists rejected or resisted being categorized as "Shibuya-kei," the name ultimately stuck, as the style was favoured by local businesses, including Shibuya Center Street's HMV Shibuya, which sold Shibuya-kei records in its traditional Japanese music section. Increasingly, musicians outside of Japan, such as Britain's Momus, France's Dimitri from Paris, and the US artists Natural Calamity and Phofo are labelled Shibuya-kei.
[edit] Terminology
The word for Shibuya (渋谷) is combined with the Japanese word kei (系) which literally means "system"[2] or, in this context, "style",[3] to form Shibuya-kei which roughly translates to "Shibuya style".
[edit] Notable artists
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- Aira Mitsuki
- Buffalo Daughter
- capsule
- Cecil
- Cibo Matto
- Chappie
- Chocolat
- Cornelius
- Cymbals
- Dahlia
- Fantastic Plastic Machine
- Flipper's Guitar
- Kahimi Karie
- Macdonald Duck Eclair
- Marino
- Nomiya Maki
- Kenji Ozawa
- Paris Match
- Perfume
- Pizzicato Five
- Plus-Tech Squeeze Box
- Round Table
- Kensuke Shiina
- Sakanaction
- Saori@destiny
- Strawberry Machine
- Takako Minekawa
- Together Robots
- Tatsuya Oe (Captain Funk)
- Tōwa Tei
- Yoshinori Sunahara
- Yukari Fresh
- For more artists, see Shibuya-kei musicians
[edit] References
- ^ HMV opened the first store in Japan in Shibuya on November 16, 1990.
- ^ http://eow.alc.co.jp/系/UTF-8/?ref=sa
- ^ W. David Marx. Shibuya-kei vs. Akiba-kei
[edit] External links
- Keikaku - Independent and little known Japanese Artist profiles, reviews, interviews and articles in English.
- allmusic Guide to Shibuya-kei
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