What's so incredible? Why is she so awesome? How does she do it?

I’ve talked before about the wonderful world of Japanese hip hop, I’ve spent a bit of time waxing poetic about Japanese shibuya-kei, and I’ve even met the criteria required to be an 8bit-fanboy of Ymck, but I’ve spent far too few words defending what is easily the most dismissed genre of Japanese music: JPop. Some of it is really as terrible as you think, but there’s a hefty subset of the genre that’s solid quality, actually borderline visionary. Granted, you have to be into the electro scene and pretty accepting of vocoders and auto-tuning, but once you get into it you’ll be surprised how much super awesome stuff is coming out of that one geographically tiny country.

I won’t make you learn Japanese, nor will I make you comb through the endless stream of manufactured pop icons to find the diamonds in the rough. I won’t advise you to spend thousands of yen on still pricey albums. But I will tell you some of the great names in the Japanese Pop/Electro/SynthFunk scene that are worth checking out no matter what language you speak. I will give you some respectably mainstream names you can drop to carry on a conversation with the next Japanese conversationalist or enthusiast you engage with. I will give you a few gems from the underground and the local genba that are up-and-comers that should be well-watched even if they currently aren’t. And I will give you my personal and very contemporary guide to understanding and perhaps even enjoying JPop.

Electro-esque JPop (think ‘808s and Heartbreak meets Kylie Minogue):
We’ll start with one of the biggest names in Asia: BoA. BoA, or Beat of an Angel, is actually from Korea, but she accomplished what few stars can and made the crossover into Japanese popularity and now, with her new language skills, is trying her luck in America. You may not like it, but you have to know who this girl is.

To make international superstar BoA go down easier, let me let you in on a little insider’s secret. Check out Capsule for a perfect example of epically good electro-pop fusion, complete with crazy synthesisers, ’70s visions of space-utopia inspried costumes, and some surprisingly delicious, non-bubblegum flavoured pop. Check out the tracks “Eternity” from Flashback and of course the title track from More! More! More! to see exactly what I mean when I say epic.

Then there’s of course something in between the well-known and the unknown. Enter Pefume, a trio from Hiroshima that are more the traditional sugary postergirls you’re used to coming from Japanese soil. Unlike Capsule, they get radio play but, unlike BoA they aren’t a household name (yet). Their songs are exclusively dance-y and their image is fun, but there’s no shame in paying for their concert tickets.

Meg is surprisingly similar to Perfume, but unless you’re trying to bond with a 9 year-old girl, you probably won’t get much mileage out of this one. Then again, Japanese tend to think we foreigners are crazy already, so declaring your undying love for Meg’s entire discography shouldn’t hold you back from contributing to society.

How could I possibly forget about Ami Suzuki who made a thoroughly enjoyable indulgence in coining Can’t Stop the Disco as a sensational pop album. Ami Suzuki is hands down my favourite on this JPop guide, and I can’t seem to stop listening to Super Music Maker in my car, a sure sign of international appeal.

Even if you despise everything about JPop, a tiny piece of you somewhere probably still likes Saori@destiny for the ultra-feminine voice and infectiously peppy backbeats. It’s okay to embrace Saori@destiny, to construct a shrine for AI, or to obsessively seek out items with Double’s face printed on them. This is Japan. That’s what you do.

They used to be part of Japan’s authentic hip hop scene, but now they just pander to the dancefloor with a never ending lineup of megastars. I’m of course speaking about M-Flo, the duo from Tokyo with an endless stream of singles and studio buddies that the Japanese never seem to tire of. While fans like to lament the departure from their Planet Shining days, I personally think Award SuperNova (and the new AstroBoy single) give them much more credibility.

Rip Slyme is another one of those pop/hip hop fusions you just can’t ignore any longer because there stuff is good no matter your tastes. It’s lyrical, playful, and it’s an earful of JPop that won’t make you want to claw your eyes out. So if you were skeptical of this guide to begin with, star with Rip Slyme.

Full of Harmony is one of Japan’s many boy bands, in fact the one I shamelessly belt out as loudly as possible whenever it’s on a Karaoke list. Like most JPop stars, they sing a lot of slower ballads, but that didn’t make the upbeat track “Exclusive” any less amazing.

If Full of Harmony is the R&B boy band for the country, Heartsdales is certainly the girl version. You’ve probably heard them before and you didn’t even know it, from one of their many guest appearances on shows and in music videos with the likes of M-Flo for some bubble candy action. I guarantee if you say the phrase “Heartsdales” to a culturally-aware Japanese person, they’ll know who you’re talking about.

You’re not convinced. I can tell. You clicked on BoA before you clicked on anyone else and then you lost heart. Or you actually understood the words in Heartsdales songs. Or maybe you just listened to one too many of Meg’s tracks and are afraid. Some of you might be content for hours right know and can leave it at that, but many more of you will have a strangely difficult time accepting JPop into your hearts. I know I did. It was just a little to synthetic for me to consume without feeling mildly ill at first. So to ease the transition I’ve added some antidotes, a series of still poppy, still Japanese, but much more relaxing music. It’s not quite as popular as electro-inspired JPop, and your seatmate on the flight to Okinawa might not have a clue who you’re talking about (I couldn’t find anyone in Tokyo that had heard of Fantastic Plastic Machine, Pizzicato Five, or Cornelius), but this is the kind of music that really makes my heart sing. This is the stuff I listen to in my spare time, the type of beats I gobble up, the music that inspires me to become a house musician one day. So after you’ve burned yourself out on Ami Suzuki, give these guys a listen to assure yourself that JPop doesn’t have to mean covered in pink and with elaborate choreographed dance numbers.

House-inspired JPop (think jazz meets eurotrash techno):
Fantastic Plastic Machine is wildly experimental and downright brilliant most of the time. It’s one man in a room with a computer and a set of turntables that manages to make you believe that “Love is Psychadellic” and that “I’m Still a Simple Man.” Buy his albums. Now.

An oldie but a goodie, Daishi Dance leans a little more on the house side. While FPM is more funky, Daishi Dance is nonetheless equally capable and makes some pretty groovy stuff, a strange mix of piano and dance beats that leave you pleasantly confused.

Studio Apartment is known mostly for crazy remixes (and for being mistaken as Korean), but they make some awesome old-school jazz house that you could really drive all the way to Alaska rocking out to. I only wish they made more then their already intense discography so I could live in my Studio Apartment world all the time.

Okay, I know this doesn’t belong anywhere on this list, but Cubismo Grafico’s stuff is so unbelievable I have to shout it from as many rooftops as I can. His style is loop-driven, sample-based, unclassifiable wonderland (much like Australian mixer whiz kid Pogo). I’m reminded of aural birds singing me awake on a lazy Sunday.

I think house master and fellow 8-bit aficionado Ram Rider is all kinds of under rated. His re-envisioning of Ayumi Hamasaki’s “Real Me” especially is unbelievable, and he spent the time and money convincing his record label that Ram Rider Refeathered was a great idea, and anyone fighting for this is well worth listening to.

Perhaps one of the jazz scenes more famous powerhouses is Jazztronik, who is hands down the master of mood music. He’s another in Japan’s arsenal of US-undiscovered masterminds slowly turning our speed tribes into slow life believers. It’s dub as good as Thievery Corporation and pop as wonderful as Clazziquai Project.

Kyoto Jazz Massive have been around for over a decade and are still going strong, killing it in shows all over the world with a list of collaborators that leaves even my mind reeling. It’s got a strong bebop flavour to it, with overtones belonging to the Big Easy, but in the end it comes out as something a little more modern, a little more synthetic, and a whole lot more complex.

It would be absurd to even talk about this genre of music without referencing the beloved Mondo Grosso, the bossa nova-esque beatmakers whose albums, Born Free and MG4 are legendary. If you like Bebel Gilberto and her remixes, if you like Jazzanova minus the latter half of In Between, or if you’re into something worthy of Enjoy! House, then this is the band for you.

On the other side of the spectrum we have Shinichi Osawa who just tears his turntables apart for some forward-thinking but powerful electro. If you’re digging the sultry sounds of the jazz-house Tokyo touch, then you might want to steer clear of Osawa, but if you’ve got a stomach for Tiga, Danger, and MSTRKRFT then you should definitely look to Osawa for foot-pounding prowess.

That’s all I’ve got for you. Armed with your newfound list of JPop contenders with which to find your new favourite artist, to impress your colleagues with your far-flung musical tastes, to entertain your Japanese mates with lengthy discussions about pop stars you’re now familiar with, to find your foothold into more amazing Japanese music, because that’s really the point of this list. We’ve got Ami Suzuki next to Capsule next to Gubismo Grafico, next to Daishi Dance. I hope I’ve shown you just how vague a term JPop is, and how varied and wonderful the world of Japanese music can be, in its entirety.