It’s rainbows and puppies with S.H.E — I think, they’re prepping for their tour (2gether 4Ever?) — but the girls have released a new (spec) music video for the song Hereafter, Hereafter (後來後來) from their last album, which is all about them growing up and being apart, not like they used to be. It’s all about friendship and fluff. You can check a decent translation here.
From left to right.- Laure Shang Wenjie, animator Bill Plympton, Crowd Lu, and Esteman.
For the past couple of months I’ve been able to interview some of these awesome people. But that you knew if you were following all my ramblings on YAM Magazine.
For some other of my interviews, click here.
I was browsing albums, when I stumbled upon this album cover by Elliot Tupac.
Of course, for those in the know, you’d know that’s a super Chicha style type of typography [1], so interested to see what it was all about, I did a quick search. You’d be happy to know you can stream all of the EP Cuatro Tigres on Soundcloud, as well as their new album Canibalismo. Chicha Libre is a multi-ethnic Brooklyn-based group formed by Americans, Mexicans, Venezuelans and French musicians mixing Peruvian Chicha music with 60s psychedelic music and stuff. It’s pretty trippy.
I never in my life would’ve thought that I’d be sitting through more than one album of Chicha music. The most interesting thing is that there’s no Peruvians in sight on core members of the group. You can check them out on Facebook or Twitter. I’m not entirely a Chicha convert, but I appreciate the variety in the concept of the group. I do think they sound a lot like Chicha groups, but sing in English instead. Novelty, but it gets a bit tiring by the fourth track.
Conveniently, the group was asked to do a The Simpsons tune for one of the episodes.
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Back in 2012, during the CCTV Spring Gala, I was marveled watching Chinese dancer/choreographer Yang Liping (杨丽萍) doing her Peacock Love dance. First, I know it was totally not intended considering how visual a male peacock could be, but I loved that figuratively it was two male peacocks dancing a “dance of love” while literally it was a male and a female. ;P
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F54YqlUa60
Then I was shocked that Yang Liping (after I learned her name, of course) was in her 50s. Just looking at the video, I could have thought she was in her late 20s or her 30s. It was definitely a stretch to find her no in her 40s, but her 50s. In a world where people think 30 is too old, I was even more shocked.
CCTV is doing a special these coming weeks, I think she has retired or something? She recently did a Weibo Talk, so I went on a Yang Liping YouTube binge, where I found this fabulous video, and discovered the amazingness that is Dynamic Yunnan (云南印象).
Jing Chang just posted a photo of her in MJ attire.
Though it’s hot from the knee up, I gotta say- shoes are kind of distracting.
Except for that 3-year break MTV took off the Breakthrough Music Video category, they had continued giving away the prize — which had been given to the likes of Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry and Chris Cunningham — until 2010, when they officially removed the category.
So I ask again, what happened to Breakthrough Music Videos?
As a reminder, I put together a list with all the winners.
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If I had been picking winners (from that past post), I chose:
For the other two years, you know I’m probably partial to SunnyHill [1], but I’ll go with Salyu’s Tadano Tomodachi [1] concept because it’s much more a production concept than a music video concept. For 2012, despite its serious hard-hitting concept [1], I would have to go with Graham Coxon’s What’ll It Take [MV] due to its imaginative execution using fan footage.
So what are some of your favorite music videos?
What do you get when you put rap, hip-hop and swing together- besides Simon D. [1]. How about adding some western into the mix? With a dash of Esteman and Andrea Echeverri [1]. And how about adding a dash of Swedish into it too? That’s MOVITS! yo~~~
At least that’s them on their latest single [1].
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It’s like… it’s like Glen Hansard rapping in Swedish. LOL
I just began listening (truly listen) to Mayday’s discography pre the Born to Love days, finishing off titles/pinyin/title translations, when I ran into this song titled Masquerade (Male, Female, One Body) from their 2003 album, Time Machine (時光機). The thing is, the title of the song is Ci Xiong Tong Ti (雌雄同體), which is the term used to refer to “hermaphrodites” (which, by the way, isn’t longer a term accepted for people, who are now referred to as “intersex”). Perplexed, thinking that Google Translate was giving me a wonky translation, I checked the dictionary to double check.
On a quick google search, I found a pretty terrific (singable) translation of the song.
Rather than you understand me—I’d rather be a mystery
A puzzle you just cannot solve, of what’s false and real, it’ll play at your heartstrings
I’ll play you, or play your opposite form; partake in this game of love that you’ve borne.
via NoStarWords @ LJ + starriheavens
My mind was melted. I mean, it’s not VERY often you get playful duality in music, playing on gender-role conventions and completely avoiding the titillation that seethes from… well, everywhere now.
I know so many people who would download loads of music for free, but still buy the stuff they liked (usually discovered from their own or other people’s free downloads). Now those same people listen to Spotify and feel that they have paid the artists, so no longer feel the need to buy the songs they like.
Comment on Artists, Please! Don’t Put Spotify Play Buttons On Your Site…
Additional info: How Much Do Music Artists Earn Online?
I don’t want to say “POWERFUL!!!” because I will feel like the captioning person on Korean variety programs. However, I just stumbled upon this video of TINY-G doing the choreography of their debut [MV], which I liked more than the actual music video. For one, you can actually see what’s going on without much distractions, and you can appreciate that they’re bringing a lot of HMPH! to their dancing in the way that 90s pop music used to have women dancing in not-high-heels and stomping their feet looking that they’re dancing instead of seducing you.
There’s still a long LONG way to go for TINY-G, and we still need to see if their management ever dares to push the girls for a super girly concept for a comeback single like they love to do in Korea — which, sadly, seems like a huge possibility from the few comments I’ve been able to read asking why these tiny girls need to wear such baggy clothing when they’re so minuscule. Apparently people have issues with baggy clothes. Is it not feminine enough?
Would you rather see them stomping with high heels and minis, so they can eff up their kidneys… just so they can look feminine and show their slender bodies to you?
Looking at TINY-G, it brings back memories of me rooting for Britney.
