Music Blend - Kishidan

It sparkles down, the desktop was our stage
Those jewel like days are unending
I tell my fellow students (all right) to shout from their chests

"Too fast to live, too young to die!"

This band.

It is my favorite band.

Kishidan is Japanese "yankee" rock band. "Yankee" in this case means a delinquent youth often in the style of greasers in the 50's, complete with pompadour, leather jackets, and motorcycles. They somehow manage to have an endearingly dorky (and occasionally embarrassing) stage presence but at the same time remain completely sincere and heartfelt about their music. I think that combination really moved me and made me into a loving fan.



I could go into a lot of other reasons why I like them so much, (like coming-of-age nostalgia, burning spirit, goofy dances, awesome hair, and a loving disregard to a dignified image...) but really it's because they are fun. I want to be friends with them and hope they have all the good things life has to offer.

Long story short, they are silly and I love them.

Music Blend - Jero

Didn't have time to work on the experiment (napping and adventuring was had) so instead I thought that maybe once in awhile I'd showcase my odd taste in music.

Today, you get African-American enka (1940's traditional Japanese ballads) singer, Jero.



Inheriting his love for the melodramatic genre from his Japanese grandmother, he's the first black enka singer in history and has won over not only the older enka audience but brought in a younger generation of fans.



He didn't understand the actual words of the songs growing up, but said that he could still feel the "heart" behind them and thus fell in love with it. I think that for both music and art, breaking language barriers and having the feeling behind the work move the audience is the greatest achievement.