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Shibuya-kei
From Virtual Japan
Shibuya-kei (渋谷系) is a Japanese music genre that started originally in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan. Combining elements of jazz, pop, and electronic music, Shibuya-kei is the style of music most associated with the fashions and trends of this district of Tokyo.
Representatives of the Style
Originally coined to describe bands such as Flipper’s Guitar and Pizzicato Five, Shibuya-Kei was strongly influenced by ye-ye music and later by artists like Serge Gainsbourg. Lounge music and Bossa Nova became strong influences later as well and in the late 1990s more bands started picking up the trend with new ones like Puffy appearing regularly.
While some bands did not like being categorized as Shibuya-kei, others clung to it and the label grew and became more popular as a means to describe the current trends in popular music. Later, businesses in Shibuya promoted it further by selling Shibuya-Kei albums and gear in their stores. Even outside of Japan, bands that picked up on the unique blend of styles have been labeled as Shibuya-Kei, including the likes of Momus in Britain, Dimitri from Paris in France, and Phofo in the US.
Popular Shibuya-Kei Artists
- ACO
- Buffalo Daughter
- Chocolat
- Cubismo Grafico
- Cymbals
- Denki Groove
- Bridge
- capsule
- Cibo Matto
- Drunken Doors
- Eel
- Coba
- Hideki Kaji
- Kahimi Karie
- LOSFELD
- Cornelius
- Hazel Nuts Chocolate
- hi-posi
- Fantastic Plastic Machine
- Flipper's Guitar
- Havana Exotica
- Mansfield
- Miette-one
- Miniflex
- Karia Nomoto
- Neil & Iraiza
- naivepop or petitfool
- Kenji Ozawa
- Phofo
- Pizzicato Five
- Plus-Tech Squeeze Box
- Puffy
- Qypthone
- Scha Dara Parr
- Sonic Coaster Pop
- Strawberry Machine
- Takako Minekawa
- Towa Tei
- YMCK
- Yoshinori Sunahara
- Yukari Fresh
- The Zoobombs
- Tatsuya Oe (Captain Funk)