J-music discussion: anyone interested?

[shooraijin]

Oooh, that is fun!

[Kaori]

I think it is obviously by this point, but I ran out of steam on this thread (combination of being busy with my job + running out of artists/bands that I felt like I really wanted to introduce to people).

At the time I don't particularly have any plans to start again, but I'd just like to say thank you one more time to everyone who contributed, commented, or just listened. Given the slow pace of CAA these days, I was glad that we were able to have discussions and share music that we like with each other to the extent that we did.

[shooraijin]

If someone(tm) comes up with something new, I certainly won't object to a little mild gravedigging.

[Kaori]

I will take you up on that invitation, since I recently found a new Japanese artist completely at random at a used goods sale.

Kai Emiko (that is surname first, then given name): She is a jazz pianist, and in her time she was also active in and released albums in the States, so you don't even have to import something from Japan to listen to her. Her music (which she composes herself) falls under the category of smooth jazz, which is not normally something I go out of my way to listen to, but she is really good.

Emerald City is a piece you can listen to on YouTube, though I feel like this piece is not all that out of the ordinary (pleasant, though) and that her music on Crystal Echo, the album that I have, is better than the handful of pieces I have listened to on YouTube, so I would that interested persons get their hands on that one.

I don't know how to explain this, really, but her jazz comes across to me as having something Japanese about it; I listen to it and think that it is the sort of jazz that a Japanese person would like. But I might just be thinking that because I know from the outset that she is Japanese, so you can take that assessment as being worth exactly what you paid for it.

[shooraijin]

Meta: where do you buy your Japanese albums from, usually?

[Kaori]

Leaving aside all the CDs that I bought with me in Japan and carried back with me to the States:

I buy from Amazon.co.jp.

You have to make a separate account for Amazon.co.jp (at least, AFAIK this is still the case), but you can change the interface language to English.

Some sellers will ship internationally. Some will not. Amazon.co.jp does, if you want to buy new, but you just have to watch out because Amazon Japan is mindful of region, so they will not ship you anything that is not supposed to be played in your region (e.g. games and DVDs). So if there's a CD you want that has an edition with a DVD also included, you have to get the version of the CD that is just the CD and doesn't also have a DVD.