Simply Casually Listening: Joe Inoue

Simply Casually Observing

Is it a coincidence that the only time I'm writing is when I'm waiting for Lakers' games to start? I think not.

Anyway, school is grinding to a halt (mostly because of Turkey-giving break), and I've had quite a bit of down time over the past couple days (a beautiful contrast to the rest of the semester). So, what do I do when I have free time? I, of course, turn up the Marvin Gaye... warm up my hands on the heater... pull down my pants and...

...

Find some good new music to listen to (who doesn't surf the web without pants on?).

I started off in familiar places (what's the latest offerings from my favorite bands), ventured off into a little genre surfing (typing "power metal" into Google and seeing what comes up), and then, took the nerd route. The nerd route is, of course, finding out which of my favorite animes have new OP's (for new people, OP is short for opening theme, because saying "opening theme" in Japanese is not only very difficult, but it also sounds retarded). Well, it just so happens that my #1 currently-being-released anime had just started airing a new OP. Naturally, I had no idea what the title was, nor who it was by, because I'm oblivious to such things during opening montages (montages are my only true weakness), so I had to look it up online. As it turns out, the song is called "Closer" (makes sense, considering one of the lyrics is "you know the closer you get to something, the tougher it is to see") by some dude called "Inoue Joe."

First thought through my head was "whoa, is his name really Joe?" followed closely by "who the hell is that?" (Being slightly knowledgeable of Japanese, I started thinking, "is his name pronounced Joe, like normal people, or is it Jo-eh, like it would be pronounced if the Japanese had such a word as "Joe."). Anywho, I did a little research, and it turns out he's only a year older than me, and he was born in LA. ("Oh! That's why he can actually sing in English without sounding like he has Down's syndrome!"). On further investigation, however, I discovered something that had me immediately hooked...

As it turns out, he plays every single instrument in his songs. Yeap, so he records the lead guitar, bass guitar, drums, and vocals, all separately, then mixes them together after the fact ("How does he perform live?"). Needless to say, I was blown away. "Dude, how can this not be the coolest guy ever? He plays 3 fucking instruments and he can sing," I thought to myself.

So began my quest to acquire his music via nefarious means. Yet, much to my chagrin, I was unable to ascertain the means to acquire said music (Google and Isohunt weren't turning anything up!). At this time, I was quite voracious in my desire to listen to his music, so I went to Youtube, searched for one of his videos, and constantly played it (see bottom for more details). And thus, I was forced to search for Joe Inoue in the most horrendous fashion imaginable.....Direct, Download.

*shudder*

Just typing it sends shivers down my spine. As I scoured the net (mostly asian forums) for direct download links to his songs, I was finally able to procure two items of his: His first EP, "IN A WAY" and his first single "Hello!" And thus, there was much joy in the land of JK. Ever since that fateful night three days ago, I've been enjoying his music on my Ipod on my way to class, on my way home from class, during class, while conversing with friends, while ignoring friends, all that good stuff.

Honestly, his music is not that special. The drum beats are insipid, the bass is droll, the lead guitar is uninspired, and the vocals are passable at best. But, I think it is this simplistic combination that makes me so drawn to it. You can tell it's not music that has been ground to a pulp, smushed together, and re-packaged by the corporate music industry. It may not be the most inventive music ever, but I find it refreshing compared to most of today's music that is constantly trying to be "new" and "fashionable."

With that, here is the video I had on repeat while trying to find his music. The song is called "Nowhere."


And here is the music video for "Closer," the latest Naruto: Shippuuden OP