Category: Music

  • Friendly BEG Reminder~

    …that Brown Eyed Girls’ comeback is just around the corner~

    New album comes out in like- one day, Nov. 5th.

    And this one sounds like a winner track.

    Looks like brand new management, brand new image.

  • Girly Zhou Xun, Kwai Lun Mei + Tang Wei for Rene Liu’s Wish You Well

    My limit for sap is through the roof, as I got all warm and fuzzy when I found this song Rene Liu recorded with mah gurls Zhou Xun, Kwai Lun Mei and Tang Wei (whom I’ve just recently warmed up). They’re all super cute and super dork and super sappy together. I love it.

    The song is called Wish You Well (我要你好好的), a single of Rene’s latest album of the same name, but it’s one of the last songs to get a video. The song Murmur of the Hearts (念念) [MV] is also on this album. I thought maybe it was for a movie, but doesn’t seem likely.

    Happy listening~ DORK AWAY!

  • Braganza vs. Bélier – FIGHT! This Heart Is Flying!

    Yeh Dil Vole! xD

    Anyone who’ve seen both Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s 1996 directorial debut Khamoshi: The Musical (Silence: The Musical) and last year’s Belgian-French La Famille Bélier -by Eric Lartigau- can spot the similarities between the two (as well as the 1996 German film Beyond Silence (Jenseits der Stille) by Caroline Link). You can even spot the similar plot points by either reading the outline or watching the trailer.

    In the pivotal emotional punch of the movie, the daughter (played by Manisha Koirala and Louane Emera respectively) auditions to the coveted singing position, when her (deaf) parents -who had been against the idea- show up to see their daughter perform both vocally and in sign language. Koirala (voiced by playback singer Kavita Krishnamurthy) doing Yeh Dil Sun Raha Hain (This Heart Is Listening), and Emera singing Je Vole (I Fly).

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SM5SDobPdi0

    Though Lartigau’s more modern take is much more musically accessible (let’s be honest, the film starts out with 2008 staple That’s Not My Name [1]), it’s also lighter. Bhansali’s story focuses a big chunk of his running time to tell the story of Manisha’s parents, also incredibly played by Nana Patekar and Seema Biswas, their struggle to raise a (hearing) child in near poverty levels, to the point that Patekar goes door to door with his daughter to make a living selling things.

    Of course, both also have a love interest, and both Salman and Ilian Bergala are the weakest link.

    I declare- DRAW!

  • 100 Songs in Chinese Music

    I’ve just published a list of 100 songs in Chinese (mostly Mandarin, but also Cantonese… and maybe Hokkien… can’t be sure of that) that’s a great cheat sheet for anyone wanting to show off their knowledge of the scene. There’s definitely a wide variety of artists, so you’re sure to find something you enjoy.

    yammag-100-songs-in-chinese-music

    Visit YAM Magazine for the list with a link included to the YouTube playlist.

  • Humming for Buddha Jump – GO!

    So I finally gave myself time to listen to both Buddha Jump (佛跳牆) albums. Their 2014 one, Let You See (給你看), is pretty good. Fell in love with this tune at first listen~ also, surprised to learn it’s a project by Penny Tai.

    The clip below is from a small show they did in China.

    You can get the album on iTunes.

  • Everything Bonito: Jarabe de Palo vs. Alanis – FIGHT!

    Spain vs. Canada – GO!

    The birth of the Road Music Video~ or maybe it’s just the Warner re-purpose.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6kLbDHu0yc

  • My Life in Music

    Will keep this list updated here.

    1. The Bangles – Different Light [YT Playlist]
    2. Arena Hash [Soundcloud]
    3. NKoTB – Hangin’ Tough [YT Playlist]
    4. El Show de July No. 2 [YT]
    5. Nubeluz [YT Playlist]
    6. Los Nosequien y los Nosecuantos – Con el Respeto que se Merecen [YT Playlist]
    7. Michael Jackson – Dangerous [YT Playlist]
    8. Sister Act 2 Soundtrack [YT Playlist]
    9. Beck – Mellow Gold [YT Playlist]
    10. Michael Jackson – HIStory: Past, Present and Future [YT Playlist]
    11. Salserin – Con Mucho Swing [YT Playlist]
    12. Torbellino – Corazón en la Ciudad [YT Playlist]
    13. Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill [YT Playlist]
    14. 1999
    15. La Ley – Uno [YT Playlist]
    16. Alejandro Sanz – MTV Unplugged [YT Playlist]
    17. Dixie Chicks – Home [YT Playlist]
    18. Pink – Try This [YT Playlist]
    19. Bjork – Medulla [Bandcamp]
    20. Andrea Echeverri [YT Playlist]
    21. Marit Larsen – Under te Surface [YT Playlist]
    22. Bibi Zhou Bichang
    23. Mayday – Poetry of the Day After [YT Playlist]
    24. Chang Shilei – Niu China [YT Playlist]
    25. Jonsi – Go [Bandcamp]
    26. Hebe Tien – My Love [YT Playlist]
    27. Galaxy United – The Absinthe [YT Playlist]
    28. Kishi Bashi – 151a [Bandcamp]
    29. Calle 13 – MultiViral [YT Playlist]
    30. Su Yunying – Ming Ming [YT Playlist]
    31. ANOHNI – Hopelessness [YT Playlist]
    32. Chen Weilun – Think Miss Sorrow [YT Playlist]
    33. Chen Li – Playlist [YT Playlist]
    34. ZenKwun – Existing like God [YT Playlist]
    35. Yuguo – Angry Horse [YT Playlist]
    36. Shortparis – Apple Orchard [YT Playlist]
    37. The Dada – Hello! [YT Playlist]

  • Finally Listening to Ellen Loo

    I’ve been hearing Ellen Loo’s name very often for the last three years, but I never ever really took the time to sit down and listen to her albums until this weekend… and wow- I’ve just finally gone through her 2nd album You Quietly Hide Away (你安安靜靜地躲起來), which is a tremendous improvement from her debut Ripples (掀起), which isn’t all that bad either. I particularly liked Wait (等等), Hey Boy, Summer of Love, and Satellite Lover (人造衛星情人).

    Ni An An Jing Jing De Duo Qi Lai comes as a surprise. I’m also surprised she sings in Mandarin so much, since my Hong Kong friends are the ones talking about her, I expected to listen to a lot more Cantonese.

    Here’s some links: YouTube, Xiami, Spotify, iTunes.

  • The Most Scandalous Side of Ghaath

    I’m maybe one of two (or three) people that actually liked Ghaath. Actually, scratch that- IMDb is showing me that, at least, 20 people have voted this movie over 6. So there you go, we’re about 20 people. But maybe I have a strong bias, the film has a political moralistic theme of the late-90s early 00s era but avoids the masala shenanigans for the most part, it also has Anu Malik music — with two great songs that I enjoy — and the chemistry between Tabu and Manoj Bajpayee, who are also getting back together this year (after Salman in Jai Ho, Ajay in the upcoming Drishyam).

    When a titillating item song comes on screen, I’m usually the one rolling my eyes at some of the embarrassment… and the Telugu film industry has usually taken the cake when it comes to silly sexism. Not even Tabu can escape it (her number in Pandurangadu gets the crown with that orange juice moment). However, I do remember the first time that I ever gasped seeing a Bollywood movie because *gasp* They kissed! It was the Chup Chup Ke [clip] number in Bunty Aur Babli. It was before I realized I did enjoyed seeing Abhishek and Rani together [1], but they were always married on film!

    In the number for Teri Aashiqui Meri Zindagi, Tabu’s character is never married to Manoj’s, they fairly recently met at their family/friend’s wedding and had their moment in Hum Bhi Samajh Rahe Hain [clip] — there sure is a lot of rain and white-wearing caressing and singing, but it’s just playful boy-meets-girl girl-meets-boy, a lot of face-touching… but never EVER an engagement or wedding, yet… yet… there’s this 20-second love-making behind a torn down hellenistic column that results in a baby. LOL

    There’s all sort of face and neck action foreplay (I’m like “Omo, omomomomomo I swear she’s licking that neck“) before the hellenistic column action, as well as the obvious after scene.

    Of course there was a baby. There’s never a sex scene in these movies that doesn’t end with these consequences… it happens here in Ghaath, as it happens in Raiou.

  • Most Girl Crushes and Pink Hair Aspirations

    Weren’t all slightly rebellious girls into Pink’s hair? Also, old school Pink is so much more awesome than adult Pink, though we must all grow up.

    I can’t ever grow my hair that way, so dyed into different colors- it all looked a lot more like Joey Fatone’s than Pink’s xD