Cui Jian, the Bruce Springsteen of China, is great, particularly his older stuff. "Yi Wu Suoyou" (Nothing to my name) was basically the Tiananmen anthem.

Wow, Aaron, there are SO many great bands from Asia - more specifically from Japan. I don't even know where to start, but Boris and Aicd Mothers Temple are a good place to start. They're a little more avant-garde, so if you're looking for pop, this might not be it.

Also, have you had a chance to check out Dengue Fever? They're a Cambodian band that freakin' rocks.

Anyways, I couldn't disagree more. Sorry!

It's the two ends of the spectrum that are tough. Traditional Korean or Chinese music sounds pretty awful to most western ears. The pop music, on the other hand, is awful by the reckoning of people from almost anywhere else in the world. There's some good stuff in the middle of those extremes though, especially from Japan. (I lived in Korea for a year though, and fuddedaboutit there.) You really should have put "Far East" in the subject line though as India is Asian...

Mark,
Thanks for the recommendations-- I hope Dengue Fever the band is better than Dengue Fever the disease.

Traveler,
I really enjoy Indian music, especially the more traditional stuff. Anyone who reads the post will (hopefully) realize that by "Asia," I mean what has historically been called the "Far East."

I have a liking for the band S.H.E. from Taiwan. They've put out a few decent songs to the pop world, like Super Star (which was written for them by a German dude.. oh well!)

But a lot of it is no good to my foreign ear..based on 6 months in China.

Wow--how stunningly ignorant. Could you be so demeaning to blacks? No, of course not. Asians--themselves, their culture, their music, etc. are the last bastion that one can(somewhat) politically correctly demean.

Of course there's lots of great Asian music. But then you said it all when you said it's all too foreign to you. And what is travel?

Look, it's ridiculous to get offended by Aaron's post - he's asking us Asia travelers to fill the gap in his ignorance, let's oblige!

I'm a huge fan of Otsuka Ai, especially the song Sakuranbo. She's an incredibly edgy lyricist who really explores some deep themes in her work.

Look, it's ridiculous to get offended by Aaron's post - he's asking us Asia travelers to fill the gap in his ignorance, let's oblige!

I'm a huge fan of Otsuka Ai, especially the song Sakuranbo. She's an incredibly edgy lyricist who really explores some deep themes in her work.

Tim,
You know I love you. But I don't know about that recommendation of yours. It's a little too "bubblegum pop" in my estimation... What about something like this?

Tom,
Sorry for stunning you with my ignorance.

Also, Mark is right about Dengue Fever-- they do friggin' rock.

As one of the youtube commentors says, "I've got Dengue Fever!"

http://youtube.com/watch?v=CQYOGkCk2DA

Yeah, dengue fever rocks. I'm headed back to Cambodia next month for several months and will scope the Phnom Penh music scene for you Aaron. Thanks for the Shun link. I didn't watch it though.

Also, it's horribly embarrassing, but I linked to the wrong youtube video in the previous comment. That's what happens when internet is too slow to actually play the vid.

Here's the real Otsuka Ai with her masterpiece:

Sakuranbo

And thanks for the warm fuzzies, Aaron. With you I'm a cherry.

Aaron,

Too many Filipino artists all over the world prove that this country is one mean music machine, okay-i exaggerate. :)

Head over to Imeem.com --register (for free) and search for these artsts (yes you can hear the songs streaming)

Ariel Rivera (romantic pop)
Gary Valenciano (90s dance pop)
Joey Ayala (indie pop)
Cynthia Alexander (indie pop)
Sarah Geronimo (pop diva)
Salamin (heavy rock)
Noel Cabangon (acoustic guitar)
Barbie's Cradle (alternarock)

It's easier to do an imeem search and just browse thru the songs by ear. Find what you like.

This list is a mix of Western influenced and local influenced music. Not by any means a real representative of what is "Pinoy" music.

Hope you like 'em.

Jomar

Oh by the way, indie music sounds mostly the same, even if it's in the Philippines:

Try Carnival Park:
http://www.myspace.com/carnivalparksongs

These are all pop-sugary stuff:

Japan has :
Utada Hikaru

Korea has :
BOA
Shin Mina

Taiwan has:
F4

HK has:
Jackie Cheung (sad love songs)

Though I might not agree with them, the Philippines has the beatlesque: Eraserheads.

Hey, what can I say, music is me.
Jomar

How about you try Panjabi MC (Indian)...for just one example (among many) of somewhere to start if you're looking for the more modern stuff.

With regards to how I feel about the comments and perpetuating a negative stereotype that I've never even come across before...well, I don't even know where to start...

How about you try Panjabi MC (Indian)...for just one example (among many) of somewhere to start if you're looking for the more modern stuff...

I'm assuming this entire post was inspired by an arbitrary choice to exclude all but the most modern (hence frequently trashy pop imitations of modern Western trashy pop inspired stuff)?
Thus choosing to ignore the 10,000+ years of musical heritage of Asia - the largest continent in the world? With the oldest and most varied musical cultures in the world?

Also choosing to ignore or exclude the fact that it's the place that produced the ancient sitar music that inspired the Beatles (George Harrison in particular in India) and the Doors? The fact that Asian instruments and melodies find their way into modern western pop tunes (including Britney Spears, Michael Jackson, and many others which Rishi Rich helped produce songs for...and thus added his Asian influences into)?'
And all that's not even scratching the surface...

With regards to how I feel about the comments and perpetuating a negative stereotype that I've never even come across before...well, I don't even know where to start...

Do you really agree that "at best Asian music (bearing in mind all said above) is at best off brand American pop?"
Or is this just another example of insulting American ignorance, due to having only ever been aware of the narrowest sample of Asian music...perhaps even that your perceptions have been so narrow as to talk above of Swedish Indie and Mexican pop as examples of your open music taste, yet not recognise that simply sticking the word 'Swedish' or 'Mexican' doesn't make them anything more exotic or less homogenised than any other (US, UK, whatever) Indie or Pop style band/artist? Your comments belie an underlying assumption, based on which, you've only even looked at the narrowest field of Asian music - the bands/artists that do pop or indie or whatever fits the current MTV definition of music category...and that's a narrow definition even for Western music - what kind of Indie/Pop/Whatever would you classify Mozart as?

And as for rhythm... Modern American & Euro pop, rock, etc. is based on black music - blues, hip-hop, etc. and has melody influences from Asia. The original music of the European (& European settlers in America) was the type of classical & folksy stuff of Haydn, Mozart, etc...sure also excellent music, but the closest to qualifying as having no rhythm, of any music of any continent.