|
Nah, Japanese chicks do go crazy for American dudes over there. This was confirmed to me by my cousin and by a guy I worked with who lived in Japan for 2 months. Of course, we're talking about bar-hopping Asian chicks. So, there might be a difference. Of course, my Japanese friend Atsu who currently lives in Japan confirmed that a lot of his girl friends there always talk about American guys, because the general accepted theory is that Japanese guys treat their Japanese girls like shit. It's all stereotypical and silly, and I was kind of kidding, but I just figured I'd throw all that out there. There's no point to be made really.
I'd still venture to say Boredoms are a pretty "big" band, period. Almost everyone I know in real life has heard them (and not just because of me) -- half of them LIKE them. And a few, including me, actually own a lot of their records. I mean, they're certainly more well-known here in American in 2008 than.. um.. Throwing Muses or something.. That's a completely off-the-wall example... ignore that. I'll think of a better one. um... One of Matt Groening's favorite bands is Boredoms! (he also wrote an essay about his love of Trout Mask Replica -- he's a cool guy) Also, Boredoms have been covered in every single major U.S. publication multiple times. And etc etc etc. I think they're mainly well-known for Eye's museum art and 77 Boadrum, but they're certainly just as big in America as a lot of the "indie" bands we talk about on here. If you get bored sometimed, go to last.fm and see how many plays Boredoms have.. it may shock you.
And, Melt-Banana, I mean, the touring with Tool and the appearance of Perfect Hair Forever has cemented them as a pretty large band as well. Not large enough where they don't play house shows, but EVERYONE who is into music that's below the "mainstream" barrier a bit knows who they are.
At least that's how it is in Indiana... can't speak for the rest of the U.S....
But certainly there's a huge scene for "Japanese music" over here. At that Polysics show I went to a few months back in Ohio, GO!GO!7188 was mentioned by a middle-aged MOM that was there. This mom accompanying her daughter. And we got into this in-depth discussion and like 3 or 4 random people came up and started talking about them. It just blew my mind. "Jet ninjin!" Either she's the coolest mom ever or there are people who aren't just super-hip underground assholes like us who, y'know, appreciate good music from other places.
On the other hand, will this music ever be big enough to get super-mainstream-success? Not likely, but look at Dir En Grey. They're fucking HUGE (in America!) and have very few words -- except "fuck" -- in English. Someone did make a point a few posts ago that a lot of Japanese musicians don't purely sing in English which probably equals mainstream failure, and I tend to agree with that. Most people, for some reason, don't like music with lyrics they can't understand. I guess that's understandable. I typically hate all lyrics so it's never bothered me much, but yeah. I can see that.
I'm going down to a convention in Florida next week and they always have tons of Japanese CD's and shit that sell like hot cakes. Even if most of that shit is visual kei shit... but yeah.. that whole scene is bigger than most of you think...
__________________
|