japanese make-up wearing visual rock bands: Anybody?

Sorry if I underestimate everybody's exposure to music. It's just that this stuff hasn't had the same cross-over appeal as Japanoise, Shibuya- Kei, or even general J-pop.

Well, I get the picture, sort of Sique sique Sputnik (Nomi Metal?),... but are there some mp3's somewhere to complete the make- up?...more than a blip or two would be nice though

sensational alex harvey band. robert palmer's lot.

This might beslightly off-topic, but... I'm told thta japan has its own Pop Music Ecosystem that just does not really interact with the rest of the world. Supposedly, there are Japaneese pop acts of N*Stynkian proportions that are only famous in Japan. All of them making Boucoup Yen but never even bothering to export it overseas. Even hardcore music buffs know think of Japan the way Victorian-era people thought of the deep Congo: "Don't know anything about it. Heard there might be diamonds but its probably nothing put poisonous snakes." But the part that really kills me is this: the Japaneese acts that the average Gaijin music buff does know are all obscure in Japan. Shonen Knife, The Boredoms, Cibo Matto and Pizzicato Five are all complete non-entities over there. It would be like us discovering a country where everybody is a big fan of Sleater-Kinney, but no-one knows who Madonna is.

adam & the ants

Custos: That country is Japan.

Custos: That country *is* Japan.

I know...thats whats freaking me out. If it were some annoyingly out- of-the-loop way boondock like Andorra, Lichtenstein or Rhode Island, it wouldn't bother me so much. But its frigging Japan! They've one of the hubs of (usually bad) pop culture, they have full access to multiple forms of media (some of it more advanced then our own) but they are as out of touch with our pop culture as we are of theirs. And the stuff we do know (Shonen Knife, et al) would be hopelessly obscure to some of their own most clued-in Music Buffs.
Think about it...the Japaneese equivalent of Lester Bangs doesn't even know about the Japaneese equivalent of Sonic Youth.

Waitiminute....I just remembered, wasn't there some Japaneese grunge band that kept planning to tour the US, but they didn't because their Japaneese equivalent of Kurt Cobain died of a (Japaneese equivalent of Shannon Hoon) overdose?

Who was that, and are they any good?

(Talk about obscurantist hipsterism..."Hey, dig my [Japaneese Equivalent of Nirvana] CD...I'm the only one on my block cool enough to know about these guys. Such a shame that [Japaneese Equivalent of Kurt Cobain/Shannon Hoon] died so young. But that just means he's now the [Japaneese Equivalent of Jim Morrison/Gram Parsons/Nick Drake]."

Custos.. whats funny is that all of the bands in my original question are quite large in Japan.. but it seems nobody has any idea here. L'arc en Ciel is often called the Japanese U2 or Depeche Mode and they've grown large enough so that one of their songs was featured during the ending credits of the "Final Fantasy" movie. As for mp3s.. I wouldnt know where to find them on the web but you could always look them up on Audiogalaxy or something. Half of what makes these bands is their look (Far more intricate visual emphasis than Marilyn, Orgy, Kiss, etc.) anyways so it'd probably be useful to seek out a band picture or two to complement the music.

Custos.. whats funny is that all of the bands in my original question are quite large in Japan..

Yeah, I can believe that. But I bet even the hippest muso in the Western World would have a blank expression when asked about them. Which is sad, because some of them might be good, and all us Gaijin might be missing out on something truly wonderful.
(This is not to dis Shonen Knife, i dig Shonen Knife)
So, as out "man on the street" correspondent in the mysterious land of the Samurai...whats your opinion of X Japan. Gackt. L'arc en Ciel. Malice Mizer. Pierrot. Dir en Grey. Plastic Tree. Lareine. etc.etc.

Well... basically all of the bands are variations on the same formula: Make-up (whether it be a touch of mascara or full blown white facial), outlandish costumes/hair, epic emo-style chords/melodies, deep vibrato singing with occasional falsettos, glam emotive vogues, etc. It's all a lot of fun, but I sometimes think I've outgrown it. The bands leave little room for irony, so it's hard to take them completely seriously. Also... girls in Japan utterly adore these guys and the "beautiful boy" thing is a general Japanese-pop-culture staple (check some of the anime/vidgame characters).

Yeah, I overheard a conversation between two beardy punk burnouts in a Denny's once:
"...the whole 'Bishonen Idoru' thing is just like Bowie meets Ultraman" and then they both simultaneously quoted "Ziggy Stardust"
"Ziggy Really sang / With screwed-up eyes / and screwed-down hairdu / just like some cat from Japan..."

I love Malice Mizer and Gackt. I mean, really, truly, adore. Not only are they gorgeous, their music isn't bad. I will put up with L'arc en Ciel because Hide (or Hyde? I can't remember but one of them is dead) is beautiful even though I'm completely unimpressed by everything they play. The image fixation appeals to me because...actually, I don't know why, but it seems quite natural that it should.

Maria, it's Hide-chan that killed himself à la Billy MacKenzie (personnal hypothesis). I like him a lot, I drink lemonade alchool and I eaven got this Hide-chan cosupulay thing going on :)

Okay, so it's Hyde who didn't. Silly vowels. Thanks.

his name is alive dressed up as kiss one night i went to see them. i think i was too drunk to notice if they were actually any good

Nothing here. (Hint: Try ILM listening chamber 17)

This page is great, lots of clips and uinformation

http://www.projectj.net/index.htm

Shazna -- Milky Love