Good news and bad ones~
First, about a week or two ago Yuguo announced that they were finally releasing their third full studio album Sunset Strip (日落大道), which seemed like it had been in the planning for ages [1].
It’s the 23rd in China, and it happened!
You can listen to the album (and download the songs) via Xiami.
BiBi’s got a brand new song titled Hello World, the theme for the new Mainland Chinese movie The Breakup Guru (分手大师), which opens… on June 27th. The vibe of the song is very Train’s Hey Soul Sister-y and Jason Mraz-y chill whimsical folksy.
Fun fact: Jason Mraz’s Wordplay [MV] was my jam back in my Vancouverite days. Never liked him as much since then.
… and in the process gets to remind me of Dido, for some reason.
Tizzy Bac vocalist Chen Hui Ting is set to release her solo album 21gr. (21克), which includes this song titled Set on Fire. The video is directed by Lin Hui Bin (林揮斌)… but I’m unsure if he did the light painting or just put together the video.
I always have such respect for people that light-paint in Chinese characters or Arabic. Haven’t run into people using Devanagari or Sanskrit or any other non-Roman script, though, that’d be really interesting.
Well, this is a completely unexpected collaboration. I’m not completely feeling the English lyrics added to the EPIK HIGH cover, I think it would’ve made more sense if they had added Mandarin instead. However, I bet I would be complaining about how pedestrian the lyrics in Chinese are. LOL So I’ll settle.
Instead~ look at how awkward the vibe of the Making Of is at the beginning, and how they all sort of become dorks by the end of it. xD It’s even more funny if you’ve EVER been the only person in a room that doesn’t speak a language –in this case Korean– and then sort of blurt out a nodding affirmation in said language.
Talk about experiences. Keeping an eye out for Korea’s Jambinai x)
A couple of weeks ago (maybe during the beginning of the year), I discovered Kishi Bashi and the amazingness that is his 151a album. He’s just announced his new album titled Lighght, and has supposedly released this new track titled Philosophize In It! Chemicalize With It! that I think is slightly different to the one included in his Philosophize! Chemicalize! EP last year.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/131688244″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
I’ve been so disconnected from Shakira for so long. I still listen to her old albums, but that fandom fijacion that would have been is not there- that means I literally don’t know what’s new with Shakira. After the birth of her son, she’s making a comeback. The last single I sort of knew was Loba or She Wolf, so apparently it’s been less time since her last album.
Not a fan of Can’t Remember to Forget You, but her latest single Empire brought back all those Piez Descalzos and Donde Estan Los Ladrones vibes and feelings. Lyrics-wise still not there, but it’s okay.
All of a sudden interested on what’s coming up with her new album.
Happy new year, everyone!
Sorry for the lack of posts last month. To make up for it, here are five posts so you can catch up to my 2013 and to get you going this 2014.
Faye Wong’s baby girl is no longer a baby. Leah Dou (Dou Jingtong, 竇靖童) is freaking 16 years old, and I just discovered that she’s posted a song online. Daughter of Chinese musician Dou Wei (窦唯) and Asian diva Faye Wong, you’d think their daughter would be predestined for musical haven — Of course, in this day and age, you would be more inclined to think that she’d be a spoiled brat. But her introduction makes it seem like she’s a composed young adult.
Seems like Dou and Wong have been decent parents.
Move over Taylor Swift, as much as your first two albums seemed to pave an okay-ish path of songwriting skills with some… vocals, Leah Dou has arrived and hasn’t even started yet. Is not only that she’s Faye Wong’s child (and she’s enormous) , that just got me mildly interested. I clicked on the link thinking “oh, great! Another kid on the internet with a guitar.” But passed the first few chords, the quality of her voice is just… mind-blowing. And I don’t think she’s even trying to impress. She’s just chilling.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/80849421″ params=”color=ff0090&auto_play=false&show_artwork=true” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
Of course this comes after her mom’s latest release that has already shot up to my favorite tracks this year, and I doubt any other track will snatch the #1 spot for my yearly music countdown.
You can follow Leah’s activities on Facebook, YouTube, Soundcloud and Twitter… and Weibo.
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.
