Tong Hua (童话)

I remember the first time I heard Tong Hua in high school. Normally, Chinese ballads are not to my taste, but I was struck by this song immediately. It was so sad, and so beautiful. This cover by Jason Chen and JRice really brought back memories for me. (Plus, for a white guy, JRice's pronunciation is pretty freakin fantastic.) Subscribe to their YouTube channel... these dudes are awesome! :D

Mozart, Mendelssohn, and Mahler

I met a lot of musicians in college, and listened to a lot of great music. Here are a few particularly worth sharing:

Mozart

Mendelssohn

Mahler (For part II, click here)

AWWWWWWW

Even if you don't watch Glee, you can't deny that these two are ADORABLE. Their voices blend so beautifully too. The first time I listened to this, I totally melted. <3 Plus, Darren Criss is incredibly dreamy... -sigh-

My Concert Choir recently did a concert with Bulgarian and Georgian folk music. All the pieces were really pretty, and I think the style is just very cool and distinct. The ideal sound quality that we were supposed to strive for was a bright, forward, and not too nasally, which is so different from the typical full and soothing choir sound of the Western tradition. We did many other awesome pieces, but I have recordings of just two of them, done by groups which specialize in that type of music.

Dumaj, Zlato:

The title roughly means "Speak up, Zlato". The song is in the perspective of a boy is courting a girl, telling her to speak to her mother so that he can have her hand in marriage. The lyrics of these folk songs tended to be really cute and sweet.

Oh, and since blogger does not yet allow audio files to be uploaded I made a video. If anyone's curious, the picture is of a piece of seaweed from some beach in Taiwan.

Erghen Diado:

Personal favorite. Actually I think it was pretty much most peoples' favorite. The end has got to be one of the coolest parts of any choir piece I've ever heard!

CLARA C

So! I saw Clara C perform tonight. For those of you who haven't heard of her, she's a quirky manic-pixie-dreamgirl of a singer-songwriter who's really gone places in the past year--she won Kollaboration 10 and performed at the White House in May.

Also, She's ADORABLE. Seriously, if you ever get the chance to see her perform, go! To use an awkwardly composed simile, watching her perform is like having a guitar-and-trumpet-and-xylophone-etc.-playing sunbeam bounce into your life.

["Offbeat" - Clara C]

Among all the instruments I just mentioned, she also plays that Casio keyboard thing attached to tubing that you see in this video... which I cannot identify. Any guesses?

ETA: Google Search and an obscure New Zealand store's site tells me it's some sort of mouth organ!

["Use Somebody + Fallin' For You" - Clara C]

This cover really shows how pretty her voice is, I think.

Oh. And. Did I mention she teaches autistic kids? It's unfair how perfect she is.

Florence + Nicole

I cannot get over this song. This girl's voice blows me away.

["Heavy In Your Arms" - Florence + the Machine]

Gorgeous and haunting. The only thing I could possibly say against it is that it's on the Eclipse soundtrack... but let's be honest here. Twilight might be a laughably bad franchise, but the movie soundtracks are pretty great.

Nicole Atkins' voice has a similarly smoky, mysterious quality to it. This probably isn't the best song to showcase that; it's really peppy compared to some of her other work but I caaaan't stop listening to it.

I also just love this video. I want to hang out with every one of these people. (And I want Nicole's dress.)

["Maybe Tonight" - Nicole Atkins]

Also, aren't the lyrics to this song beautiful?

We Suck Young Blood (Your Time Is Up)

["We Suck Young Blood (Your Time Is Up)" - Radiohead]

Skin crawling yet?

Step Into My Office, Baby ;)

Belle & Sebastian might be the only band in the world that could get away with a song (and video) like this and still seem completely charming.

["Step Into My Office, Baby" - Belle & Sebastian]

guess who's baaaack.

[2NE1 - "Clap Your Hands (Bagsuchyeo)"]

This actually came out a while ago. Oops.

The Hood Internet

So these guys came to my school last night. I didn't go--I was stuck in my room doing readingsreadingsreadings--but I could hear them from my window pretty clearly anyway so that didn't make much of a difference.

Most mashup artists sound the same to me, but I really like what I've heard from these guys so far. I think they make pretty interesting combo selections, like "Tambourine Reckoning," though I'm not sure how I feel about the song as a whole... it starts out alright, but "Reckoning" might be too dirge-like for this to work.

But anyway! Here are a couple of my favorites.

["Good Ol' Fashion Rump Shaker (Matt & Kim vs. Beastie Boys)" - The Hood Internet]

This song just makes me really happy. :)

I couldn't find any Youtube videos of this next song that didn't make my head hurt, so here you are with a direct mp3 link posted on The Hood Internet's site:

"Can You Hear My Kids Now (Lil' Kim vs. MGMT)" - The Hood Internet

Does it seem like every mashup artist has to make a track sampling "Kids?"

Best of all, virtually everything's available for (free) download at http://www.thehoodinternet.com! Go forth, explore and download at will! Don't you love getting free stuff?

Bruno Mars - Just the Way You Are

I thought this song was really sweet.

What's up pretty ladies? Hope you're all listening to some good music in college! ^_^

王力宏「你不知道的事」

Wang Lee Hom's "All the Things You Never Knew"

I actually listened to a cover of this song first, and I thought it had the prettiest melody. I normally don't care for Chinese ballads (sorry!), but this one really made me feel, for lack of a better term. Plus, the main dude in the video is hot.

Speaking of hot guys, the next person I'm going to introduce you to is Kyle Landry. I've had the biggest musical crush on him since... forever. xD He's super famous on YouTube, and for good reason--he's an amazing pianist. Whenever I hear him play, I get so jealous of his skills. (I have tried to play a few of his songs, most notably Hikari, but my version definitely pales in comparison to his.) GO. WATCH. HIS. VIDEOS... NOW.

Kyle's Hallelujah Piano Solo

This starts out slow, like all his pieces, but gradually picks up speed until it reaches a musically orgasmic climax. Whatever you do, do not stop listening halfway. You'll miss the good parts.

Kyle's improvisation no60 - Andante Appasionato

He not only improvises well-know songs, but also just plain improvises! Although he claims they're "rough," his emotions are always clearly conveyed.

Kyle's original composition - The Happy Song

Is the improv not suiting your taste? This composition is more polished and will definitely bring a smile to your face. It did for me. :)

Shahrukh Khan: King of Bollywood (to me at least)

My roommate has a lot of seemingly random interests, and one of them is Bollywood movies. So she went on a Bollywood movie marathon over the summer with her family and she came back with a list of must-watch films, of which she has shown us two. She first showed us a B-movie last year, called this ridiculously long name but abbreviated as "DDLJ", which starred a young and dashing Shahrukh Khan, but the two we have seen so far this year have just left that one wayyyy back in the dust. THEY ARE JUST SO EPICALLY ENTERTAINING. I can hardly contain myself.

Oh yea, Shahrukh Khan is the main star in all of them.

The first one, Main Hoon Na, meaning something along the lines of "I am here", is a 3 hour long joyride taking place mostly in a university in Darjeeling. Khan plays Major Ram of the Indian army in a time when there is considerable tension between India and Pakistan, and he is assigned to protect a general's daughter from being kidnapped/killed by terrorists. A lot of serious things go down, but the songs in between are really effective in relieving a lot of emotional tension built up by the long, dramatic scenes which precede them.

This upbeat musical number takes place at prom. Seriously, I've woken up with this song stuck in my head ever since I've seen/heard it.

The second movie is Om Shanti Om. Khan stars as a struggling actor named Om who has big dreams for his career and for who he believes to be the love of his life, Shanti, who is a famous actress in the movie world. Like in Main Hoon Na, this movie would also fit nicely in the suspense/drama genre, but the songs, oh the songs!

This song was a sequence for one of Om's movies...

hahahahahahaahahaaahaahaaaaaaaaa. This one's also about three hours long.

By now the actor is in his mid-forties, but there's something about him that just exudes a palpable charisma and manliness. Trust me, he will grow on you.

And don't let the lighthearted, often silly, songs fool you. The plots are usually pretty complex, and you can expect it to take many unexpected turns. After all, they definitely have plenty of time to do so.

Long live Shahrukh Khan! What a hottie.

The Melodrama of Land-Use Planning

I'm still coming around to The Suburbs, Arcade Fire's new album. It hasn't struck me with its brilliance the way Funeral or Neon Bible did on my first listen. Maybe it is "the best kind of slow burn?" I haven't listened to it enough to say.

Like its predecessors, The Suburbs is another introspective examination (and sometimes indictment, no matter what Win Butler says) of modern culture, full of the bombastic, baroque anthems Arcade Fire is known for and a few songs that slow the pace of the album. "Sprawl (Flatland),"one of the songs that have really stood out to me so far, is a strange and spooky song that belongs to the latter category:

["Sprawl (Flatland) - Arcade Fire"]

"Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)" is a bit uncharacteristically bouncy for them, but still explores the same themes of decay and listlessness as the other songs on the album. Just in a somewhat more positive, forward-looking way.

And is it just me, or does this sound kind of like a New Wave pop song to anyone else?

["Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)" - Arcade Fire]

ETA: This is really cool.

It works best if you're using Google Chrome.

Chinese Music Appreciation

Andy Lau - 刘德华 (Liú Déhuá)
Song: 一起走過的日子/The Days We Passed Together (Rough Translation)


It's really hard to choose one song out of all of Andy Lau's music. This song is timeless and really shows his talent as a singer. His voice is expressive, strong and pleasant to the ears. I always think of his voice as the embodiment of true manhood--it's not about being loud, having a very deep voice or singing songs about your physical/sexual prowess. Andy Lau's singing has an innate strength and masculinity that comes through so well that it really makes other male pop singers seem like boys rather than men in comparison.

Valen Hsu - 許茹芸 (Xǔ Rú Yún)
Song: 独角戏/Du Jiao Xi/One Role Play (Rough Translation)


I remember the first time that I heard this song was in a restaurant. I actually liked it so much that I asked the waitress for the name of the song. Although I'm not sure if I've ever heard it before, the song was hauntingly familiar. It's slow but definitely not mellow--there is a tension in the song that really pushes it forward, and Valen Hsu's smooth vocals are perfect! Also note that she held some insanely long phrases in there.

Jane Zhang - 张靓颖 (Zhāng Liàngyǐng)
Song: 畫心/Hua Xin/Painted Heart (Rough Translation)


Jane Zhang's most famous song must be 天下無雙 from the Condor Heroes. Not as many people know about this song from the movie 畫皮 （Painted Skin). It's beautiful and equally impressive--note the high notes in the bridge!

Cool Songs with Profanity, vol. 2: This Shit Is Bananas

...B-A-N-A-N-A-S! Come on, you know the words.

["Hollaback Girl" - Gwen Stefani]

A giddy, folksy cover by Kate Nash.

["Hollaback Girl" (cover) - Kate Nash]

And here's an amazing video from Gilmore Girls of METAL GOD Sebastian Bach singing "Hollaback Girl." No profanity here, really, since he's performing at a bat mitzvah (and the FCC would probably be all over the WB and Gilmore Girls if he did say "shit"). He does this... better than I would've expected. Good work, Sebastian Bach.

Cool Songs with Profanity, vol. 1: Bitch

The main reason why I'm a member of this blog is to make sure that the "cool songs with profanity" (?! I didn't make it) tag gets -- well, let's not jump the gun with the profanities.

"Konichiwa Bitches" - Robyn
Ridiculous lyrics aside, this song is just incredibly robust. And pretty freaking rad, if we're going to go with the r- adjectives.


"Smack My Bitch Up" - The Prodigy
The title speaks for itself. Being a club classic doesn't hurt either.

Alicia Key's Fallin'

Bad Kids

["Bad Kids" by The Black Lips.]

The first time I listened to the song, the only line I could make out was "A penis on the wall." That alone is enough to make it an instant fave.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World features a pretty awesome selection of music. As any good movie that's got this many bands and hipsters should, really.

The best song in the movie is, logically, by the only band that's made it to rock-stardom. I've pretty much had "Black Sheep" on repeat since I got home last night:

["Black Sheep" - The Clash at Demonhead]

I still can't decide whether I prefer the movie version or original (posted below for comparison's sake). I really like Brie Larson's vocals here, but Metric's version has been growing on me. They're virtually the same though, really.

["Black Sheep" - Metric]

I also liked Beachwood Sparks' dreamy cover of "By Your Side," which definitely fits the shy, awkward beginning to Scott and Ramona's relationship better than the smoothly romantic original... somehow it sounded better to me in the movie, though.

["By Your Side" - Beachwood Sparks]

And finally, "Invaders Must Die," which isn't in the movie but is in one of its trailers.

And yes, it is as awesome as it sounds.

["Invaders Must Die" - The Prodigy]

CeeLoGreen has only two words for all those golddiggers out there...

And I only have two words for this song:

So.

Catchy.

Kim Yeo Hee's "My Music"

Kim Yeo Hee's (aka Applegirl on Youtube)first single "My Music"

What a strong voice this girl has!

This is also her cover of Poker Face. The iPhone apps are crazy!

TaeYang's new album SOLAR

I'll Be There

I Need a Girl

I Need a Girl Dance Ver

SOLAR

1. SOLAR (Intro)
2. Superstar
3. I Need a Girl (feat. G-dragon)
4. Just a Feeling
5. You're My
6. Move (feat. Teddy)
7. Break Down
8. 니가 잠든 후에
9. Where U At
10. 웨딩드레스 (Wedding Dress)
11. Take It Slow