New Music Thursdays (Sept. 24, 2015)

I think I was right about the past couple weeks being a lull in releases because this week was back to form with lots of new stuff!

Track #1: Demi Lovato - Confident

Unfortunately there's no video of this on YouTube so it's just a Spotify link. Sorry to those of you who don't use Spotify! This is a promo song from Demi's upcoming album of the same name. It is a powerful track with a lot of attitude and very catchy. I personally think it's better than Cool For The Summer. Demi's new album, Confident, releases October 16th.

Track #2: Yuu Kikkawa - Wild Strawberry

When did Kikka get so good? Seriously, the past couple of songs she's put out have been outstanding. This is probably my favorite one yet. It's like the took the good part of Hana and made it into an actual full length song. I hope that the other new songs on her album are as good. Her third album, You the 3rd (Wildflower), releases on October 14th.

Track #3: Tsubaki Factory - Seishun Manmannaka!

This song is finally on YouTube and I'm so happy I could scream. This is Hello! Project's newest group and this is their first indies release, or as I like to call it "the best debut song ever released by anyone in H!P in my completely biased opinion" lol. I do really love this song and it is so sad I can't buy it anywhere. I keep hoping that a copy of the indies single will pop up on ebay or that H!P would be kind and put it on iTunes. I'd even buy it off of E-Lineup & figure out how to use the dang site if they'd put it up, but alas....it hasn't happened yet. I really hope they keep this style. To me it's kind of like an EDM/Nogizaka46 mashup. I love it. Seishun Manmannaka! was released on September 6th in limited venues in Japan.

Enjoy!

Music Discovery Mondays (Late Tuesday Sept. 22, 2015 Edition)

I apologize that this is a day late....I've been a little busy.

Track #1: Wonder Girls - Loved

I've been wanting to put up another song from Reboot, but I didn't want it to be one that I've seen people constantly fawning over. I think this is a good example of a fantastic song that's overshadowed by other fantastic songs on an album. Just like the other songs on Reboot, this is an 80s-styled track. It's more of a midtempo than an uptempo though, similar to I Feel You.

Track #2: Shiritsu Ebisu Chuugaku - Kindan no Karma

For those who may not have heard of them before, Shiritsu is a Stardust group, a sister group of Momoiro Clover Z and Team Syachihoko. This is the group of the three that I am least familiar with through no fault but my own. I haven't taken the time to look up their music and actually only own this because of CDJapan having it really cheap during a sale. I love that "dark" feel of the song. I'd like to see more Stardust groups do songs like this.

Track #3: Sanae Yokota - Fantasy Night

I just want to throw this out there: I beg of you. Anyone who might come across this. If you know of anywhere I can get a copy of her Summer Breeze CD PLEASE let me know! I've been trying to delve into 80s Jpop recently (thanks to the 80s stylings of the Wonder Girls' album) and I came across this song and I absolutely adore it. I'm so upset that I can't really find any good information on her/her album. I wonder if the other songs are as good as this. Oh, another thing to throw out there: if anyone knows any great 70s-80s J-pop that they want to share please do! I want to discover more!

Enjoy!

New Music Thursdays (September 17, 2015)

Unfortunately there's only one entry this week.....I can't think of anyone else that's even released something this week. If anyone's got some good new releases from this week, please comment!

Track #1: NMB48 - Must Be Now

I'm still shocked that they uploaded this to YouTube lol. I was very iffy on the song when I first heard it. I had been waiting for another EDM track from 48G, but the overuse of autotune (especially on Sayanee's voice....she's too good a singer for it) initially turned me off. However, when they uploaded the full version I became addicted. I love how they're trying something totally different with Senbatsu. I hope the other 48 groups follow suit & switch things up. Must Be Now releases October 7th.

Enjoy!

Music Discovery Mondays (September 14, 2015)

Track #1, Alessia Cara - Here

Came across this gem the other day. I know it's not really "unknown", but it only has 7 million views and for a Western artist's video that's pretty low. I absolutely adore this track. It describes the introvert's life at parties perfectly lol. Not to mention her voice is stellar.

Wikipedia Page

Track #2: GP Basic - Edge Ta

This song kept coming up on shuffle while listening to music and it just clicked that it would be the perfect song to feature here. I really have no idea what's going on with this group. They were gone for the longest time, then came back early last year and then fell off the map again. Generasia says they're promoting in China and are down two members but I haven't heard that anywhere else so I don't know if that's true or not. If you've been a K-pop fan for a few years, it's likely you may have heard of this video. It was viewed as a pretty terrible video and it got attention on forums for that, but not for the song itself. The song is one of the greatest K-pop songs released to date and it's disappointing that it didn't receive much attention beyond a silly video mentioned in a couple forums. The song is a super catchy EDM track. If you enjoyed the Swan.B song from a couple of weeks ago, this is in that vein.

Generasia Page

Track #3: Britney Spears - Til It's Gone

If any song from Britney's latest album should have been a single, it's this one. It's always been a little sad to me that Britney Jean flopped like it did. In my opinion it's one of her better albums. The dance breaks in the choruses alone make this song one of my all time favorite Britney tracks.

Britney Jean (album) Wikipedia Page

Enjoy!

New Music Thursdays (September 10, 2015)

Is it just me or have the last two weeks been bland for new releases? There's either been nothing or very average songs. I guess this is just the downtime in between periods of massive releases.

Track #1: 2Eyes - Pippi

I feel bad that their company might be facing a lawsuit over this song. Although it was kind of stupid on the company's part that they did make sure that there would be repercussions for using the Pippi name. If they had just done the look there likely wouldn't have been an issue, but I can understand why using the name might cause issues. The song itself is pretty catchy. I didn't like what they had come out with before, and while this doesn't compare to the other girl group songs of this year, it's leaps and bounds ahead of their other material. Pippi was released on August 15th.

Generasia Page

Track #2: Red Velvet - Dumb Dumb

SM Entertainment's newest girl group. They seem like a young f(x) with their new comeback, which is totally fine with me because f(x) is the best of the SM groups. This song is a bit scatter-brained but insanely catchy. I've had the "dumbdumbdumbdumb" beat stuck in my head all day. Their first full album, The Red, released September 9th.

Generasia Page

Enjoy!

Music Discovery Mondays (September 7, 2015)

Happy Labor Day to all those in the US! I hope everyone who has the day off is enjoying themselves!

Track #1: Wanna.B - Attention

Now these are some girls who really need some Attention! I know...I know...I'm so sorry but I couldn't not write that lol. In all seriousness, Wanna.B is a six member K-pop girl group that debuted in late 2014. They currently have two releases, this song and a single called My Type. This song is a lot like Little Mix's Salute except more dancey than powerful. If I were to compared this song to a K-pop group, I think it would make a great Nine Muses release.

Official Facebook Page

Track #2: Amelia Lily - California

Another case of why hasn't this singer become a thing yet. Her music is so catchy and awesome! It irritates the heck out of me that I can't buy her songs in the US. I don't get why record companies don't release all their stuff everywhere. It's like they're practically begging people to illegally download it because they can't get it legitimately. Ranting on the stupidity of the music industry aside, even though Amelia's discography is super small, I had a hard time picking which of her songs to post here. I settled on this one because it's such a feel good track. The lyrics portray a girl who's lost her man to another woman so it's not really a feel good track, but the sound of the music is just so summery and catchy.

Wikipedia Page

Track #3: Vicci Martinez - Come Along (ft. Cee-lo Green)

If there's any song that I feel should have smashed, this is that song. It's unfortunate that most of the contestants on singing competitions nowadays don't get much recognition. This is one of my all time favorite songs. Her voice & the lyrics just mesh so well with the music. It's not a full on pop song like most of the songs I feature here, but is a slower R&B tinged track. I actually found out a couple of weeks ago that this is actually a cover. It was devastating to hear that (I don't hate covers, but I adore this song so much and was incredibly disappointed that it wasn't an original) and even more devastated when looking up the original track and hearing it. Personally, I think the original is terrible. So, my opinion, ignore the original, and love this.

Enjoy!

New Music Thursdays (September 3, 2015)

I'd like to preface this post by saying that I have no idea what happened to K-pop this summer. The past 2 & 1/2 years for K-pop was just dire (except for a couple releases), but all of a sudden this summer, BOOM. The K-pop industry is on fire again & the music is great. It's mind boggling to me. Of course there's still a lot of clunkers, but the amount of good songs this summer far outweigh the bad. I'm curious to see if this will continue through the rest of the year.

Track #1: Tiger JK - Blazing (ft. Yoon Mirae & Bizzy)

Okay. So I wouldn't call MFBTY K-pop necessarily, but this song fits in my whole "wow this summer!" theme for this post. This song is a song for a freaking BASEBALL TEAM. It's essentially a cheer song/advertisement but holy crap is it insanely good or what! Easily one of the best songs of the summer. Even if you're not into K-pop I suggest checking this song out. You won't regret it. Blazing was released on August 12th.

Track #2: Hyuna - Because I'm The Best (Roll Deep) (ft. Ilhoon)

I have a very love/hate relationship with Hyuna. I'm not a big fan of her videos but every lead song she releases is SO good. Every single time she releases a new single, I listen to it once & think that it isn't good, but then I can't stop going back to them. This song was like that. I listened to it at first and didn't care for it at all, but the next time I played it, it hit me. She's one of the very few K-pop stars that I think can actually pull off the whole "sexy" theme. Her new mini album, A+, released on August 21st.

Track #3: Kobushi Factory - Dosukoi! Kenkyo ni Daitan

I'm still iffy on my feelings about this song, but I think they deserve a little release week promo! Kobushi Factory is Hello! Project's newest major debuted group & have just released their first single. If you're more into the pop rock type of J-pop, this is right up your alley. Their first single, Dosukoi! Kenkyo ni Daitan/Ramen Daisuki Koizumi-san no Uta/Nen ni wa Nen released on September 2nd.

Enjoy!