Another mixtape for you, this time jazz-themed. I've meant to a jazz-themed rotation for a long time, and decided to create a two-disc mixtape instead. The first disc consists of instrumental music, and the second, vocal. Further description/review is below.

This took a long time to compile and upload, so please comment if taking.

- Haruhi



Summary: A collection of jazz songs, ranging from classics from the likes of Duke Ellington to modern bands like PE'Z. This is a highly personal mixtape - by that, I mean that this is not in any way supposed to be a comprehensive sampler of jazz music, but rather songs that I personally like and think would make a good introduction to jazz and could be enjoyed by everyone, and not just serious jazz fans.

Tracklist:

Disc 1:

01. Akatsuki - PE'Z [PV]
02. Percolator - Spyro Gyra
03. ひんやりやんひ - PE'Z
04. Old Castle, by the river, in the middle of a forest - Hiromi
05. ハヤガケ - PE'Z
06. Secret Samba - Big Band Wolfenbuettel
07. 真夜中のアメーバ - PE'Z
08. Chronic - Metalwood
09. MY FOOLISH HEART ~crazy in mind~ - SOIL&"PIMP" SESSIONS [PV]
10. Such Sweet Thunder {Cleo} - Duke Ellington
11. So What - Miles Davis
12. Pescara - Metalwood
13. Hayburner - Count Basie Orchestra
14. STORM - SOIL&"PIMP" SESSIONS
15. Hale no sola sita ～LA YELLOW SAMBA～ - PE'Z
16. Fantastic Planet - SOIL&"PIMP" SESSIONS
17. A Flat Minor - Preferred Take - Duke Ellington
18. The Star-Crossed Lovers (aka Pretty Girl) - Stereo LP Master - Duke Ellington
19. Sweet and Lovely - Thelonious Monk

Disc 2:

01. Gallop - Pe'zmoku
02. In These Shoes - Arturo O'Farrill & Claudia Acuna
03. Tikiville - Joanna Wang
04. Beyond the Sea - Matt Belsante
05. Georgia on My Mind (Originally by Ray Charles) - Khalil Fong
06. (Mr. Paganini) You'll Have to Swing It (Parts 1 and 2) - Ella Fitzgerald
07. Charmed Life - Diana Krall

Download:
Disc 1: MF [137mb]
Disc 2: MF [33mb]

Notes:
- I'm not sure how the songs are arranged in the .zip file and in what order they will copy into your iTunes (I believe it may be alphabetically by file names), but the tracklist above is the tracklist I intended, for those of you who are picky about stuff like that.

- Like I mentioned when I posted my first mixtape here, I don't create/upload .zip files often. If there are any issues, please let me know.

Comments:
I'm not going to do an in-depth review, but some quick comments about this mixtape for anyone who's interested:

PE'Z is not featured four times on this mixtape without reason (five, if you count pe'zmoku, their collaboration with vocalist suzumoku). They are a modern Japanese group who I think, unfortunately, is on an "indefinite hiatus". I would consider them more fusion, they definitely have some rock influences. Their songs are so energetic and catchy; I especially love their piano solos and their pianist has also worked with Shiina Ringo and released some solo material as well. Definitely try them out - even if you don't like jazz.

If you like PE'Z, SOIL&"PIMP" SESSIONS is quite similar in style. They're also a modern Japanese band, and while between the two I still prefer PE'Z, they're amongst my favourites as well. They have the same energy and passion. I find SOIL&"PIMP" SESSIONS brass players to be stronger. Both amazing bands that, unfortunately, don't get a lot of recognition - I rarely see their music shared or mentioned, which is why I included a substantial number of songs from both these groups in this mixtape.

Percolotor by Spyro Gyra (man that's hard to type) is more of a funk chart, I played this in my school's jazz band last year and it was basically the favourite song of the whole group, so I just had to share it. It's catchy and and has some great solos in it. My favourite is probably the sax.

Hiromi is a jazz pianist, so Old Castle, by the river, in the middle of a forest (what's with these names?) is a fast-paced composition that, duh, is focused around piano. The fluidity of this song is quite impressive, and I especially love the part at around 5:25 where it slows down and becomes more chordal, really letting the tone of the piano shine rather than just the notes. Beautiful.

Metalwood is a Canadian fusion group, I love the way they blend rock and jazz. The growling bassline in Chronic is just fantastic. Although these guys are a fusion group, their jazz is a bit more intellectual than the two Japanese groups I mentioned above, IMO. However that certainly doesn't make their music inaccessible.

I don't think Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, or Diana Krall require any introduction. All jazz greats - I tried to pick songs that are pretty mainstream, but we're getting into "real" jazz here, and these songs are all quite a bit older as well, so they might be more of an acquired taste.

Joanna Wang's Latin-influenced Tikiville took a while to grow on me, but it did. I actually kind of hated it the first time I listened to it, but a few more listens have changed my mind. I've uploaded a lot by her in the past, so check the tag if you're interested. She's a young Taiwanese jazz singer, but IIRC she also spent some time in New York.

Matt Belsante's rendition of Beyond the Sea is sweet, and while I'm not really a huge fan of him, I really liked it. I've heard his voice compared to Michael Buble's, if that helps.

There had to be a jazz standard that pretty much everyone knows here, so we have Georgia on my Mind as sung by Khalil Fong ... I believe I've uploaded this in the past already, but oh well. Khalil Fong isn't a jazz singer at all, but I didn't want to upload a standard version of this classic.

More:
Here's some links to some straightforward biographies about some of these artists, in case you want to find out more about them.
Hiromi | PE'Z/pe'zmoku | SOIL&"PIMP" SESSIONS

Labels: Count Basie, Diana Krall, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Hiromi, Joanna Wang, Khalil Fong, Matt Belsante, Metalwood, Miles Davis, mixtape, PE'Z, SOIL+"PIMP" SESSIONS, Spyro Gyra, Thelonious Monk

I just wanted to let you guys know that I will not be rotating this week, instead I will be working on uploading songs that were picked for the number lottery which ends on Tuesday. There were quite a few songs picked & I'm trying to review each of them too, so it might take a while to get those up. Sorry in advance about the wait!

On another note, Alistere is having problems with her Internet which is why she didn't rotate last week. =) Also, you might have seen that we have a new contributer to the site, Cate! I am still accepting contributers to the site, so if you are interested in occasionally posting up music or reviews, feel free to contact me at tokyomonochrome@gmail.com for more information.

In the meantime, I've uploaded a couple songs for you guys that have recently been released. There's been quite a few recent releases that I've been excited about (eg. TaeGoon, Lee Seung Gi, Epik High) so I thought I'd share a few . =) Please comment or leave a rating if taking!



❖ 어떻게 니가 - ShinJae (신재)
Korean | Ballad
I wasn't too sure about him at first - seeing the cover image I was expecting upbeat, dance-style songs, but the genre said ballad. Overall, I'm glad I gave him a try - his voice is warm and rich, and has depth without being too husky. Arrangement-wise, it's a classic, uplifting strings-and-piano ballad that makes good use of dynamics, starting out softly and building up to a stronger chorus although it's slightly predictable. Not an exceptional song, but a promising one.

❖ 사랑병 - ShinJae (신재)
Korean | Ballad
사랑병 has stronger pop routes. I really love how the piano arrangement echoes the melody - it ties in with his voice very nicely, although I found it a bit overpowering in some places. A sweet, bright song - my only complaint is, as with the first track, that it was a bit bland. I think he has a lot of potential, but compositionally his songs are a bit lacklustre.



❖ 말해줘 - TaeGoon
Korean | Pop/Dance
TaeGoon is a fairly new artist, but so far I've been quite impressed with his releases. 말해줘 is from his third mini-album, and following in the style of his older releases, it's strongly electronica-influenced. It's very catchy and the rap portions remind me a bit of Big Bang (in fact, I've seen him compared to Big Bang quite a lot), but I think it'll take a few more listens to really grow on me. It just seems a bit flat and two-dimensional, I feel like it isn't as powerful as some of his previous releases.

❖ Finally - TaeGoon
Korean | Pop/Dance
A fast-paced and energetic song. At first I found the synths in this song way too overpowering, but they really suit the atmosphere of the song. The chorus is catchy and overall the song has the power that I felt was missing in 말해줘. This is also one of the few songs where I actually didn't mind/liked the use of autotune.



❖ 愛されたい (Aisaretai) - Hiromi
Japanese | R&B/Pop/Ballad
I first heard Hiromi in a song with Nao'ymt (called Recover), and I really loved her voice. It's smooth, clear, strong, and perfectly suited for R&B. Aisaretai is a pretty R&B ballad. Hiromi's seasoned vocals and powerful harmonies really add a lot of colour to the song. I love the repetitive keyboard melody in the background.



❖ 사랑이 맴돈다 - Lee Seung Gi
Korean | Ballad
I love his voice so much. <3 It's light, clear, and melodic. 사랑이 맴돈다 is a mid-tempo ballad. It seems like a blend of modern elements (as seen in percussion, synths) and the "classic" ballad with the occasional appearance of strings. I'll admit I'm probably more than a little biased towards him, but I really enjoyed this song.

❖ 사랑이란 - Lee Seung Gi (Sa Rang Ee Ran)
Korean | Ballad
Something a little brighter and more sugary from Seung Gi. 사랑이란 is cheery and poppy. Although I still prefer his ballads, it's definitely nice to see a few more upbeat songs in an album dominated by ballads. I really like the ending where he's just singing "La la la" to the melody.



❖ 선물 (ft. 박지윤/Park Ji Yoon) - Epik High
Korean | Hip-Hop
Epik High and Park Ji Yoon? Definitely an exciting collaboration. 선물 is simply lovely arrangement-wise. I love the light, rich piano and Latin-influenced bass/percussion. Ji Yoon's airy, feminine voice contrasts perfectly with the rapping.

Labels: Epik High, Hiromi, Lee Seung Gi, ShinJae, Tae Goon

Another mixtape for you, this time jazz-themed. I've meant to a jazz-themed rotation for a long time, and decided to create a two-disc mixtape instead. The first disc consists of instrumental music, and the second, vocal. Further description/review is below.

This took a long time to compile and upload, so please comment if taking.

- Haruhi



Summary: A collection of jazz songs, ranging from classics from the likes of Duke Ellington to modern bands like PE'Z. This is a highly personal mixtape - by that, I mean that this is not in any way supposed to be a comprehensive sampler of jazz music, but rather songs that I personally like and think would make a good introduction to jazz and could be enjoyed by everyone, and not just serious jazz fans.

Tracklist:

Disc 1:

01. Akatsuki - PE'Z [PV]
02. Percolator - Spyro Gyra
03. ひんやりやんひ - PE'Z
04. Old Castle, by the river, in the middle of a forest - Hiromi
05. ハヤガケ - PE'Z
06. Secret Samba - Big Band Wolfenbuettel
07. 真夜中のアメーバ - PE'Z
08. Chronic - Metalwood
09. MY FOOLISH HEART ~crazy in mind~ - SOIL&"PIMP" SESSIONS [PV]
10. Such Sweet Thunder {Cleo} - Duke Ellington
11. So What - Miles Davis
12. Pescara - Metalwood
13. Hayburner - Count Basie Orchestra
14. STORM - SOIL&"PIMP" SESSIONS
15. Hale no sola sita ～LA YELLOW SAMBA～ - PE'Z
16. Fantastic Planet - SOIL&"PIMP" SESSIONS
17. A Flat Minor - Preferred Take - Duke Ellington
18. The Star-Crossed Lovers (aka Pretty Girl) - Stereo LP Master - Duke Ellington
19. Sweet and Lovely - Thelonious Monk

Disc 2:

01. Gallop - Pe'zmoku
02. In These Shoes - Arturo O'Farrill & Claudia Acuna
03. Tikiville - Joanna Wang
04. Beyond the Sea - Matt Belsante
05. Georgia on My Mind (Originally by Ray Charles) - Khalil Fong
06. (Mr. Paganini) You'll Have to Swing It (Parts 1 and 2) - Ella Fitzgerald
07. Charmed Life - Diana Krall

Download:
Disc 1: MF [137mb]
Disc 2: MF [33mb]

Notes:
- I'm not sure how the songs are arranged in the .zip file and in what order they will copy into your iTunes (I believe it may be alphabetically by file names), but the tracklist above is the tracklist I intended, for those of you who are picky about stuff like that.

- Like I mentioned when I posted my first mixtape here, I don't create/upload .zip files often. If there are any issues, please let me know.

Comments:
I'm not going to do an in-depth review, but some quick comments about this mixtape for anyone who's interested:

PE'Z is not featured four times on this mixtape without reason (five, if you count pe'zmoku, their collaboration with vocalist suzumoku). They are a modern Japanese group who I think, unfortunately, is on an "indefinite hiatus". I would consider them more fusion, they definitely have some rock influences. Their songs are so energetic and catchy; I especially love their piano solos and their pianist has also worked with Shiina Ringo and released some solo material as well. Definitely try them out - even if you don't like jazz.

If you like PE'Z, SOIL&"PIMP" SESSIONS is quite similar in style. They're also a modern Japanese band, and while between the two I still prefer PE'Z, they're amongst my favourites as well. They have the same energy and passion. I find SOIL&"PIMP" SESSIONS brass players to be stronger. Both amazing bands that, unfortunately, don't get a lot of recognition - I rarely see their music shared or mentioned, which is why I included a substantial number of songs from both these groups in this mixtape.

Percolotor by Spyro Gyra (man that's hard to type) is more of a funk chart, I played this in my school's jazz band last year and it was basically the favourite song of the whole group, so I just had to share it. It's catchy and and has some great solos in it. My favourite is probably the sax.

Hiromi is a jazz pianist, so Old Castle, by the river, in the middle of a forest (what's with these names?) is a fast-paced composition that, duh, is focused around piano. The fluidity of this song is quite impressive, and I especially love the part at around 5:25 where it slows down and becomes more chordal, really letting the tone of the piano shine rather than just the notes. Beautiful.

Metalwood is a Canadian fusion group, I love the way they blend rock and jazz. The growling bassline in Chronic is just fantastic. Although these guys are a fusion group, their jazz is a bit more intellectual than the two Japanese groups I mentioned above, IMO. However that certainly doesn't make their music inaccessible.

I don't think Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, or Diana Krall require any introduction. All jazz greats - I tried to pick songs that are pretty mainstream, but we're getting into "real" jazz here, and these songs are all quite a bit older as well, so they might be more of an acquired taste.

Joanna Wang's Latin-influenced Tikiville took a while to grow on me, but it did. I actually kind of hated it the first time I listened to it, but a few more listens have changed my mind. I've uploaded a lot by her in the past, so check the tag if you're interested. She's a young Taiwanese jazz singer, but IIRC she also spent some time in New York.

Matt Belsante's rendition of Beyond the Sea is sweet, and while I'm not really a huge fan of him, I really liked it. I've heard his voice compared to Michael Buble's, if that helps.

There had to be a jazz standard that pretty much everyone knows here, so we have Georgia on my Mind as sung by Khalil Fong ... I believe I've uploaded this in the past already, but oh well. Khalil Fong isn't a jazz singer at all, but I didn't want to upload a standard version of this classic.

More:
Here's some links to some straightforward biographies about some of these artists, in case you want to find out more about them.
Hiromi | PE'Z/pe'zmoku | SOIL&"PIMP" SESSIONS

Labels: Count Basie, Diana Krall, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Hiromi, Joanna Wang, Khalil Fong, Matt Belsante, Metalwood, Miles Davis, mixtape, PE'Z, SOIL+"PIMP" SESSIONS, Spyro Gyra, Thelonious Monk

I just wanted to let you guys know that I will not be rotating this week, instead I will be working on uploading songs that were picked for the number lottery which ends on Tuesday. There were quite a few songs picked & I'm trying to review each of them too, so it might take a while to get those up. Sorry in advance about the wait!

On another note, Alistere is having problems with her Internet which is why she didn't rotate last week. =) Also, you might have seen that we have a new contributer to the site, Cate! I am still accepting contributers to the site, so if you are interested in occasionally posting up music or reviews, feel free to contact me at tokyomonochrome@gmail.com for more information.

In the meantime, I've uploaded a couple songs for you guys that have recently been released. There's been quite a few recent releases that I've been excited about (eg. TaeGoon, Lee Seung Gi, Epik High) so I thought I'd share a few . =) Please comment or leave a rating if taking!



❖ 어떻게 니가 - ShinJae (신재)
Korean | Ballad
I wasn't too sure about him at first - seeing the cover image I was expecting upbeat, dance-style songs, but the genre said ballad. Overall, I'm glad I gave him a try - his voice is warm and rich, and has depth without being too husky. Arrangement-wise, it's a classic, uplifting strings-and-piano ballad that makes good use of dynamics, starting out softly and building up to a stronger chorus although it's slightly predictable. Not an exceptional song, but a promising one.

❖ 사랑병 - ShinJae (신재)
Korean | Ballad
사랑병 has stronger pop routes. I really love how the piano arrangement echoes the melody - it ties in with his voice very nicely, although I found it a bit overpowering in some places. A sweet, bright song - my only complaint is, as with the first track, that it was a bit bland. I think he has a lot of potential, but compositionally his songs are a bit lacklustre.



❖ 말해줘 - TaeGoon
Korean | Pop/Dance
TaeGoon is a fairly new artist, but so far I've been quite impressed with his releases. 말해줘 is from his third mini-album, and following in the style of his older releases, it's strongly electronica-influenced. It's very catchy and the rap portions remind me a bit of Big Bang (in fact, I've seen him compared to Big Bang quite a lot), but I think it'll take a few more listens to really grow on me. It just seems a bit flat and two-dimensional, I feel like it isn't as powerful as some of his previous releases.

❖ Finally - TaeGoon
Korean | Pop/Dance
A fast-paced and energetic song. At first I found the synths in this song way too overpowering, but they really suit the atmosphere of the song. The chorus is catchy and overall the song has the power that I felt was missing in 말해줘. This is also one of the few songs where I actually didn't mind/liked the use of autotune.



❖ 愛されたい (Aisaretai) - Hiromi
Japanese | R&B/Pop/Ballad
I first heard Hiromi in a song with Nao'ymt (called Recover), and I really loved her voice. It's smooth, clear, strong, and perfectly suited for R&B. Aisaretai is a pretty R&B ballad. Hiromi's seasoned vocals and powerful harmonies really add a lot of colour to the song. I love the repetitive keyboard melody in the background.



❖ 사랑이 맴돈다 - Lee Seung Gi
Korean | Ballad
I love his voice so much. <3 It's light, clear, and melodic. 사랑이 맴돈다 is a mid-tempo ballad. It seems like a blend of modern elements (as seen in percussion, synths) and the "classic" ballad with the occasional appearance of strings. I'll admit I'm probably more than a little biased towards him, but I really enjoyed this song.

❖ 사랑이란 - Lee Seung Gi (Sa Rang Ee Ran)
Korean | Ballad
Something a little brighter and more sugary from Seung Gi. 사랑이란 is cheery and poppy. Although I still prefer his ballads, it's definitely nice to see a few more upbeat songs in an album dominated by ballads. I really like the ending where he's just singing "La la la" to the melody.



❖ 선물 (ft. 박지윤/Park Ji Yoon) - Epik High
Korean | Hip-Hop
Epik High and Park Ji Yoon? Definitely an exciting collaboration. 선물 is simply lovely arrangement-wise. I love the light, rich piano and Latin-influenced bass/percussion. Ji Yoon's airy, feminine voice contrasts perfectly with the rapping.

Labels: Epik High, Hiromi, Lee Seung Gi, ShinJae, Tae Goon

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.

Please send all affiliate requests to Haruhi. Carmi is currently open to requests.

Files are for sampling purposes only, I am not responsible if you keep them for longer than the 24-48 hours permitted. Please support the artists by purchasing their CDs.

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If you would like to be affiliates, send me an e-mail at ungathering@hotmail.com.

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