Category: Music

  • Faye Wong 2010 Beijing Comeback Concert

    Asian Music Diva (mostly music anyway) has been slowly making a comeback into the music scene since her “retirement” in 2004… right after the release of her album To Love (Jiang Ai, which is out of stock everywhere… but I’m waiting for a re-issue, hopefully), after the release of Wong Kar Wai’s 2046, and her Faye Live Tour.

    Wong dusted off her dreamy vocals for the main theme of Chow Yun Fat’s film Confucius, titled You Lan Cao, and her performance at the CCTV’s Spring Gala a few months ago. Now she’s dusting off her touring abilities with a series of 5 concert dates in Beijing.

    Beginning October 29th, and continuing with 30th, and 31st, as well as November 5th and 6th. There are 6 different pricing tickets, however, all the seats priced at 300 Yuan (nearly $50 USD), 500 Yuan, and 2500 Yuan (nearly $400 USD) sold out in 10 minutes.

    A press conference, that included only 300 members of the press that were invited, was held yesterday in which Wong appeared wearing a red dress (possibly for the passing of her vocal teacher Dai Sicong, who passed away recently). This short series of concerts in Beijing have until now generated over $2Million USD.

    Dates in Shanghai are also scheduled.

    via Aiya They Didn’t, Faye Wong Today, Daily Chilli, and ChinaPiao.com

    —

    Oh, I am so jealous. Though, that thing about arriving 45min late, it’s a huge… and I really mean a HUGE turn off for me, this just goes to show you that Faye Wong is truly a star, because no one was pissed off when she did finally arrived. I imagine that she’s truly mesmerizing in person… like meeting a fairy or something. Maybe she sparkles. LOL

  • OMG, Jing~ She’s so Handsome~

    And you know what’s funnier (weird)?

    My dad agrees. Hahahahaha. This is why dad rocks~

    So I was showing my dad Jing’s latest music video, and we were agreeing (again) that before you realized that the video was about Cyndi Wang and her dead boyfriend, that it felt kinda gay-ish with Jing waking up next to Wang. Anyway, we ended up searching for Jing’s performances in her idol days…

    I’m telling you, JingCastleSubs are the best.

    And, OMG! She’s so handsome xD and I told my dad “wow, she looks more handsome than my cousins” and we burst out laughing, coz we always pick on family like this. And then we got sad… just watch the video, awwww just wanna hug her so she doesn’t cry… and then she rubs her eyes – through her non-glasses glasses, so we burst out laughing again.

    My dad’s totally having an identity crisis, I just know it. LOL

    And you know what’s even funnier??? The first time Jing performs on the show, the host first says “I thought this one was a girl.” Once Jing tells her she is, the host tells her that she’s a little too handsome. She totally is. LOL

  • Finished the Diane Warren transcript!

    For the phone interview I did with her.

    I’m actually thinking about it, and it seems surreal. I was so nervous, I couldn’t speak any English. I mumbled a lot – at least, it feels like it – and the interview seemed like a mess in my head. However, looking at it on paper, it’s not bad, I think.

    But you know how I am, right? You ask me about something I know, and I want to tell you everything about it, so when I mentioned Bibi, and Diane (she told me to call her that) asked me about her, I couldn’t keep my mouth shut. LOL But it seemed good, it seemed more of a conversation than an interview…

    Diane also found peculiar that I was a Peruvian girl talking to an American songwriter about a Chinese vocalist. “How do you know a Chinese vocalist in Peru?” she asked me. That’s when the fangirl in me came out. Anyway, I’m in a short-sleeved t-shirt, and I’m freezing now at 3am. Transcript is done, and the article… at least, at the moment, has around 2010 words. And! It will show up in issue011 of YAM.

    Also, don’t forget we are giving away the pop-up book Uso. by Yu Aoi. If you want to learn how to be able to enter the draw, you’re gonna have to read issue011 when it comes out next month.

  • Monkey Majik – Forever

    I am considering purchasing the newest release by Monkey Majik for their 10th anniversary. There’s the Japan Normal edition at $32 USD, and the Japanese First Press Edition which comes with a DVD for $43 USD.

    Of course, if you don’t know – Monkey Majik has just gotten their Guiness World Record for longest On Air commercial, for the CM they did for this Best of Album… which lasts 30min — the commercial, not the album. But trust me, it’s so worth watching it, when you get the time. They’re pretty awesome, even with their funny Japanese.

    Anyway, this Best Of album contains 3 new songs, titled Forever, Fast Forward, and Daijoubu. Forever is such a great song, the video totally plays to the little heart. I think it even works better than Canada’s attempt to help Haiti with Waivin’ Flag (though that was a pretty good song by K’naan, it got overplayed for this and the World Cup), and it totally beats the remake of We Are the World.

    So here we go, Goran kudasai! Douzo~

  • Narsha – BBI-RI-BOP-A

    Like I told Julz now, I like BEG. xD Well, I liked GaIn better in the Abracadabra video, which I spent all weekend listening to. However, I also listened to Narsha’s new mini album… which was pretty ok.

    This video, however, wow… is this a nominee for Most Use of Hair Styles or what??? xD I’m not gonna say I love it, but I’m probably gonna be caught humming it — just like I say Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Hyori style now.

    You know what I like now? I like that the Kpop music scene is keeping the worldwide pop scene in good shape, with loads of style, colors, choreography, well-cut videos and quite danceable pop. Yeah, as much as I could criticize the commercialism, I can sit back and tell all of you, at least I would make an effort to pay for it. The Kpop scene has good quality pop acts… despite the ones whom you could be labeled as “guilty pleasures” *coughGeecough*

    Yeah! Take that Miley, Bieber and… are the Jonas still relevant?

    *EDIT*

    Here’s the English subtitled version.

  • Lee Hom Wang – Daily Necessities MV

    柴米油鹽醬醋茶 (Chai Mi You Yan Jiang Cu Cha), the first single of the just announced new album by Lee Hom Wang – probably out by the end of the month and titled 十八般武艺 (18 Types of Martial Arts?) – has just hit the net with a concept strikingly familiar to the first 15min. of Pixar’s UP.

    Which… still kill me apparently. GOSH. Damn you, Leehom – you made me teary.

    and the song, literally meaning “firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, tea” but it just names the simple “daily necessities”. At first listen, the songs seems average LHW style, but on following listening, it makes so much more sense… especially with the video.

    *EDIT*
    There’s an English-subbed version courtesy of Leehom’s channel~

  • Salyu – Glide – Merkmal Live @ Nippon Budonkan 2009

    Unlike Bjork, I feel Salyu is approachable, or it must be that politeness that plagues Japanese language as a whole… anyway, Salyu seems nicer than she appears with those crazy eyes. You know? When she’s singing in this performance of Glide, which by the way is one of those songs that don’t get performed enough for being part of the Lily Chou Chou repertoire, instead of Salyu’s. Because Salyu IS Lily.

    Listening to her is one of those experiences, imagine it LIVE~ O.o

    https://youtu.be/7majgyyW6Pc

    You just get to watch it as a YouTube stream, while I enjoy it on my 5.1 Surround sound dvd – and Bill… well, he gets to see Salyu live. I’ll stick to Bjork… unless Salyu decides to come here. Wink wink nudge nudge.

    If this clip doesn’t get you to listen to other Salyu songs, I dunno what will.

  • Jing Chang – Love’s Option

    Starring singer/actress Cyndi Wang. Why?

    “A music video always needs a beautiful girl!” said Jing.

    In this MV Cyndi’s character decides to move homes after her boyfriend suddenly passes away. However, she is unable to forget her past love and returns to her old home in search of any memories. Jing is the new resident of Cyndi’s old apartment and so the two continuously pass by each other. On the other hand, Jing is slightly aware of the past memories held in this apartment. Out of the blue, while Jing is at a café, she draws a sketch of the unfamiliar, yet familiar girl.

    via Aiya They Didn’t.

    Check the LQ subtitled version here, courtesy of JingCastleSubs.

    It’s like idols pee music videos in Asia… how long has it been since The Opposite Me, and Broken were released? Yeah, like two weeks? So it’s 3 singles with an album that just came out a week ago. Western musicians release around 4 singles throughout the whole run of their album.

    I have been listening to Broken (Huai Le) non-stop.

  • Frak You, Sony BMG

    I’m tired of you, and your region restriction.

    It’s not only in your channel, but also any channel with artists you signed on? Or any video that has music of your artists? And then you fraking wonder why I get my stuff somewhere else…

    Well, FRAK YOU.

    It’s not only that you monopolize Michael Jackson… Christina Aguilera, and even Pink, I think and all the other pop acts because… let’s face it, all the record companies have merged into one big butt family with the likes of Arista, LaFace, Jive, J Records, etc etc. You also monopolize Wang Lee Hom’s videos. So Sony BMG, YOU SUCK.

  • Remembering AI – Story

    This one’s for Bill~ thanks for the AI recommendation ;P

    I have finally fallen in love with the song. It took a while~ Now, that Hitori janai kara/watashi ga kimi o mamoru kara kills me. The song is just so… uplifting. I think it might go great together with Christina Aguilera’s Beautiful. Once you hear it, you have to stand up and sing it out loud.

    https://youtu.be/LCKCRv1d_-s

    Here’s the okay-ish English lyrics.

    I really like her FEAT AI album!
    and her PASSION song kills me when she sings “Mira, mira / Watashi o mite”

    I am beautiful… in every single way. Yeah, words won’t… bring me down~~~