Rather be ashes than dust » Music

‘Hallyu’ through the Lens of the West

ryguy — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 01:48:22 +0000

Just read this great blog post about how smug people can be when reporting about K-pop music. If you’ve got some time give it a read.

A Smug Sense of Self-Satisfaction – ‘hallyu’ through the Lens of the West

Through The Roof ‘n’ Underground

ryguy — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 23:27:15 +0000

Taeyang’s Wedding Dress – Playoff

ryguy — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 06:23:52 +0000

So my friend Sher, who is a big fan of K-Pop music (we had a K-pop dance sess at my old apartment when her and her sister visited in 2009, see here), recently said that an English cover of Taeyang’s Wedding Dress is better than the original. I don’t have the option to do polls at the moment, but I thought I would throw it out there to see what you thought.

Original: Taeyang – Wedding Dress

English Cover: Kevin Lien – Wedding Dress

I know it’s a guilty pleasure but the K-pop is just too damn catchy. Also, I already mentioned this, but Mr. Camp I can’t help but recall your Backstreet Boys living room dance sessions with Brandon, funny shit. Now I must go flog myself for posting more K-pop on my blog.

Pepero day and some musical oddities

ryguy — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 02:57:57 +0000

So today is 11/11 which in Korea is known as Pepero Day which everyone gives and gets Pepero sticks (more widely known as Pocky sticks, their Japanese name). Pepero sticks are, as defined on Wikipedia:

Pepero (빼빼로) is a cookie stick, dipped in chocolate syrup, manufactured by Lotte Confectionery in South Korea since 1983.It was inspired by the Japanese product, Pocky produced by Glico.

I think there should be a warning carried on the boxes stating that they are as addictive as Crack. Just told myself that I was only going to eat a few out of the box I just opened, but that did not happen. I am throwing the empty box away as I type…and horribly missing the garbage bin cuz this white boy can’t play B-Ball. This day definitely does not help us with ever expansive waist lines because armies of little monkeys (my nickname for Korean students) will give you enough Pepero Sticks to last you through your 30s…but don’t worry you will demolish them all in a matter of days resulting in a diabetic coma.

The Pepero Day idea was obviously started as a marketing ploy by companies such as Lotte, that market this super addicting little candy. They chose November 11th because when the date is written out in numerical form it looks like a bunch of sticks 11/11 (like the candy). I wonder if there will be an even bigger event for 11/11/11. Oh and my favorite is that you can buy these damn sticks in giant form! Up to almost a meter in length (about 3 feet for those back home).

Pepero Day Display

Also to go along with todays post I have some musical weirdness from Japan to report. Apparently there has been some new pop singers in Japan (nothing new there) but with a little twist. They aren’t real people they are Holograms! Oh and I don’t mean Holograms that just conceal the real person singing (like Gorillaz does with their cartoons), there aren’t any real people singing, it’s a computer program creating the voice. First, check it yourself (it’s better in HD, go to youtube to watch that):

Hatsune Miku – The World is Mine

Apparently, her voice is rendered using a program called Hatsune Miku which is based on a really interesting going by the name of Vocaloid. Vocaloid is a program that samples voices and allows someone to use a synthesizer to peace together words, lyrics, melodies, etc… sounds like a really cool program if you have some time to nerd out. Although, I’m not sure how I feel about cyberstar being born and strutting about the stage. But thank you Japan for always being creative and strange.

Next on the music list today, is a badass little Korean kid who will blow your mind on a guitar. His name is Sungha Jung, here is his website, and he is totally worthy checking out more of his stuff than just this clip.

Sungha Jung – Ebon Coast

Also it’s worth checking out this clip with Sungha Jung jamming with Andy McKee:

Sungha Jung & Andy McKee – Rylynn

Global Gathering 2010

ryguy — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 14:47:07 +0000

This year YeYe bought me a ticket for Global Gathering for my birthday. Which was awesome of her because, as she probably already knew, Justice was a headliner and just so happens to be one of my favorite electronic groups. The concert also had a great lineup featuring Armin van Buren, Fatboy Slim, and many others. Also, got to hear some of the Korean local electronic music talents. One that stood out as putting on a good show was Idiotape. Although I was disappointed that Justice didn’t put on their “live show” instead it was a “DJ set”. I’ve never heard of these differences, but Heath filled me in on what that meant. I guess a live show is when they will do everything vocals, sound effects, mixing, sampling, etc… on the fly. Where DJ sets are where they take their existing music and play with it, still awesome but means I need to check them out sometime for a live set. I think Fatboy Slim put on the best show music-wise, which makes sense since he has been around for so long. It was a freaking amazing trip up to Seoul for some awesome live music.

Anyways, some memorable stuff from the weekend:

Meeting Parsley and Mattugi for lunch (Parsley is really starting to show her pregnancy…really cool)
Getting my groove on with Yeye, MingMing, Heath, and Mijin
Seeing Justice, Fatboy Slim, etc… play live
Getting to stuff myself full with some good food at the concert
Stopping some presumably British guy (judging by his accent) from continuing to get his ass kicked after picking a fight with a Korean taxi driver (FYI: don’t mess with the cab drivers)
Staying up all night for the KTX (I was so freaking tired)

Nerdy Mario love songs

ryguy — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:24:36 +0000

So I have been on a nerdy music kick as of late so expect these to keep coming out for awhile…I will hopefully move on to original content soon enough but for now hopefully this entertains you. Enjoy…

Mario Kart Love Song

by Sam Hart

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDBpQVhCMb8

Bowser’s Reply

by Chris Cohen
(I guess to the Mario Kart Love Song)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBuwV-z5IbU

Kid plays 32 songs in 8 Minutes

ryguy — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 06:12:41 +0000

Thought this guy was pretty cool he melds 32 songs together in about 8 minutes. Pretty talent young lad.

Here is a link to the video too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pm9L60YBj3s

The songlist spoiler is here after the jump…

Billie Jean (Michael Jackson)
Jizz in my pants (Lonely Island) – 0:19
Wannabe (Spice Girls) – 0:23
Mario Kart Love Song (Sam Hart) – 0:39
Over the Rainbow (Judy Garland) – 0:50
Girlfriend (Avril Lavigne) – 1:00
No woman no cry (Bob Marley) – 1:12
Never gonna give you up (Rick Astley) – 1:16
Harder, better, faster, stronger (Daft Punk) – 1:34
White&Nerdy (Weird Al Yankovic) – 2:03
Tribute (Tenacious D) – 2:18
Numa Numa/Dragostea din tei (O-Zone) – 2:28
Angry video game nerd (Rolfe & Justin) – 2:42
Mamma Mia (ABBA) – 3:03
Smoke on the water (Deep Purple) – 3:37
A whole new world (Disney) – 3:59
Let it Be (The Beatles) – 4:14
Eye of the tiger (Survivor) – 4:26
Leave Britney Alone (Me / Chris Crocker) – 4:45
Thunderstruck (AC/DC) – 5:02
Feel good inc. (Gorillaz) – 5:15
Metropolis (Dream Theater) – 5:30
Pokemon Theme – 5:48
Through the fire and flames (Dragonforce) – 6:00
Chocolate Rain (Tay Zonday) – 6:09
Listen to your heart (Roxette) – 6:22
Hips Don’t Lie (Shakira) – 6:31
Killer Queen (Queen) – 6:38
Time is running out (Muse) – 6:55
When you say nothing at all (Ronan Keating) – 7:14
Road Trippin’ (Red Hot Chili Peppers) – 7:24
Power Rangers Theme – 7:33