Kobukuro

Kobukuro, together with 19 and Yuzu, are considered the biggest Japanese folk-rock acts of the new century. They shouldn't be considered practitioners of world music, though -- they sound like Simon & Garfunkel devotees with an ear for lush arrangements and with good pop sensibilities, which have been manifested in million-strong sales. The duo is comprised of Kobuchi Kentaro (guitars and vocals) and Kuroda Shunsuke (vocals) and sports a striking visual appearance without specifically working on it: Kuroda, at six feet plus four inches tall, sticks out two heads above his buddy. Kobuchi and Kuroda got acquainted in 1998. Both men had good daytime jobs (Kobuchi was a salesman and Kuroda a phys-ed teacher), but Kuroda was also doing street performances and Kobuchi composed songs in his leisure time. He met Kuroda singing on a shopping street in Sakai and wrote a tune for him. Soon, the two were joining syllables from their family names to form the band's moniker ("Kobu-Kuro"). Kobukuro plodded as an indie band for a while, releasing EPs Saturday 8PM (1999), Root of My Mind (2000), and Answer (2000), but the latter two were well received by the public, and that prompted Warner Music to sign the group in 2001. With the label behind them, Kobukuro were able to get their debut major single, "Yell," to shoot to number four on the Oricon charts. Their first major LP, Roadmade (2001), was soon out, supported by the band's first nationwide tour in 2002, and subsequent releases -- Grapefruits (2002), Straight (2003), and Music Man Ship (2004) -- all entered the Top Ten, proving that Kobukuro were there to stay. In 2005, their single "Eien Ni Tomo Ni" (released in October 2004) became Japan's most popular wedding song of the year. The band's ascendency to the big leagues was...