Post by ReikoUesugi on Jan 12, 2007 13:17:22 GMT -5
Visual kei
Stylistic origins: Japanese rock, glam rock, hard rock, pop rock, punk rock, heavy metal, gothic rock, darkwave, industrial rock
Cultural origins: 1980s Japan
Typical instruments: Guitar, bass, drums, keyboards
Mainstream popularity: Mostly within Japanese independent scene, smaller followings across the globe.
Subgenres
Angura kei, ero guro, nagoya kei, oshare kei
Visual kei (¥ô¥£¥¸¥å¥¢¥ëϵ, vijuaru kei?, literally "visual style") refers to a movement in Japanese art and popular culture which started in the 1980s and became widely popular in the Japanese independent music scene by the 1990s.
Origins
Some fans believe that the visual kei movement was started "almost single handedly"[citation needed] by X Japan. However, a rising trend of utilizing visual shock to gain membership in the independent scene was well in effect by the time X went major. In this sense, X Japan may be seen not as a catalyst for the movement but a mechanism to involve dominant Japanese popular culture with it.
However, many of the magazines that later became visual kei magazines, most notably Fool's Mate, had been published since the early 80's, but had a focus on UK new wave artists, some aspects of which are visible in the look of visual bands.
Bands in the early 1990s such as Luna Sea, Kuroyume, Zi:Kill, Shazna, and Baiser along with previous bands Buck-Tick and X Japan encouraged a "boom" of this media culture
Characteristics
Visual kei is characterized by bands using dramatic costumes and visual imagery to enhance the band's performance. Within Japan, the fan-base almost solely consists of girls and young women and is marketed strongly to that audience with items such as tradeable stickers, glossy photo-books, picture-postcards of band members and so on.
Members of visual kei bands often wear striking makeup, style their hair in dramatic shapes (reminiscent of "glam metal" bands from the '80s) and wear elaborate costumes. Although the vast majority of the musicians are male, band members will often wear makeup and clothing which would be considered 'feminine' or 'androgynous'. Recently, some bands are returning to the more colourful and "fantastic" image popular 5 or 6 years ago, taking inspiration from computer roleplaying games and anime. The appeal of the costumes to fans is so great that large numbers of girls will cosplay as members of their favourite bands, particularly in Harajuku, at live concerts in Japan, or in England, Poland, North America, Chile, Israel, Spain and Australia at anime conventions.
Because the visual kei genre remains at the edges of Japanese mainstream sensibility, as bands rise in popularity and sign to major labels, they may tone down their wild, colorful image, as well as extreme musical flourishes like screaming or audience-chanted lyrics that often characterize visual kei. For example, Kagrra,'s early years were characterized by eye-catching kimono-style costumes, but in their 2006 PV "Sakebi" the band appeared in suits. The loss of fashion and musical style may alienate fans who have followed bands from their inception. However, not all artists lose their visual kei image as they go major. Malice Mizer and Psycho le Cemu are examples of bands whose stage costumes became only more fantastic during their major label eras.
Bands
Visual kei bands, being defined primarily by visual style, do not necessarily play a specific type of music. However, there are bands playing or influenced by Heavy Metal (Onmyo-Za), Darkwave (Velvet Eden, Schwarz Stein), Industrial rock, Punk rock and various other genres can be found. Taking the genre in a wide sense, most of the bands would be considered to play some kind of "rock" music.
Visual kei is closely linked with other fashion styles like Gothic Lolita and musical subgenres such as ero guro and angura kei, which also have their own fashion styles.
A newer style of visual kei that showed up in the 2000's is Koi Kei X. Miyavi, formerly from Du¨¦ le quartz, now a solo artist, is said to be one of the few that exemplifies this style
Current status
Visual kei remains a diverse, ever expanding genre. Many of the bands are beginning to play outside of Japan. Bands such as MUCC, D'espairs Ray, Ayabie, Gazette, and others have toured Europe and North America.
Stylistic origins: Japanese rock, glam rock, hard rock, pop rock, punk rock, heavy metal, gothic rock, darkwave, industrial rock
Cultural origins: 1980s Japan
Typical instruments: Guitar, bass, drums, keyboards
Mainstream popularity: Mostly within Japanese independent scene, smaller followings across the globe.
Subgenres
Angura kei, ero guro, nagoya kei, oshare kei
Visual kei (¥ô¥£¥¸¥å¥¢¥ëϵ, vijuaru kei?, literally "visual style") refers to a movement in Japanese art and popular culture which started in the 1980s and became widely popular in the Japanese independent music scene by the 1990s.
Origins
Some fans believe that the visual kei movement was started "almost single handedly"[citation needed] by X Japan. However, a rising trend of utilizing visual shock to gain membership in the independent scene was well in effect by the time X went major. In this sense, X Japan may be seen not as a catalyst for the movement but a mechanism to involve dominant Japanese popular culture with it.
However, many of the magazines that later became visual kei magazines, most notably Fool's Mate, had been published since the early 80's, but had a focus on UK new wave artists, some aspects of which are visible in the look of visual bands.
Bands in the early 1990s such as Luna Sea, Kuroyume, Zi:Kill, Shazna, and Baiser along with previous bands Buck-Tick and X Japan encouraged a "boom" of this media culture
Characteristics
Visual kei is characterized by bands using dramatic costumes and visual imagery to enhance the band's performance. Within Japan, the fan-base almost solely consists of girls and young women and is marketed strongly to that audience with items such as tradeable stickers, glossy photo-books, picture-postcards of band members and so on.
Members of visual kei bands often wear striking makeup, style their hair in dramatic shapes (reminiscent of "glam metal" bands from the '80s) and wear elaborate costumes. Although the vast majority of the musicians are male, band members will often wear makeup and clothing which would be considered 'feminine' or 'androgynous'. Recently, some bands are returning to the more colourful and "fantastic" image popular 5 or 6 years ago, taking inspiration from computer roleplaying games and anime. The appeal of the costumes to fans is so great that large numbers of girls will cosplay as members of their favourite bands, particularly in Harajuku, at live concerts in Japan, or in England, Poland, North America, Chile, Israel, Spain and Australia at anime conventions.
Because the visual kei genre remains at the edges of Japanese mainstream sensibility, as bands rise in popularity and sign to major labels, they may tone down their wild, colorful image, as well as extreme musical flourishes like screaming or audience-chanted lyrics that often characterize visual kei. For example, Kagrra,'s early years were characterized by eye-catching kimono-style costumes, but in their 2006 PV "Sakebi" the band appeared in suits. The loss of fashion and musical style may alienate fans who have followed bands from their inception. However, not all artists lose their visual kei image as they go major. Malice Mizer and Psycho le Cemu are examples of bands whose stage costumes became only more fantastic during their major label eras.
Bands
Visual kei bands, being defined primarily by visual style, do not necessarily play a specific type of music. However, there are bands playing or influenced by Heavy Metal (Onmyo-Za), Darkwave (Velvet Eden, Schwarz Stein), Industrial rock, Punk rock and various other genres can be found. Taking the genre in a wide sense, most of the bands would be considered to play some kind of "rock" music.
Visual kei is closely linked with other fashion styles like Gothic Lolita and musical subgenres such as ero guro and angura kei, which also have their own fashion styles.
A newer style of visual kei that showed up in the 2000's is Koi Kei X. Miyavi, formerly from Du¨¦ le quartz, now a solo artist, is said to be one of the few that exemplifies this style
Current status
Visual kei remains a diverse, ever expanding genre. Many of the bands are beginning to play outside of Japan. Bands such as MUCC, D'espairs Ray, Ayabie, Gazette, and others have toured Europe and North America.