Friday, May 27, 2011

MY Music update time!

24 May marks the return of FT Island!
To Korean pop scene..

Just a short while after releasing their full-length Japanese album "Five treasure Island"
Five Treasure Island = FT Island  (yes thats how their name came about)
Was still comtemplating whether to buy it and there the Korean mini album is out.. Seriously busy Five treasures.. Promoting in Japan & Korea within short timeframe..
Wasn't too impressed with their recent Japanese singles.. Brand New Days & So Today were so generic.. I don't have the urge to keep them on replay..
Their musical styles are diff from their more emo rock Korean singles/albums.. Perhaps to suit the mainstream pop-rock market in Japan..
Plenty of fluffy-sweet pop-rock music already.. What FT Island is famous for is their classic emo-punk-rock songs.. Though they sound too depressing for these young guys, the vocalist's voice is well-suited to sing those songs.. This is the edge they've over other bands, which should be largely capitalised on.. Since their junior band CN Blue is catching up in terms of popularity stakes..

I love both bands FTI & CNB, but in terms of vocal prowess, FTI's solo vocalist Hongki beats both of CNB's vocalists Yonghwa & Jonghyun.. As much as i love Jonghyun's soothing calm, heart-melting voice, Hongki's husky, raspy low emotive voice evokes more feelings.. Even though i don't understand what he's singing most of the time (either Japanese / Korean / Kor-lish aka Korean english) i can feel for the song..

^_^

Many korean bands are heading to Japan.. Not that i mind, but their style are kinda "forced" to be changed to cater to the needs of Japanese market..

I didn't like FT Island's change...
But i applaud DGNA's change..
Didn't know J-pop suits them so much! 
They're known as Dae Guk Nam Ah in Korea & Daikoku Danji in Japan..
Their name kinda imitates DBSK.. Formed by 4 characters (readable in Chinese)
Have long korean names & even longer Japanese names..

Since their debut in Korea, i knew this band has 3 members with distinctive voices..
-Mika's high pitched, airy (sometimes breathless) kind of singing voice suits soft ballads (and his voice resembles Jaejoong's)
-Karam's high pitched, cheery voice makes him suitable for the role of lead vocalist since he can handle most songs well (and he looks like a cuter, chubbier version of Jaejoong!)
-Hyunmin's husky voice is rare & belies his pretty face..

Why i love this new band~
It's not just their band name resembles DBSK, but 2 members~ 1 Jae's face 1 Jae's voice.. If only 1 member has hot bod that resembles Jaejoong.. Lols.. Not easy to find actually, cos Jae's got the perfect package~ face, body, voice, fashion sense, personality  xD

DGNA's title track "Love Power" is so kawaii!!!
Fluffy candy floss sweet J-pop is so their type..
Wish them success in breaking Japanese market..



^_^



Infinite has been around for a while, but i hadn't paid attention to them previously..
Too many boybands & girl groups out there these days it's hard to stand out..


UNLESS you've
-band members who look like some other famous guy  (like DGNA)
-gd-looking member who happen to be from another country  (like 2PM's 'thai prince' Nichkhun)
-a funny member who can carve a name for himself on variety shows  (like 2AM's Jo Kwon)
-a daringly zany member who can dance all the girl groups' dances on variety shows  (like ZE:A's Kwanghee)
-a member who's really good at dancing a different genre, eg modern contemporary dance & perform them occasionally at dance battles  (like MBLAQ's Lee Joon)
-members who have famous celebrity daddy  (like F.Cuz's Lee U)
-some suggestive dance moves that gets banned on music programs  (like rookie girl grp Rania)

Seems that Infinite have none of the above, so they've to rely on strong title tracks..
They succeeded with prev mini album "Before the Dawn" then this "Inspirit" I like how they combine Infinite + Spirit = Inspirit.. Indeed Inspiring~

^_^

I dl-ed this mini album cos i like the album cover..
I know nothing about this indie Korean group..

Conclusion: I just like the cover design.. Songs aren't outstanding enough to prompt me to do a search on more songs or find out who're the members.


^_^

Miss A's record-breaking debut last year was extraordinary..
Bad Girl Good Girl is a big hit.. I wished JYP ent could come up with strong follow-ups though..

This is a English digital single, i like the album art more than i like the song itself aha..
A simple graceful silhouette..
One thing to note that Miss A's english pronounciation is quite good~ (Y)


^_^

Next up has got nothing to do with K-pop or J-pop scene..
It's C-Pop..
So rare occurrence eh?
(yeah, given the fact that i'd given up on listening to C-pop years ago)

This Taiwanese girl group (ahhh yes, you didnt see wrongly ALL 5 OF THEM ARE GIRLS)
Androgynous girls are "in" right now~ =)
The leader Jin Tai was from Chao Ji Xin Guang Da Dao (forgot the eng name =x) so we know this band will churn out pretty decent songs.. Having at least 1 member who can sing is the most impt requirement.. 
If pay attention to Taiwanese street fashion, there's this brand called Mr Rich..
I see them featured in COOL magazine before, one of the members owned the line or is the original staff.. Many staff members-cum models for the brand are androgynous girls..

Their debut breaks the mould & stereotype of feminine girl groups, whose girls are restricted by short tight dresses, skirts or shorts & super high heels..
I think that's how it attracts attention even from people who hardly paid attention to Chinese songs..
I dl-ed the album & music video from K-pop & Asian pop fan sharing sites / communities..


Pretty boys who look like girls are already a common sight in the idol world
TIME FOR CHANGE.. gd-looking girls who look like pretty boys..
Yay~

^_^

Surprises from J-pop world~

Yu Shirota can sing!
LOL

I've only known him as a super handsome actor.. He's a Japanese-Spanish hunk who acted in several idol dramas like Hana-Kimi (as lead actor Shun Oguri's high jump rival), baseball drama Rookies..

He's super tall & with those dashing looks, gives off the "I'm a model" vibe more than an actor's vibe.. Needless to mention, never thought he could sing..

Sorry Yu, i underestimated you..
One shouldn't judge by looks..
He sang a Spanish song, so that's the first Spanish song that i've listened to~ Sounds vaguely similar to Italian, I thought i heard some Italian words in there..


That's him with the "forever-16" guy Teppei Koike..
Yeah i like both of them, though they're different types of Jap guys... Hehehehe..
Oh and Yu shirota & my fav Jaejoong are gd buddies too!
No idea how they got to know each other but i know Jae's good at making friends everywhere..
So many Japanese friends he have got.. even JE idols..

^_^

Everyone knows actor Jang Keun Suk can sing & dance..
He's been to Singapore for showcase twice to prove this

But this time his Japanese single shows that he can sing like a Visual-Kei vocalist..

OMG!
He totally suits the Visual-Kei image, even though it hadn't crossed my mind prior to this..
I classified him as a pretty boy Korean actor who's gd at acting (he was a child actor, many years of experience to boot, we expect no less.. hehe)
All-rounded entertainer..

The MV "Let Me Cry" is fantastic~ Showcase the Jap rocker side of his voice, deep emotive J-rock style, higher-pitch haunting vocals........... Ahhhh.. Perfectto!

If u're free pls watch the MV for Let Me Cry, hard to find on Youtube though cos they take down Japanese music videos pretty fast.. If u don't know what's Visual Kei style means just google "Alice 9", "The GaZette", "An-cafe", "LMC", "Nightmare", "SID"....

Normal people will get the shock of their lives if they were to stumble upon a Visual Kei magazine like Cure or Shoxx unknowingly xD
The stuff that those guys wear & put on their faces...
Left me pretty awed & speechless when i first saw..  
Maybe i'll dedicate a post of them sometime later.. Need to collect some gd samples, before posting..


Yeah that spells the end of music update..
Mostly used album covers to illustrate, except for last 2 cos i don't have any pic of album covers of their releases & am too lazy to search.. Just put in random pic.. Nice can already ah..

3 Cheers..

yunn. at 10:03 PM