Shibuya-kei

Shibuya-kei is a <a href="/facts/Microgenre/Ycf00o1z">microgenre</a> of <a href="/facts/Pop_music/kgshFE5B">pop music</a> or a general aesthetic that flourished in Japan in the mid-to-late 1990s. The music genre is distinguished by a "cut-and-paste" approach that was inspired by the <a href="/facts/Kitsch/6jlx8rNY">kitsch</a>, fusion, and artifice from certain music styles of the past. The most common reference points were 1960s culture and Western pop music, especially the work of <a href="/facts/Burt_Bacharach/MWS9abrW">Burt Bacharach</a>, <a href="/facts/Brian_Wilson/lHqBFEUI">Brian Wilson</a>, <a href="/facts/Phil_Spector/SuAgFztt">Phil Spector</a>, and <a href="/facts/Serge_Gainsbourg/YCXArzdD">Serge Gainsbourg</a>.
Shibuya-kei first emerged as retail music from the <a href="/facts/Shibuya/jbgaPt7M">Shibuya</a> district of <a href="/facts/Tokyo/LttKYU40">Tokyo</a>. <a href="/facts/Flipper%2527s_Guitar/0XXolyAc">Flipper's Guitar</a>, a duo led by <a href="/facts/Kenji_Ozawa/yzCUIkjk">Kenji Ozawa</a> and <a href="/facts/Keigo_Oyamada/3pUeAdhu">Keigo Oyamada</a> (Cornelius), formed the bedrock of the genre and influenced all of its groups, but the most prominent Shibuya-kei band was <a href="/facts/Pizzicato_Five/WPdYSRrU">Pizzicato Five</a>, who fused mainstream <a href="/facts/J-pop/8czcWhyu">J-pop</a> with a mix of <a href="/facts/Jazz/lmUzXGq8">jazz</a>, <a href="/facts/Soul_music/y68RPFIa">soul</a>, and lounge influences. Shibuya-kei peaked in the late 1990s and declined after its principal players began moving into other music styles.
Overseas, fans of Shibuya-kei were typically <a href="/facts/Indie_pop/BERqJEEV">indie pop</a> enthusiasts, partly because many Shibuya-kei records had been distributed through major <a href="/facts/Indie_label/1NzjGB3c">indie labels</a> like <a href="/facts/Matador_Records/kgENkSk0">Matador</a> and <a href="/facts/Grand_Royal_Records/Gb51yju4">Grand Royal</a> in the United States and Bungalow in Europe.

Shibuya-kei open-in-new

Shibuya-kei