Japan Onchi

The tracking of both forgotten and emerging musical pioneers in Japan is far too big a job for one person. You are encouraged to get in touch if you know about an artist that we haven’t covered. There are two ways you can do this:

One is by sending an email to us directly, giving as good a description of the artist as you can give and, ideally, including a link to somewhere we can actually hear the music. Of course, we’d prefer it if you’d write the artist profile yourself but if you’d prefer to leave that up to us, feel free. We’ll still credit you for your recommendation.

Alternatively, you can name an artist you think is worthy of our time in the comment section below. As before, please let us know why you rate them so highly and include no more than two links so your comment isn’t filtered as spam. We’re particularly keen to hear from people living in regions of Japan other than Tokyo who can recommend local bands that have yet to tour outside their local base. Pointers to defunct acts that remain trapped in obscurity are also welcome.

Before you hit us with any recommendations, do a quick search on the right to make sure they haven’t already been covered. Then take a few moments to read the following summary of musical styles we DON’T generally cover:

Pure noise acts
Yes, Alien Perfume Sphincter may have made the most extreme, heart-rending nosebleed of an album since Merzbow was in his prime but that doesn’t necessarily make them an automatic choice for Japan Onchi. Believe us, we revere Japanese noise innovators the same as you do but the genre is already well-served by English language specialist sites and we have serious reservations that people want to experience it through their internet browser in the first place. We will consider noise acts if they have a pop sensibility (Boredoms, Ground Zero, etc.)

Pop/Punk-by-numbers
Sorry, it doesn’t matter how cute those Japanese girl punkers are or what strange costumes they wear, unless they’re playing with the formula in interesting new ways, forget it. Also: American bands with female Japanese singers that formed in America are, at least as far as their media reach is concerned, AMERICAN bands.

Trad rock
Japan Onchi does after all mean Japan Tone-Deaf so we’re hardly likely to be impressed by great musicianship unless it comes with the kind of inventiveness and subversive tendencies we like. Nor are we interested in slavish retreads of the classic rock form by today’s bands. The same goes for any type of retro music - be it ska, rockabilly or whatever - that exists only to keep a particular subculture alive.

There are no other boundaries. Incompetence is a virtue, if not necessarily an art. We look forward to your submissions.