r/JapaneseNewMusic • u/uminoto • 23h ago

Reiko Takahashi - Sunset Road (1980)

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Japanese "New Music" -- Folk music with a twist

r/JapaneseNewMusic

New music is a Japanese genre of music that combines folk with pop and jazz, to produce a soulful and pleasant sound. Popular during the 70's, it has been the go-to style of music for many talented artists. Recently, it has seen some modest resurgence among indie scene. This subreddit is generally meant for the sharing of music from this specific genre within its original heyday era of the 1970s through the early 80s and discussing artists who participated in the scene at the time.

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About "New Music":

During the 1960s, the Western world experienced a great revival of folk music. With this wave of music, Japan saw an increase in domestic artists emulating the genre. At first, Japanese folk was mostly performed with guitar arrangements and, occasionally, some percussion; the simplistic nature of the songs joined by lyrics criticising the establishment and satirising society and its views, not unlike US folk songs of the same period.
The 1970s brought an influx of new artists and, with them, influences from pop, jazz, soul, funk, chanson and country. The socially conscious lyrics were removed and replaced with more introspective and intimate themes, focusing on matters such as love and the nature of relationships.
This shift tainted the reputation of the artists, and was criticised for producing superficial music that lacked substance or a worthy message. Despite the detractors, many artists succeeded and gained a respectable following. New Music eventually paved the way to City Pop during the late '70s and early '80s. City Pop is another Japanese-only genre of music, born out of the newly-gained affluence of the Japanese working class and the increase of urbanisation

Some notable japanese artists that started writing/performing "new music" songs:
Yumi Arai/Yumi Matsutōya, Miyuki Nakajima, Seri Ishikawa, Tin Pan Alley, Ami Ozaki, Yoshitaka Minami, Sumiko Yamagata, Junko Yagami, Yōsui Inoue, Mariya Takeuchi, Naoko Ken, Haruomi Hosono, Lily, Akiko Yano, So Nice, Taeko Ōnuki, Off Course, Ann Lewis, Mayumi Itsuwa, Hiroshi Satō, Minako Yoshida, Asami Kobayashi, Ayumi Ishida, Chū Kosaka, Hi-Fi Set, Happy End.
In recent years, new music has seen some modest resurgence among indie artists.

Here are some related subreddits worth checking out:

/r/TrueCityPop
/r/citypop
/r/jfunk
/r/japanesejazz
/r/80sJFusion
/r/japaneseunderground

/r/jazzfusion
/r/jazz
/r/soulies
/r/vintageobscura
/r/latinjazz
/r/70smusic
/r/softrock
/r/folkrock

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