Shopping Guide
Right now, because of video hosting sites like YouTube, individuals can easily send videos out to the whole world. Moreover, because of the influence of Cool Japan, the number of foreigners becoming obsessed with Japanese anime, comics, and Vocaloids has increased. We’d like to introduce the Russian band Pudra (meaning Powder), who may have been born out of this phenomenon.
When Pudra announced their cover of the Naruto theme song “Blue Bird” on YouTube, they became a hot topic on the Internet. The reason wasn’t only that they sang the song so well, but that none of the four pretty Russian band members can speak any Japanese.
If you check out the videos they’ve posted, such as “Blue Bird” and Hibari Misora’s “Makkana Taiyou,” and only listen to them instead of watching them, you would think that they are being sung by a Japanese person. The musical arrangements are also really cute, effectively edgy, and have a great feel.
They don’t just cover Japanese songs though. They’ve also done the Beatles’ “Twist and Shout,” showcasing the quality of their English pronunciation and sense of rhythm. The four girls dancing and singing in the pop performance videos are really fun to watch too.
The four members of Pudra are: Gerya on bass, Racha on guitar, Bera on drums, and Kocha on keyboards. The ages of the girls range from 13-17. From just watching the videos, it seems that Racha and Gerya seem to be in charge of vocals most of the time.
There has been a big reaction from net users who have viewed their videos. “Cool!,” “Their costumes and performances are so cute!,” “Keep it up!,” and, “I want them to sing this song!” were among the comments and requests left for the girls. Right now, it could be said that Pudra symbolise Cool Japan on the net, and we would like to see them develop from here on.
Pudra’s Official Site:
http://pudrahouse.ru/ (Russian)
This is a Tokyo Otaku Mode original article.
