Rare's Soapbox: Trashy Pop

I'm sorry. I know I was supposed to end off Persona Month with a character analysis, and an announcement that Atlus announced the Persona 4 Golden Premium Edition or as I call it, the Going for Gold Edition. Now I feel immature for making a pee joke, but I can't seem to think straight. All this recent music is just physically hurting me. I just can't seem to comprehend this.

For the past few weeks I have been listening to a friend's radio in which he has satellite radio. That's cool and all, potential to check out other stations. However, the one that he has on is top 20 and it plays ad-nausea. The biggest offender here is that it's the same top 20 played in a really short loop. It's bad enough to listen to a song that you are having trouble tolerating, but the same song you are having trouble tolerating hundreds of times. It's enough to kill a man.

Long ago I wrote something about pop music and it's appeal. To no avail to many "music reviewers" out there (Todd, Paw). I would like to bring that topic up again and expand by asking a more methodical question: How do pop songs get green lit to be played on the radio?

Now, I admit I haven't exactly been following the charts. I still feel bitter after Hollaback Girl. Yeah, it's goes all the way back to that. Gwen Stephani ruined my appreciation for American Pop with that, even more so with "Hey Baby". And there might be a pitiful paltry of songs that I could actually like (not likely). However, my mind just thinks that recent American Pop music just sounds vapid, banal, tepid and just downright trashy.

Japanese pop and music in general on the other hand flows better. It's like jpop is a Pisces (being one myself) and the fish like each other. Yes there's alot of songs I don't listen to enough, but the ones that I do listen to just have better melody. Plus I think the Japanese langurage is kinda exotic.

I honestly think if you take a song like My Only Dream by Honey L Days and close your eyes you experience something special. When I do it, I see myself near Holy City, CA as I reminiscence about a past love as I prepare myself to ride my bike down the mountain at ludicrous speed. It brings a tear to my eye not because of the one that yearns for me, but the wind in my eyes as I fear for losing control on a bike not suitable for mountains. You don't have to understand the lyrics although they are readily available for translation somewhere. My point is, this sounds awesome because it flows better. Plus, there was a Japanese Let's Player by the name of Ryuu on Nico Nico Douga who used My Only Dream as an outro for finale video of SMWCP, a romhack colab from the community. It was amazing to how he pushed through what I would consider one of the most unpolished hacks in the SMWC (Super Mario World Central) community, yet see Ryuu used it for something really inspiring.


[PV] Honey L Days - My Only Dream (480p). by makino-tsukushi

When I hear something from the west on the other hand... ugh.

Perhaps I'm too privileged in that I made a heel turn to Japanland with my sanity in tact before the implosion of quote en quote "music" that became popular. 6 years later, I tried to give it another chance but to no avail. Some of it just sounds like self wanking, self fellatio, "I like putting references to this that have nothin' to do with my music" songs.

Now from what I understand through my observations of jpop, part of it comes from anime. Every show has an artist that performs part of the opening and ending of the show. Those are connected to singles that are available to purchase months after the show either continues, or the show changes singles. It is through that process that I've understood how a bit of the music business works there. They also have troupes in the form of girl and/or boy bands who are about as young as 10. The only detriment is that the only fans who seem to pick up the "appreciation" of those bands are those who are well over 30. There's also independent artists who release their singles or albums when they finish them. A good example would be the jmetal band and I coined the term "doujin band" Demetori.

Here are some I recommend for that workout, if that workout consists of riding a bike to the brink of Limit Break past exhaustion.









-Caution- Do not overtrain. If you feel tired after some period of time, stop. Don't push yourself too hard. Don't end up like me riding with no back tire and pushing beyond your capabilities to the brink of death.

Sorry I got distracted, pop music, top 20. How the hell do these songs that we hear on the radio become chart toppers. Why do radio stations choose to play these ones that soon gain popularity to the point of overplay and eventually become discarded to being butchered on Kidz Bop? Or even worse, the songs we hear right now will become part of a raffi tape? Please, any music reviewer out there tell me the deconstruction and reconstruction of a "chart topper".

In the meantime, on the subject of Persona 4. Preorder and go for Golden when it comes out November 20th. Also do pick up a copy of P4Animation when it comes out September 18th.

Attraction and Appeal

Just some food for thought I would share. Add in to it if you want.

Something is bugging me. I just thought of something thats rattling my brain. This all started with an indulge into a discussion to music and what makes it appeal to the listener and why. Then it becomes a self discussion about attraction in general, which is where I am now.

Long ago as a kid, I was subjugated to listen to other people's music much to my dismay. It didn't work out to me as I didn't understand why it was popular to begin with. Then time after time more of the same music was forced against my sanity and it became a nuisance to the point where I couldn't take it. What drove me to the breaking point was listening to Jenny from the Block 20,000 times a day when working near a kids area....in the summer heat. Yeah it sucked. Then Hollaback Girl was being played on a flour covered radio and no way to turn it off. It just sucked the fun out of making cardboard flavored pizzas. Though not as sanity crippling as the former, but still annoying.

Then I discovered anime soundtracks and really got into it. Maybe it was because the difference between the drivel that I was ensnared to didn't appeal to me. Which is why I developed a love for foreign music, jpop and jrock mostly. Why? For the most part, the sounds are different, the lyrics with or without are inspirational (with some rare exceptions) and it was a language I barely understand self taught.

It was then that I discovered doujin music and embraced it's individuality. I tried to figure out what doujin music was as it was a different entity from it's modern jpop counterpart. For one thing it's not as mainstream and only a handful of people know of it's existence. It's unique, original, and it takes inspiration from other forms. A few examples of doujin music would be Crow's Claw and Demetori and newly discovered Hellion Sounds and Preludio. When I discovered Mario and Zelda Big Band Live and it's rendition of Dragon Roost Island from Windwaker and proclaimed it to be musical porn to the ears, not to be confused with music FROM porn with pornstaches and big afros, then it got to me up to this point where I started questioning to what makes this music appeal to me.

The best example would be Video Game Music and it's attractiveness. Most common answer would be nostalgia, however nostalgia aside there are people who like video game music yet nary picked up a controller ever. I listen to it because it was the music I grew up with...at least thats all I can remember. Others see it as a genre in and of itself that they can relate to. Now heres where it gets tricky. How does music in general appeal to us as humans (or half humans) to attract us to it's melodic charms (or dissonant screams)?

When sharing with someone who has never heard even a simple tune of VGM, they don't know what to think. I myself wouldn't want to share it with someone who has no recollection to even once being a gamer, nor would I share jpop who doesn't even know what it is. I got off tangent for a second there, but the question I have is this: What is appeal, what is attraction, what attracts us to the music the we listen to, and what makes it appealing and why to all 4 questions. That can go as well as to human appeal and attraction as well as it is still in the same as it draws us to whatever we seek.

I leave this up for discussion with those who see this, and maybe you tell me your interpretation to what appeal and attraction is and why something appeals or attracts you. Music would be the common theme for this discussion, but you can explain other things as well, so I'll leave it at that.

Stay Gold.