astromantic

毎日grind, 毎日rhymes

Category: music

  • Flashback Friday #2

    Flashback Friday #2

    See also: “history tag” from last year! And since Namie Amuro is retiring, I figure it’s as good a time as any to do this…

    1. What was your first song?
    Technically the first Japanese song I was ever exposed to was the .midi version of the Sailor Star Song on some Geocities (!) page. Those don’t have vocals so it doesn’t really count! The first actual song I heard after that was BODY FEELS EXIT, but sometime around 2000 or so.

    2. How did you discover j-pop?
    OH BOY. Like a lot of people, I discovered j-pop through anime… but it was more of a semi-discovery because back when Sailor Moon first aired in the US (late 90s), it was dubbed and all the songs were in English. I think I found out about Namie Amuro through a Sailor Moon fansite, so when the webmistress posted some of her favorite Japanese songs, that was the one I immediately took to. I also used to frequent a lot of MP3 rotation sites!

    Then I fell deep into the anime trap, NO thanks to Toonami/Adult Swim (2000-2001). What a time.

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  • RE: April

    RE: April

    pictured: HYUKOH, “Wanli万里”

    What is blogging? How do I Photoshop? Long time no see to whoever is still reading my blog. I had a really busy April for mostly school related reasons, but I am free (for now). Some tings:

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  • MUSIC IS MY THING

    While waiting for my copy of Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild to come in the mail (scumbag Amazon — it was a preorder that should’ve been here on Friday, but all I got was an empty mailbox), today I took it upon myself to explore some of what Spotify has to offer. I’ve had a premium membership for a while now and one of the things I lamented was that Japanese music pickings are so slim. I mean, I have a whole playlist dedicated to just Korean music. It’s so accessible!

    After some successful digging for moderately popular artists that I like (Ohashi Trio, Suiyoubi no Campanella — I’d argue that the latter is becoming a lot more popular though), I found about 99.8% of Koda Kumi and Ayumi Hamasaki’s discography on Spotify! Although other avex artists like m-flo and Namie Amuro aren’t on Spotify US, Spotify Japan is still in its infancy and I’m hopeful that there will be more available internationally at a later date. Maybe.

    Anyway, Creepy Nuts is a group I’ve been listening to and enjoying lately. (They’re also on Spotify.) This is one of those times I really wish I had a better grasp on the Japanese language because I’m watching this music video like “WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?!” and also like “damn this song slaps…” o well.

  • Best of 2016: everything else

    Best of 2016: everything else

    Happy new year! I think the only album I 100% (heh) loved in 2016 was KAYTRANADA‘s 99.9%. There were other albums that came close but none of them had the replay value I felt this album did. Anyway, I added links for only the more “obscure” songs on the list. Enjoy! (more…)

  • Best of 2016: Japan

    Best of 2016: Japan

    WHO KNEW that a song commissioned by Yamato Transport would be the song of the year? Amazing. I’m kidding (sort of), but NEKO FUNJATTA is genius and visually stunning in every way. Meow!

    I listened to a lot less Japanese music than I should have and the only real release I looked forward to this year was Utada Hikaru‘s Fantôme (featuring my personal favorites, 俺の彼女 and 真夏の通り雨). I was looking forward to Gesu no Kiwami Otome.‘s album, but Kawatani Enon sucks and we can’t have nice things!! A few days ago I took it upon myself to listen to some new-to-me acts (chay, WONK, G.RINA) and old favorites (Nobuchika Eri, Superfly, the pillows) who also dropped new material this year. Some recent favorites:

    1. chay – “12月の雨”
    2. Gesu no Kiwami Otome. – “無垢な季節”
    3. TRY TRY NIICHE – “Cガール”
    4. 1983 – “文化の日”
    5. DAOKO – “FASHION”
    6. Uyama Hiroto – “Yin and Yang”
  • Best of 2016: Korea

    Best of 2016: Korea

    pictured: Red Velvet, “7월7일 (One of These Nights)”

    A post inspired by Melissa Johnson’s wonderful blog (The Mind Reels). But before I get into what I liked in k-pop this year:

    Over the past few months I’ve had a Red Velvet reversal. Being a big fan of f(x), I was convinced RV were the harbingers of doom when Sulli announced her hiatus (2014, RV debut) and withdrawal (2015, debut album). I couldn’t help but think that SME was putting my favorite group on the backburner! MY FAVES!! You know, irrational fangirl feelings and what not.

    Then “7월7일” dropped and I was shocked by the generally negative responses it got. Maybe because it was a slow R&B ballad and not completely suited for INSTANT popularity, something destined to be a b-side. For me though, it was perfect. It felt like Red Velvet found their niche (the “velvet” concept). Unfortunately they went back to a crowd pleasing poppier sound for Russian Roulette just as I started listening to more of the velvet themed stuff… at any rate, I hope they’re not scared to be experimental in the future because in the end, the music is what makes them interesting to me. If they’re like everyone else, it’s just boring! (more…)

  • classical dramas

    classical dramas


    pictured: Page Turner, Secret Love Affair, Cantabile Tomorrow

    I’m more of a jazz person, but there a few dramas who made good use of classical pieces that left big impressions on me and sparked vivid memories of key moments. I kid you not, Mambo was the moment that made me sit up and pay attention to the sweet cherub that is Park Bogum, haha. I was like, “ooh, slay a bit!” Here are some select favorites:

    1. Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95, B. 178: IV. Allegro con fuoco (Antonín Dvořák) (Cantabile Tomorrow)
    2. Dance at the Gym: Mambo (Leonard Bernstein) (Cantabile Tomorrow, very inspired)
    3. Piano Concerto No.2 in C minor, Op.18: 2. Adagio sostenuto (Sergei Rachmaninoff) (Soredemo, Ikite Yuku)
    4. Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43 (Sergei Rachmaninoff) (Secret Love Affair)
    5. Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92: I. Poco sostenuto – Vivace (Ludwig van Beethoven) (Nodame Cantabile)

  • Flashback Friday #1

    Flashback Friday #1

    A twitter friend shared this meme and I decided to do it!

    1. What was your first song?
    Definitely BoA’s “Number One”! Because I listened to a lot of Japanese music (including BoA’s stuff) I remember hearing the song for the first time and thinking, “I cannot make any sense of this language at allllllll”. How times have changed! I didn’t listen to any kpop after that (this was 2003 or so), but I gained interest again after listening to Lee Hyori, Epik High, and Clazziquai around 2005.

    2. How did you discover kpop?
    I had a lot of Korean friends in high school, very thankful to them for hooking it up (haha). 🙏

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  • Primary x Oh Hyuk, “Island”

    2016-ohhyuk01

    2016-ohhyuk02
    Oh Hyuk (and band hyukoh) is one of my favorite things about Korean music these days. I listened to them a lot in the last year and just stumbled upon the music video by chance. It’s perfect. You can watch it here.

  • Top 15 SHINee Songs

    Top 15 SHINee Songs

    Here are my top songs for absolutely no reason other than the fact that I’ve been on a SHINee kick for a few months and Jonghyun just dropped his second solo album. 🙏

    1. Odd Eye
    2. 누난 너무 예뻐 (Replay) 1
    3. Y.O.U (Year of Us)
    4. Dream Girl 2
    5. Like A Fire
    6. Hold You 3
    7. Note
    8. A-Yo 4
    9. Ready or Not
    10. 세뇨리따 (Señorita)
    11. 잠꼬대 (Please, Don’t Go)
    12. 소년, 소녀를 만나다 (Romeo + Juliet)
    13. 내 곁에만 있어 (Best Place)
    14. 너 아니면 안되는 걸 (Romantic)
    15. View

    Listen to it here.

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