Just a quick post before I go to visit my friend; heard this new song by newcomer Ssemy. At first I was like: ‘eh… this doesn’t sound too good…’ but it’s so catchy! Definitely has influences from Victoriana and doo-woping. Catchy~
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Top 25 Most Played Songs #1
11 AugSo below is a list of the 25 most played songs I have. The number of plays isn’t wholly accurate but oh well. What does it say about me?! Oh dear…
Girls’ Generation – Gee (276)
Candie Payne – One More Chance (218)
See Ya & Davichi & Tiara – Female Generation (93)
Chae Yeon – Shake (91)
BoA – DOTCH (84)
Chae Yeon – 위험한 연출 (81)
Utada – Me Muero (76)
Girls Aloud – Can’t Speak French (72)
La Roux – Bulletproof (66)
Delta Goodrem – In This Life (65)
Martha and the Vandellas (62)
Girls Aloud – See The Day (57)
Taylor Swift – Love Story (57)
Tiara – Good Person ver. 1 (53)
Wonder Girls – Nobody (52)
BoA – Obsessed (50)
Hilary Duff – With Love (50)
Jolin Tsai – 愈慢愈美麗 (49)
Utada – Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence – FYI (45)
KOKIA – Siuil a Run – (43)
La Roux – Cover My Eyes (42)
Florence and the Machine – Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) (41)
Solange – I Decided [Part 2] (42)
The Saturdays – Work (40)
Beyonce – Hello (38)
Granted, a large majority of these songs aren’t the ones I would call my favourites. And most of them are just the more recent songs I have where I would listen to them on repeat for ages. Regardless, a whole lot of gay going on there.
Chae Yeon – Shake
11 AugNow, I love Chae Yeon for being a sassy confident performer. Lord knows she isn’t the best singer or dancer but she has a lot of personality and seems friendly, but also a bitch. I bet she’d claw Hyori’s eyes out to be considered the sexiest Kpop star. That’s beside the point though; Chae Yeon recently came back with a mini-album (everyone in Korea is releasing mini-albums, why?) with her first song called Shake. Shake is pretty catchy but less dancey than her older songs. I wasn’t really blown away by her new stuff, it all sounds very similar and not that catchy. But! The best thing about her most recent work is her live performance dance routine. Oh my god, I will never get over it. It’s major epiq lols – especially if you use it as a victory dance. Check it out below~
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Jade Ewen – My Man
3 AugJade Ewen was the UK’s 2009 entry for Eurovision. She won a television talent contest to represent the UK with a song composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricised by Diane Warren. The song (which was a bit shit to be honest) managed to finished 5th at the contest which was a great achievement considering our last place results for a while now. Anyway, she’s back with a pretty amazing song! It’s completely different from It’s My Time (the Eurovision song). Tis a thumping dance song which no doubt the gays will love. I do have some reservations though, it’s not the most original sounding song… it sounds very similar to The Saturdays’ Work. However, there’s no denying Jade’s vocal prowess and she rips up the song’s hook with an attitude rarely found in UK popstars. Listen below to a radio rip of the song ^_^
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Click after the jump to hear The Saturdays’ Work song; do you think it sounds similar?
Florence and the Machine – Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)
3 AugRecently I have been listening to English a bit more. It’s not a conscious thing per se, just when new music comes out and I like it then I tend to listen to it… a lot. I can quite happily listen to one song on repeat for a few hours or so. Is that strange? I don’t think it is. I think people fall into different kinds of music listeners. I play songs on repeat, others put them on random and some listen to their music in order; the latter two I just find so weird… I could never do that. I get albums, listen to all the songs (or sometimes not) and then just play the songs that I like. For example, my playcount for my Candie Payne album reads as follows:
I Wish I Could Have Loved You More – 8
Why Should I Settle for You – 1
Take Me – 1
In the Morning – 23
All I Need to Hear – 14
A Different You – 2
By Tomorrow – 2
One More Chance – 1
Hey Goodbye – 1
Seasons Change – 1
Turn Back Now – 1
One More Chance (Single Version) – 218
That’s a bit extreme, but yeah, I listen to songs a lot. Anyways! I’ve digressed…
Yes, Florence and the Machine. She’s been given a lot of praise and attention (including a Brit Award), however… I’m not sure if it’s entirely warranted. Yes, she’s an interesting and captivating artist and yes, she has an interesting voice but she is not the most original artist I’ve heard. Indeed, I think she fits rather nicely amongst her British, female contempories – not necessarily at the top of them. Below is the video for Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up). It’s a great song really; its storming beat and haunting vocals make the song powerful whilst the melody is enough to get it lodged in your head.
Check out her cover of Beyonce’s Halo for Radio 1’s Live Lounge after the jump. She transforms the song from a power love ballad to an aching lament – very beautiful.
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T-ara – Good Person ver 1
1 MaySo, I’ve been on a bit of a K-pop kick recently. I dunno, I just think it’s pretty awesome. T-ara, a new girl group from Mnet, has just released their first MV for their debut single Good Person ver 1. The MV is a little boring, but I think the song is rather awesome! I was a little weary of a new girl group, especially after listening to 2NE1’s lollipop song… But I was surprised by how great T-ara sing! The song has a lot of emotion and powerful vocals. Girls’ Generation are undoubtedly my favourite, but T-ara might just be up there for second place with Wonder Girls ^^
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BoA – I Did It for Love
17 AprSooo… the video for the much hyped second single from BoA’s self-titled English debut album, I Did It for Love, has recently dropped! And it’s pretty darn awesome! I’ve never seen BoA dance as amazing as she does in the video. It’s non-stop, incessant dancing something special! It’s amazing! The video reminds me of Rihanna’s Umbrella a lot, but I can’t think of any singer/entertainer that can dance as good as BoA. No one. Nope, no one at all! Britney, Ciara, Rihanna, Shakira, Beyonce, whoever you want to suggest, BoA, technically, is a much better dancer!
The song itself is also pretty cool, definitely one of the best from her album. I also think this being treated more like the proper first single, Eat You Up was more of a taster, to introduce BoA to the country, and now this is the proper single. Anyways! Check it out! It’s definitely my favourite PV of the year so far!
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Girls’ Generation – Gee
11 AprSo, I’ve loved J-pop and C-pop for a few years now, but there’s a certain kind of pop music that’s getting my feet tapping. No, not Icelandic pop music, K-pop (Korean)! Korea definitely has one of the coolest, trendiest [insert superlative here] cultures at the moment. Korean cinema is arguably the coolest and most innovative (along side, say… Spanish cinema).
Not merely a country with awesome films (Lady Vengeance being one of my favourite movies of all time), it also has pretty awesome pop music. This isn’t necessarily music that is new, progressive or slick. It’s pop music at it’s cutest bubbliness! What could be more cute than 9 Korean girls bouncing around and singing ‘Gee gee gee gee gee gee’ over the place? It’s awesome~
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Candie Payne – One More Chance
1 MarDuring a recent bout of insomnia I was watching a music channel. I can’t remember what the theme was or why they played this singer but I was hooked! Her name is Candie Payne, she released her album, I Wish I Could Have Loved You More, in 2007, but it seemed to go unnoticed. I can’t find it in any shops and news from her is scarce. However, I was taken aback by this jem.
The single version was produced by Mark Ronson and echoes the beautiful motown sound of the 60s. Whilst nothing can compare to The Ronette’s By My Baby, this song does remind me of it. Payne sings longingly for her love to give her ‘one more chance’. It’s very beautiful. Her album, which I downloaded from iTunes, is full of forlorn love songs and heart ache, is also a sweet find. However, nothing quite matches the pop enjoyment of One More Chance.
Check the video!
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Utada – Come Back To Me
1 Mar
Anyone who knows me, knows that I love Utada Hikaru more than life itself. I have a poster of her on my bedroom wall, she is the true reason why I want to learn Nihongo. I love everything about her! She can do no wrong! She’s back in the Anglophone world this year with a new release with Island Def Jam. Her first single, Come Back To Me, is very Mariah-esque. It’s produced by Stargate, who’ve made a million uber hot tunes. This is very commercial for Utada, but I wish her all the luck with it!
The video just got released a couple of days ago. It’s exquisite, Utada is looking gorgeous. I prefer her with longer hair, but she looks elogent and beautiful and like the Hollywood starlets of the past.
Click the link to watch!
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