Help me get Japanese music

RoyceSraphim

I like Japanese music. I don't understand the language all that well but there is a serious amount of quality that i liked and since I don't understand it, I can't get annoyed by the shallowness of the lyrics, unlike Soulja Boy, Nelly, and certain other no talent hacks. /rant

I can't buy it through Amazon since $60 is too expensive for one cd and $20 a single is even worse.

I know someone is going to say, "Internet" but I have a LOT of musician friends and have to look them in the face and their hot sisters in the eye, and it wouldn't feel right.

Despite what you may think, niche stores in Seattle are kind of hard to find since they are spread out and they focus on anime a lot.

I dunno what the best import and service sites are and would really appreciate any advice you all might have.

muninn

Wel, you are kinda hosed, as music in japan is very expensive to begin with. Best option would be checking if any of the bands you like have their stuff re-released on US labels. If that fails, get the stuff from the band's site, as they usually ship over-seas.

cj iwakura

Yesasia tends to sell import music at good prices.

Play-asia not so much, but it's there.

Nostregar

You could get it from legal download services online. Getting it from the internet =/= pirating.

arcticmonkeysfan

If you like Japanese music might I also suggest that you check out some of the Korean music out there. It's become really popular across East Asia.

RavynBlackheart

One thing I can recommend is that if there's any anime cons in your area at any time they're usually a decent place to buy music. Just out of curiosity what kind of bands do you like? I may be able to point out some similar stuff and where to get it legally.

Cokebotle

I found some CDs by looking around at places that sell anime, but those are usually just the soundtracks. Sometimes you can get lucky and they have more, though. And if you like the Pillows, that's just any FLCL soundtrack.

And funny you should mention Soulja Boy, as there's a Japanese rapper called SouJa. Just a random thought.

EWom

I wonder if you could find any of your favorite japanese artists on Pandora, or other similar services. True it doesn't help you when you want to blast it out the window while driving around town, but it helps you when you want to play starcraft and listen to music.

Davoid

If the no talent hacks irritate you, why not listen to the talented ones with something to say? It's a two way street, for every Nelly there is an Aesop Rock or MF Doom.

Cokebotle

I don't think Pandora is in Japan. I think if it doesn't work here, you won't be getting Japanese artists there, but I'll try to remember to check tonight after work.

Oh! Have you looked in Utada Hikaru, Teriyaki Boyz, and BoA? They all have US CDs out, although I haven't really heard Utada's or BoA's, I know that TB is Japanese/English (same CD they put out here). I'm pretty sure Utada's is English, and I think BoA's is, too, though.

Toefoo

Utada and BoA's American releases are "alright." The labels evidently went out of their ways to take what was interesting about both and homogenize it for Americans because we wouldn't find it appealing or something.

As far as buying Japanese music without paying that huge premium, do you use iTunes or Zune? Both have a surprising number of Japanese albums on them (world music actually, in general). I think iTunes may have more, but Zune is getting there. You can pick up most albums for $12-15 instead of $40-60 if you import a hard copy. DRM is removed from the digital downloads now too, so you can play them on whatever you want, burn them to a CD, etc etc.

ChunkyBrewster

I have a collection of Japanese CDs and concert DVDs, all of them bought online.

I find the cheapest are on ebay. Most of the CDs I have were bought there. Some of the sellers in the past have even included free singles in my order of bands with a similar music style to those I am buying. Its a good way of getting into other bands that I may have missed otherwise.

I have also bought from Play Asia before. Their service is really good but they are expensive.

Seattle Thread

RoyceSraphim wrote: »

Despite what you may think, niche stores in Seattle are kind of hard to find since they are spread out and they focus on anime a lot.

Man what? Have you rolled through the ID lately? There's, like, six on one block.

Well, not exactly that. But I work just south of there so I'll see what I can find, and swing by Kinokunya or something and check a couple of prices, later this afternoon.