JJ Lin recently released a new album, 100 Days, and I just had to share a couple songs from it. I don't really have a lot of holiday/Christmas music, so I thought I'd post something else instead. =) Please comment/leave a rating if taking, and I hope you all have a great holiday season!

- Haruhi

第几个一百天 - JJ Lin
Mandarin | Ballad
Beginning with isolated piano and building into a full, orchestral arrangement, the intro of this song alone is sweeping and beautiful. JJ Lin's instantly recognizable, clear voice comes through strongly without downplaying the rich arrangement. It has a sweet, clean tone that is signature to JJ Lin's ballads. The delicate harmonies are gorgeous, and I love the composition's decadent arrangement, blending traditional strings and piano with touches of rock in the percussion and occasional electric guitar line. Overall, though, it's this song's flow and movement that really appeals to me. We've all heard songs that don't really have any direction and never really "go anywhere" - well, this certainly isn't one of them. While maintaining a very structured form, it also keeps the listener engaged and interested.

加油! feat. MC Hotdog - JJ Lin
Mandarin | R&B
A light, midtempo R&B song, 加油! is filled with intricate harmonies and light synths. I really like the opening and chorus, but I'm not sure how I feel about the last minute or so, when the synths become a lot more dominant - it gets quite repetitive and overpowering, I feel almost as if it's dragging down the otherwise airy, smooth melody. I'm not too sure about the rap segment either - it seemed a little unnecessary to me.

无法克制 - JJ Lin
Mandarin | Ballad
Just the first few seconds of acoustic guitar and a simple yet carefully crafted saxophone lick, and I knew that this song was going to become a favourite of mine. It seems to have a very slow, melancholy tone, yet picks up with the addition of percussion. I love the splashes of jazz, they're such an unexpected touch - the saxophone lines building up to a short solo in about three-quarters of the way through the song, the guitar work. JJ Lin's vocals are smooth and clean, hitting high notes with very little strain.

背对背拥抱 - JJ Lin
Mandarin | Ballad
You guys probably all know what a sucker for piano I am, and the intro of this song is just that - a gorgeous, flowing, full-bodied piano melody. It takes on more of a chordal role as JJ Lin joins the mix, his heartfelt, tender yet powerful vocals the focal point of this carefully-crafted ballad. It's emotional without being overly dramatic. The attention put into these songs compositionally and arrangement-wise can really be heard. And the delicate closing chords, again with only piano, are just a lovely final touch.

Still Moving Under Gunfire - JJ Lin
Mandarin | Pop
This song reminds of me Cries in the Distance from JJ's previous album Sixology, probably because it's also an English version of one of his songs. It's a little more modern and uptempo than some of his songs, with some auto tune and synths. The hip-hop/R&B base and percussion demands attention. It's aggressive without being too in-your-face.

Labels: JJ Lin

JJ Lin recently released a new album, 100 Days, and I just had to share a couple songs from it. I don't really have a lot of holiday/Christmas music, so I thought I'd post something else instead. =) Please comment/leave a rating if taking, and I hope you all have a great holiday season!

- Haruhi

第几个一百天 - JJ Lin
Mandarin | Ballad
Beginning with isolated piano and building into a full, orchestral arrangement, the intro of this song alone is sweeping and beautiful. JJ Lin's instantly recognizable, clear voice comes through strongly without downplaying the rich arrangement. It has a sweet, clean tone that is signature to JJ Lin's ballads. The delicate harmonies are gorgeous, and I love the composition's decadent arrangement, blending traditional strings and piano with touches of rock in the percussion and occasional electric guitar line. Overall, though, it's this song's flow and movement that really appeals to me. We've all heard songs that don't really have any direction and never really "go anywhere" - well, this certainly isn't one of them. While maintaining a very structured form, it also keeps the listener engaged and interested.

加油! feat. MC Hotdog - JJ Lin
Mandarin | R&B
A light, midtempo R&B song, 加油! is filled with intricate harmonies and light synths. I really like the opening and chorus, but I'm not sure how I feel about the last minute or so, when the synths become a lot more dominant - it gets quite repetitive and overpowering, I feel almost as if it's dragging down the otherwise airy, smooth melody. I'm not too sure about the rap segment either - it seemed a little unnecessary to me.

无法克制 - JJ Lin
Mandarin | Ballad
Just the first few seconds of acoustic guitar and a simple yet carefully crafted saxophone lick, and I knew that this song was going to become a favourite of mine. It seems to have a very slow, melancholy tone, yet picks up with the addition of percussion. I love the splashes of jazz, they're such an unexpected touch - the saxophone lines building up to a short solo in about three-quarters of the way through the song, the guitar work. JJ Lin's vocals are smooth and clean, hitting high notes with very little strain.

背对背拥抱 - JJ Lin
Mandarin | Ballad
You guys probably all know what a sucker for piano I am, and the intro of this song is just that - a gorgeous, flowing, full-bodied piano melody. It takes on more of a chordal role as JJ Lin joins the mix, his heartfelt, tender yet powerful vocals the focal point of this carefully-crafted ballad. It's emotional without being overly dramatic. The attention put into these songs compositionally and arrangement-wise can really be heard. And the delicate closing chords, again with only piano, are just a lovely final touch.

Still Moving Under Gunfire - JJ Lin
Mandarin | Pop
This song reminds of me Cries in the Distance from JJ's previous album Sixology, probably because it's also an English version of one of his songs. It's a little more modern and uptempo than some of his songs, with some auto tune and synths. The hip-hop/R&B base and percussion demands attention. It's aggressive without being too in-your-face.

Labels: JJ Lin

Welcome to Fashion Scans, an mp3 rotation that features Korean, Japanese, and Chinese music as well as the occasional English song. Fashion Scans was created in October 2007 and is run by Haruhi with contributions from Carmi.

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