You can draw your own conclusions about charts after hearing the official top selling single, worldwide, straight in number 1 with a debut release.

"Real Face" by Kat-Tun (pronounced "cartoon"), a Japanese pop band who have been together for 5 years, groomed to perfection by Johnny Kitagawa and already huge stars across Asia, they just never got around to putting a CD out until last week.

We thought it would be a fun, throwaway, "let's play a clip and move on" type song to feature on Core, but we've listened a few times now and - damn - it's growing on us! Right now it's distracting presenter Kevin Hughes during his big FM network show (don't tell the boss). If you listen carefully, you will actually find a bit of every contemporary musical style in there, juxtaposed in the most unexpected ways. Madness? Genius? A "beautiful disaster" as Kelly Clarkson might say? I know J-pop is hard to get at the best of times, but there's something about this one....???

See what you think - hear it here: tokyostripper.castpost.com/349922.html or have a listen to Core around 9pm this Sunday!

Some languages just don't sing very well.
Italian is the best by far.
German is the worst (though Dutch runs it close).
French is, for me, the best rap language.
Japanese is somewhere in the middle.
But towards the bottom!

Damn right about French being the best rap language. Check out the soundtrack to Luc Besson's film 'taxi' for some great tunes from the marseille scene.

Hmmm... it is really odd, and I probably went a bit OTT with the love for it... but there something on there which needs sampling into a proper hit for the rest of the world - more the music than the rap!

French is THE best language for songs and even rap - a good French vocalist could make a shopping list sound sexy. What's wrong with German? Perfect for passionate shouty rock! If you don't believe me, check out the best rock gig photo of all time - the crowd at a Die Toten Hosen gig, taken by Andreas Gursky. Stick a big print on your wall (like the New York MoMA did) and you'll inspire any musician who sees it to make HITS!

nm

Bern wrote:
.... check out the best rock gig photo of all time - the crowd at a Die Toten Hosen gig, taken by Andreas Gursky. Stick a big print on your wall (like the New York MoMA did) and you'll inspire any musician who sees it to make HITS!

Bern

Hit us with a link for this photo please.

Ta

The pic you're looking for is called "Tote Hosen" by Andreas Gursky - I've not found a very big version online, but there's a mini version at www.wadsworthatheneum.org/view/contempor...php?art_work_index=0

You'll also find it in a few books, maybe even posters, but nothing else does justice to the massively detailed 7 x 17 foot original is at MoMA - well worth checking out if you pass through New York!

Bear in mind when you see it that "Tote Hosen" literally means "dead trousers", a German expression for "there's nothing going on"...

I couldn't let this pass without saying that the West African language Wolof is THE best language for rapping. And I'm not being a smarty-pants. Anyone remember Positive Black Soul? They have a track called "Blaw" in Wolf and English, where the pair run rings around their American guests. You'll find it on the Global Hip-Hop compilation. There's a short extract on the link below:

www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001D8OWM/ref...lance&n=5174

PSB have more or less split up. But there's a thriving scene in Gabon, Guinea, Mali and Ivory Coast. Plus, of course, Senegal. Check

http://www.african-rap.com/


Michael

nm

I wasn't really into writing lyrics at the time... they had a big hit at the time and wanted an English translation/version but the song didn't do much for me.