KANA - Kuuchuu Buranko (Sky Swing)

I know I call it the GOOD music but every now and then even I gotta question that. Today happens to be one of those days. I can defend myself fairly well when I say Justin Timberlake is pretty cool but this is sorta hard to stand behind. One day many moons ago I was pillaging files from Soulseek when I came across Kana.

First off I have to say I pretty much hate Visual Kei, or Visual Style in English. Visual Kei is characterized by bands using dramatic costumes and visual imagery (read: gay) to apparently enhance the band's performance. Visual Kei is often focused upon in the West as a uniquely Japanese part of the Rock music scene. Visually and aurally, the closest match in the west would be a band like Marylin Manson where eye make-up is as important as lyrics. That however isn't what I dislike about the scene. I am more turned off by the unrelenting nasal wailing that seems to be attached like a cancerous wart to the whole scene. There are debates as to whether or not Kana can be categorized as Visual Kei but I will simplify it and say she is, I suck, and I sorta like it.

One evening I was walking by Namba Hatch, a popular concert venue in Osaka, when I saw maybe a thousand lolita girls in neo-Victorian dresses, covered in bloody gauze, each holding little stuffed animals. It was the sexiest thing I saw all day. Later next morning while watching the news I found out they were there for a Kana concert. Kana helped me have a great little surreal experience so I'm giving her uber-points for that.

She began her career as a model for The Gothic And Lolita Bible magazine, and still appears in the magazine regularly. In 2000, she ventured into music by releasing the Maxi single, 'Hebi-Ichigo (蛇苺)'. Kana's singing is often the subject of severe criticism. Her vocals seem to alternate between cutesy and high-pitched to a harsh, screechy type. There's almost always no middle ground when it comes to its preference - you either love it or hate it. I guess I'll play the exception and say I'm still not sure how I feel. She collects pandas, and her main panda is Toraboruta. Most of the plushies do photo shoots with her, and appear in her music videos.

Today's video is from her third maxi single released in 2001. There's some pretty awesome chimpanzee-on-acid keyboard playing in the background and Kana let's off a couple of decent soul crushing screams so that was enough to win her a place in the GOOD music. Although her latest album was released in 2005, she hasn't released another 'official' music video since the one shown below. She has however recently released a number of bizarre early promotional/art videos that are worth checking out. Think 'The Ring' meets 'Hello Kitty'. For more information, check out the Kana-P no Mori website which is probably the de facto resource on all things Kana.