Soundtrip Tuesday: Michael Jackson, Ji Yeon, Spotify!

Young people of our generation have easier access to music, and have more convenient gadgets to store it in. That's why it's easier to listen to music these days. Even those people who really don't take time to look for songs that could put them in a good mood, or just represent what they're feeling, like to listen to pop songs perhaps. I am one of those people who are not really into music as a "music lover" is usually described as, but nowadays, with more convenient locations (online) to stream music (like Spotify) I have grown to listen to other genres that I don't usually touch on back then. Spotify is now available in the Philippines and I was one of those people who were thrilled because of it. I now have a separated weekly blog post dedicated to music because I want to be more adventurous in listening to different genres of music all over the world.

For this first post, I will talk about some recent releases in the pop genre.

From what I found out, Michael Jackson released a posthumous album entitled "Xscape" and one of the lead singles in that album was Love Never Felt So Good. I like the version with Justin Timberlake. It's a feel good song that captures a disco-like rhythm that just makes me move my body along with the beat. It's one of those songs that you'd want to listen to when you wake up in the morning, or at night when you're just having fun with your friends at home and probably enjoying some drinks. 

Love Never Felt So Good by Michael Jackson & Justin Timberlake

The next pop song is from the K-pop scene. Park Jiyeon or Ji Yeon just released the music video of the lead single of her mini album. Check out the M/V below.

Never Ever [1분1초] by Ji Yeon

I like Ji Yeon ever since I watched a bit of Heroes (K-Variety show) and of all T-ara members, I am quite fond of her. This is her first single going solo, and I think it's pretty different of her usual cutesy actions. However, it's also a bit expected that she'd be doing something like this, and by this I mean a sexy concept. As she's just transitioned into an adult K-pop artist, it's about time she did a sexy concept song on her own, especially that together with Hyomin and Eunjung, she's the most "out-there" or "omnipresent" member of T-ara. The unique choreography matched with the sexy song is enough for a K-pop song to become popular, and I think this video just might make it if people are not tired of such things. Other than that, the song and music video is good, and it reminds me of Sistar's Alone and Ga In for some reason. I'll be looking forward to her live performances and of course the response of the K-netizens and actual K-pop fans.

K-Mondays: Bom & Hi's All I Want For Christmas Is You.

Last December 12, 2013, YG Entertainment released a teaser video (embedded above) on Youtube for a new unit created within YG family. The logo showed the letters B and H, which probably is the initials of the members of the new unit. In the video, we also saw two girls creepily walking and holding hands. Of course, as many have suspected, the two girls are indeed Park Bom and Lee Hi. 

After the first teaser, 2 more videos were released, which showed Bom and Hi. This December 17, 2013, there will be a pre-release of their single, "All I Want For Christmas Is You," which is a version of Mariah Carey's song of the same title. I think the song will be available on that day on this website, since it was linked in the YG-Family page on Facebook. 

Taken from YG-Family page on Facebook.

I was so excited for this new unit of YGE, since these two have really powerful and lovely vocals. I really adore Lee Hi and I have been waiting for her to be back, promoting again and this is such a good time, because it's the most wonderful time of the year and their singing this wonderful song! Did I just fangirl? Well yeah, that's the purpose of my blog. On the other hand, Bom joining Hi is such a dream come true since both ladies have the most beautiful voices in YGE.

Definitely look forward to these two collaborating this Christmas!

J-Wednesdays 水曜日だ！: Daisy by Stereo Dive Foundation (Kyoukai no Kanata ED song)

Daisy by Stereo Dive Foundation

This beautiful song is Kyoukai no Kanata (fall anime 2013) ending song, and just by listening to it, it gives so much emotions (and feels) about the anime. Kyoukai no Kanata has a somehow tragic storyline, and this song is able to capture the essence of that. I personally prefer songs like this, with the smooth melody mixed with strong beats. Isn't that like the story of Kyoukai no Kanata? It gives off an aura of cuteness and being light-hearted, yet beyond it is a tale that's very mysterious.

Alright, I'm going to confess. I do love this song and Kyoukai no Kanata, but these days I'm really busy with everyday of the week occupied with lots of stuff to do for grad school. You see, I'm still starting to adjust to the atmosphere and I'm keeping myself busy. For three weeks already, I haven't even posted a Reel Thursday entry. I was planning to do a Catching Fire post, but it was too difficult to not include a spoiler. Nonetheless, I'm thinking of doing a Christmas Special of Reel Thursday and next week I'll be on a 1-week hiatus. I promise to bring quality blog posts when I come back.

Do listen to Daisy by Stereo Dive Foundation, because it's a beautiful song.

K-Mondays: For the love of Kpop! Featuring Super Junior's Marry U.

If you've been a fan of Super Junior for quite some time now, you must know what Marry U is. It's a song from SuJu's album, Don't Don. It was released way back in 2007, when I just started to get into Kpop. Alright, I was an ELF (Super Junior's fan club) back then, but I unfortunately outgrew my love for them. Back in 2007, my friends and I loved the song Marry U and even had its lyrics memorized, so that we can sing along whenever we play it. I even printed copies with different colors depending on whose part it should be. My two friends and I, having memorized the lyrics already, decided that we make a music video. We were in high school, and having digital cameras were not yet that usual for teens like us back then. Also, we didn't have time and the creativity to actually come up with a concept. In short, we couldn't make the music video. Time passed by and we've already graduated from high school a long time ago, and now I'm done with college and the two of them are also graduating.

The three of us get together from time to time but we usually don't remember our pact back then to make a music video of us singing Marry U. However, just last week, we got together again and did it! Nowadays, it's easier to come up with those kinds of videos even if it's just poorly made. The sad thing though is that our other friend was not present in the video and only the two of us were in it. That makes us more excited though, because we can make another one with all three of us. We just made this video for the sake of making one (out of boredom and unwillingness to go to school) and I ultimately regretted having made that video. Haha! I will definitely not post it here because of how indescribable I look in the video. I'll provide some screenshots though..

It only took us three hours making the video, including the shooting and the editing. We used photo booth to shoot the videos and I edited it using iMovie. We had fun making it but we definitely regret the poor quality of this "music video." Nonetheless, we both relived our love for Super Junior from when we were in high school and it brought back so much memories. It also made me realize how long I've been a Kpop fan. I know that I've already outgrown Super Junior just for 2 years of liking them, but I believe that it will take years and years of outgrowing Kpop altogether. 

Happy six years of Kpop lovin' to me!

K-Mondays: Most Memorable K-drama Moments and OST's.

I love Korean dramas, even though they have cliché plots, and ultra mushy scenes, I'll never stop watching them. The first Korean drama that I've probably watched is Lovers in Paris. It was a hit in the Philippines when it was first aired. Kids, teenagers, middle age people, or even our grandparents loved that series in the Philippines. Who would dare forget Martin and Carlo? The two handsome and rich male leads that we debate about who's much more good looking? I doubt that any TV-obsessing-Filipino would not be able to relate.

On the other hand, the first Korean drama that I loved and truly dedicated my time to was Full House. (I even went to the shooting location in Korea.) Whenever I remember those times that I've watched it (a few, well, a gazillion times), the soundtracks automatically play in my head. I first watched the series when it was aired in the Philippines and it was dubbed in Filipino. After a few years, I watched it again, and again, and again. One of my favorite scenes in this drama (I even remember which episode and which part) was when Han Ji Eun (Song Hye Kyo) confessed her feelings for Lee Young Jae (Rain) for the first time, but it didn't end well.

Ji Eun seriously confessing her feelings for Young Jae.

Young Jae took it as a joke and laughed.

Ji Eun also laughed upon finding out that Young Jae had only took her feelings for a joke. Wasn't that sad? I was so sad but a had a good laugh because of Young Jae's foolishness. There are more scenes that I really like, for example, the 3 bears song scene, and the one where Ji Eun brought kimbap for Young Jae at a shoot and they forcefully fed each other.

Next drama is My Girl. Like Full house, this drama was also aired in the Philippines but I didn't watch it on TV. I was actually not in the Philippines when it aired, that's why I wasn't able to watch it. Thank goodness for the internet though, I was able to fall in love with My Girl (or should I say Lee Dong Wook). My favorite scene in this drama was when Joo Yoo Rin (Lee Da Hae), told Seol Gong Chan (Lee Dong Wook) various lies when they went to the 63 building together. The funny thing about that scene was Gong Chan believed every lie that Yoo Rin told him. Towards the end of that chain of lies..

Gong Chan tried the "lie" that Yoo Rin told him, where he has close his eyes and to count to 10. He would then fall in love with the first person that he sees.

And what do you know? He saw Yoo Rin.

It was a bit cheesy, I know, but it's heart-warming and cute. I was young then but I still haven't forgotten how it felt when I watched that scene. Another scene that I love was when Yoo Rin and Seo Jung Woo (Lee Jun Ki) were eating dinner and Jung Woo asks Yoo Rin how she could make her lies really convincing. Yoo Rin said that it's easy, that it's just a matter of believing your own lies. If you like someone, you tell yourself that you don't. Then she made another example by eating a green pepper. There are two kinds of green pepper; one that is not spicy and one that is really spicy. After taking a bite, Yoo Rin asked Jung Woo whether the pepper was spicy or not judging from her poker face. Jung Woo wasn't able to guess and ended up taking a bite on one of the green peppers. That's how he found out that the pepper was indeed very spicy and Yoo Rin was just holding it in.

The last drama that I'll be blabbering about is Goong/Princess Hours. Although I have many scenes that I love in this drama (and like any other dramas that I've ever talked about) like their wedding, the one scene that had my heart bursting with laughter and feelings was when they had their 합방 (hapbang) or first night as a couple. The thing is, the pair were expected to make love and create an heir to the throne..

Shin Chae Gyung (Yoo Eun Hye) was creating a lot of noise because removing the head piece was apparently hurting her.

The palace maids who are always on duty hears the (weird) noises and assumes the two are indeed doing what they're supposed to do.

Lee Shin (Joo Ji Hoon) drank some "energy drink" forced upon him to ensure the creation of an heir.

It was so funny that Shin restrains himself from his temptation to make a move on Chae Gyung, who he allegedly, had no feelings for. The noises they made though was from hitting each other as a consequence of playing a game. The palace mades however, assumed that they would get an heir to the throne soon. For more funny goodness of this scene click here.

These three dramas that I reminisced about are my top three most favorite/significant K-dramas of all time. There still hasn't been any new K-drama that exceeded my love for these three, but there are many of those that are in line. As I'm going through memory lane, I might as well provide the nostalgia inducing OSTs of the dramas that I love. Click on my mix below.

Most Memorable Korean Drama OSTs from genina07 on 8tracks Radio.