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December 24, 2006
Litte Tiny Japanese Butts
Another great time last night with some old friends with whom I don't get to hang out with nearly enough or in the right combinations of people with. We talked and got caught up with one another for a long time and my friend Leah (who went to Japan for the summer ) told us all about the Japanese pop-music industry and how it works. It was really fascinating stuff, and after we got dinner at Moe's* and returned to her place, she showed us all these awesome and hilirious movies on her computer of concerts and TV apperances a band called Kat-Tun have done.
I think what I'm most impressed with about everything Leah told us and showed us last night is this: It's obvious that the music is 1/10 of what the guys up on stage are there to offer you, so it doesn't matter if it's generic lyrics and the people aren't chosen for outta control amazing singing voices. Pop idols are there to be entertainers in general, and if the song is catchy and proven to be entertaining, there you go! That's good enough considering how much else you apparently get. These Kat-Tun idols were doing acrobatics, synchronized dancing, singing, tapdancing while juggling, beat-boxing, and with more bizzare costume changes than I think even Cher can top. One of the concerts had a theme too, it was the pirate show, and while it wasn't a musical with the songs driving the plot, there was a plot that unfolded. The band got captured by rival pirates at one point, leading to part of the concert taking place in a cage, and it was like, "Hey, let's sing out #1 single to get out of this cage" kind of plot logic.
The use of English in J-Pop is amusing too. Sometimes they manage to surpass Engrish.com miscommunications, but usually the results are even funnier. Leah showed us a magazine she brought back from Japan with some fashion shots of pop idols. One was wearing an elaborate, quasi-DIY shirt covered in patches, one of which read "Fuck you! Drug party. It doesn't know even if dying." Another hilarious example was the lyrics of this one Kat-Tun song "Ha-ha" that goes "Go club, get drunk you stupid shit. Take off your clothes and cum in my room."
Then there was the dancing of this one young man named Taguchi who attendee at this party described as "dancing like a giraffe on its hind legs."
*Moe's is a resturaunt I would have NEVER gone to if Leah hadn't told me about it. They don't use animal fat in cooking and offer tofu as a menu dish. It looks like a normal Panera-esque little chain resturaunt but its appearance combined with the food makes it come off as a really great yuppie Mojo Burrito of St. Elmo fame. It was delicious, and all the menu items had a name that was some kind of popculture reference, such as what I got-- "The Other Lewinsky." There was even a fajita that referenced Friends-- "Ugly Naked Guy." Plus, they played Soul Asylum's "Need Somebody to Shove" while we ate. And that makes me a very happy girl.
| By Spike | 11:27 AM