This week's rotation is partially an artist feature and partially focusing on recent releases. I'm hoping to get a new layout up in the next couple days too, but school starts tomorrow for me so I'm not sure how much time I'll have. Happy belated New Year's to everyone too!
By the way, I apologize for the really crappy commenting this week. T_T Lately I've been a little preoccupied & haven't had much time to work on rotations; I haven't really felt as motivated to update the site. As always, please remember to comment.
-Haruhi
- ARTIST FEATURE -
Yorico - Negau
Japanese | Pop
Yume no Kajitsu
Kokoro no Kagi
TELL ME THE TRUTH
I had this album on my computer for quite a while, but only recently got to listening to it. I'm not a big fan of female singers, but Yorico's voice is wonderful. Yume no Kajitsu is strong without being overpowering. Although it is definitely poppy, it's melancholic. Kokoro no Kagi is a little more upbeat and hopeful. I love the piano & string accompaniment. TELL ME THE TRUTH also has an upbeat tone. Yorico's voice is thick and rich.
Khalil Fong - Orange Moon
Mandarin | R&B/Pop
Singalongsong
小小蟲 (Small Insect)
1234567
100種表情 (100 Kinds of Expression
Singalongsong is actually entirely in English. I loved it. The lyrics are sweet if fairly simple, and Khalil Fong's voice is amazing. It blends elements of pop and R&B perfectly. 小小蟲 contrasts an active drum beat with a laid-back arrangement. It's relaxing, but not too bland either. 1234567 is another favourite of mine off this album. It's livelier than the previous two tracks. 100種表情 is another favourite of mine. It's mellow but catchy.
- RECENT RELEASES -
Fahrenheit - Love You More And More
Mandarin | Pop
恆星 (Shining Star)
Touch Your Heart
Fahrenheit comes back with their third album. I have to admit I don't like their music much, but their vocals have improved noticeably in this album. 恆星 reflects this improvement - it takes a more serious tone than most of Fahrenheit's songs. The rap verses remind me of Shinhwa for some reason. O_o The rock-influenced Touch Your Heart is a bonus song that was only on the Hong Kong version of this album. An English verison (not sure whether this version was also by Fahrenheit) was used in a commercial promoting tourism in Taiwan. Which will explain the lyrics - Taiwan will touch your heart, etc.
Wang Lee Hom - HEART BEAT
Mandarin | Pop
心跳 (Heart Beat)
春雨里洗过的太阳 (Spring Rain Washed Over The Sun)
EVERYTHING
I initially thought 心跳 would be upbeat, seeing as it's the title track, but it's actually downtempo. I liked it, but found it a bit generic, although the chorus did get stuck in my head for a while. 春雨里洗过的太阳 on the other hand, was probably my favourite song on this album. Lee Hom's voice is sweet and melodic. There's also a snippet of the lyrics that's in English: If you listen to the rhythm of the pouring rain that is just so beautiful. It's not a song that stood out to me right away, but it grows on you. EVERYTHING is a fairly typical ballad but, as usual, Lee Hom's voice makes it stand out. I thought this was a pretty solid album, but not outstanding.
Labels: Fahrenheit, Khalil Fong, Wang Lee Hom, Yorico
S.I.N - -OZ-
Quality kinda sucks, sorry. T_T Really screamy at first, then really melodic. Pretty typical fare, nothing that blew me away. Still, it was solid and I really like the verses that are actually sung.
Voyage - Shinhwa
A nice ballad, but for the first few verses until the chorus, the accompaniment completely overlaps. Probably one of my favourite songs from Shinhwa's 9th album though, which I wasn't too impressed with. Worth a listen.
One - Epik High ft. Jisun of Loveholic
GO EPIK HIGH. This is from their new album, Pieces, Part 1. Featuring the soft vocals of Jisun, this is one of my favourite tracks. The beginning of the song reminded me of HSM for some strange reason. Buut, the rest of the song is great. Kind of different from the darker style of Epik High's 4th album, this song manages to be upbeat and catchy yet sad at the same time. Highly recommended.
Ignition - Epik High ft. Na Yoon Kwon
More Epik High for you. =) This song starts out with Na Yoon Kwon's vocals. I can't say I've heard of him, but he's got a pretty decent voice. This song didn't catch me as much as "One" did, but still a decent track. It's mostly rapped except for Na Yoon Kwon's verses, which works out to be a pretty nice balance.
Eight by Eight - Epik High ft. Dynamic Duo, Double K, TBNY
A more solidly hip-hop track, Eight by Eight is very much American influenced. The English lyrics sound a bit random (I swear I heard "skinny jean" in there) and it's not really my kind of song, but worth a listen.
Usan - Epik High ft. Younha
Okay, last Epik High song. Another of my favourites, especially since Younha is such an awesome vocalist and one of my favourite female vocalists. Nice piano accompaniment but the drums keep a solid, steady tempo. Younha's vocals are really what make this song for me. Recommended.
ワールド ワールド - Asian Kung-Fu Generation
Okay, this isn't as recent of a release, but I love this song and I don't think I ever got around to uploading it. It's from Ajikan's latest album, World World World. There's a ticking metronome in the background and it's a really mellow song, accompanied by just a guitar. It's only a minute or so long. Recommended.
Natsu・Koi - Ikimono Gakari
A band that I recently discovered and am really impressed by. Their male and female vocalists are both great, and this is probably one of my favourite songs by them. Try them out!
Echo - Loveholic
From their Dramatic & Cinematic album, a great song from a great band. I'm disappointed that Ji Sun's leaving them to go solo, but I support her. Her voice really shines through in this song, which is slow but for some reason calling it a ballad doesn't seem quite right to me. Highly recommended.
Mirage - Loveholic
My favourite song from this album. Lovely piano accompaniment, Ji Sun's vocals are lovely. It's a really calm but sad song with a great chorus. Highly recommended.
honey drop - Matenrou Opera
One of my favourite VK bands. I was so happy when I finally found this single, and it didn't disappoint. Great vocals although they're a bit whiny at times, random growling stuck into a very melodic song, and overall just a great song. There are some gothic influences; it's super catchy. &&& there's a random jazzy piano lick. Highly highly recommended for any VK fans.
Anydream - Rain
Rain's submission for the Beijing Olympics. Below you'll find the contributions from Wang Lee Hom, and Jay Chou. It's not fabulous and definitely not one of my favourite songs by him, but it's decent. Maybe it's because this is a low-quality rip, but his voice kind of disappears below the accompaniment for the whole song. It's upbeat and relatively catchy.
千山萬水 (Quan Shan Wan Shui) - Jay Chou
Radio rip, sorry. But it's all I could find, and I thought some of you would probably want to hear this. A nice, slow-tempoed song that shows Jay Chou's vocals well, but it didn't really blow me away or anything. Plus the verse that's super-high pitched kind of annoys me.
Dream of the World - Wang Lee Hom
This song starts off in English and then switches to Mandarin. It's also a ballad, but I liked it better than Jay Chou's song. There's a prominent bass accompaniment and Wang Lee Hom's voice is lovely.
사랑 하는 일 - Sung Shi Kyung
Latest Sung Shi Kyung single. As expected, a ballad. Pretty standard fare, but a decent listen. It starts to grow on you the more you listen to it. He does have a great voice, which I think is shown quite well in this song.
Welcome to my misery - FLOW
If the song title made you think the song was sad, think again. A great upbeat track from FLOW's latest album, Isle. Very danceable and catchy with a great guitar part and a piano accompaniment that has varying prominence. A reminder of how much I love this band. Recommended.
Carry on - FLOW
Rock | Japanese
Another upbeat track from ISLE, this song is wonderfully executed. The way the vocals are arranged are just wonderful, with a great accompaniment. The song goes from a darker sound to the bright chorus. Great bass accompaniment, too.
Lovers Again - EXILE
I haven't liked EXILE's recent singles much, but I love this song. It's one of my favourites by them and is a gorgeous ballad that shows their vocals perfectly. Harmonizing is well done and the song has faint R&B influences.
Mannequin - Hwanhee (Fly to the Sky)
A solo track from Fly to the Sky member Hwanhee. Mannequin is a nice ballad that stages Hwanhee's deep vocals beautifully. I love Brian, but honestly I think that Hwanhee sounds a lot better singing solo. The song itself can get a little boring, but I'm highly recommending this just for Hwanhee's voice.
Electron Mailman - Kra
I love how this song kicks off. It's a pretty laid back song and one of my favourite from Kra.
Eraser - SAT ft. Lee Min Woo
I honestly don't know where I got this song from. XP I just found it on my computer and thought I'd upload it. It's a duet that doesn't offer much, but it's catchy and the female vocalist is pretty decent. Lee Min Woo underachieves in this song - he's a much better vocalist than this song shows, but I think it's a pretty old song, so he's probably improved since then. Worth a listen, but nothing spectacular.
Carving the Rock - YMCK
A very cute track from a very interesting band, YMCK. I can understand why it might not be everyone's kind of thing, but I really liked it even though generally I wouldn't listen to 8bit. It's a nice blend of sounds with soft, cute vocals.
Labels: Asian Kung-Fu Generation, Epik High, EXILE, FLOW, Fly to the Sky, Ikimono Gakari, Jay Chou, Kra, Lee Min Woo, Loveholic, Matenrou Opera, OZ, Rain, SAT, Shinhwa, Sung Shi Kyung, Wang Lee Hom, YMCK
