Comments on: It's what it says on the tin.

It's what it says on the tin.

flatluigi — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:17:36 -0800

Smoke on the Water and We Will Rock You -- the traditional Japanese versions.

By: MythMaker

MythMaker — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:27:48 -0800

These are awesome!

By: flatluigi

flatluigi — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:29:19 -0800

Oh, and before I forget: these are from the always-enjoyable Japan Probe.

By: Dizzy

Dizzy — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:29:53 -0800

I agree! "Smoke" became ever more ominous and "Rock You" felt so much more playful this time around. Delightful!

By: adamdschneider

adamdschneider — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:32:07 -0800

That Smoke on the Water is truly awesome. I wonder if there are any more classic rock hits that have gotten this treatment.

By: newfers

newfers — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:35:17 -0800

Loved it! MORE MORE MORE!

By: Mike D

Mike D — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 20:02:53 -0800

You know... I could see that version of Smoke on the Water backing a whole chase sequence through the Ginza in the next James Bond movie. It's su goy!

By: lelilo

lelilo — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 20:33:35 -0800

Awesome is the right word for that "Smoke" (which is ranked hundreds of places too low on the Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Songs of All-time list. A traditional Japanese version of an American hit by a British band, about Switzerland. Wow. At first it reminded me of my friends's ukulele orchestra playing "Born To Be Wild," but then the vocals kicked in and took it to a new level. (That guy howling during the chorus was fantastic.) They should have sung We Will Rock You in Japanese as well.

By: Mr_Zero

Mr_Zero — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 20:50:57 -0800

Those are great. Thanks! I would like to hear "When the levee breaks".

By: CitrusFreak12

CitrusFreak12 — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 20:58:14 -0800

WOOOOO

By: Robin Kestrel

Robin Kestrel — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 21:08:25 -0800

Those are great. Thanks! I would like to hear "When the levee breaks".

Would you settle for a Tuvan throat-singing version?

By: not_on_display

not_on_display — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 21:10:34 -0800

Yes, yes, yes! (And by that, I mean they should play some Yes.) (And that this was fuckin' awesome.)

By: Slap*Happy

Slap*Happy — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 22:09:50 -0800

Smoke on the Water illustrates everything that I love about the peculiar insanity that savages the Japanese pop-culture psyche. The kyoto and flute and traditional percussion rendition? Unique, compelling, beautiful. Then the orchestra kicks in with swinging lounge accompaniment taken straight from a '70's James Bond movie. OK, this is... weird. Uncomfortably so. But it fits, and it works. So you go along with it. Then they bring in the Kabuki singers, and it's all over. Fall out of the chair spraying milk from my nose all over the keyboard. I mean... I mean... there's one guy... and his only job is to open his mouth as wide as it will go and wail wordlessly as sincerely as possible, as atonally and out of tune and as poorly timed as he can. I get the giggles just thinking of it.

By: agress

agress — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 22:16:36 -0800

holy crap that's awesome. I gotta admit though, it feels a bit disingenuous to have all those western instruments there though. But what the hell, I am both thoroughly rocked and smoked *on the water*

By: crapmatic

crapmatic — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 22:17:22 -0800

The ending was kind of lame... they completely left out any adaptation of the guitar solo and just went with the "peace, we outta here" style.

By: Loudmax

Loudmax — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 22:29:32 -0800

I think it's interesting to consider all how all those Japanese teenagers who were into Deep Purple and Queen in the late 70s and early 80s are now the country's middle-aged establishment. So now they can put on this kind of cultural performance and it all makes sense. Very cool.

By: Tube

Tube — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 22:47:24 -0800

Pretty damn cool, but I hope they don't throw those guitar picks into the audience...

By: fourcheesemac

fourcheesemac — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 05:32:07 -0800

Biwa Rock You.

By: lothar

lothar — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 08:59:47 -0800

Interesting that in the Deep Purple tune, one of the vocalists goes up and hits a non-octave interval a few times (on purpose apparently). It's like a major seventh, something that really doesn't fit the chord to my ears, but seems intentional. I'm curious how that fits into Japanese music theory, which to me is mostly pentatonic. Also, you may note a shamisen playing up an octave and doing a slow gliss down, which I think is supposed to represent the guitar solo. In the Queen song, a vocalist hits a high note a few times, which seems atonic and may be more of a rhythm instrument thing than a vocal part. Which seems weird. Using pitched atonal vocals as a rhythm instrument is a new idea to me, but may totally be traditional. You can hear similar use of vocals in Samoan, Hawaiian, and Tahitian trad music, but it's almost usually a lower pitched, short, single syllable rather than a high, held note. Anyhow, excuse the analysis. What I meant to say was: Bitchin' k3wl post, d00d!

By: Smedleyman

Smedleyman — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 13:10:51 -0800

Nifty, thanks.

By: mariokrat

mariokrat — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 13:19:41 -0800

Awesome. But I want more!

By: fearfulsymmetry

fearfulsymmetry — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:06:11 -0800

I want a whole CD of this...

By: Sangermaine

Sangermaine — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 20:15:49 -0800

Not Japanese, but you might appreciate Sweet Child O' Mine on sitar and other Indian instruments in a commercial for Channel V.