# Wagakki Band - any fans? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 15, 2016, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wagakki-band-any-fans/765992 "2016-09-15T07:32:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2016, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wagakki-band-any-fans/765992/1 "2016-09-15T07:32:49Z")
Slowly, I’ve been exploring Asian pop & rock music. Most of it I can leave, some I like ([Aldious](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igywXZBbVIw), for one. [L’Arc-en-Ciel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3QS5bpPq7o)for another. Maximum The Hormone are awesome, as referenced in the [Death Note thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19614379&postcount=6)) But Wagakki Band, I love everything I’ve seen and heard. I guess, from what I’ve read, they’re a Neo-folk flavour of J-Pop with Vocaloid thrown in, but unlike any other J-Pop I’ve encountered so far. Something about the whole combo of traditional and ultra-modern really grooves my prunes. The visual style is just a bonus. [Example](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_xTet06SUo) [Another](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5zj3dwNxJw) [And another](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyuzfQkUlyY) Also, check out these wicked [samisen chops](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZCruJd0MrE)… Anyone else familiar with them? Or more importantly - know of any other bands like them? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2016, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wagakki-band-any-fans/765992/2 "2016-09-15T16:31:41Z")
Wagakki Band have carved out a pretty unique niche for themselves; I don’t know of another band that uses the same combo of traditional and modern instruments the same way that they do. I’m glad to see that you know MtH; perhaps you’ve not yet encountered these bands: * * * [Undead Corporation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-YwhLA1e6A) is a bit more metal than Wagakki Band (and a bit more folk-y at the same time, in this song). [Undead Corporation - Revolution](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyNFHN7Zh7A) is more straight-ahead pop-metal; the bands output varies is my point. * * * They aren’t really what you’re looking for, but I can’t pass up another chance to mention a favorite band of mine, Bo Ningen. They are Japanese but based in London. They play a kind of jazz/punk/psychedelic/drone music, which means their output varies quite a bit from song to song. [Bo Ningen - Mitsume](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17a2FVFLfNY) [Bo Ningen - Slider](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXXpLHKWlVA) * * * And of course, if you haven’t listened to Boris yet, you should; their output varies wildly from pop to rock to noise to jazz to spacy psychedelic music, although they don’t often use traditional instruments. [Boris - Attention Please](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFBKIg0fkwA) (whole album here but the 1st song is my fav from this album) [Boris - Statement](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_GgowniQWk) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wagakki-band-any-fans/765992/3 "2016-09-16T06:00:59Z")
Thanks for those - I liked both Undead Corporation (mix of male+female vocalist is great) and Bo Ningen (also checked out a longer live video, which was also good). I _have_ encountered Boris, I like them well enough, I guess - although generally I prefer my drone with more pop-indie sensibilities (Sonic Youth to _Victorialand_-era Cocteau Twins), less doom-drone-metal. But the lines blur. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wagakki-band-any-fans/765992/4 "2016-09-16T06:36:31Z")
If you’re open to other blends of traditional instruments and music with modern music, I can name a whole host of bands that do so in Metal and from pretty much across the globe. Not metal (but still heavy), for instance, is Sweden’s Garmarna. I mentioned then in the SDMB Music Appreciation Society thread a couple of years ago; they blend traditional Swedish folk music with rock instrumentation and sensibilities. Check out [_Gamen_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_dJjJ2H-i4). You can pretty much name a place on the globe and I can name a metal or heavy rock band that might fit your bill, I think (please don’t take that as a challenge, folks :p). ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wagakki-band-any-fans/765992/5 "2016-09-16T08:11:55Z")
Naah, no need to challenge you, it’s particularly the Japanese instrumentation that I like about Wagakki. Afro-Metal wouldn’t do it for me. If I want a Western folk instrument fix, I listen to Faun or Dead Can Dance, rather than folk metal. ---
**Author:** ![bunyupp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@bunyupp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bunyupp)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wagakki-band-any-fans/765992/6 "2016-09-16T15:41:35Z")
_ **Kagrra** _ (a VK band now defunct) used a Koto in several of their songs. [Uzu](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKVz4t3aOhEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKVz4t3aOhE) [Shiki](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeY7oKayo-o) [Utakata](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jasgbX9iwAY) ---
**Author:** ![bunyupp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@bunyupp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bunyupp)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wagakki-band-any-fans/765992/7 "2016-09-16T17:54:13Z")
Here a few others: _Yoshimi Tsujimoto_ - flutist with 2 kotos [Smooth Criminal](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUWxHnEaBT8) with [shamisen and koto](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1Xf-YcupD0) _Yoshida Brothers_ [KODO](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ron17xFNBf0) 2 samisens _Yoshida Brothers_ [Rising](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_CzD0GBD-4) 2 shamisen with modern backing. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wagakki-band-any-fans/765992/8 "2016-09-17T09:28:06Z")
Thanks for those, **bunyupp**.