J-ska

Infobox Music genre
bgcolor=#FF8020
color=white
name=J-ska
stylistic_origins=Ska, Ska punk, etc.
cultural_origins=
instruments=Guitar, Bass Guitar, Trumpet, Trombone, saxophones, drums
popularity=Most popular in Japan in the 1990s; growing in popularity internationally at present
subgenrelist=
subgenres=Sometimes classified as a sub-genre of J-pop
other_topics=

Japanese ska or J-ska is ska (スカ) or ska punk music made in Japan by Japanese artists with lyrics in the Japanese language or in English. It is, along with its counterparts elsewhere in the world, part of what has been called the "third wave of ska [..that...] combines the traditional Jamaican Club sound with metal, punk, folk, funk, and/or country." [cite web| url=http://www.section3.com/profiles/ska.shtml|title=The History of Ska] [cite web|url=http://www.orlandoweekly.com/music/review.asp?rid=5412|title=Review of "Land of the Rising Sea: The Best of Japanese Ska" in "Orlando Weekly"]

Artists

Having been formed in the 1980s and enjoying international success (including extensive touring in the United States and Europe), the group Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra is arguably the original and best-known J-ska ensemble. [cite web|url=http://www.tokyoska.net/index.html|title=Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra Touring dates and History] [cite web|url=http://nippop.com/artist/artist_id-41/artist_name-tokyo_ska_paradise_orchestra/ |title=Nippop Profiles: Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra]

175R, Beat Crusaders, The Boom, Fake?, Hi-Ho/Good Bye, Inoran, Kemuri, Kojima, Ken Lloyd, Lisa, Mad Capsule Markets, MONGOL800, Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re, The Roosters, Shaka Labbits, Tak Matsumoto, Yum!Yum!ORANGE, Yukihiro Takahashi and Ore Ska Band are other artists that perform J-ska (but not necessarily J-ska exclusively). cite web|url=http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~sc314095/|title=The Japanese Ska page] [cite web|url=http://www.toshiba-emi.co.jp/domestic/artists/175r/index_j.htm| title=175R Website]

Japan has had a proliferation of album-making J-ska bands too numerous to catalog. Besides those mentioned elsewhere in this article, one source lists the Clippers, Coke Head Hipsters, the Drops, Duck Missile, Fruity, Gelu Gugu, La Ppisch, Life Bal, Mustang AKA, Nicotine, Oi-Skall Mates, Piala, Potshot, Rude Bones, Shoulder Hopper, Scafull King, Skatroits, Sprocket Wheel, Dallax, The Rollings, Step by Step, Sk@ymate's, Skapontas, Tropical Gorilla and Young Punch.

Characteristics

According to one music critic, J-ska "music translates well, as they have fully embraced the Western horned-based ska idiom". [cite web|url=http://www.psnw.com/~randyk/020498.htm|title=Randy Krbechek's "Metronews" Music Reviews] Another remarks "from traditional ska to ska-punk, Japan has a thriving scene that is ready to invade America.cite web|url=http://www.inmusicwetrust.com/articles/04s09.html |title=In Music We Trust, "Ninon Ska Dansu" (Land of the Rising Ska) Various Japanese Ska Artists on Moon Ska Records, review by Alex Steininger]

A source at MIT describes:

Although far less popular than J-pop, J-rock, or electronica, ska music has a definite presence in Japan. Emerging about a decade ago with forerunner bands Ska-Flames and Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, the Japanese ska scene saw a huge popular surge in 1997 (mirroring the burst of popularity in the United States) which quickly died out. However, many Japanese ska bands continue to persist despite a lack of mainstream support. The Determinations, The Side Burns, and Blue Beat Players are Japanese ska bands popular among fans of the genre. [cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/21f.066/www/theisen/music/genres3.html|title=Supplement to Dr. Shigeru Miyagawa's StarFestival Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures]

In Japan, both J-ska and traditional Jamaican ska enjoy some popularity. An article in "Jamaica Observer" quoted a Japanese music seller as saying:

Ska is very big in Japan and we have about five Japanese Ska bands in my city. We just had Prince Buster performing there [...] Japanese people love Ska [...] in fact, they love every period of music from Jamaica. [cite web|url=http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/lifestyle/html/20040325t180000-0500_57672_obs_ska___alive_and_kicking_but_outside_jamaica.asp|title="Jamaica Observer", "SKA - alive and kicking but outside Jamaica"|author=Balford Henry|date=2004-04-26]

A J-pop authority remarked that some see:

...similarities between the highly stylized "skanking" dance style associated with ska music and Japanese "bon odori" festival dances. (Ska music and ska-punk have long been favorites in Japan, and today there are countless Japanese ska and ska-punk bands.) And reggae’s syncopated rhythms are echoed in the rhythm of Okinawan music -- so much so that Okinawa music is sometimes called "Japanese reggae." [cite web|url=http://nippop.com/features/feature_id-24/|title="Rastaman Vibration - What's up with Japanese Reggae?"|author=Keith Cahoon|date=2005-05-21]

Although the J-ska scene is centered in Tokyo there are J-ska venues elsewhere in Japan, even in smaller cities such as Kisarazu in Chiba Prefecture. [cite web|url=http://www.punknews.org/review/4835|title= PunkNews, "Midnight Pumpkin/Blue Hole live in Kisarazu]

Classification

While some sources (such as one of the quotes above) discern J-ska from J-pop, other sources lump them together. While this classification is contrary to the fact that ska and punk music are rarely, if ever, classified as pop music in most of the world, it is congruous with the practice of considering J-pop to encompass other genres which are often regarded as separate from pop music in the United States and Europe, among them J-rock, J-urban and electronic dance music.

The consideration of J-ska as a sub-genre of J-pop may be due, at least in part, to bands typically considered J-ska releasing songs with a definite pop music sound. Sometimes, this genre-spanning occurs within a single song. For example, Snail Ramp (a "typical ska punk" band from Tokyo) has a song called "Hotaru no hikari" featuring Air. For the most part, this is a ska punk version of "Auld Lang Syne" with Japanese lyrics. Sections of the song, however, divert from this musical form and instead have a sound akin to boy band music.This sort of stylistic departure, when it occurs in American and European punk music, may be regarded as ironic and may even be so in this case.] cite web|url=http://lahosken.san-francisco.ca.us/frivolity/reviews/jamu/snail_ramp.html|title=While the reference above calls Snail Ramp a "typical ska punk" band, a review of one of their albums from a different source remarks "A couple of the songs had ska-nature, and turned out pretty well for stuff from a non-ska band."] [cite web|url=http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~sc314095/Bands/snailr.html|title=Snail Ramp] According to the filing scheme used at Tower Records in Tokyo, all J-ska is classified as hardcore, even that with the laid-back sound that typifies early Jamaican ska music from the early 1960s. [cite web|url=http://lahosken.san-francisco.ca.us/departures/japan1/f.html|title=Japanese Ska Randomized Survey 2000]

Audio clips

Clips attempt to open in Windows Media Player.
* [http://www.amazon.com/gp/music/wma-pop-up/B000000H4C001010/ Audio] "Ato-Ichinen" by Kemuri
* [http://www.amazon.com/gp/music/wma-pop-up/B000000H4C001006/ Audio] "Circle of Life" by Kemuri
* [http://www.amazon.com/gp/music/wma-pop-up/B000003OQC001003/ Audio] "Radio" by Potshot
* [http://www.amazon.com/gp/music/wma-pop-up/B000003OQC001010/ Audio] "Tears of a Clown" by Potshot

Video link

* [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8447730615192642422 GoogleVideo] Psycho Farmers performing live

Notes

References

External links

* [http://lahosken.san-francisco.ca.us/frivolity/reviews/jamu/| "Frivolity: Japanese Ska and Punk"] has short reviews of various J-ska artists
* [http://www.skaspot.com/ SKAspot]