Category: Music

  • Shiina Ringo’s NIPPON for NHK’s FIFA

    If FIFA’s World Cup is making me choose between Pitbull and Ricky Martin. Okay, I’ll take this~

    NHK got Shiina Ringo to make a song for their coverage of the event, and that’s all we need to know. I’m not sure what’s the coverage is gonna be like down here (cable or networks), but I’m sure we’re stuck with Pitbull.

    I just knew songs were gonna suck when they started announcing the social media contests to “create the song” for the World Cup. Cheap music will always be cheap.


  • Jambinai’s got the Connection~

    Talk about experiences. Keeping an eye out for Korea’s Jambinai x)


  • JeA, You’re Killing Me~~~

    Oh, heck yes, I’m GOING~

    THEY ALL COME TO ME. First, Bjork, then the BackStreet Boys, Miyavi and (bonus for) Big Bang. Now it’s JeA’s turn. Maybe you don’t know, JeA is my BEG bias.

    After much deliberation with a friend, we decided to crash the Lunafly concert for JeA, just to get a glimpse of her.


  • Bitter at Times or Sweet as Honey for Yuva

    A lot of people don’t seem to like Abhishek Bachchan. I don’t particularly find him attractive, but I do think he can act a lot more easily, than- let’s say Hrithik Roshan, who -I think- is SUPER hot. But maybe my opinion on the both of them is biased considering the first Abhishek film I saw was Yuva, and Hrithik got stuck with K3G. Also, I haven’t seen that many Hrithik movies, but at least he was good in Guuzarish.

    Obviously, I have more fun with a Shahrukh Khan/Rani pairing, but if I didn’t have to count Bunty Aur Babli (Ok, and maybe KANK), I’d put the Abhishek/Rani pairing ahead of Aamir/Rani. Rani has loads of chemistry with Shahrukh and Abhishek… especially in Yuva. They’re loving each other one moment, and exploding into serious argument the next. And the resolution to their conflict is pure serious drama, I love it.

    The track Kabhi Neem Neem is pure A.R Rahman crack. According to the online dictionary, ‘neem‘ refers to a tree whose bitter bark is used as tonic.

    Have I told you my iTunes library is now filled with Bollywood soundtracks?


  • BiBi Bounces Back

    BiBi did a rendition of Mavis Fan & 100%’s Who Gives a Damn What Song Is On (管他什麼音樂) [MV] in a mash-up with ABBA’s Thank You for the Music that everyone loved landing her in the #2 position behind GEM.

    Frankly, I wasn’t completely feeling her version of the Mavis Fan song, because- DUH! Mavis Fan sings it best. It’s an attitude, nothing about the voice. But I’m sick and tired of people complaining about BiBi- when I love her arrangement to highlight her voice, they say it’s boring. When she delivers this type of performance, they say she can’t sing. Worse yet! They complain her voice is nasal. WTF, BiBi’s voice is the complete opposite of nasal, people generally confuse it with a male’s voice!

    Get a grip and take a chill pill.


  • Sign Me Up for the Upcoming Shiina Ringo Concert Release

    I was catching up with all my ‘to watch’ queue on YouTube which at some point had been inundated with Shiina Ringo thumbnails. After her split from Tokyo Jihen and the celebration of her debut 15 years ago, she’s releasing this gorgeous (and pricey) concert.

    I was just marveling myself with the palest of pale queens and thought to myself that if I ever get to see her show live, I would probably cry. When Bjork was here for the first and only time, I remember tearing up a bit- the others I would tear up/cry for would be Shiina Ringo, Faye Wong… and BiBi, for sure.

    It’s been ages since I last bought anything on HMV Japan.


  • Kishi Bashi ‘Philosophizes’ for Lighght

    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” /]


  • Vidya and Tabu for Urumi

    Normally… normally I wouldn’t turn down the opportunity to watch Vidya Balan and Tabu (together!) on a film, which is the case with Urumi (English complete title~ Urumi: The Warriors Who Wanted to Kill Vasco da Gama), but I just can’t shake the feeling that it’s gonna be more than two hours of cringe-worthy cartoon ‘demon-white’ colonialist with random musical numbers. I could maybe take it for two hours sans musical numbers and loads of pumping action fight sequences.

    You can try it out even without subs.

    Plus, it’s a Malayaman film, so I bet they’ve got their voices dubbed. As an alternative, I found their item songs. Though I’m unsure if Vidya has a more extensive role in the film, Tabu’s credit on IMDb lists it as a special appearance.

    The original track song is called Aaranne Aaranne [clip], but the Telugu dub upload is much better for obvious quality reasons.

    Vidya’s number after the break~

    (more…)


  • Se Viene Shakira de la Vieja Escuela con Empire

    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.


  • BiBi Brings Back the Black Tangerine

    BiBi placed last this episode. WHATEVER. I’ve already explained my opinion on people’s voting and how faulty the democratic system can be (specially on reality television and competitions). All that matters is that BiBi sang a GREAT arrangement of David Tao’s Black Tangerine (黑色柳丁).

    It was around 9 years ago when my friend introduced me to David Tao via Ghost (鬼) and Black Tangerine, and I’ve never regretted it since. Then I discovered BiBi via the Beijing Olympics, learned about the Chinese music scene and the rest has been history. My relationship to Black Tangerine is a very strong one, and I’m usually not one for covers of great songs, but that was a great fresh arrangement. It was the song and it wasn’t — both at the same time. It was like listening to it once again and discovering it all over again.

    That’s a great feeling to have.

    It doesn’t matter if you placed last in this show, BiBi. You can very well go home knowing you did an amazing arrangement of a great song.