The title says it all ^_^ Here are random recommendations of my favorite Asian artists. Most are of course, Chinese alternatives/indies, but I will try to recommend some Japanese/Korean goodies too.
I haven't listened to good old mainland indie music for a long time now (these days it's either relaxing study music for me or Cheer in the shower + car. I've also been listening to a lot of J-indie *_^). So today, I digged up my Raven album - and Raven is just that - a good old mellow Beijing rock/brit-pop band (hehe you guys/girls must've known by now how much I love mellow music), getting me into my lazy/dreamy mood again.
The cool thing about Raven is that they mix elements of rock, electronica, ambience, trip-hop, and even DJ scratch sounds (one of the band members is indeed a DJ ^_^) into their music. They're definitely one of the more creative mainland bands out there. I love it.
By the way, the free songs provided at the rockacola link below are awesome (and that's the only reason why the sample song is not one of them). Definitely check them out ^_^
I'm sorry for the late update again - it seems like my teachers won't give us a break even after the AP exams *_* Must...graduate...soon... :o) The semi-good news is, I went to an award ceremony tonight & got my valedictorian award! ^_^ Why is it "semi" good? I'll have to give a speech during graduation *_* Arghhhhh yuck *_*
Back on topic :P I first discovered Girls Tape Store through lemongalaxy's wonderful livejournal (which was introduced to me by, surprise, surprise - Anna! ^_^) Girls Tape Store is a Japanese duo? who makes synthpop & electropop music. They're a bit like supercar, but mellower. I'm so sad that their website doesn't work *_* But even though I know absolutely nothing about them, I love their music. The mellowness, the dreaminess, and the touch of dance beats... Music that I could listen to on any & all occasions.
My Japanese albums shipment finally arrived yesterday yay! ^_^ I guess you could call ACO, Nakatani Miki, and bird's music "dance" or "pop" (well, from the albums I bought anyway). But these albums contain all quality music with awesome diversity and freshness.
ACO is one of Japan's most talented musicians. Her music range from catchy R&B/soul music (earlier/this album) to electronica-pop to crazily experimental Bjork-like songs. I never know what to expect from her new albums. *_^ "Kittenish Love," ACO's debut album released in 1996, is one of my favorite ACO albums. It takes R&B/pop/jazz music to another level - every song on this album is unique & pretty in its own way ^_^
Most of you probably know Miki as an actress (or not --> me :P). Truthfully, I've not heard any song by her before I bought this album. So why did I get this album? All of the songs on this album is written & produced by Ryuichi Sakamoto! After I listened to the whole album, guess who Miki sounds a little like? Miu Sakamoto! (Ryuichi's daughter, whom he too writes music for, and whom I worship) Anyway, "Cure" is Miki's second album released in 1997. It's basically nice & relaxing pop music. Me like ^_^
I first got interested in bird's music when I heard her on one of Mondo Grosso (Osawa Shinichi)'s albums. bird makes catchy dance/club music with a touch of jazz. She's great. "bird," bird's debut album released in 1999, is produced & written by Osawa Shinichi. Awesome album. I love her voice.
Tizzy Bac is getting better than ever. I was already very impressed with their first album "Anything can tempt me," but now, I'm amazed. Wow. "It's my fault you turned out this way," Tizzy Bac's second album, just came out recently, and I plan to grab this album along with their single "Hot Summer" this weekend when I figure out how to buy things on a Taiwan site that I found this week that ships overseas! (holy cow that was a long sentence *_^ and I will tell you guys more about it after I succeed in making my first purchase ^_^) Again, I shall be bankrupt....soon *_^ Anyway, this is another crazily good Tizzy Bac album filled with piano, bass, catchy beats, and wonderful melodies + lyrics. The quality of their second album has exceeded their 1st - which is suppose to happen in all great musicians ^_^
Check out Tizzy Bac's site for album songs samples & videos/MVs! They're beyond awesome.
A couple of months ago, I downloaded a couple of songs from Plastic People's official site, and fell in love with their mellow, dreamy sound. Then, of course, Anna the Korean music expert had Plastic People's "Travelling in the Blue" 2004 EP and debut album "Songbags of the Plastic People," and they are lovely. Thanks again Anna! What will I do without you :o)
Yesterday, I finally found Plastic People's first EP "EP1," and if I remembered correctly, Anna was looking for it at that time. So this is for you Anna! (if you haven't found it already) Plastic People is a Korean duo that makes relaxing acoustic dream pop music. Both 윤주미 (Kim Min Gyoo) and 김민규's (Yoon Joo Mi) voices are so dreamy & nice. I love every song on this EP.
Hi everyone - I'm back! I took the last of my AP exams yesterday woohoo!!!! ^_^ AP Lit, Comp, Calc BC, Psych, and even Bio went well. However, Physics was torture *_* Half of the time I didn't know what I was doing *_**_**_*
But it's all over now! Aside from 4 major school projects and a couple of books to read (lol why do teachers still give us so much work after AP tests *_^), I'm... free! And wow, these two months must be great album releasing time, since so many good albums just came out......I shall be bankrupt by the end of this week..........
One of the albums that I've ordered is a Korean compilation album (with a few Japanese artists) called "CRACKER." It seems like Cracker is a Korean comic soundtrack. I wish I could understand/read the comic, since wow, almost all of the artists on this album are my favorites. Also, the ones I don't know are great new discoveries. The beautiful thing about this album is that most songs on it is new! For example, songs by Swinging Popsicle, Oldfish, Misty Blue, Bluedawn, Tearliner, Jelly Boy, etc. are songs that I've never heard before. Awesome songs. Overall, this is a wonderfully mellow & relaxing indie/alt. compilation - definitely one of my favorite compilation albums. This is not something to miss. ^_^
Since I've already mentioned some of the artists on this compilation in my previous posts, here are some of the other great artists (some are all-time favorites & others are newly discoveries) ^_^ Ooh, by the way, all of these artists (if I'm not mistaken) are from/related with the Korean music label Pastel Music. Pastel Music is an awesome label! Check out their site for some sample music ^_^
Alongside with Bluedawn & on the top of my Korean favorites is Tearliner (both thanks to noodz-shi!) Tearliner is such a versatile band - in their debut album "Little Room, Diary," Tearliner incorporates so many different elements of music (mellow electronics mixed with slow rock or upbeat & indie rock). I love it. I also love the lead singer's soothing, lazy voice *_^
A new discovery! "A spring day" is a really nice & relaxing piano song with cute vocals. I'm definitely looking forward to Donawhale's future works ^_^
I couldn't find a picture/site/info on Belle Epoque (they must be relatively new?), but this is also a really nice song with pretty acoustic guitar melodies + vocal ^_^
I haven't listened to good old mainland indie music for a long time now (these days it's either relaxing study music for me or Cheer in the shower + car. I've also been listening to a lot of J-indie *_^). So today, I digged up my Raven album - and Raven is just that - a good old mellow Beijing rock/brit-pop band (hehe you guys/girls must've known by now how much I love mellow music), getting me into my lazy/dreamy mood again.
