Happy September!

Eels — Fresh Blood Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

I generally haven’t loved the music on True Blood, but the latest episode closer caught my…ear.

Big-ish True Blood post comin’ up soon.

I’ve gotten the chance to photograph Far East twice now — once at ISA New York and once at Epik High’s concert — and sometimes I don’t even need to try very hard to make them look good because they always look like they just stepped off a men’s mag editorial. I love their style and it gives me glee to feel like a fashion photog :P

You never jammed to this grade A quality ish:

PS. I know the entire “Black and Blue” album by heart. Still.

Album first: I’m pleasantly surprised!

Here’s the thing: I have a huge love/hate relationship with BoA’s voice. It’s hard for me to like the songs that she sings when they’re slow ballads with one single twinkling piano melody or something. I find her slow singing voice to be extremely nasally, can eventually progress to sounding straight-up whiny.

But then when she has to do the dance tracks and hit all those notes while dancing and belt those crazies out, she rocks my socks OFF. (Ie: 3:36-3:42.)

So, as long as BoA sings uptempo ballads and dance songs, then me and BoA are tight. And while this album is a mere 11 songs long, I only skipped over 2! I usually skip over 90% of BoA’s Korean albums! (For fear of sounding like a super hater, I would give my left nut [if I had a left nut] to BE her if I were given the chance.)

I don’t really have favorites at the moment but I dig the way this album is arranged. The first three tracks go well with each other and I think the beginning third of an album is very important to the impression one gets when listening to a new album.

| Read more »

Taeyang – Break Down Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Easily, with no competition, my favorite track off the album. This song is my jam for the summer. I wish he promoted this song instead of “I Need a Girl” :(

“Solar” as a whole was really underwhelming and too simplistic. I didn’t dislike anything, but it was a lot of “meh’s” and shrugging. Nowhere near how good his “HOT” album was, unfortunately.

The second half of the album was much better than the first, though listening to Move may be the only time I listened to a fellow Asian rap in English and gotten goosebumps out of undying embarrassment. It was greasy, cheesy, and so disgustingly unoriginal. I felt dirty listening to it.

Favorite song: Break Down
Songs I really like: Superstar, 니가 잠든 후에
Songs I didn’t used to like, but because of how boring the album is, I ended up liking: Wedding Dress, Where U At
The rest: Meh.

I’m not complaining though, I’ve been waiting for this album and some new material from Taeyang, and I got it. Like I said before, I don’t hate anything, a lot of these songs just aren’t as compelling as I expected them to be.