Just a small update. The next rotation will most likely be summer-themed. So happy that school's almost out. <3
9mm Parabellum Bullet - Supernova/Wanderland
Japanese | Alt Rock
01. Supernova
02. Wanderland
03. Wildpitch
04. Supernova (piano)
05. Wanderland (piano)
Japan has so many awesome alt-rock bands. <3 9mm Parabellum Bullet is one of my favourites. I didn't upload the two piano versions, but I will on request. Supernova is probably my favourite track from this single, it has a really solid rhythm and nice guitar riffs. Wavering from Supernova's steady rhythm is Wanderland, which has more of an element of surprise. Love the vocals. Wildpitch is awesome; crazy drum accompaniment.
BACK-ON - Sands of time
Japanese | Alt Rock/Rapcore
01. Sands of time
02. message for kidz
03. fifty/50
Latest BACK-ON single, I think they're releasing their first full-length album soon too? Sands of time is a fun, light-hearted track. message for kidz starts out really sweetly, and leads into a rap verse. It's very summery with shouted vocals and alternating between acoustic guitar and a grungy electric sound. There's also these random sounds that I think were supposed to imitate a rooster crowing, which made me laugh. fifty/50 has a darker sound that contrasts nicely with the other two tracks. I like the chorus, though the lyrics (I wanna kill myself and my mind/I wanna break myself and my mind) are a little depressing.
Shinee - 누난 너무 예뻐 (Replay)
Korean | Pop
01. 누난 너무 예뻐 (Replay)
02. In My Room
03. Real
04. 사.계.한 (Love Should Go On)
05. 누난 너무 예뻐 (Replay Boom Track)
SM Entertainment is behind DBSK, BoA, Super Junior and SNSD - obviously, there were high expectations for their newest boyband, Shinee. Compositionally, the songs in this mini-album are mediocre, though vocally, it's quite impressive. 누난 너무 예뻐 (Replay) has a laid-back sound and shows their strong voices well. In My Room is the standard acoustic-guitar ballad, opening a softer, sweeter aspect to their vocals. The faint harmonizing in the chorus is nice. Real jazzes things up a bit, it opens with a quick piano passage and then leads into a fun, upbeat, catchy song with a nice bass accompaniment. 사.계.한 (Love Should Go On) also has a bright, happy sound, featuring more rapping than the other tracks. Overall, each track showed their powerful voices and potential. I wasn't disappointed, and I think it's at least close to what it was hyped up to be. Shinee is definitely a group to look out for in the K-pop world.
Tae Yang - Hot
Korean | Pop/R&B
01. HOT - Intro
02. 기도/gi do/A Prayer (feat. Teddy)
03. 나만 바라봐/Na man bara bwa/Only Look At Me
04. 죄인/je in/Sinner
05. Baby I'm Sorry
06. Make Love (feat. Kush)
Tae Yang, the main vocalist of Big Bang, recently released his first solo mini-album. I didn't really like the Intro, at 1:30 it was a bit too long to me considering that most intros/interludes are like, 30 seconds. Coincidentially, it was written by G-Dragon. A Prayer is an R&B-type ballad, featuring digitalized vocals. It's not bad, but not outstanding, either. The principal track, Only Look At Me, didn't catch my attention at first listen. When I watched the MV for it after (which, by the way, has some pretty nice dance sequences) and then listened to the song again, it started to grow on me. It's very similar to Big Bang's style. Sinner has an interesting string accompaniment and a darker sound. Baby I'm Sorry's lyrics ere also written by Big Bang's G-Dragon. It's a pretty generic mid-tempo ballad, but it's not bad. Make Love reminds me of A Prayer except the voices aren't digitalized. Overall, not a bad single, but not as good as I thought it would be.
monobright - あの透明感と少年
Japanese | Alt Rock
01. あの透明感と少年
02. boy
03. 夏メロマンティック
04. 旅立ちと少年
05. 幽霊
06. 雲男
Eh, I might get around to uploading the rest of this later. monobright is a pretty awesome alt-rock band I recently discovered, I like the title track to this single the best so far. I haven't gotten a chance to listen to all the songs yet, though. Try them out, they've got a unique vocalist and refreshing, bright sound.
Labels: 9mm Parabellum Bullet, BACK-ON, monobright, Shinee, Tae Yang
