Friday Night Post. I missed this.

Two guys for tonight's offering - Swedish and Korean. Hmm.

Darin - You're Out Of My Life

OK, for those who've been reading the blog since it's earlier days aka my pre-kpop era, you'll know that I absolutely ADORE Darin. Like, he's one of my top Swedish pop stars - as he is for a lot of my blogger friends (I'm talking to you, PPG).

This new single was his entry to this year's Melodifestivalen (has anyone won yet? I've been so un-updated on these things) but damn, I THINK I'M IN LOVE WITH THIS SONG. It sounds like something my beloved Kevin Borg would have absolutely no problem covering but I LOVE how epic the song is.

The entire song screams SWEDISH - I can't imagine any other country masterminding this in terms of arrangement, melody and production. I love the string section and I love the heavy, 80's-like percussion with that hint of electric guitar - makes it like a pseudo-rock but not rock piece.

In short, it's got all the makings of my favorite song. Done deal.

See: Ken's review.

4.6/5

Brian - In My Head

Brian used to be in the duo Fly To The Sky with Hwanhee (whose single I ADORED), and honestly, he's the less talented one of the two. BUT, he's a mile better than a lot of boyband members nowadays AND he knows what he's doing on stage - he's pretty good.

His previous single, My Girl, took time to grow on me but over time I've come to appreciate it - now he's 'back' with a cover of Jason Derulo's In My Head.

To be completely honest with you, I listened to the Jason Derulo version again today and taste-wise, I like his delivery of the whole thing better. I dug up a live version and I loved the actual band behind him, you guys know I like bands. HOWEVER, even if I personally like the original version better, Brian's cover on it had a different vocal delivery - he "made the song his own", In My Head sounds like a Brian song.

For that, you gotta give the guy at least SOME credit.

4/5 for the song, 3.7/5 for the cover.

Friday Night Post. Yes, another one.

Expect this every week from now on, as well as the resumption of MY WEEKLY TOP 20. Yes, after a lull last December that lasted until January, my top 20 will resume next week, February 1. HAHAH. But let's get to business now.

The second part of the soundtrack for the Korean soap opera/drama God Of Study was recently released (gah, I sound like I'm writing news) and with the line up of idol groups like Secret, f(x), B2ST, 4Minute and FT Triple (who're headed here sometime in the first quarter of the year) I could resist giving it a try. Apart from the stereotypical OST ballads that I either hate of have had way too much off, there were two songs in particular that REALLY got stuck in my head. They're not the most musically proficient things since anything and they're not anything new but they have enough power to get me listening to them non-stop for days. They're happy, upbeat and though at times they sound really cheap, they're worth the listen. Both songs are by sibling groups B2ST and 4Minute under Cube Entertainment (aka the 'we don't think you'll be extremely successful as a JYP artist so we're dumping you here' company). The 4Minute song is a cover of Canon in D. Although not obvious, the chords are the same. It's not plagiarism, if any of you crazy anti fans start crawling out of nowhere.

(click the read more function for the rest of the post. Yes, there's more.)


I think I should formally write about this on the blog before it actually comes. I GOT AN INTERVIEW WITH SHONTELLE. Yes, SHONTELLE. Her new single Impossible is actually pretty good - it's epic and the melody's gorgeous. Love the piano loop and I love how you'd think it'd build up by the second verse but it doesn't as much as I expected it. Hahah.

I'm headed to the 4Minute promo tour next month - they're hitting Manila! Hahah. So expect pictures and a review of the event. And just to let you know, 4Muzik is being promoted like crazy over here - in one record store alone it's in THREE DIFFERENT PLACES. Make that 4. But Mel will be pleased to know that Muzik is growing on me. Hot Issue is a little too out for me but Muzik is pretty catchy now that I'm not hearing it all over the kpop sites.

To be honest with you I was expecting a lot from the new SNSD album before Oh! was released and although my expectations were lowered when I actually heard Oh!, I don't think the album is as good as I hoped it would be. It's confused - one minute they're cutesy and the next they're trying to be French or wannabe Bossa Nova (*throws up*) with the vibe. Of course they're not copying French pop (I know a thing or two about that courtesy of Priscilla) but the 'vibe' is like stereotypical French. Gah. But anyway, there are however 2 songs worth listening to for me - the gorgeous, gorgeous ballad Forever, one of the few songs that actually show off whatever semblance of voices most of them have, and Boys and Girls, their 'duet' with SHINee's Key which is attitude in the right way without losing whatever 'signature style' they've come to have.

Now Adam Tyler recently caught my ear. I haven't delved too much into his music but I got a megamix a few days back and mini-raided his YT channel, he's pretty good. Processing like there's no tomorrow but I dunno, it sounds tasteful. That's what this guy is - catchy, tasteful autotune. Will get more in-depth when I interview him. Watch out for it.

Now for the rest of the stuff. Just very quickly.

There's a relatively new remix of After School's hit Because of You and although the song is brilliant in every way, some of the epic-ness got lost in the re-arrangement. Produced by the same team, The Brave Brothers, U-Kiss have a new digital single out - Without You. It's like a less epic, more generic Brave Brothers version of Because of You, for people who can sing. But there's no doubt that Because of You is the big hit and it sounds like one.

I got my copy of DBSK's Mirotic Version C today *dances around room* and in line with sales and all that, Break Out! sold over 180,000 copies in it's first day last Wednesday, according to Oricon. First day sales surpassed their highest total single sales, Jaejoong and Yoochun's Colors, which only managed to sell around 100,000+ copies.

There are rumors that JLS are planning a US career. Once again, you guys over need a boyband. It would be nice if it was American but as long as it's a boyband, I'm fine with that.

Yet another Friday night post..

...and this time it's a heap of random new stuff, mainly because I've been so out of the loop lately to bother. lol. So these are random tidbits I've stumbled upon since the start of the year, if you've already heard of it don't kill me. ANYWAY.

• Let's get this over with. Cheryl Cole's third single is Parachute. Boring as hell, once again. My attempt to review 3 Words failed miserably.
• JLS have a new single. It's One Shot. I have, once again, predicted a post-album single. I'm getting REALLY good at this. After all the kpop, I find it odd watching a boyband dancing AND singing in English at the same time. But then again I'm waiting for pure genius from these guys.

• New album from The Ting Tings due sometime this year. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS.
• C.N.Blue are a new Korean band - no, not boyband or girl group - BAND. You know, Korean bands sound like Filipino/OPM bands. Not the crap ones, the slightly better and edgy ones. But once again, THERE IS RAP. Really, what do these people like so much about rap? But the hook is pretty catchy and the melody's novel. I won't necessarily listen to it on a regular basis but it's not bad.

• Ke$ha is taking over the world. I have a draft lying around here somewhere with what I think of her but it needs a lot more tweaking. Should be up this week so wait for it.
• After getting sick last weekend, I have caught up with music here in the Philippines and let me tell you, it's pretty pathetic. What's playing almost every 15 minutes? Empire State of Mind, For Your Entertainment, TiK ToK, Party In The USA, I Wanna Know What Love Is (yes, Mariah), that Tokio Hotel song and the list goes on and on and on. UGH.
• Now lastly, this has something to do with kpop (again) SUPER JUNIOR IS/ARE COMING TO MANILA. THEY'RE GONNA BE BREATHING THE SAME AIR AS I AM. IN APRIL. TICKETS COST A TON (and I mean a ton). And I'm not even sure if I can go, but I'm not fainting over it - I would be dead right now if it was DBSK but it's not so no. Hahah.

So, fire away with the comments! I want comments.

Friday 'night' post: CELEBRATIONS ALL AROUND!!!

OK, it's not nighttime yet but it's Friday and my posts on Friday are always like this - deal with it.

Celebration for various reasons - personal and music-related. My exams are done - all the hard work kinda paid off. SO, I don't have homework, no projects to catch up on and nothing to study this week. Thus, I WILL BLOG A HELL OF A LOT. Yay for everyone!

I've been MIA here pretty much the whole week - Twitter and Tumblr (the sites with less critical thinking) have been my sanctuaries. There's been a ton of stuff out this week, K-pop and Western. And because it's been AGES since my last post - this one will be pretty lengthy.

The first order of business today - Send It On. It's pretty much the modern day version of the Disney Channel Circle of Friends (that were existent back when I was in elementary school more than 3 years ago..) with the 'singers' - Jo Bros, Miley, Demi and Selena and not some random bunch of actors made to sing. OK, maybe the girls started out as actresses but you get my point. Right? Right.The best part of this song? The fact that Demi Lovato sounds the most decent out of the six. The worst? The fact that Miley's in it. I'm sorry but these songs just don't go with the girl - she has a voice, yes but they're giving her the wrong songs. She doesn't sound horrid or scary but when you hear Demi's solo it makes you wonder how you were able to survive Miley. Trust me, it would sound a lot better if it was just Demi and Selena with the Jonas Brothers (even if they suck).

Selena isn't as bad as I thought she'd be either.

4/5

Time for some K-pop. I like the genre - deal with it. hahah.

The first time I heard Super Junior's contribution to SM Town I was neutral about it - not bad but not outstanding. The more I listened to it though, the more the melody stuck in my ears. To those who don't know, SM Town is basically Sooman's way of earning a ton of money without that much effort - all his artists making one gimmick-y album with an accompanying concert. The music videos are usually low-budget like mirages of old performances (like this years') and the concert is padded with current/recent singles. Earns a ton of money, as always.

So all throughout this morning I was listening to the song thinking it was absolute genius (and that it sounded a lot like one of my favorites on their third album) - and it actually is. It's very light and summer-y and the verses are gorgeous. Need I say more?

When I got the chance to log on and read up on K-pop (I still don't know a thing compared to other bloggers, thank you very much.), I found out that the song's a cover. Of a 2005 song from the Netherlands. Not that I find it bad or anything but I just noticed something with SM and their boybands.

The first Western SM cover I heard was SHINee's Juliette - a cover of Corbin Bleu's Deal With It. I brushed it off a bit, thinking it was just a random cover or something. The second cover I heard was DBSK/TVXQ/Tohoshinki's Mirotic - a cover or Sarah Connor's Under My Skin. She's German, btw. The THIRD cover was from SHINee again - there's a song on their first album that's a cover of Mario Vazquez's Everytime I.. - one of the most brilliant American R&B songs ever thought of in the first place.

And now this song. OK - a possible theory is that Sooman is too greedy to pay songwriters who write original songs so he just gets a random Western song that was never a hit and translates it to Korean. Good idea Sooman, good idea.

4.4/5 - the rap and strange sounds throughout did it.

Another boyband - this time from the other side of the world.

*faints*
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
*faints*

Do you know how long I've waited for a new Westlife song? DO YOU? HUH? NO!

*faints*
*faints*
*faints*
*faints*

Whatever genre I may get addicted to, whatever boyband or girl group I may think has the most gorgeous songs, I am a Westlife fan and I forever will be. I live with hope that someday Simon Cowell will give the lads a chance to write their own songs or even just give them songs that aren't ballads or covers.Even as a fan, I will be as subjective as I can be - no biases, no prejudice in this review of the new song. I've waited long and hard for this but I will treat it like every other song I review. I PROMISE. If I give it a perfect score, then it's because it deserves it - nothing else.

At the beginning, As Love Is My Witness sounds like your standard Westlife song - ballad. I should've guessed that when they said no more covers they didn't say no more ballads. Mark's part is first - new, welcome change. My theory is correct that if you restrain him, he's a very good singer - he should honestly sing the first verse from now on (if you let him loose at the middle-8 live he might shatter your eardrums - fact). The chorus is sweet with Nicky and Kian backing. The second verse is drop-dead gorgeous - I wonder how I lived without Shane's absolutely brilliantly amazing voice. He's got one of the most refined and smoothest voices in all of pop - really. He got the middle 8, too!

Westlife taught me the importance of a good middle-8 and how much weight it has on a song. Thus, this song has a truly gorgeous middle 8. Honestly.

Over-all the melody is beautiful. It's not one of those ballads that are very resonant to my ears and even if I'm still dreaming of the day Simon comes to his senses and gives them an album full of up-tempos, they still do what they do extremely well.

One constructive comment though - change the hideous arrangement. It sounds cheap, too dated in the bad way and just plain sad - it weighs the whole song down. The melody's gorgeous and the arrangement is OK at the key change with the pretty string section but honestly, the percussion section throughout is HIDEOUS, a disgrace to put it simply. It would sound a lot nicer if they made the piano part a lot more flow-y and get rid of whatever's playing at the beginning - sounds too stereotypical and overused.

Oh, and please re-mix and re-master the vocals on this - they sound like the producers don't know what the heck they were doing with the mastering. Or maybe this hasn't been mastered yet. OOOHH - UNMASTERED! hahah.

4.2/5 - I know they can do better than this - they better.

Need new music? It's the Friday night post!

I'm lazy, tired and I have an extremely tiring day tomorrow - will be engineering the recording of like 6 poems. OK. These past few days have been extremely stressful for me but I got through it - time to post some new music! Relatively short tonight, I'm going to write and go to bed!

The Sugababes' new video is out. I've come to be able to bear the song, it's not that bad but I'd not good either. Oh well, I just hope the album's a lot better. If you haven't seen the video yet, here it is:

No Angels have only previously made one song I actually like and would love to listen to over and over again and for the longest time that one song was the only one. I've found another song worthy of my praise though - One Life.

It's new, and we haven't heard it in HQ yet(the version I have doesn't sound very nice..) but I do love it heaps.

The Korean representative this week is Kara. Yes, another girl group but no, they're not like 2NE1 or SNSD - they're the extremely cutesy girl group. It can be good sometimes but most often their voices are crap on the recordings because some stupid corporate dude tells the producer to make their voices really cutesy/baby-like. UGH.

It's their new single. Not bad, actually - if they lost the crap voices I'd actually like it a heck of a lot. Am getting the album as we speak so if it's good I'll review it in the coming days.

Another Friday Night post.

I'm exhausted but I don't know why - I always want to write about a ton of stuff on Friday night. Maybe I should make this an every week thing. Sounds interesting. hahah.

So first thing's first - Kristinia DeBarge. I don't know - something about the songs make me uninspired to write about the album. There are good songs, don't get me wrong, Speak Up and Somebody are the best of the good but the album as a whole sounds like various stuff we've all heard before - most of the melodies haven't moved me to the point of no return either.I'd give the album a 4/5 at the moment.

My beloved Brown Eyed Girls have released their new album(which is extremely confused but has three of the most brilliant ballads ever sung) and the lead single is so Eurotrash-y it could pass for crap. OK, maybe I'm being a little mean but seriously, the song is way too auto-tuned and techo-ized that I have a hard time imagining how the heck they're gonna sing this live.

I've noticed this with quite a number of girl groups. For some strange reason, the best singers are the ones who get the most auto-tuning, cutesy-fying and crappy-fying of all the members - that's like the worst thing you can do, make a girl who can sing sound like a baby or a crap singer. For BEG, Narsha gets like 3 short lines asa bridge and it's auto-tuned to the point where you can't even decipher if it's her - heck, she hardly even sings.

Oh, and the video is possibly going to be banned in Korea because it's VERY controversial and the girls' entertainment company refuses to edit it. Kudos to them for standing by their creation - even if it's not my taste at all.

BSB's new single has left me speechless. The fact that they can make a melody that sounds like it came straight out of the year 2000 and slap it onto a very 2008/2009 arrangement is beyond me. THIS is why they're Gods in the boyband world - enough said.