Foreign Music (Part 2)

I know it's been a while since I wrote the first half of "Foreign Music" and I had promised to write this long ago...sorry. Here it is now, though. In case you haven't read the first part, these are posts about music groups or artists from other countries whose songs I listen to. And, once again, I'm leaving out England from the list because there are too many good English musical groups and artists.

JAPANESE: The GazettE and Suga Shikao

I'm not going to lie - I'm obsessed with Japan. So when I found the song "Red" by the visual kei band, The GazettE, I fell in love with it. "Red" is hard and beautiful with striking lyrics (when you translate them into English). Although some people don't like not being able to understand what is being said in songs, I absolutely love listening to the Japanese language, and really any language at all. It's so complex and fascinating, I have no doubt that you will at least find "Red" somewhat interesting. I also have to mention that the members of GazettE can do their makeup so well....I'm jealous.

The only song I've ever heard by Suga Shikao, a Japanese singer-songwriter, is "Juukyuusai." I found the song, which translates to "Nineteen years old," because it's the opening theme to the anime series xxxholic, a show about a young man who works at a magical wish-granting shop. "19sai" is catchy and dark, talking about how much the vocalist, or at least a character he may be pretending to be, hates himself and his life at this point and just wants to get away "like a black swallowtail butterfly." Just like the culture of Japan, the song can be rather contradictory. Its self-hate filled lyrics somehow compliment the beauty of the song, even though hate and beauty don't usually work well together. All in all, this song is genius and I love it.

FRENCH: Stereo Total

A couple months ago, I was watching the Polish movie, Sala Samobójców, when a song played in the film that completely caught my attention. "C'est La Mort" by Stereo Total, a half-German and half-French duo, is upbeat and, when you translate the lyrics, doesn't make any sense. To me, not making any sense is not always a bad thing, and it definitely works in this song, mostly because I can't speak French so I don't understand it anyway.

POLISH: UnSun

Just like Suga Shikao and Stereo Total, I'm only familiar with one song by the Polish band, UnSun. "Whispers," from their 2008 album The End of Life, is the only song on this list not sung in the band's native language. The vocalist, Aya's, accent is lovely, though, and adds a very special element to the song. My favorite lyrics from this dark song are "You are my sun is the darkness of the night / And be my eyes when I lost my sight" and

Like moonlight, you're showing me the way

Like heroine, you course in my veins

I like your whispering in the dark

There are whispers of the past 

You are hiding deep inside my dreams

Dreaming the final dream, the last.

I completely agree with band's MySpace page that had labeled their sound as "something incorporating day and night, light and darkness," since the singer's high voice offsets and compliments the darkness of the rest of the song.