In my post on Most Kissable People I listed Miyavi. The real reason I like Miyavi has little to do with his looks. Rather, I am intrigued by his music. Miyavi is Japanese rock artist. He is one of those international stars that has a cult following around the world, but whom few people that typically listen to American pop music know about.
The first Miyavi song I stumbled upon is “JPN Pride” (in the YouTube-video above) from his latest album “This Iz the Japanese Kabuki Rock.” I was so taken by the song that I decided to get me a Miyavi album. I got a best-of compilation with the similar title: “AZN Pride: This Iz the Japanese Kabuki Rock.” While some of the hard rock records can become too heavy for my sensibilities, there are quite a number of songs that I really enjoy.
Miyavi is considered the best guitarist in Japan at the moment. When Miyavi uses the guitar, the whole instrument is used, not merely the strings. Under his dexterous hands the guitar becomes both a string instruments and a percussion instrument. Watch this video of him performing “Selfish Love,” to see what I mean.
But it is his song “Itoshii Hito” (it means “my beloved” or “my lover”) that really made me become a fan. This exquisite love song becomes better with every hearing. Even if you don’t understand the words, you can still understand the emotional honesty from the vocals. It is such a beautiful composition—carrying the emotions from the beginning of the song, right through to the end. Nothing is wasted. Then, once you’ve read the words, the song becomes doubly beautiful, and as I said, it continuous to grow on you.
To be honest, I cannot decide which version I like the best. The recorded one, with the beautiful orchestration of piano, violin, and guitar…
…or the live version with Miyavi’s guitar playing carrying the song over some sampled background noise.
The emotional strength of the song is equally strong in both versions.
So, you may be wondering, why is he dressed up as a woman? To understand it, you need to know what Visual Kei is. Remember in the 80s when male Hard Rock and Heavy Metal artists dressed up and put on make-up? Did you think them gay for their Halloween-antics? Of course not. Well, dressing up and putting on make up never ceased in Japanese rock. In Japan, the visual impression given by the artist can be just as important as the sound of the music. While Western Heavy Metal celebrates masculinity and machismo, in the Far East an androgynous presentation (think “yin-yang”) is emphasized. This dressing up as part of the musical act is known as Visual Kei in Japan. In South Africa we had our own type of Visual Kei act in the, now disbanded, band Boo!, which had Chris Chameleon as the lead vocalist.
While Miyavi may at times look rather feminine (the correct description is “androgynous”), this says nothing about his sexual orientation. Miyavi is a happily married young man, and him and his wife has a baby girl.
Below is another beautiful song. The title is “Thanx Givin’ Day,” and is a child-like “thank you”-song for his parents.
It is songs like “Thanx Givin’ Day” and “Itoshii Hito” intersperse between the heavy metal records that makes Miyavi’s music palatable to me. However, it is also his splendid blend of different styles that makes his music so interesting. Listen, for instance, to Kabuki Danshi (below), in which Hip Hop is blend with Jazz, Punk Rock and touches of Blues Rock.
It is always his live unplugged performances that impress me the most. Listen to the example below. All the sounds are produced by Miyavi – even the cymbals you hear is actually a tambourine attached to his foot!
I really hope to see this talented young man live one day.
Following are some Miyavi related links:
1 comment:
Usually rock is not my thing, but he is quite a find. I'll have to listen to much more of his music but I'm intrigued.
I'm also hoping for the day when an artists or anyone's look doesn't automatically reflect on their sexuality. To me this knee jerk reaction of labelling has less to do with homosexuality and more with gender issues between men and women.
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