<p>Which asianic language has the best songs to listen to? </p>
<p>And also, could someone teach me the differences between Cantonese pop, Taiwanese pop, and Chinese music?</p>
<p>I would say Chinese music has very solid vocals but somewhat traditional songs. Taiwanese music tends to be more unique due to influences from Western cultures, but many Taiwanese singers actually can't sing that well. Other than that, the only differences I can think of are that.. Cantonese pop uses Cantonese, and Taiwanese and Chinese pop uses Mandarin. <em>shrug</em></p>
<p>The only two Asian "bands" I've ever listened to are X-Japan and Mintjam. </p>
<p>Here's a link to a Mintjam song that they distribute for free online [so it's not illegal to listen to it :)). . .it's in Japanese and I'd love if someone could translate for me:</p>
<p>MintJam</a> - Rival</p>
<p>Why on earth would you put "band" in quotes when describing X Japan? They were/are absolutely legendary in the Japanese rock scene. You could argue that they (and a few other bands like Luna Sea and Kuroyume) were the progenitors of a whole new genre of rock music in Japan.</p>
<p>What can I say? I'm a total visual kei dork. :D</p>
<p>I've always liked the Pillows myself.</p>
<p>So then, which language sounds the best? They're all tonal right?</p>
<p>I think Japanese and Mandarin/Taiwanese sounds best.</p>
<p>I think Japanese sounds the best. I'm a fan of Dir En Grey, Gackt, and Concerto Moon, though I've heard some X-Japan stuff.</p>
<p>Like to correct steevee if he meant that Mandarin and Taiwanese are the same language. Taiwanese is a dialect of Mandarin Chinese and actually sounds a bit like the speaker is singing. </p>
<p>The languages are pretty much all tonal and I personally prefer Mandarin Chinese. Cantonese has a bit too many guttural sounds for my liking.</p>
<p>I've always thought that Korean singers have better voices than Japanese singers, but that's just my preference.</p>
<p>I spent 10 months in Japan at a girls high school, so I'm well versed in the Japanese pop scene. But it was at times too much for my taste (Is anyone here familiar with the Johnny's music company? Yeah...). In Japan, you need to go out in search of Japanese rock bands because they won't be on TV <em>usually</em>. I saw Duel Jewel and Gackt on TV a couple of times <em>I like them both</em>, but that was it.</p>
<p>What is your preferred musical genre?</p>
<p>I feel like the asian music scene is so much less diverse and rich. im chinese and although a lot of the songs are cool, they dont go beyond clever pop song writing. i have yet to hear good jazz, rock, blues or alternative music out of the east (there probably is, but no on epays attention thus we never see any of it).</p>
<p>if ur into pop/mainstream, it works, but for those whose tastes branch out a bit beyond that, its not much.</p>
<p>^Definitely agreed.</p>
<p>Asians overrate rap too much. Since the upcoming of the new trend, the majority of whatever comes out of their mouths is rap. There was one group that redid Queen's classic We Will Rock You with rap and naturally it sounds like ****. They need to learn that rap and good music are not synonymous.</p>
<p>What is Cantonese? Is it like a subset of Mandarin?</p>
<p>Um.. Cantonese speakers please correct me on this one, but I believe Cantonese is a dialect of Mandarin Chinese. However, it's quite prevalent, leading many to think of Cantonese when someone says 'Oh, I speak Chinese'. That's why the actual language 'Chinese' is divided into Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese. Mandarin is also the standardized language that all Chinese people, barring some local phrases/grammar differences, is able to speak.</p>
<p>The pronunciations of Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese are far enough apart that I'd consider them separate languages. There are a lot of immigrants from Cantonese-speakning areas in the US, so it might lead people to believe that lots of people in China speak Cantonese, but it's not true.</p>
<p>Mandarin Chinese is often taken to mean Beijing Dialect. Not all people in China speak Beijing Dialect - there are lot of Shanghainese speakers, as well as those who speak the Southern Dialect of Mandarin Chinese. A lot of the ethnic minorities have their own languages, and some of the other dialects of Mandarin Chinese are unintelligible to people who speak Beijing Dialect, and vice versa.</p>
<p>Hmm, it's kind of like English. You have the southern drawl, northern clipped words and western um... something which I don't know. Good thing there's putonghua, or we'd never get anywhere.</p>
<p>LOL, melli. I actually find putonghua/Beijing Dialect hard to understand. People sound like they have rocks in their mouths when they speak. Of course, I speak Chinese with a Southern/Taiwanese/American accent, so what do I know.</p>
<p>Back at home there's a Fujianese restaurant, and the people there are absolutely unintelligible to me. I just looked up "Fujianese" on Wikipedia, and it turns out that Fujianese/Fuzhou Dialect is so different from Mandarin Chinese that some people consider it a totally separate language. Go figure. :) That restaurant does serve tasty tasty crayfish, though.</p>
<p>Anyone else like music from Asia?</p>
<p>Oy...vey...</p>
<p>
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Um.. Cantonese speakers please correct me on this one, but I believe Cantonese is a dialect of Mandarin Chinese. However, it's quite prevalent, leading many to think of Cantonese when someone says 'Oh, I speak Chinese'. That's why the actual language 'Chinese' is divided into Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese. Mandarin is also the standardized language that all Chinese people, barring some local phrases/grammar differences, is able to speak.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Mandarin and Cantonese are arguably different languages, but most linguists place them in the same language category of "Chinese." However, Cantonese is not a "dialect of Mandarin," nor is it widespread. It's just very much concentrated in certain areas, and if you live in one of those areas (San Francisco, for example) odds are that you hear it a lot. Mandarin is spoken by many many more people in many more countries.</p>
<p>
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The languages are pretty much all tonal and I personally prefer Mandarin Chinese.
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<p>Japanese and Korean are not tonal.</p>
<p>
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I've always thought that Korean singers have better voices than Japanese singers, but that's just my preference.
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<p>I think that Utada can keep up with almost any of the other pop singers worldwide. Same thing for Hirai Ken.</p>
<p>
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i have yet to hear good jazz, rock, blues or alternative music out of the east
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<p>For jazz, check out Hiromi</p>
<p>NPR</a> Music: Japanese Jazz Prodigy Hiromi: 'Spiral'</p>
<p>Rock is very well-developed in Japan, at least. If you want more metal, there's always X Japan and Loudness. For punk, you can get a variety of bands like Ellegarden and Asian Kung-Fu Generation. For more alternative sounds, check out Shonen Knife.</p>
<p>However, I think that Japan's greatest contributions to music today are in jazz and classical. Some of the world's greatest classical musicians are coming from Japan, including Seiji Ozawa and Fujiko Hemming. If you ever want to hear Liszt done right, Hemming is a joy to listen to.</p>
<p>Haha shades -- I speak with a Taiwanese/American accent as well. I find that with the Beijing accent, you just need to listen extra carefully and take a moment to go through what they said. It's a way of listening for me. </p>
<p>UCLAri - I meant the languages the OP had written. =)</p>