♥ asianpopattack ♥

01. Kyogenshou (虚言症)
02. Yokushitsu (浴室)
03. Benkai Debussy (弁解ドビュッシー)
04. Gibs (ギブス)
05. Yami ni Furu Ame (闇に降る雨)
06. Identity (アイデンティティ)
07. Tsumi to Batsu (罪と罰)
08. Stoicism (ストイシズム)
09. Tsuki ni Makeinu (月に負け犬)

This is the first Shiina Ringo album that I laid my eyes on, and since my sister requested that I review it, it will my first review here on Mabdese ♥

Kyogenshou I admit, when the music first started it startled me. Dunno why, but I was expecting something soft (＃⌒∇⌒＃)ゞ
A pretty good not-really-soft-but-not-hard rock track, Kyogenshou is a good blend of drums, guitars, and a bass that seems to stand out above all of the other instruments. Shiina’s voice is pretty soft on this track, until the chorus that is. Then she goes full out Ringo with her scratchy vocals and Yakuza drawl. The light touch from the orchestra is an added bonus, and near the ending it has this quality, like the audio is from some old record.
I don’t know… there’s something about this track that makes it “pop.” The music is kind of raw (which is nice, and makes me think of mornings in Spring), and Shiina’s voice isn’t overbearing, but it’s not drowned out. So all in all, this is a good track.
And as a plus, the ending is kind enough to lead us into…

… Yokushitsu, the second track. Kind of her, yes? Which, like the track before it, is a good track. Yes yes good indeed. This one is more faster, and at some points screams chaos. Chaos, when done by Shiina, isn’t an entirely bad thing. Some of you may know the remix of this track (the one that blends this and La Salle de Bain [here]) better. This is kind of like it, but it’s less synthed out and more piano…ised. Which I’m pretty sure isn’t even a word, but eh. It is now 三 (/ ^^)/
This one has an ethereal sound like the remix, only not as heavy. It still has a touch of realism, I guess you could say. Shiina’s vocals are hard and on point, and the music follows nicely, which a thrumbing bass, some drums, and what sounds like a harp, but in fact could be a keyboard. Not sure which, but dang it sounds good ^ㅂ^
I’m especially fond of how the song is all upbeat and rocky, until a certain point where it acquires this dream like state, but still with the same beat. Totally cool, especially at the ending where it’s mainly Shiina and a piano. This song is genious, I tell you. Genious.

Benkai Debussy is another song with a strumming bassline. And if you know me then you know I love a heavy bassline, but this is a little excessive. Her voice is kind of muffled in this track, because of the vocoder placed on it. At some points the drums and the bass do cover her voice and drown her out, which can be a tad annoying. I don’t know, I’m not feeling this song as much as the first two… it just doesn’t catch my ear. It kind of sounds jumbled. Not the best song on the album.

A ballad titled Gibs (who here thought of Gibbs from NCIS?) follows, and it’s a nice contrast to the last song. It has a great piano accompaniment, which swells into drums, bass, and guitars. Listening to Shiina sing this type of song makes me think of Alanis Morrisette, but that’s not a bad thing, it just has that little tweak to it.

I swear I’ve heard this melody before. No clue where, but I have. I freakin love the cello and violin. But gah where have I heard it before?

A Saturn commercial!

Or a Mercedes-Benz one.

Not sure.

Now that I have the image of a shiny silver MB driving along a mysteriously empty mountain going through my head, I’m going to talk about this song called Yami ni Furu Ame.  I like how it begins, all nice and slightly tragic sounding, with some cool aaaaah I can’t describe it, but there’s some cool sound effects going on. It starts to pick up speed before it just stops, and restarts all over again with shorter notes and Shiina’s voice. This would make a great song to play in a coffee shop, but not something to listen too if you’re studying due to the fact that you’ll find yourself getting into it and abandoning your work o(TωT )
The addition of drums and a bass don’t detract from the all around awesomeness of this song, but I would love to find a version of this where it’s just the wood instruments and Shiina singing, as her voice fits this track perfectly. It’s rough and scratchy, exactly what this track needs. I don’t really get the bits at the end, where she seems to be speaking in English but it’s all crackly and cutting in and out. It’s just Shiina doing her thing. Oh. Wait I think it’s in the next song.

Is she screaming? Or is that the guitar? Can’t tell. I think it’s her, and if it is than that means Identity starts out sounding like the ringtone that I have set for whenever my sister calls (a female screaming, ala Seigi no Mikata -♥go watch♥-). The whole track is three minutes long, but it seems shorter for some strange reason. That could be due to the fact that it sounds like one super long chorus that kicks in after the first verse. There isn’t much of a beat change in most of the song, it plays out like a punk track from some skate park in the 90s. Or the Encino Man soundtrack.

Tsumi to Batsu… I reviewed this awhile ago… now, what did I say about it then?
“Think 40’s mob track sung with a scratchy voice. Even though the video starts of with her in a car, I always picture her in a Bonnie and Clyde outfit singing with a big band behind her in some spaghetti diner.
An organ, guitars, and drums make up this classic Shiina Ringo track, with her voice sounding tortured and unforgiving (a sound I can achieve after five hours of screaming). Hell. Yes. It. Rocks.
At some points in the song her voice seems to convey desperation. Now, I’m not sure if that’s on purpose or if that’s just because of how she’s singing. Either way, it really adds to the feel of the track, and if your fond of sitting in a dark room with a lit cigarette while staring at nothing, then I suggest you try this track.”
… Still fits. (God, I’m shamelessly lazy（//･_･//) )

Stoicism kind of reminds me of Koi no Dance Site from Morning Musume because of the weird “ooh ahh” bits. This track… there’s really no way to describe the acid trip awesomeness that it is. There’s very little instrumentation, mainly bits and pieces of synth along with a bit that sounds like Dance Hall Days by Wang Chung. Otherwise it’s mainly vocal, with Shiina singing (her voice cutting in and out in the process), with her going “ooh ahh” in the background. The chorus has some more singing, with her singing two different bits at one time. Listening to this track, I I can see where Kaela Kimura got her inspiration for Jasper.
Fun fact: During the verses, if you remove your right earphone all you will hear is “ahh” being repeated, and if you remove your left you’ll only hear Shiina singing. I’m having a hard time describing it… so you can listen to it [here]

The beginning of Tsuki ni Makeinu reminds me of When I Come Around by Green Day. This seems to be one of your more typical rock tracks of the time (2000), with the guitars, drums and bass. After stand out tracks like Kyogenshou and Tsumi to Batsu, this one seems to fall flat with how average it is. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not bad in any way, it just doesn’t have that something special the other tracks had.

Apparently there’s three more tracks after this last one, but my copy didn’t have them, and I can’t find them anywhere (´・ω・`) Sucks, but what can ya do?

I know I don’t usually cover Kpop, but I had to post this:

BoA is going to release a Korean album this year. ‘Bout damn time, I say (and many, many others are saying it, as well).

Why is she finally coming back, you ask? Because 2010 marks her tenth year anniversary, and after her last Korean album (Girls On Top), she hasn’t managed to meet her fans. So, they’re going to create an album that’s as meaningful as those past five years (GOT was released five years ago). Apparently, she’s still going to do her US activities… which I honestly thought were over, but eh, maybe that’s just me *shrugs*

No news yet on what type of album it will be (pop, techno, hip hop, ballad, etc.), or whether it will be a mini-album or full length, not even an estimated release date, so much can’t be said. But what can be said is that BoA fans have waited a long time for this, and I know that a couple of fans even teared up when it was first announced. I just hope that the album is as epic as fans are hoping, because expectations are high for this~ Though, I do truly believe that no matter what the out come is (album genre wise), it is definitely going to sell.

Originally, this was a “Have You Seen Him?” post, but police confirmed today that they found his body in a park in Vancouver, Canada, victim of an apparent suicide. Rest In Peace, Andrew~

Andrew Koenig, 41, was working as the video producer on the show “Never Not Funny” as well as
doing improv in Los Angeles. Best known as “Boner” from “Growing Pains”, Andrew also had a role in
“Deep Space Nine”, and is a talented actor director, editor and photographer as well as a passionate
activist.  In 2008, he  was arrested at the Rose Bowl while protesting China’s part in the genocide in
the country of Burma.

Alrighty, I’m working on a review (requested by Soda Bread. I think I might start taking requests…) and I’ve joined Facebook >.>

http://facebook.com/tivock <– add me, if you so please ~

Ok my lovely poppers! (poppers… pop… apple… I want an apple turnover) I’m going through a list of artists to review, so while I decide which one to write about, and start writing, I’m going to give you this:

http://www.formspring.me/tivvy <-- visit the link to see my previously answered questions ☆彡

It’s a question thingy. You can ask me any questions (no pornographic questions though, please), and they can be anonymous. I will, of course, answer them (unless they’re inappropriate o(TωT )) Is this making me nervous? Naaaaaaaaaaaaaah a tad. Heh. Actually, I honestly believe that my poppers (yoooooou) would never ask me anything indecent, so I’m all good with this (☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞ <-- I ♥ this duder! I always imagine him saying "Heeeey" like the Fonz.

Anyfoof, this is just something to do while I take my time to churn out a new review ♪(*^ ・^)ノ⌒☆

OH! And here is the link to the emoticons.txt file, incase anybody missed it the first time: [emoticons.txt file] Right click and “save as…”

Welcome to nodamepop.mabdese.net! As you can see, I am now hosted by Mab @mabdese.net, and so I kick it off with my very first post here…

I should make it memorable, yes?

ヾ(＠^▽^＠)ﾉ

How do I do that?

ヽ(ﾟ◇ﾟ )ﾉ

I’ll answer some questions! Yes yes yes.

q) Do you have Facebook?
a) Naaaaah but I have MySpace.

q) What? How come? You should, everyone else does.
a) My point exactly. (My dad is trying to get me to join)

q) Why is 98% of the music in your player creepy/by the same artist?
a) Because Akira Yamaoka (composer) and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (singer) are rock kick ass! The songs come from the Silent Hill franchise. I have all of the soundtracks, and they’re both creepy and amazing ♥
(The SH songs in my player are Room of Angel, You’re Not Here, Acceptance, Hell Frozen Rain, Music Box remix by Blackannis, Laura’s Theme (Reprise), and Promise (Reprise).)

q) Do you twitter/what’s your twitter name?
a) I don’t tweet. Wanna know why? Because I have nothing to say. Unless you interested in… (Done in true twitter fashion, read from the bottom up)

Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
Ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
Sent 45 minutes ago from web
@4lvy: Hey Alvy. Hey. Alvy. Hey. Hey. Alvy. Allllllllllvyyyyyyy ♥
Sent 35 minutes ago from web
Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
Ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
Sent 45 minutes ago from web
Tout le monde sait que l’oiseau est le mot!
Sent 48 minuts ago from the web
Painting nails.
Sent 1 hour and 31 minutes ago from web
Still reading book.
Sent 1 hour and 32 minutes ago from web
Don’t have any chips. Son’bitch.
Sent 1 hour and 47 minutes ago from web
Not gonna make popcorn, will settle for chips.
Sent 1 hour and 48 minutes ago from web
On page 15. Nothing really happening. Might make popcorn.
Sent 1 hour and 50 minutes ago from web
Reading a book
Sent 2 hours ago from web

… I should do random twitter updates for this site, like this one (b^-゜)

q) Do you model/play basketball?
a) Nope! Don’t model, I don’t fear food. And as for basketball… pfaw! I play a mean game of Dodgeball, though (￣ー￣)

q) Where do you get your emoticons from?
a) Amebo/Ameba. I have an account there. Buuuuuut if you want them, but don’t feel like signing up and navigating the site (written in Japanese), just lemme know and I’ll upload a .txt of them.

Wow, this post was entirely random  o(^▽^)o I should post a review or something ಠ_ಠ
Oh! Here are some random photos that I took, as seen on my deviantArt account (≡^∇^≡)
（´-`）.｡oO( Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow )
 

I realized something today: I’m not a fan of WordPress, and here’s why~

a) Unable to be creative with my layouts, can only use pre-made templates and change the header, if allowed.
b) They have the tendency to randomly shut down sites.
c) Lack of side bars, so I often end up with a messy layout.
d) I’m constantly encountering bugs here within the inner interface, making it so that posting even a small “Hey how ya doin’?” post can take me a couple of hours.

Honestly, I’m tired of it, and so I’m thinking of moving (I’ve actually been thinking about doing this for a while). Not sure where, maybe to OnSugar (I’ve already imported all of my posts ♥here♥ so we can see what it looks like), or maybe I’ll ask the Hostess at http://mabdese.net to host me (she hosts sites like Hyperballad and Lost Wing), as it seems like you get complete control of your site, and she seems super nice ;)

I’ll still keep ‘general chatter’, though if the sites don’t allow it, I’ll have a chat box on the side.

What do you guys think? Just working on the OnSugar one is making me giddy, and all I’ve done was mess with the encoding. I think that tells you something right there >.>

Japanese songstress Maki Goto is mourning the passing of her mother, Tokiko (55).

According to news reports, Tokiko Goto arrived home around 10:30pm, under the influence of alcohol. After exchanging a few words with Maki, she went upstairs to her room. It has been reported that Maki heard a loud noise, and ran upstairs to find her mother’s window open, and her mother lying three floors below.
Though they rushed her to the hospital, she passed away an hour later due to severe cranial injuries.

Her father died when she was younger due to a climing accident. She has two older sisters, and one younger brother (Yuuki Goto, who is serving prison time for robbery and assault).

Police officials have yet to rule out suicide.

So, I was reading Liu Yan’s blog today when I came across the post ”二零一零，你快乐吗？”
I was like, “eh?” So I scrolled down some more and BAM! There was a photo of her with a caption anncouning that she will be the torch bearer for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.

Hell to the yeah!

How cool is that? They couldn’t have picked a better person :D

Liu, who was born in Mongolia and graduated from Beijing Dance Acadamy, was considered China’s top dancer, performing for important officials, including the Chinese president. If you watched the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony, then you might remember a lone dancer performing a piece called “Silk Road” (yellow outfit, green streamer thingies on arms). That was her understudy. Liu was in the hospital due to a fall from the platform which left her paralyzed (she fell about ten feet and landed on a piece of metal that was jutting up from the ground). It was originally reported that she was paralyzed from the chest down, but now she’s sitting up on her own and doing crunches and sit ups, working hard to get her legs back. You can visit her blog here:
http://blog.sina.com.cn/liuyan314

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOdr_BPxKXA]
credit sugarsweet87

Although a veteran to the music industry, người Việt (Vietnamese) singer (or French/Vietnamese, if you want to get technical and add in that bit from her paternal Grandfather) Hồ Ngọc Hà released her first single this year, Xin Hãy Thứ Tha / My Apologyy ft. Suboi.

Wait, she’s put out like, four or five albums, and is only now putting out an actual single? Eh, doesn’t matter. It’s still pretty bad ass.

01. Xin Hãy Thứ Tha – feat. Suboi
02. Yêu Thương Nhạt Nhòa
03. Girl’s Night – feat. Suboi
04. My Apology

The first track is Xin Hãy Thứ Tha, and from the first piano note to the ending “em”, this track reeks of kick ass.
It’s a hot track, and with some nice dance grooves and hard R&B vibes, this track pleases on the first listen.
Hồ Ngọc Hà has a deeper voice than what most people would be used to, but you’ll find it’s pretty common in Vietnamese music (her voice is deeper than most female Vietnamese artists, though).
I’ve been listening to her for a while now, so I wasn’t exactly sure her voice would fit. It took some getting used to, but honestly now I love it. It has a dark, smokey texture that rests easily in your ears, and even when she hits the high notes (the few that are in this song), it maintains that rough sound.
Parts of this track are sung in English, and then quickly followed by Vietnamese:
“Bao lời yêu thương vội quên đi/I wish I could take it back/Bao niềm đau em đã trao/I wish I could take it back/Khi tình yêu không còn đắm say/I wish I could take it back/Chỉ ước muốn rằng em đừng như lúc xưa”
When she sings the verses, she does it pretty low key, but when it comes time for the chorus she belts out the notes. It’s her way of saying yes, I can sing, and yes I can sing well.
Suboi’s rap is crisp and clear English, very easy to understand, and it shows that she’s going to make a name for herself above ground, instead of underground like she already has.
This song has major replay factor, so much so that I found myself listening to it for two hours straight. Σ(゜д゜;)
Hồ Ngọc Hà - Xin Hãy Thứ Tha

Aaaah it’s not a Hồ Ngọc Hà single without a ballad, and that’s where Yêu Thương Nhạt Nhòa comes in. This is reminiscent of one of Toni Braxton’s earlier tracks, during the Breathe Again era.
She even has a deep, raspy voice. Honestly, if I didn’t know better I would seriously think that this is an old Toni Braxton track.
I’m trying to think of a way to review this, but it’s such a simple song melody/vocally wise. She sings it well enough, with some pretty good harmonizing, but the song is pretty simple. I guess I’m just not really feeling it, as there’s nothing really here that pops out. It could be because it doesn’t change, at all. The tempo stays exactly the same, really slow.
I’m just not really a fan of ballads, though I will say that she sings them really well.
Hồ Ngọc Hà - Yêu Thương Nhạt Nhòa

So that leads me to Girl’s Night. Gotta admit, I was a little surprised to hear her singing about getting your freak on. I should point out that while this track is Girl’s Night ft. Suboi, it’s more like Suboi ft. Hồ Ngọc Hà, since Suboi raps the verses and Hồ Ngọc Hà pretty much breathes the chorus and goes “aaah”, with a bit of light singing near the end.
Good lord can Suboi rap! She reminds me of Ms. Scandalous, to be honest. Not only with the tone of her voice, but with her pronunciation and the way she emphasizes certain words. (For those of you wondering, Ms. Scandalous is as Punjabi/Bhangra rap artist from Southall, London. Her track Aag is pretty sweet.)
All in all a pretty good track, though I would have liked to hear more of Hồ.
Hồ Ngọc Hà - Girl`s Night

And finally, the final track on the single. My Apology is Xin Hãy Thứ Tha, only in English. Surprisingly the lyrics are pretty good, and so is her pronunciation. I say ’surprisingly’ because let’s be honest, usually when you take a song and translate it into English, and have a non-native singer performing it, it tends to sound a little… odd.
I could actually hear this being played on the radio, if they decided to release it here. It’s just like the Vietnamese version: It’s a dance track with hot beats, and a great chorus to sing along with.
My only complaint is that we’ve heard these lyrics before:

Sorry, can we work things out again/Can we go back to the time you were my man/I pushed you away, cause I was angry at you/Now I know that I was wrong, and it was my fault too.

But really, that’s my only complaint. No wait, I have another one: There’s no instrumental/karaoke version. And… I love those versions.
*suffering sigh*
Oh well.
Hồ Ngọc Hà - My Apology

I highly recommend this single if you’re into dance tracks, with the occasional (in this case, one), ballad.
Umm, I guess if I had to grade it (something I don’t think I’ve done before) I would give it 4.5/5, the .5 being the ballad.

credit vietchannelwp

And for those of you curious about Suboi, here’s a demo from her upcoming debut album:

Although born and raised in Vietnam, Suboi played mainly with the children of her mother’s foreign friends growing up, giving her the clear English that you hear in her raps.