Thursday, March 17, 2011

Girugamesh and Dir en Gray- Japanese Rock

Girugamesh!



Okay, so you may or may not know that 'Girugamesh' was an internet meme for a while, thanks to this guy:



Well, I got kind of tired of not knowing what the hell 'Girugamesh' meant, so I looked it up. Technically, Girugamesh is the Japanese way of saying 'Gilgamesh,' as in the ancient epic of Gilgamesh.

But I listened to a couple of songs, and this one stood out to me.



I've read that their music has become 'soft,' and that they lost their edge. I don't know for sure, because I haven't listened to their new stuff, but honestly, I am still able to enjoy one or two songs from time to time without being bothered by their musical progression.


I'd also like to introduce you to Dir en Grey!



These guys were part of the Visual Kei movement, but have toned down that aspect of their performance in recent years. They're a Japanse metal band, but these guys are really great. They've got some songs that don't sound at all like metal, and yet still manage not to sound out of place.

The video I'm going to give you is the one I discovered them through. It's the censored version of the video, because the original is pretty graphic. I know you can find it if you're interested.



I strongly encourage you to explore their music further, as you may really come to love it, like I have.

And I know some of you couldn't understand the Italian from the last post, and probably won't understand the Japanese from this post. I empathize completely, since I can't understand it either. However, the point of those whole endeavor, for me, is to show that music is a universal thing that transcends language and cultural barriers. I love the music, without necessarily having to understand what is being said.

I'll have a post later today about the more mainstream and pop Japanese music if you're interested, just to level the playing field. I'm going to do my best to pull music from all genres. Two is generally going to be the maximum videos in a post, because I don't want to overload you with things to listen to.

I hope you enjoy this, and I'll see you soon.

4 comments:

  1. Eh I'm not really into music that's in another language. Great post though!

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  2. If you're into jazz/funk then check out Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro. Sweet Japanese funk group, very chill.

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  3. dir en grey is the only j-rock band i like

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