I'm listening to Keshou to Heitai, a cd by Tujiko Noriko, a great Japanese female artist who mixes electronica with altpop... that description will make you think of Björk probably, but it's not quite like that... dreamier, less shrill voice and very good (though Björk is quite good too)... the track "Komoriuta No Mukougawa" is just heavenly!
she's got songs with english and japanese lyrics, but I prefer the latter, because they're more special to me, I guess...

I think I saw her for ten minutes at an aftershow of an Interpol & Dead Man Ray gig, but my mate didn't like her much and I wasn't quite used to that kind of music back then either...

the greatest thing about her btw is her use of samples, primarily those of her own voice...

Well I am checking it out now...I found some clips. Very soothing stuff. I'll check it out further

Well, finally I have gotten a hold of some of her stuff, and I like what I've heard. Looks like she has a decent-sized catalog out. I don't know why, but this reminds me a little of Nikakoi's work (even as he is largely all-instrumental). They are both comparitively pared down, and that might well be it. But there's another quality both artists possess that I can't quite put my finger on...

I'm glad to hear that you like her, Seerix. Which records or songs did you listen to?
I haven't heard of that Nikakoi guy but I'll surely check him out!

Nikakoi is an electronic fellow, I believe from Russia or nearabouts. I ran into him after dealing with a lengthy harangue from my cousin as to how awful Klaus Schultze was. Now, Schultze does have a lot of material, and yes, much of it I don't like, but I've no idea why my cousin hated it so much.

"Now HERE is someone I can handle. I like this guy" he said, and sent me some MP3's via our instant messaging. To me it was like someone saying "Man, I can't stand Enya. This band Primus, on the other hand..." and so you go look for Primus expecting it to be in the ballpark of Enya.

Well ok, it wasn't quite that different He was on an electronic forum and was going by suggestions, which is a what I do here when I am not ripping on Linkin Park You could look for either Stretchtika or Shentimental, but I am not sure what else he has released.

The Tujiko Noriko I have is Kesyou to Heitai, which I was listening to on the first post, and I see I also have one called From Tokyo to Niagara (I had Soulseek going and then went to sleep, waking up a bazillian MP3's...) So I have started to play that, and the first song is consistent with the other album. I may be buying some new CD's after all!

Well I haven't got a clue who Klaus Schultze is

Listened to some Nikakoi snippets on his label's site, it seems okay at first listening... the tracks from Shentimental seem a bit too minimal for me maybe, the ones from the other album are more my thing I think, with vocals and stuff...

I can see a similarity with Noriko's work somewhere, but it's not too striking either, I find...

oh and of Tujiko Noriko, be sure to check her album Shojo Toshi!

I'm on it!

great!

Oh yea, she's not quite like Björk but I can still say that I like her very much. I downloaded that album and I think it's quite a good listen.