last.fm charts

Taking advantage of my upgraded account (thanks Anna!), I made some last.fm chart images yesterday (never again!) and wanted to post them here ^_^ Yes yes, I have no artistic skills, so close your eyes before you will be blinded by the following images! *_^


My friend the photographer ^_^


Love Maaya and loves "gravity" ^_^


Peace.

Ah, you can open your eyes again now ^_^

Won Fu

It was love at first listen for me. I must like funky music a lot ^_^ Won Fu is a Taiwan band that makes funky punky cute pop/rock music. Whenever I listen to them, I nod my head and dance/jumps around grinning like an idiot. Oh, yeah. Won Fu's songs ranges from cute pop tunes to heavy electric guitar punk rock songs, which is delightful. Their fun lyrics mixed with a sarcastic humour also makes me laugh every time. I guess Won Fu makes "wake up" + happy drug music ^_^



Sample Track: DoReMi



Sample Track: Peach Elegy

Cao Fang MVs

More Cao Fang! (because I'm loving her new cd right now ^_^) Cao Fang only made around 2-3 MVs - unlike most mainstream Chinese singers - who makes a MV for nearly every song they sing (lol, sometimes the MVs get very repetitive). Anyway, I believe Cao Fang have one MV for her debut album "Black Perfume" and one new MV for her new album "Meeting You." Since her 2nd album just came out, I only have a "preview version" of her MV "Meeting You." However, you'll get the point ^_^ and I like the "Black Perfume" MV more anyway :P

Cao Fang rocks!

Watch: Black Perfume
I love this MV, so very different from the usual Chinese pop fluff MVs.

Preview: Meeting You
I guess Cao Fang likes dolls ^_^

Watch: I want to sing myself to you (lol I do really bad translations don't I *_*)
Hmm, four people sings this song together. From what I've read, I think this is the opening song for a college student singing competition show. I think Cao Fang might've been one of the participants, but I'm not sure. Anyway, Cao Fang did not compose the song. Another guy (who also sang in the song) did.

Enjoy ^_^

Cao Fang (Icy)

Today... is a happy day. Cao Fang's second album "Meeting Me" came out. There is so much to say about Cao Fang - she is a very, very talented mainland singer and songwriter. She is real. She is independent. She is original. She is what "girl power" is all about. Her songs are beautiful, mellow acoustic melodies mixed with occasional folk, indie, rock, and even jazz sounds. I love it. "Meeting Me" is similiar to "Black Perfume," Cao Fang's first album, in its overall acoustic mellowness. However, as much as I enjoy this album, her first album is definitely the more "original," indie one.

That said, Cao Fang is one of my favorite mainland singers. Listen and embrace her music. She deserves to shine.

http://caofang.net/
http://blog.sina.com.cn/m/caofang

Sample Track: 孤单的独白 (Lonely Monologue)

A rough translation of her words in the beginning of the song:
Living in this city... everyday moves so fast. Day and night passes with the blink of an eye. Soon, I will sing the last song for you. I hope that the happy moments in life will last longer. Thank you for listening.

Peppertones

Listening to the first few songs on Peppertones' (Korean) debut album "Colorful Express," I didn't know whether to laugh or cry - the songs resembled so much like Cymbals - a Japanese group that makes upbeat, happy, and funky indie-pop music. After a few listens to the whole album, I decided to laugh and be happy ^_^ Peppertones are awesome - they're a Korean Cymbals with a fun electronic/dance twist. Aw, the wonderfulness of Korean electronic pop music :o)


Sample Track: High Romance (Radio Edit)

929

929 is a Taiwan duo that sings mellow acoustic indie music. I'm spending my Sunday soaked in their relaxing, simple melodies.

http://929.agoodday.com/


Sample Track: 什么都不做 (Doing nothing)

Echo

Post rock, indie rock, hard rock... Echo (Taiwan band) makes them all. When I first got their debut album and listened to the 2nd track, I thought the whole album was going to be hard-rock. However, to my delight - this album has a bit of everything - fast beats, post rock, mellow rock, etc. and I was happy. Check them out ^_^

http://www.echoband.com/




Sample Song: 木雕轮盘 (Wood-carved disk)

Sai Ning

The only reason why I wasn't satisfied with Sai Ning's debut album is that it's too short. Other than that, "Pearl Hotel" is a nice & relaxing indie-pop album. Even though this album only has 5 songs, each song has its own flavor and style - ranging from light acoustic pop to mellow ambient indie. I can't wait to hear more from her.

http://www.saining.com/


Sample Song: Sai Ning

Grassland Music Compilation

This was an interesting compilation album. I thought it was going to be mainly HK indie at first, but after I listened to the whole album and did a brief search on the net, only "My Little Airport" and "The Marshmallow Kisses" are from Hong Kong. The other three featured artists in this album were either from Southern CA (Majestic), UK (Language of Flowers), and Japan/France/Russia (The Konki Duet). My Little Airport and The Marshmallow Kisses of course, makes light funky indie pop music. Majestic is a US band that makes happy, light music resembling The Beatles. Language of Flowers (UK) also makes light acoustic music similar to Camera Obscura. And lastly, The Konki Duet - three girls from Japan, St. Petersburg, and Paris, makes weird but cool acoustic/electronic music ^_^

http://www.hitoradio.com/shopping/7_1_1_1.php?prod_sn=PM05040001


The Konki Duet

Sample Track (from their official site): Do Family

Language of Flowers

Sample Track (from their label site): Leaving

Majestic

Sample Track (from their label site): Sunday Driver

Khalil Fong

Sample Song: 春风吹 (Spring wind blowing)

I haven't seen a quality new R&B/Pop Chinese new artist in a long time - so I was pleasantly surprised when I listened to Kahlil Fong's debut album today. His album has everything a great R&B/Soul album need - great melodies, nice beats, not to mention catchy lyrics too ^_^ Anyway, I enjoyed pretty much every song on this album. So the sample song was randomly chosen :P

Look out Leehom & JJ Lin wahaha, you guys have competition! *_^

Le Petite Nurse

http://www.lpnurse.net/

Le Petite Nurse is a Taiwan group that makes nice, upbeat rock music. I really enjoy their music, especially this song ^_^



Sample Track: 爱情游戏 (Love Game)

The 4 r&b gods of China

Let's take a pop break! ^_^ Here are the 4 guys that are huge in China/TW/HK/etc. etc. (and who girls drool over all the time hahaha). Since they're so popular in Asia, sharing samples of their songs is pointless here :P So fun (and sometimes weird) MVs will do ^_^

#1 Jay Chou

hmmm, you can always get a girl with blue hair :o)

MV: Mysterious Jay Chou with funny beard

#2 JJ Lin

*tear* I look better as a robot *_*

MV: *tear* I'm a useless person :(
(yes his lyrics literally says that :P)

#3 Leehom Wang

yes yes, bow down to me Leehom hehe

MV: Leehom goes to wonderland and meets girl of his dreams blah blah blah

#4 David Tao

yeah my shirt is more expensive then your monthly salary :P

MV: Ehh????? (I didn't get this video at all)

Don't misunderstand - I love all these guys ^_^ but I just wanted to make fun of them a little today wahaha.

*runs away from angry fan girls*

IndieBlog Update

http://www.newbeesmusic.com/english/main.htm

Another really good mainland c-indie compilation album. The overall feel of this album is relaxing mellowness (except the rap songs by Kungfoo *_^). Since I have quite a few favorite songs here, I've included two sample songs ^_^



Sample Song: No Colour - 夜影 (Night View)

This song is nice & laid-back. *goes into dreamy mood*



Sample Song: Crystal Butterfly - 灵山 (Spirit Mountain)

This song is also quite mellow - which I love. Crystal Butterfly is more indie-acoustic mellow as opposed to N.C.'s new-age/more instrumental-ish mellowness. They're both great though ^_^

at17

at17's new album "变变变" (change change change) is out out out!!! ^_^ When I first listened to the album (I was tired & had a cold) I was definitely a bit disappointed. However, listening to it again (no cold anymore!) and I'm starting to really like it ^_^ This 3rd album kept the electronic/acoustic charm of the first two albums, it also has a really nice English song called "I'd go back" (last track) and 2 mandarin versions of 2 of my favorite songs! I'm glad at17 is still making quality indie-pop music in HK! Yay ^_^

http://www.peoplemountainpeoplesea.com/at17/



Sample Song: 冲冲冲 (sprint sprint sprint)

Blasting this at top volume feels awesome :o)

Ayano Tsuji

I really enjoyed Ayano's song "風になる" that played in the credits of the movie "The Cat Returns." However, I couldn't find more of her music until a week ago - when her newest album "CALENDAR CALENDAR" was released. I believe Ayano (Japanese singer/songwriter) makes fun, acoustic pop music (although I'm never good at describing/categorizing songs *_^). Her speciality is of course, the super cute ukulele! Definitely check her music out if you haven't already ^_^

http://blog.livedoor.jp/tsuji_ayano/
http://www.theworld.org/globalhits/2005/11/16.shtml



Sample Track: Spring Breeze

Tizzy Bac

Sample Song: Concession

I expected to hear the same cute, light indie sound such as "My Little Airport" and "The Marshmallow Kisss" when I first got Tizzy Bac's (Taiwan) album. I was wrong. Mixing piano with the electric guitar (and drums of course), Tizzy Bac's vocal Chen Hui Ting's semi-deep voice is perfect for an upbeat, jazzy-indie sound. Tizzy Bac's sound is indeed different, and awesome ^_^

http://www.tizzybac.com.tw/

Yukari Rotten

http://www.i-radio.fm/profile/003_prof.php3?CD=003&KUBUN=0



Sample Song: Bankrupt Black Book

Yukari Rotten (or Yukari Fresh) makes funky Japanese electro-pop music - she is awesome ^_^

Love & Pop

Sample Track: Night Scene

Lovely new Korean electronic group with a Clazziquai/Casker/Loveholic sound. What a great day ^_^

2 Cheer Chen MVs

I was on a MV downloading spree yesterday and found 2 new Cheer MVs ^_^ They're from her new album "A Fabulous Adventure." Different from her earlier works, this new album have a heavier emphasize on instruments (especially the violin). Some Cheer fans prefer her earlier, simpler works better, but I love this new album too - glad Cheer is branching out & trying something different.

Watch:
The Meaning of Traveling
Too Much

all credits goes to youtube uploaders ^_^

Switching Host & Instructions

I just found Putfile today - I decided to re-host all the sample music there. Putfile is basically a free media hosting site-the best thing is that the files won't expire given that it's active once within 6 months :)

If you guys/girls like certain sample tracks and wants to keep them, just fish them out of the "temporary internet files" folder (or click "view," and then "source," and get the DL url from the listening page) :P

Grace Latecomer

Some nice instrumental post-rock c-indie music.

Get their EP at Grace Latecomer's official site:
http://www.gracelatecomer.com/gracelatecomer/

the Indigo

Sample Track: ファンタジスタ★ガール (Fantasista Girl)

I love the Japanese duo "the Indigo" ^_^ With their nice alternative/groove/funky sounds & Miki's awesome voice, I get a happy feeling whenever I listen to their music. "Fantasista Girl" is their newest single (from their new album Flair). It's on repeat-play for me quite often ^_^

http://www.the-indigo.com/bio_e.html

Cheer Chen

Words cannot describe how much I love Cheer Chen's (TW singer/songwriter) music. It was definitely not love at first listen, but after giving Cheer songs repeated listens, her's clear, soft voice and mellow acoustic guitar grew on me. Most of Cheer's songs are relaxing and very simple (minimal instruments - only the guitar and sometimes piano). However, Cheer's upbeat/rockish songs are wonderful too. I'm proud to say that this songwriter & singer is one of my favorite, favorite c-indie/alternative artists and will remain forever, no matter what future music directions she decides to take.

I wish I could attend her concert someday... someday...

http://www.hkwalker.net/cheersoc/blossom/index.htm
A Nice Interview I enjoyed @ Petite Mort



Sample Track: 太聪明 (Too Smart)



Sample Track: 静静的生活 (Living Quietly)

Spangle call Lilli line - 68 SCLL (Live in Kotoku)

http://www.keikaku.net/profiles/39

Sample Track: nano

Just got this album, and wow, SCLL's mellow electronic instrumental/vocals live is amazing. The live songs sound just like the studio recorded version, maybe even better. Thanks noodz-shi for introducing me to this great band!

http://www.lilliline.com/

20 Something Taipei Ost

Sample Track: Stanley Huang - 寻找 (Seeking)

Usually singing rock/rap music, Stanley goes mellow/electronic in this song. This is my favorite track from the 20 something taipei ost - it's quite laid-back & relaxing, sometimes I set it on repeat and go into my mellow/sleepy/zoned out mood.

Super VC

http://www.modernsky.com/bands/vc/vcrecord.htm



Sample Track: C调哀歌 (Sad Song in C Minor)

Super VC is a very very very good c-indie rock group. I love all of their songs ^_^

www.supervc.com/

Modern Sky 5

Compilation of mainland indie artists :)
http://www.modernsky.com/records/m022.htm




清醒 (Sober)— 白 (White)

I enjoy indie compilation albums because they constantly introduce new/unknown artists to me. Sober was one of the nice discoveries I made on this album, along with Life Journey, New Pants, and Milk@Coffee.