Rotation 52 is unthemed; I just chose a mix of recent releases and older songs that I hadn't shared before. Sorry, my commentary isn't too great this time around but I tried to mark a few songs as recommended to help you decide what to take. Enjoy the songs!
- Haruhi
Emerald Lake (Catherine North Demo Version) - Said the Whale
English | Indie pop
This band is based in Vancouver, where I live, so I was excited to hear a local artist. At first, I thought they were a pretty standard indie pop band, but they've really grown on me. I love the lines, "What a fine life we are living, what a fine life we are living" which get repeated throughout the song, there's something charming and catchy about it, but, as the song clocks in at only 2:05, it doesn't get too repetitive. If you're an indie pop fan, check them out.
그대 내맘에 들어 오면은 - MBLAQ
Korean | Pop/R&B
This is a cover of a Jo Duk Bae song, I really love the collaboration album it's from which is all covers of Jo Duk Bae's songs. To be honest, I'm far too new to k-pop to know anything about Jo Duk Bae but I have listened to the original version of this song as well as a cover by a singer I'm a little more familiar with, Jo Sung Mo. While Jo Sung Mo's cover basically keeps the flavour of the original but, of course, with a different vocal performance, MBLAQ really makes the song their own. I mean, I couldn't recognize it as the cover until the chorus, which has a fantastic melody. I'm not a big MBLAQ fan, but this song might just have converted me. I love the soft, layered synths and the keyboard intro as well. It's very modernized and contemporary, and their vocals really work.
오! 나의 여신님 (Oh! My Goddess) - TRAX
Korean | Rock
I can't believe these guys are back! Things have definitely changed. The TRAX (or I guess they're just going by TRAX now) used to be more of a "real" rock band as they were then produced by X-Japan's Yoshiki, but - well, they are an SM Entertainment band, and after losing a few members they sound more like F.T. Island than X Japan. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing - I love this song. It's so catchy and addictive, and has a bright pop-rock sound that I usually don't like, but they make it work. It's energetic, and definitely the kind of song you'd put on repeat. A great comeback.
Parachute (Radio Mix) - Cheryl Cole
English | Pop
Member of UK pop group Girls Aloud, Cheryl Cole has released quite a bit of solo material before. This is the first song I heard from her (or Girls Aloud, for that matter) but it's so good. I love the catchy chorus and the way the lines lead into one another not just musically but lyrically as well. It's got a bit more edge than your typical pop song, and I really love the military-style percussion, thick bass line, and dramatic but careful use of strings and the way everything flows a little more in the chorus as opposed to the less melodic verses.
널 사랑한다 - Park Hyo Shin
Korean | Ballad
I am still waiting for Part 2 of 'Gift' to release. =( While an OST song is certainly better than nothing, I still wish he'd focus on his album instead. Compositionally, it's pretty straightforward: a hopeful, mid-tempo string-based ballad. I appreciate the pace, actually - it's a bit faster than your typical ballad, and a lot more energetic as a result. Park Hyo Shin's vocals are spot on as always, but because of the richer accompaniment you don't hear its depth and richness as much although it's still evident.
화해하지 말아요 - Code V
Korean | Ballad
Another OST track, this one from new boyband Code V. With all the new groups k-pop is churning out, there are very few I find memorable or even passable, but Code V is one of the best of the bunch. I mean, they can actually sing. I liked their debut songs better than their OST work (another recently released OST song by them is below) but this is still a great, straightforward ballad. They all have distinctive voices that work together really well - one member's is a bit huskier and deeper, another's is lighter and sweeter in tone. A promising new group - and I rarely get the chance to say that.
지금 만나러 간다 - Code V
Korean | Pop/Ballad
Here's another Code V song, it's a bit brighter than the previous song and I love the pretty keyboard in combination with the light strings, it's rare that strings step back to let the piano shine through, but that's what happens here. Sweet and well-executed.
Candy Red - Scars Borough
Japanese | Punk/Pop-rock
Scars Borough was put together by drummer Hirotaka, formerly of the band ELLEGARDEN. I loved ELLEGARDEN, but was interested to see what their members would pursue in their solo activities. I'm not a big punk fan (ELLEGARDEN was really the only sort of punk-rock that I liked) but this song is just so fantastic. They have a female vocalist, which was unexpected but great. The bright vocalizing in the intro is so energetic and catchy, and the song just has such a bright pop-rock energy paired with gritty guitar work and heavy percussion typical of punk that, somehow, comes together beautifully. An addicting song.
아파 (SLOW) - 2NE1
Korean | Pop
To be honest, I can't stand 2NE1. I can't even listen to "FIRE" or "Try to Copy Me" all the way through. But there was one song I did like by them, that kept me following their releases (although without much interest), and that was "I Don't Care". There was just something different about that song: not just deviating from their normal, heavily-electronicized and auto-tuned style but from what you typically see in k-pop in general (although I suppose that nowadays, that's basically heavily-electronicized, auto-tuned stuff). I listened to their new album sort of half-heartedly and skipped most of the songs, but as soon as I got to this one I could tell just from the waltz-inspired piano intro that I was going to like it. Like "I Don't Care", it has a reggae-touched, stripped-down, breezy style that is so different from their usual fare: and to me, that's a very good thing. To be honest, I still don't like them vocally. I think that if another group had handled this song, it might have been even better. Their vocals sound at time strained and thin and at times sort of artificial, not with a real auto-tune affect but definitely like some sort of editing was done. Despite that, I still like the song (especially the bridge) and think it's a highlight of their discography, even if that's not saying much. It's not quite as catchy as "I Don't Care" though.
Somewhere in Brooklyn - Bruno Mars
English | Pop
I shared a few Bruno Mars songs previously; this is another track off his debut EP. I love the melody of this song, especially in the intro where he sings "She was covered in leather and gold, twenty-one years old." The song basically describes a girl he met briefly on the street but never got the name of, and he's been looking for her since. It's sweet and catchy, and you can't go wrong with a voice like Bruno Mars'. It's so clean and refreshing.
淡淡的歌 (A Faint Song) - Xu Fei
Mandarin | Acoustic Pop
The title can also be translated as "A Light Song" or something to that effect. It's a very pretty, simple acoustic guitar track. Songs like this - especially considering how light the accompaniment is - can tend to get bland pretty fast, but there's something charming and genuine about this song that kept my attention. I love the stronger chorus and the soft strings that come in for a short solo and then fade out again.
Over - miss $ ft. JiEun
Korean | Pop
last.fm says they're a "female hip-hop group that specializes in ballads", I listened to their "Miss Independent" digital single - it's called a digital single but there's three songs, I don't really know what that's about. Anyways, this is the third song and the one I found most promising. There's something about the soft, digitalized strings and chorus of "Love is over" that makes it stand out. It's not outstanding, but it's refreshing to see female rappers who are actually decent. The vocalist has a nice voice as well.
헤어지러 가는 길 (feat. 조권/JoKwon of 2AM) - Lim Jeong Hee
Korean | Pop/Ballad
I'm not a big J-Lim fan and got this mostly because of JoKwon. The percussion has a bit more edge and depth to it than you might expect, and the light, feel-good accompaniment comes together nicely. I love the way JeongHee and JoKwon's lines overlap, and strangely enough the melody of the chorus has a bit of a rock-anthem air. There's some pretty harmonies, but I wish they'd taken them further and added a little more complexity to the song. I'm not very fond of the way it just dies off at the end, either. A very simple, straight-forward song that's worth a listen.
Labels: 2ne1, Bruno Mars, Cheryl Cole, Code V, Lim Jeong Hee, MBLAQ, miss $, Park Hyo Shin, Said the Whale, Scars Borough, the TRAX, Xu Fei
I have decided to postpone the next rotation (#35) for another week. It was supposed to be posted last weekend, therefore it has been moved to this upcoming weekend. Sorry about the delay, I've been busy with online courses lately. In the meantime, here's a couple songs.
이별복습 - Ock Joo Hyun, The Ray
Korean | Ballad
A fairly standard piano-based duet ballad. Vocally, the two make a nice match - The Ray's slightly husky voice paired with Ock Joo Hyun's powerful yet feminine vocals. Pretty harmonies, decent melody, a nice sense of direction too - the song builds quite well. If only it wasn't so cookie-cutter generic, it'd be even better. Either way, definitely worth a listen.
I Don't Care - 2NE1
Korean | Pop
I strongly disliked both Lollipop and FIRE, so I was only intending to give I Don't Care a cursory listen and then delete it. Sorry to any fans of theirs out there, but vocally, I still think they sound horrible. However, compositionally, I really like this song. It has a certain breezy and laid-back feel that makes it well-suited for the summer, but has a danceable beat and catchy melody at the same time. Much better than the far-too-heavy, over-synthesized FIRE - while I still think they need to step it up a notch vocally, this is definitely an improvement.
勇气 (Yong Qi/Courage) - Fish Leong (梁静茹)
Mandarin | Ballad
This song should've been on my Top 10 Ballads list, but I didn't have it on on this computer until recently. It's a hopeful, genuine ballad, yet it's fairly pared down as far as accompaniment goes, and not overly dramatic. Fish Leong's melodic, light voice is gorgeous, and the chorus always gets stuck in my head. A very recognizable and memorable song.
Brave vibration - Anna Tsuchiya
Japanese | Rock
Anna Tsuchiya's latest single, Brave vibration is a summery rock song with a powerful, catchy chorus. I've never been a big fan of her, but this is an enjoyable song that's well-suited for the summer.
泣きたくなるけど (Naitakunaru Kedo) - Mao Denda
Japanese | Pop/R&B
After her impressive debut Bitter Sweet (which I shared in an older post, check her tag if you're interested), Mao Denda finally releases another single. Naitakunaru Kedo is a beautiful, piano-based R&B ballad. On the first listen it seemed a little bland, but it's really grown on me. Mao Denda's emotional, smooth vocals are gorgeous. While I still prefer Bitter Sweet to this song, it's definitely a close contender.
Light & Shades - Mao Denda
Japanese | Pop/R&B
The b-side to Naitakunaru Kedo, Lights & Shade is a more upbeat number, but keeps in style with Mao Denda's other songs - steady R&B percussion, and a strong use of piano in the accompaniment. A decent but not outstanding song.
Labels: 2ne1, Anna Tsuchiya, Fish Leong, Mao Denda, Ock Joo Hyun, The Ray
