Would be huge fun to attend, at least. Alas, not only is USA the only non-Asian country where the artists talked about visit to promote, that's where the (academic/media/fan) interest seems to be as well. Europe is missing out.
Not quite so! Swedish songwriting teams have sometimes lead to artists doing a token trip to Stockholm! Where, to be fair, no-one really pays attention...
Oh yes, you're quite right. Behind the scenes, even Norwegians have been involved*, although I've never heard of artists coming here for that reason.
*Dsign Music, with SNSD and Boa and in Japan, Namie Amuro. And also the dane, Thomas Troelsen, who produced Junior Senior's Move Your Feet. All of Scandinavia. But I've never even seen a newspaper article about this fact.
Re: "-Aesthetics and music- Musical analyses" I'd like to see someone knowledgable about music theory AND history grapple with the idea of "50s/60s pop and rock as blueprint for modern japanese bubblegum pop".
Sometimes they make an explisit point of it:
..but the thing is, that doesn't sound any more 'retro' than the normal fare:
The Seesaw Battle CrykoganbotOctober 21 2010, 14:42:03 UTC
Do you suppose the "Under Girls" sign in the AKB48 vid is a reference to the Wonder Girls and their similar retro vid last year? Do Japanese idol groups pay much attention to their Korean counterparts?
Parts of the AKB48 song remind me of "Let It Be Me." But you're right in thinking that that doesn't make it an actual throwback. (I'd like to see a music-theory analysis of general pop melodies today versus general pop melodies 45 years ago or so to see if there's really all that much difference. There are differences, but I don't know how to talk about them.) This vid (and the Wonder Girls vid) may primarily be ways of presenting a song, and may not be particularly commenting on the song stylistically. There've been plenty of American throwback vids where the music isn't particularly a throwback (e.g., Nirvana "In Bloom
( ... )
Re: The Seesaw Battle CrykoganbotOctober 21 2010, 14:49:38 UTC
The most interesting shifts in melody over the last five decades have shown up in crunk and metal and those styles of music, most of which aren't regarded as "pop melody," though I think they should be.
Re: The Seesaw Battle CryaskbaskOctober 21 2010, 16:07:11 UTC
I don't think the Japanese industry has paid much attention to Korean (girl) groups until this fall* and I don't think they would be throwing around k-pop references. (*Gee is currently at #2 on the JP Oricon chart).
I find myself enjoying those j-pop* girl group's retro stylings (sound-wise) more than the Wonder Girls attempt to evoke the oldies groups, maybe because there's always been more rock in the Japanese pop, while the Koreans* have found their main source of inspiration in hip hop. Recall the #1 K-pop pioneer, laying down the rules back then, and the first significant k-pop girl group.
*Talking about idol pop. Not that there's not plenty of hip-hop in j-pop. There's so much GUITAR in j-pop, though, like in this personal favorite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ-Drv9tVjI#t=2m00s Where is it in k-pop? A divide there.
AKB48's new single, "Beginner" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5W8z4yaKsFg) sells 568,095 copies in the first day. Enough to top the Global Track Chart for the whole of last week. Could reach one million in a week...
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(And I can only think of one example anyway)
(And it was ridiculous)
Interesting though!
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*Dsign Music, with SNSD and Boa and in Japan, Namie Amuro. And also the dane, Thomas Troelsen, who produced Junior Senior's Move Your Feet. All of Scandinavia. But I've never even seen a newspaper article about this fact.
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Sometimes they make an explisit point of it:
..but the thing is, that doesn't sound any more 'retro' than the normal fare:
Wall of Sound
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Parts of the AKB48 song remind me of "Let It Be Me." But you're right in thinking that that doesn't make it an actual throwback. (I'd like to see a music-theory analysis of general pop melodies today versus general pop melodies 45 years ago or so to see if there's really all that much difference. There are differences, but I don't know how to talk about them.) This vid (and the Wonder Girls vid) may primarily be ways of presenting a song, and may not be particularly commenting on the song stylistically. There've been plenty of American throwback vids where the music isn't particularly a throwback (e.g., Nirvana "In Bloom ( ... )
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I find myself enjoying those j-pop* girl group's retro stylings (sound-wise) more than the Wonder Girls attempt to evoke the oldies groups, maybe because there's always been more rock in the Japanese pop, while the Koreans* have found their main source of inspiration in hip hop. Recall the #1 K-pop pioneer, laying down the rules back then, and the first significant k-pop girl group.
*Talking about idol pop. Not that there's not plenty of hip-hop in j-pop. There's so much GUITAR in j-pop, though, like in this personal favorite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ-Drv9tVjI#t=2m00s Where is it in k-pop? A divide there.
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