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Post by mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman on Nov 27, 2010 23:36:04 GMT -5
Even though I have the English albums, I would gladly buy the Japanese versions... especially if the price was right! (Atm, to get the Japanese versions, you have to order from Japan, and they are friggin' EXpensive!)
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Post by earthfarm on Nov 28, 2010 5:27:10 GMT -5
Or to be exact, I would ONLY buy the albums in Japanese. And for the most part, I have. I know I've said this before – but I prefer the original versions. But those record company scum don't see it that way. They see our devotion to SK as another way to milk more cash out of us. DARE I EVEN SUGGEST that Naoko and co wouldn't have even re-recorded ANY of their songs if the record label hadn't pressured them?  |
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rocket
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Post by rocket on Nov 28, 2010 15:59:04 GMT -5
I would buy the Japanese version,but not at the 50 buck import price.
Record companies are a mixed blessing.Inspite of all the bad things,without them we might not even know who sk were.Sk might just be playing some clubs in Osaka.
Most groups want to make it in America.Brit bands who were big in England always had the goal of making it in the states.More money and recognition. Sadly.so many did not make it because Americans have such bad taste!
Brits have good taste imho,Blondie,ramones etc were much bigger there before they were ever heard of in America.
So many boring ones receive the airplay,Eagles etc,
Back on topic.....sk would have much smaller success,if they were not singing in english.No one would come to their shows outside of japan,or some asian speaking countries.
How many jap only bands have any success worldwide?Lets face it,english is the world language,just like the dollar is the world reserve currency.Although this is changing now as America is losing superpower status to china.
rightly or wrongly,thats just the way it is.Most countries teach english in school to be competitive in the world wide market place.
Naoka has said in an interview that music sounds better in english.
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Post by earthfarm on Nov 30, 2010 20:09:40 GMT -5
True...many musicians who don't speak English feel that they have to sing in English to reach a wider audience. If you ever watch the Eurovision Song Contest you'll see that most countries sing in English, but in previous years they favoured their own languages.
But some non-English bands just put their music out in their own language and their fans still love it. German band Rammstein is a good example. The one song they've re-recorded in English (that I know of), "Amerika", is nothing compared to the original version.
Actually it saddens me that foreign bands are letting go of their culture by singing in another language. They should be embracing it. I'm not saying Shonen Knife should only sing in Japanese, but English speakers are hardly a perfect model to be copied by the rest of the world. I'd like to see more diversity in pop and rock music, and less "let's copy any old American crap" mentality.
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Post by mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman on Dec 3, 2010 3:02:18 GMT -5
I enjoy the songs in both languages, and if the J-version CDs were sold here, I'd probably get BOTH versions (Japanese & Eng); better yet, let's have them do what they did on ROCK ANIMALS.... Have "Bonus" tracks of all the songs in Japanese, on the English language album!
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Post by mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman on Dec 3, 2010 3:05:41 GMT -5
Or to be exact, I would ONLY buy the albums in Japanese. And for the most part, I have. I know I've said this before – but I prefer the original versions. But those record company scum don't see it that way. They see our devotion to SK as another way to milk more cash out of us. DARE I EVEN SUGGEST that Naoko and co wouldn't have even re-recorded ANY of their songs if the record label hadn't pressured them? Well, I guess they had to record in English to get a foothold in the Americas; let's face it, few J-bands can do a 34 city tour on this side of the World and sell out every venue (Which SK does); do you think they could , if they only sang in Japanese? |
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Post by earthfarm on Dec 3, 2010 17:25:30 GMT -5
Well, I guess they had to record in English to get a foothold in the Americas; let's face it, few J-bands can do a 34 city tour on this side of the World and sell out every venue (Which SK does); do you think they could , if they only sang in Japanese? Yeah, that's true...do I think they'd play sold-out shows if they only sang in Japanese? Pppppossibly, but even now they're still seen as a"niche" band. Singing in English helped a lot, I'm sure, and I have nothing against them doing it. Hey, whatever it takes – I just have a natural aversion to the "mainstream", that's all...  |
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Post by SirReal on Dec 4, 2010 16:58:53 GMT -5
I answered "no," but I want to add a couple of important caveats:
#1 - I actually would buy Fun! Fun! Fun! in the Japanese version simply because I fell in love with Gravity Zero Gravity listening to the Japanese version on You Tube. So, now that the English version is available, it just doesn't "sound" right to me, despite Naoko's contention that rock music lends itself more readily to the "wavy" flow of English instead of the "digital" canter of Japanese.
#2 - I know this was not the intent of the question, but why the heck can't GC records buy up some copies of Fun! Fun! Fun!, Candy Rock, Strawberry Sound, the live CDs and DVDs, etc, and make those available to us? They might not make much profit on it, but wouldn't it help to at least promote the band?? I've been chatting with Miyoko at GC, and I can't figure out from her response why they decided to sell only vinyl and mp3 versions of the English Fun! Fun! Fun! The English version CDs are being sold in Europe and Japan, but not in America?? WTF??
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rocket
Junior Member
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Post by rocket on Dec 4, 2010 21:46:48 GMT -5
few J-bands can do a 34 city tour on this side of the World and sell out every venue (Which SK does); do you think they could , if they only sang in Japanese?
What tour was this?
The most recent Free Time tour,was not well recieved where i was.The NY city show was very sparse,maybe two rows deep around the stage.
And the Milford Connecticut show had about 25 people.I think any generic cover band could have had more people come to their show on any given night.Granted,it was a week night and it was added later in the tour.
Of course sk had no way of knowing what a dead state my Connecticut is.When Nirvana came here,Curt Cobain said that connecticut sucks,right to the crowd,as only a handfull was there that night in a small club.
Of course it's great for the fans,but I would rather see a large crowd,as sk deserve a large draw.
i did my best to support them as I bought 6 cd's,two t-shirts,a poster,should have bought the dvd buffalo show,but ran out of cash.
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Post by mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman on Dec 13, 2010 1:19:15 GMT -5
I would buy the Japanese version,but not at the 50 buck import price. Yes, agreed, that is my whole point in asking this question to begin with....... if Good Charamel sold the Japanese versions here at the same price as the English versions, they would double their money from me, cause I would wind up buying BOTH!!! haha |
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kiko
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Post by kiko on Feb 8, 2011 2:01:06 GMT -5
Eh, I don't mind either way. I don't agree with the "purist" viewpoint, as The Knife has been singing in English since their inception (Not all songs, but staples like Twist Barbie.) I've seen videos where Naoko is in Japan and singing songs like Explosion in English, so it seems to me she prefers it for some songs. Some songs like Giant Kitty sound better in Japanese, but I don't cringe when I hear it in English or anything. I think we should all just appreciate that Naoko is cool enough to not have unnecessary pride and attempts to be accessible to all!
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Post by mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman on Feb 10, 2011 2:28:36 GMT -5
Eh, I don't mind either way. I don't agree with the "purist" viewpoint, as The Knife has been singing in English since their inception (Not all songs, but staples like Twist Barbie.) I've seen videos where Naoko is in Japan and singing songs like Explosion in English, so it seems to me she prefers it for some songs. Some songs like Giant Kitty sound better in Japanese, but I don't cringe when I hear it in English or anything. I think we should all just appreciate that Naoko is cool enough to not have unnecessary pride and attempts to be accessible to all! Works for me! |
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Post by jjanim8r on Feb 13, 2011 2:12:15 GMT -5
I buy all the new stuff from Japan Direct in J.. before it's released... Then the western versions come out, usually with additional songs so I have to buy those as well.
I think I have 3 or 4 versions of all their CDs!
But then again... That's me!
JJ
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Post by mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman on Feb 14, 2011 0:37:46 GMT -5
I buy all the new stuff from Japan Direct in J.. before it's released... Then the western versions come out, usually with additional songs so I have to buy those as well. I think I have 3 or 4 versions of all their CDs! But then again... That's me! JJ Wow, maybe you ARE a bigger fan than me How [glow=red,2,300]many[/glow] CDs are in your SK collection now? |
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Post by naoko1960 on Mar 9, 2011 15:12:04 GMT -5
Buy both...How many bands produce 2 versions of each album !
Its like watching Godzilla and Gamera Movie's...The Japanese ones are much better!
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