Miyavi
The first musician I'd like to introduce is
Miyavi. Since he studied in America for
a few years, some of his songs are in English.
So, I thought that Miyavi's music would be a nice way to ease into Asian
music for new listeners.
Who is he?
A tattoo clad “samurai”. Miyavi is a singer-songwriter from Japan and is most
famous for his atypical guitar playing skills. In his ongoing career he
has released a total of 7 studio albums so far, with each of his albums
showcasing his unique guitar playing skills.
Over his 14 year career he has developed an
“unconventional style of playing the electric guitar, not with a pick, but with
his fingers and his original slap style which is like no other”. This
gives a characteristically raw feel to his music.
His newest single is “Ahead of the Light”, which
was released just a few days ago. It is
a fast-paced and energetic song, which is filled with his signature guitar
slapping. The song also highlights his
raspy vocals.
Even though the song is filled with massive
amounts of engrish, his pronunciation isn’t as comical as other Asian artists.
So, enough with the talking and take listen for
yourself:
(Lyrics here)
Miyavi is
also known as a very versatile artist.
He tends to experiment in many different styles. A great example is in his song “Ha Na Bi”. The song is composed of a mixture of
instruments including the acoustic guitar, flamenco guitar and a shamisen (a
traditional Japanese instrument). Take a listen to it below:
So, that's it for this post. Did you like any of Miyavi's music? Yes? No? Place your comments down below and stayed tuned for the next post of Mochi Muse.
Sources
http://myv382tokyo.com/?aid=222http://www.tokyohive.com/2012/09/miyavi-reveals-details-on-his-upcoming-min-album/
http://www.jpopasia.com/celebrity/miyavi/lyrics/ahead-of-the-light/ahead-of-the-light::157246.html
Wow! What a talented guitarist! You were right about his different techniques of playing the guitar. This is very unlike anything I have ever seen before, it is very unique. I like it a lot.
ReplyDeleteThis was interesting, good idea to put the videos in the post so we can listen to the songs you're talking about. The first one wasn't what I expected from your description, but it would make a pretty cool dance song. The second one was more what I expected and the guitar is crazy! So fast. That takes a lot of talent.
ReplyDeleteIt is nice to see an artist do something different considering mainstream music today is all the same. He clearly has a diverse set of talents as these two songs are very different. Also, you can tell he studied in North America because his english is very impressive. For some reason his guitar playing kind of reminds me of Elvis...
ReplyDeleteI like how different the guitar is--I don't know the style well enough to be blown away, exactly, but I was impressed nonetheless. It was really catchy!
ReplyDeleteI like that you provide more than just a commentary on the music--you tell us about the artist too! Makes for a more interesting read.
Had to chuckle when I read "engrish", too. Way to keep it comical