Archives For Music

When I translate things, I usually go from Spanish into English, so when I listened to (and obsessed a little) over Neil Patrick Harris at the Tonys, I thought that it’d be good practice for a quick English to Spanish translation exercise.

Lyrics in English taken from Playbill.com

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Is this the resurrection of Broadway?

Neil Patrick Harris just pulled off a massive introduction for last night’s show, not only including fellow show nominees, but they also included some snarky blow at Shia LaBeouf, whose theater scuffle made it outside Broadway circles. I have no idea about Broadway news and the who is who, but I knew about it. Go figure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=danBaPWT09A

I know tickets have been down for Broadway shows- all shows across all media, I believe. So I hope last night’s award show boosts the popularity, because if the numbers keep going down, there’d be no place for…

There’s a kid in the middle of nowhere who’s sitting there living for Tony performances. Singing and flipping along with the Pippins and Wickeds and Kinkies, Matildas, and Mormonses. So I might reassure that kid, and do something to spur that kid. Cause I promise you all of us up here tonight. We were that kid.

xiami-subscription

If you’ve (for some reason) been following this blog a while, you’d know that I’m a big fan of Xiami, the Mainland China-based music site that has never flashed me with a “this content is not available in your region” message. I’ve actually bought some tracks off of them, started way before iTunes became available in my country, and have continued with tracks that aren’t available in my iTunes store, or with overpriced albums/singles.

It’s particularly useful for Chinese-based artists.

In general, all tracks are priced at 0.8米 (Mi) and 1 Mi is 1 Yuan, which is about 0.16USD, which is like 1/10 of what iTunes charges. They accept Paypal as one of their paying options, which seems way simpler than paying with your credit card (I tried). And since Xiami is a community-based site, they give you points for activities. Every time you log in, you get points and once you log in for a whole uninterrupted week, they give you a red envelope which also serves to download tracks. If you log in every day for a month or a whole year, you’ll get even more for free downloads.

Downloading tracks, adding albums, adding information (photos, lyrics, etc), participating in community discussions, and joining groups also gives you points to raise your Xiami level. Though, I still don’t know what’s that for, other than showing off and user respectability.

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While getting acquainted with Chulpan Khamatova’s work, I ran into this video clip of the Arbenina’s song Come to Me (ИДИ КО МНЕ) — and I’ve been polishing my non-existent Russian trying to learn how to pronounce that… Idi Ko Mne. If I apply my Spanish, it sounds like Idi Ko Mie.

The thing is… that Making Of was released back in January, and I wasn’t able to find the actual music video, which makes me think it hasn’t been released yet. I’m not used to that. Korea and Taiwan have spoiled me completely.

I did however, find these stills of the shoot.

 

More stills here.

In other news, Khamatova’s been very active these days (it seems) with her charity work.

Well, Hyori has earned her “Comeback” title alright- she’s been absent for… like, what? Four or three years maybe? Since her 4th bad luck album was such a bust, she’s been sort of hovering on our lives as Kpop seemed to rise and leak into the worldwide pop culture subconscious.

Since those days, LOADS of rookie groups have debuted — all trained vocally and in dance ability, which puts them ahead of Hyori. But you know what? Who cares. Hyori is what I wanted Britney to be at some point. I wanted Brit to be well adjusted and charismatic, even if she had gradually lost her voice and, ultimately, her dance ability. One thing I never wanted her to lose was her ability to engage.

Hyori engages with her audience. At the end of her celebratory comeback presentation, she brings back 10 Minutes, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and then she performs U-Go-Girl, with no post at ALL O_O You can hear her laugh while singing through the almost-bare and casual arrangements of the song, while she’s been squirted with water guns. And she tells them (and us) that she’s missed us. Or that’s how I’ve interpreted her bogoshippoyo.

The water gun squirts borders on a wet t-shirt contest, but Hyori is wearing silver leggins throughout the whole show, which really surprises me — I mean, she could’ve been wearing black hot pants like her over-exposed back-up dancers, but she isn’t. She’s actually quite casual through the whole segment until the water squirting gets ridiculous and she laughs. I love that.

Apparently the show lasted nearly 50min?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ySkD-05HpU

BiBi’s doing a concert in Beijing (if she hasn’t done it by now, it’s one of these days), and my pal is attending. And even though I doesn’t feel like I’ve been an ardent BiBi fan for a bit, this rehearsal has made me giddy (and slightly jealous) to be there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3JgZQoytc0

Guess I’m gonna miss the party. xD

In other news, I had NO idea that one of the songs on Time was written by Mavis Fan. The more you know.

Also how cut does BiBi look?

I’ve got some pretty nice recommendations to share.

yammag-amy-recommendations

I have created a brand new tag specifically for S.H.E ~

Rainbows & Puppies.

Because, well~ this music video and the song are self-explanatory.

Despite being completely different, this brought memories of Viva Forever [MV] by the Spice Girls. I guess… I can see a tree in The Tree at that Time (那時候的樹)? Oh, and I guess… stop-motion mixed in live-action? xD

Oh, man~ after a few couple of years of waiting for information on Barlow, on a quick google- he’s finally back online with Twitter and Facebook. I’m probably one of the few people with the actual physical album in their collections. I’m even very tempted on ripping it and unleashing it on the net for a while~

Remember Walk Away?

Well, Malcom’s got his image, his rock and his crack,
and if he lives to see twenty, he wouldl’ve beat the clock.
He’s got his ride and his pride, and girls by his side,
he makes his stands with a gun in his hand,
he saw his best friend lying on a stainless steel tray,
and he walked away.

That written image reminds me TLC’s Waterfalls [MV].

By the way, I’m aware Barlow is not 90s music, but TLC is. xD

Yuguo Withdrawal Symptom

April 11, 2013 — 1 Comment

I am having serious Yuguo Withdrawal Symptom, especially because I thought Yuguo’s latest album would be out and about in March — it’s nearly mid-April and I’m still dry. I need my next fix! ASAP. Especially considering they do have the promo images for the album, and the official track listing. What happened???? I’m freaking out O_O

yuguo-sunset-strip-2013-album-promo

I’ll have to settle for replaying one of my favorite albums of them, which by the way, I got my aunt to buy for me in her last trip to Shanghai coz- it’s like impossible to get online if you’re not a resident.