Gaki N Me If you love to talk about the world, love Asian idols, this is the place.

Tonight  I am seriously looping Tsuyoshi Domoto's Si album here again.  I still don't have the courage to listen to his Neo African Rainbow album because it is so funky but I think through some Junichi translations today....and so on and so forth.....anyway, I'll translate something for Tsuyoshi tomorrow.

What a find! This Korean popera tenor, Im Hyung-Ju, is going to give a concert in London and I was wondering how he sounded. Listen to this one even though it is a Christmas song: White Bye Bye.

But my interest is not his Christmas album White Dream nor the Live from Seoul which you could sample here or here also but his Korean drama theme songs. He has a great voice!! This song 春天，来吧！here is a cover of a Japanese song from an NHK drama. Aiya...his voice is so good!!! Listen to this 何月歌 (Misty Moon Korea Ver.) 
(Read More...)

Oh, there is a new MV from him finally called Lucia Di Lammermoorr. Watch it here. Thank goodness he has some more hair now. Good song! Alright, alright, watch this one instead. Vitas was in China doing a tour recently and he was also at a CCTV program singing live and this one here has Chinese subtitles of the meaning of the the song. Beautiful performance! This one here also has subs and he has longer hair. Don't worry about the youtube crowd thinking that he lip-synced. In China, it is illegal to lip-sync in live performances now.

Posted on August 13, 2006:
(Read More...)

Ha, I never thought I would say that but I actually like the new single 喜びの歌  of Kat-Tun. The first song was in a PV and I thought Jin looked totally together and has potential to be sexy not that I care, but he has more aura than any of the other boys.  But the second song Your Side, when Koki is not rapping, is actually very listenable. It reminds me of some songs in the 90's. I like the chorus Aishiteru! Aishiteru!  at least up to the first 49 seconds.   And then from 1.12 to 1.36, it almost sounds like a Chinese song. You could listen to it here.

Actually, there is one more song I like of this group.  The Oda Kazumasa composition 僕らの街で for Kame's last drama. Now that's a good Oda song with young voices. I am a fan of Oda but his songs no matter sung by who are always good. And thank goodness there is no rapping for the forever irritating Koki. You could listen to it here, track 1.
(Read More...)

You got to be kidding me. This Xinjiang Chinese from the western part of China made it big in China with 100,000 copies of his first CD in 2006 called Wolf Power? And now he is paid 10 times more than Jay Chou for his composition for the Curse of the Golden Flower to possibly sing the theme song for the Battle of Red Cliff? You got to be deaf to like this guy. hahahahaha...OMG...What is wrong with Chinese ears? Okay, this news said he would be paid 18,000,000 RMB for the possible theme song and this song 真美丽 (So Beautiful) may be the song. This is 15 times more than the theme song used in Hero, and 20 times more than the theme song for The Banquet.  The news reported that he has just held a 30 city concert tour mesmerizing the Chinese fans with his performances and his sales is unheard of for the new generation of singers. 

John Woo, you should have hired Lee Hom Wang or Jay Chou to compose for your movie. You could listen to his songs here by clicking on the song title. This is like the 1960's beats in the first few songs and then the later ones are so...so old fashioned!!! His voice apparently, according to the news, could translate the sense of heroicism. He reminds me of the late Wong Ka Kui of the Hong Kong band Beyond. You know who could do that? George Lam and Jackie Chan. And those who sang for the OST of The Return of Condor Hero have those broad clear tones. But the composition needs to be a bit more sophisticated. Jonathan Lee would be composing the song...but man, Johathan Lee sometimes write sleepy songs.
(Read More...)

My daughter is aching to play all the Japanese pieces and she found this Kingdom Heart medley player who string together 20 songs together. So pretty!!

Well, I don't really know who is Seeya but I am totally watchful of Jo Hyun Jae, the main lead in Ballad of Seo Dong. This is the first time he stars in an MV and you could watch it here. You could watch the making of the MV here. In the MV, he has both the modern look and the period costume look. I of course love his period costume look.

I don't need to say more. This guy has a good voice and his music is good. This is his official site in Japanese and a very comprehensive fan site in English. Just listen to this album and you would understand. This is the type of music I like. He used to be an Exile member until 2006 and now is producing music under his own name.

Remember some time ago, Madonna was on SMAP show and she performed Hung Up. Well, today, I found the Hung Up performance from her concert DVD here. (Gosh, someone uploaded the entire London concert).  But anyway, I was curious how the whole piece looked and above all, her stage setting because Rain hired the company that did Madonna's stage for Rain's I'm Coming World concert tours. I'm eager to see the Rain DVD soon. In the meantime, totally enjoying Madonna singing her slower tunes.  This Paradise Not for Me one is quite decent. But look at this piece Isaac with a blue caped danger in the cage. Only in a DVD could they make the slow motion so attractive! Incredible ending!

I was looking for Leslie Feist's song Let It Die last night for my husband (check youtube and myspace too)and then bumped into this music blog that has many western songs that I normally wouldn't come across.  I'm looping Kelly Sweet's We are One.

For those of you who don't like string instruments or classicals, here is a UK group called PLUCK composed of 2 violinists and a cellist who make some of the classical pieces funny. You could watch the Musical Arson highlights here or the Specialists here. Not totally exciting because I think they tried too hard to make it light hearted but definitely worth looking because they play well while running and walking around. Be very patient and let the video stream in once first and then it will play smoothly. There is also a street performance here too.

These days my daughter really wants to play piano again after learning it for 5 years on and off. She has started transcribing Kat-Tun songs and a Kinki Kids song but in the end, she is settling down with quieter pieces. The one she is most keen on at the moment is Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence by 坂本隆一Ryuichi Sakamoto here. And today, I found Yiruma's works for her and 久石让 Joe Hisaishi's. Who would not love the theme song to Howl's Moving Castle. Here's another one on youtube. Apart from George Winston's Treat Street and Cradle, she only wants Asian composers, preferably Japanese. haha..the Japanese effect!  As soon as she masters a piece, I'll film it for all of you to watch.

Two years ago, I have translated the song 真心英雄 True Hero by Jackie Chan, Jonathan Lee, Emil Chau, Anthony Wong  at my forum and exactly 2 years later,  I get to revisit this very encouraging song again. I have found a Jackie Chan, Nic Tse, Eason Chan live performance probably on a cctv spring festival of a certain year.  This was one of the first song that I came to view Jackie as a singer too. I'm glad sometimes he steals the limelight by singing the theme song for his movies. Totally enjoy his theme song Endless Love in The Myth with Kim Hee Sin.

http://www.kkmv.cn/play.asp?url=3981
(Read More...)

I came across this song by the Taiwanese artist 齐豫 and Tish Hinojosa and absolutely love both version. The lyrics are very touching indeed.


(Read More...)

I thought I had put his listings in but I guess not. This Korean singer is superb. Granted, some of his songs were almost like Western songs but they are so good. Perfect for an adult who likes smoother love songs. And my daughter and her friends love the Brown Eyes album.  You could listen to them here. OMG, just click on this link and choose any songs. I love every single one of them.

http://www.77boke.com/special5346.htm
(Read More...)