After letting her creative freedom shine through in"I",Taeyeon has
returned boasting a new beautiful track forSM Entertainment's new'Station' system. As expected, Taeyeon really
let her brilliant vocals shine through with themid-tempo
and relaxing sound of "Rain," earning a high score in my book!
I've had a love-hate relationship with4minutefor the past few years. I fell in love with them
in 2012, when "Volume
Up" was still fresh, and filled my ears with
their catalog. I felt their 2013 and 2014 offerings were awkward and patched
together with a number of unfinished songs. Their singles, like "OnlyGained Weight" and "Is it Poppin'?"
seemed light years better than what was coming off the mini-albums. In 2015,
they reinvented themselves with 'Crazy,'
which featured wildly catchy hip-hop tracks. Now I'm hyped: they're back for
the new year with the EP 'ACT.
7.'
It's been one and a half years since their debut, andWinnerhas finally staged their comeback with the EP 'Exit: E!' If you've been following them at all, you know
that they were involved in the writing and production process for their first
disc, and this one is no exception. 'Exit: E' includes five tracks, including the
dual title tracks "Baby
Baby" and "Sentimental,"
and theMino&Tae Hyunduet "Pricked."
Rookie groupG-Friend had
a successful year as rookies in 2015, and now they're back with the seasonally
titled 'Snowflake.' From their debut, they've established a
reputation for a softer, effervescent sound, sugary sweet, girly, and all fun.
They retained this sound in their second release. 'Snowflake,'
their third mini-album, contains some surprises...
Hello Guys, welcome to my blog. I
think it’s the first time I am talking to all of you generally in my blog. This
is a special post where I will talk about what i did in the day just before Chinese
new year day.
Everyone knows that Chinese new
year is like a common happy new year celebration but the difference is we use
the Chinese calendar to find out when is the first day of the new year. it’s
one of the most happiest moment for Chinese people. If you are Chinese and you
are reading this, you will agree with me that Chinese people especially for the child really like this
moment because they can get a lot of money from their cousins family (cause I am
Chinese too). So …. What did the Chinese people did in the day before the Chinese
new year? here is what I am doing in the day before the Chinese new year:
1. In the
morning after I have finished all my private works, I go downstairs to help my
mum organizing the Chinese new year food. It is important to have food (that is
more like snacks) in your house especially in your living room so when guest
come, they don’t get starved and I think it’s one of the good attitude to
welcome the guest. This year, my mum bought a lot of new year food and of
course when we are organizing it, I will taste a bit of it all. All of them are
tasty in their own in my opinion. I specially like the pineapple cake cause it’s
sweet and tasty. We organizing it very well in the table in the living room.
2 2. After that,
we won’t forget to decorate our house with some golden blink Chinese new year décor
on the wall. We open, glue and stick it to the house wall. There’s also a few
of hanging pineapple décor in the front door. My mum also bought a vase of
flower which my mum asked me to decorate it. Of course I’d enjoyed decorating
it.
3.One of
the important things to do is here, is to cleaning the whole house! It’s feel
like a non-stop of work was hitting me. we have to sweep and sop the floor, moving
things around to clean the place and than put the things back, clean the
window, changing all the bed set cover and many more.
It’s
interesting when we sometimes find a thing that we’ve looked for it a long time
ago and it come out when we are cleaning!
4.After all
of the house work, it’s time for me to have my own free time. But it doesn’t
seems to be a relax time. In that time, I use it to open my wardrobe and pick
the dress for tomorrow (first day of Chinese new year). it’s a common things
that all Chinese woman do because they don’t want to be stress picking out
dress when the first day come. So after I’m finish picking, that is the time I enjoy
my relax time.
5.I think
all of you know this one. The night before the Chinese new year, Chinese family
will have a family eating in their house. The family eating is a bit difference
than the usual, there will be many dishes that our mum prepare. In my house
style, my mum prepare a big pot with a lot of dishes in there (I don’t know
what it was). So we will eat less of food and eat many of the dishes. It’s one
of the tastiest dishes that i like.
6.In the
night, me and my family go to see a band that celebrate the Chinese new year,
in there we can hear many singers singing Chinese new year song and when it’s
almost 12 o’clock, all netizen will start to count down and then … fire works!!
Yeah , I love it very much this year firework!! The firework last for 20 minutes
in the open night sky. It was an amazing moment.when that moment, I feels like ahh
.. the Chinese new year is really came!!! I really enjoy it very much.
That is the things that I have
done in the day before the chinese new year, more specific is Sunday, 7 Febuary
2016. So .. what about you? Come on, comment your list below!
Thank you for all of you who keep
on reading my blog.
Wish you guys all the best in
this Red Fire Monkey Year!
Star Empire has debuted their newest boy band, five member
groupIMFACT! The band is made of
membersJian,Jeup,Taeho,Ungjae, andLeesang. They apparently have a
sweet tooth, because their first album is titled 'Lollipop.' The title track is written
and composed by none other than their very ownmaknae,Ungjae.
"I'M FACT" A
playful, synth-driven intro song, the refrain being:"I like to party." It's
serviceable. Not the best intro, but hardly the worst. Each member had a hand
in this song, and it sets the tone for the album well.
"Lollipop" This
song is probably not what I would have led with. It frankly doesn't hang
together as well as I like; there's no flow. It lurches from one melody to the
next, though I like the chorus. The band has pretty good pipes, though. If
they'd kept to just one tune it would have been a lot better. As it is, there
are some fun moments, and the brass gives it a unique sound, but the song as a
whole is a mess. The message is they want her to be their lollipop.
"Shine" This
song is a softer pop number, the raps written by leaderJian andUngjae. It's got silky harmonies over a piping synth,
and they manage to sound smooth and slick at the same time. The raps have a
nice flow to them and work well with the overall tone. They're telling you they
will be your shining star, watching over you, shining on you.
"Trouble
Maker" This
song is the outlier, sounding a little different from the other songs. It could
be best characterized as a rap ballad with piano. It does the alternating
croons and raps thing, but the chorus sounds noticeably different, highlighting
the vocal strengths of the different members, and the main verses are raps.Jian,Ungjae, andLeesanghad a hand in the composition here. It's a lonely
song, contemplative, talking about how people are afraid to look at them, and
how they want to cry because of it.
I like
how this album holds together overall. They manage to do a great job of varying
the compositions without straying from the pop structure. The only thing
I could ask is that the hooks be more prominent, something to chant at live
shows would be nice. They've got potential -- it's obvious the boys have
talent, and should be proud of what they penned.
Ryeowook, arguably part of K-Pop royalty himself, has
released his long-awaited debut solo album 'The Little Prince.'
He's one of four lead vocalists forSuper Junior, as well as a member of subunitsSuper Junior K.R.Y andSuper Junior-M. He also has the distinction of having his face on a
Chinese postage stamp (along withKyuhyun,Siwon, andDonghae). This is the first release on the group's newly
launched label SJ.
"Like
A Star" Opening
with a tender number, it sets the tone for much of the rest of the album. It's
a little more stripped down than the other ballads on this disc, with only a
touch of orchestral grandeur near the end. It showcasesRyewook's
voice rather nicely and is a pleasant listen. The lyrics explain to a girl that
she is his light in the world.
"The
Little Prince" is a
reference toAntoine de Saint-Exupéry's book of the same name. He places himself inside
the narrative, and sings about talking to theLittle Prince. It's a lovely ode to a breakup, using some of
the imagery from the book, like the flower. TheSuJu singer unleashes his voice about 3
mins in, and his pitch soars high. You can almost feel him crying as he sings,
giving this tune plenty of emotional punch.
"Hello" cranks
things up quite a bit, and offers up a bit of jazzy R&B for your listening
pleasure. There's somePrinceinfluence here, but it's distinctly K-pop, with guitars and a
mid-tempo beat that is guaranteed to have your head nodding. This has a
distinct retro feel to the song structure, and it works well. The lyrics are
about being happy that he's together with her.
"People
You May Know" Ryeowookdials it back down here to deliver a ballad
swaddled in sweetness. Thankfully, it holds off on the excess production until
the end, and at that point the backup singers come in to avoid drowning the
tune. The song itself is clever, tied to being online, and seeing the pictures
of someone you broke up with on social media, as sadness casts a dark pall over
your day.
"Foxy
Girl" Another
R&B offering, this time with the assist of rapperDin Din. His
rapping gives this tune a distinctly modern feel, and he does a pretty good
job, if not amazing. Sometimes I felt like I was listening to 70s era funk (not
a bad thing!), a testament toRyeowook's songwriting and composing skills. Three guesses
what this song is about.
"POOM" A
pretty ballad, starting out reflectively and reaching orchestral critical mass
in the chorus, where his voice soars into falsetto. Piano is what drives the
melody during the main verses. The song itself is about motherhood as
well as childhood, thanking his mother. The lyrics are steeped in symbolism as
well as sincerity.
This
EP was a study in contrasts. At once mellifluous and melancholy, soul-baring
and silky, yet at other times it could be fun and funky.Ryeowookhas a gorgeous voice, and this solo EP was the
perfect showcase for his vocal abilities. Highly enjoyable, the songs caress
you and wash over you, leaving you warm inside. This debut slays!
