..."King Gnu pretends to do weird things but just makes J-pop"....but isn't the next logical question the important one? Perhaps, "J-pop" is actually interesting and weird in and of itself.
I am not commenting on the merits of King Gnu, but as I was reading, that bit struck me as odd and on reflection I suspect that..."just makes J-pop" sounds so cutting and only holds water once it cast J-pop as a derogative (even if only obliquely).
Sure, so easy to write way more, but that would just be TL:DR and not my place.
Hi there, thanks for the comment and never be shy to write more! That's why the comments exist!
A good point, and I don't think the original tweet is necessarily using J-pop as a negative term (I'd charitably say it's more a reference to "straightforward songwriting," which...maybe still a little pejorative in spirit but not outright dismissive). I do think a big part of it is from King Gnu being historically known as a band presented as "different" than J-pop (this was a big thing when they first played on Kohaku), whereas Higedan never received that. So I think it is more situational.
Though yeah, as you say...that clearly implies J-pop is weirder and interesting than that all implies! Personally, I think it reflects just how diverse J-pop really is, containing multitudes ranging from "predictable" to "wonky."
MBM,
Just a thought hit me while reading this post.
..."King Gnu pretends to do weird things but just makes J-pop"....but isn't the next logical question the important one? Perhaps, "J-pop" is actually interesting and weird in and of itself.
I am not commenting on the merits of King Gnu, but as I was reading, that bit struck me as odd and on reflection I suspect that..."just makes J-pop" sounds so cutting and only holds water once it cast J-pop as a derogative (even if only obliquely).
Sure, so easy to write way more, but that would just be TL:DR and not my place.
Hi there, thanks for the comment and never be shy to write more! That's why the comments exist!
A good point, and I don't think the original tweet is necessarily using J-pop as a negative term (I'd charitably say it's more a reference to "straightforward songwriting," which...maybe still a little pejorative in spirit but not outright dismissive). I do think a big part of it is from King Gnu being historically known as a band presented as "different" than J-pop (this was a big thing when they first played on Kohaku), whereas Higedan never received that. So I think it is more situational.
Though yeah, as you say...that clearly implies J-pop is weirder and interesting than that all implies! Personally, I think it reflects just how diverse J-pop really is, containing multitudes ranging from "predictable" to "wonky."