Indie Rock/Pop
In the 90s, Shibuya-kei was all the rage, an International Pop, particularly Franco or Anglo-phile influenced, style with heavy use of backbeats, loops, and sampling ala Cornelius. I don't pretend to be the best resource about Shibuya-kei. There is so much good info on it already on the web. Please check the LINKS section for excellent links and resources further explaining the style.
"Guitar pop" as the Japanese call it, and as you may encounter if you begin probing Japanese zines, websites, shops, etc., refers to a melodic, 60s pop influenced sound that English speakers would call indie rock.
But alternative music... indie rock... or indie pop... It goes by many different names and means different things to different people. In Japan, indie rock refers only to a label's size. Thus, an indie rock band would be a band on a small, independently run label.
But with the murky nature of corporate partnerships, ownership and independence is in the eye of the beholder. Thus, such distinctions seem less easy to make than the Japanese would have it. At least to the best of my knowledge(the way me and my friends seemed to use the word), indie rock referred to a definite sound, not necessarily whether the band was actually "indie" or not. (Has the band sold out and joined a major label or not. And even after a band has joined a major label, is it still indie?)
This question may seem superfluous, but it is essential. Is there such a thing as indie rock music? Does indie rock equal struggling to make ends meet "temping", while at night making music? Or is it something about the way you play music, the way you approach songwriting, your audience, the world?
For the sake of our English speaking audience, I will approach the word "indie" as my friends and I did, and how I think many others do. Indie will refer to a style of music rather than simply the size of the label. So this list will include many artists that taken by the stricter Japanese definition may not seem "indie". Perhaps they were successful artists who moved on to larger label, struck gold early with a major label deal, but either way, these more famous artists that I've included have had a large impact on the Japanese music scene and beyond, and for this reason they have made it into the Archive.
Questions and/or comments about this, please email me or the list group for the Archive. See the RESEARCH section to do either of these things.
BANDS (a small sampling):
Choco
Coralie
Hairsalon
Margaret's Hope