haruhi's top 5 + the brave brothers - attitude
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 posted at 7:16 PM
I am planning to return to my regular rotation schedule in September. Here's a quick update for you guys in the meantime, a couple songs that I've been listening to a lot lately. Excluding songs I've already posted before - Khalil Fong's Wonderful Tonight and the rest of the Timeless album as well as A-Chord's Little Shepherd's Fantasy Journey & the SM Town Compilation - namely SHINee & DBSK's songs - have all been favourites of mine too. Also, I've uploaded a new mini-album by The Brave Brothers. Please leave a comment or rating if taking! #5. I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight - U2 English | Rock Some of you might recognize this song, it was recently featured on a Blackberry commercial, (which I personally found to be very ineffective - Blackberry loves U2, so I should buy their phones?) and I decided to look it up. It's a mid-tempo rock song with a great arrangement - I love the dreamy synth-y keyboard chords between verses - but what I really love about this song is its lyrics - Every generation gets a chance to change the world/Divination that will listen to your boys and girls/Is the sweetest melody the one we haven't heard?/Is it true that perfect love drives out all fear? #4. Feelin' You - BRIGHT Japanese | R&B/Pop BRIGHT is one of the few girl groups that I really love, and Feelin' You is no exception. It's an enthusiastic, bright mid-tempo track. Vocally, they sound great, and their trademark harmonies really bring the song up a notch. An active percussion and airy synths provide the base of the accompaniment. Although this song took a while to grow on me, it definitely has. #3. We've All Grown Up (我们都成了大人) - A-Chord Mandarin | Pop/Rock Ballad The two songs of A-Chord's that I've shared before were all relatively upbeat, but We've All Grown Up takes a more serious tone. In other words, it's a ballad. It's piano-based and caught my interest because it sounds slightly muted, even when you turn the volume up. It adds to the sincere atmosphere of the song, and A-Chord's warm, yearning voice is filled with emotion. At first I thought it was a bit generic, but after a few listens, it's really convinced me of A-Chord's maturity and talent. #2. Red Bean (红豆) (Original Singer: 王菲 - Faye Wang) - Khalil Fong Mandarin | Ballad The first time I heard this song, it was an extremely low-quality rip, and because it's a fairly soft song in the first place, I thought it was another bland ballad and discarded it. After re-listening to it (in much better quality) on the full album, I immediately changed my mind. I've actually heard the original of this song quite a few times, a lot of my friends like to sing it at karaoke - I realized this as soon as I heard the chorus. Although personally I find the rest of the song a bit bland - mid-tempo piano/strings ballad with a minimal percussion accompaniment in the case of Khalil's version, I don't remember much of the original version - I love the chorus, and it always stays with me. Although I hadn't heard this song for about an year until stumbling upon Khalil's remake, I recognized it as soon as I heard it (in good enough quality to actually discern the melody). A warm and genuine ballad that Khalil's careful remake does justice to. #1. The Saltwater Room - Owl City English | Electronica/Pop I've heard a lot of good things about Owl City, but only recently began listening to them - the first song I heard was this, The Saltwater Room, and I definitely wasn't disappointed. It's a lovely song - soft and warm, with an acoustic guitar base and tentative, unique vocals. It's calm but engaging, and definitely prompted me to try and find more material from them. ![]() Brave Brothers - Attitude Korean | Hip-Hop/Pop Release date: August 18 2009 o1. Interview (인터뷰) o2. Brave Sound (브레이브사운드) o3 Invisible (인비져블) (feat. Son Dam Bi, Star Wars) o4 Bittersweet (비터스윗) (feat. M, HyunA, Mabus, Red Roc, Basick) If I recall correctly, these guys were featured on a Son Dam Bi song before. Interview is a short, spoken/sung intro. Brave Sound is a short and straight-forward hip-hop song that didn't really catch my attention. Invisible, however, did. It's a fast-paced song based in hip-hop/electronica, but the gritty guitar work that pops up throughout the song also gives it some rock routes. It's a little too busy and overdone for my liking, but very catchy and addictive. Bittersweet was a track that I was looking forward to, seeing as it features M (Lee Min Woo). It's an R&B ballad. Upon hearing the opening verse I thought it was lovely, but it slowly lost my attention. I'm guessing it's HyunA rapping at around ~1:10, I have to say I'm not a fan. The sung portions by M are great (especially the hook - And love is sweet sweet/Bittersweet love), and on a whole Bittersweet is well-executed and carefully plotted. However, the rap portions were a bit too numerous and monotonous for my liking. Labels: A-Chord, Brave Brothers, BRIGHT, Khalil Fong, Owl City, U2 |