Top 15 Albums of February 2014 - Part 2

Oh My Goodness!! So my plan was like the biggest failure of all my blogging history. It's not almost Halloween and I am still on February. Well, I guess expect a bunch of posts coming up throughout the next month. I am setting a schedule and STICKING to it this time! I promise myself! Let's try to get caught up! :) As for charts, those are all done for the months except for Quarter 3. I need to finish compiling July, August, and September; but it will be done! :)

Okay, anyways, let's get start with the top 5 album releases of February (dated around the end of February)!

Youtube Playlist for February 2014

| Part 1 | Part 2 |

05. Arashi - Bittersweet Released: February 12, 2014 [105 Points]

In mid-February Arashi released their 42nd Single, Bittersweet. Bittersweet was the theme song for MatsuJun's drama Shitsuren Chocolatier. The "B-side" track to Bittersweet is Road to Glory, which was the theme song on NTV for the 2014 Winter Olypmics. The other two tracks on the single, beside instrumentals, are Sync and Motto, Ima Yori. Bittersweet is an upbeat track that has that classic Arashi sound and feel. Just listening to it makes me think, "Yes, this is Arashi." It actually is my second favorite song off the album however, my first being Sync. Sync is what I would classify as one of their "experimental" songs. It's a little different than most of the music they've released, but that doesn't really matter. The song starts off a little slow, but has a very strong metronome feel to me and I love the small plays they did with temp throughout the song. And even though I'm not the biggest fan of electronic manipulations, I feel it really suits the song and it's not 100% of the song. It's only at certain parts and really is blended well into the other pieces of the song. It's hard to explain how much I like this song since I'm not too knowledgeable about all of technology, but it's a great song! As for Bittersweet's PV, it's nothing too amazing. We see Arashi on a train in various places and at the platform, mostly looking deep in thought or melancholy. However, I love the scene when three members end up sitting together and the almost instant smiles and laugh they share. And the town that they are going through makes me think of the town from like Sleeping Beauty or Beauty and the Beast or some other fairy tale!

And since Arashi Videos are hard to find online, here is a link to watch it! Sorry couldn't find any good embedding codes! 

04. Lee Min Woo (M) - M+Ten Released: February 6, 2014 [107 Points]
February 2014 saw the return of Shinhwa's main dancer's 3rd Mini Album. The mini-album was long awaited, the last time Lee Min Woo releasing a solo album being in 2009. The promotion song for M+Ten is Taxi and features the leader of Shinhwa, Eric Mun. The mini album has five tracks on it, my favorite being the promotional song, Taxi. Taxi has such a fun, funky groove that you can't help but nod along, or shake your shoulders, or tap your foot. It's such a great groovy song! As for the MV, it's got some pretty funny scenes and basically follows Lee Min Woo as he drunkenly stumbles around an alley, a bathroom stall, and of course the back of a Taxi. The dancing is pretty cool too, though with Lee Min Woo I don't expect anything less! :) Also, we see a cameo of Sam Hammington, an entertainer from New Zealand working in South Korea! Definitely check out the fun video and funky song!



03. Sunmi - Full Moon Released: February 17, 2014 [108 Points]
Late February saw the debut mini album from return artist Sunmi! Sunmi was formerly a member of Wonder Girls, but in 2010 left the group for academic reasons. However she has reentered the lime-light, this time as a solo artist! The promotional song off of the album is Full Moon, and also includes her previously released single 24 Hours. Four other songs were included on the album, Off the album, my favorite songs are definitely Full Moon, Burn, and Who Am I featuring Yoobin (the current rapper of Wonder Girls). Of those three songs, it's hard to pick just one. All three songs are great and unique and something new to the Kpop industry I feel. Burn is a more electronic pop song with a great chorus that's just fun to sing out loud when driving, especially with the windows rolled down! :) As for Who Am I, it's a great chill song. What I mean when I say "chill song" is a song that you can put on and just listen to. It's faster tempo, so between the stages of a ballad and dance song. It's hard to explain, but definitely check it out! As for Full Moon, this song and MV is awesome! And fits today's timing! In the MV Sunmi is a vampire and is seducing a young man to be her lover and turn him. WoooooOOOOoooo~~, scary! Well, not really, but it's a great music video and doesn't go overboard with the Vampire theme. It's almost simple in that respect, but done masterfully. The song is awesome, another one of those songs with a faster tempo, not a ballad, but not quite the norm as far as pop music. If you check out any of these songs, I would definitely suggest Full Moon being at least one!



02. Super Junior Donghae & Eunhyuk - Ride Me Released: February 26, 2014 [112 Points]
Late February saw the release of Super Junior's Donghae & Eunhyuk's first full Japanese album Ride Me. Included in the 13 tracks are the previously released singles Oppa, Oppa (amazing song) and I Wanna Dance (also a great song). The promotional single off the album is the song Motorcycle. It's the same kind of dance pop song that one would expect from Donghae and Eunhyuk. It's a great fun song, and makes me giggle a lot at the double entendre English! :) However, my favorite songs (besides the previously released) are definitely Android Syndrome and Hello. Android Syndrome is along the same lines musically as Motorcycle, and just a fun song! "You're my adrenaline!"  Hello is a little on a different pace, with a slower tempo and more of a pop-ballad. It's just a fun song in general and another great one to sing along too! As for the Motorcycle MV, you just need to watch it for yourself. And trust me the giggles will arise when watching them as "bikers." Plus we get a great surprise cameo from Siwon and a great dance complete with the backup dancers acting as motorcycles! I know I say this a lot, but this is definitely a must watch MV, if nothing else then for the lolz factors! :)

And as we have another Japanese release, here is a link to a good HD version of the Music Video! ;)

01. BAP - First Sensibility Released: February 3, 2014 [136 Points]
Early February saw the first full album release from popular Male Group BAP. The album, containing 13 tracks, has 1004 (Angel) as it's promotional song. Fun side note, for those that don't know Korean, how you pronounce 1004 is cheonsa, which is also the word for Angel. Hence the English name of the song! Okay, I'm going to say it, 1004 is my favorite BAP. This song is just magic for me and I really doubt that BAP can release something that will topple it from the top. It's just great with Zelo and Yong Guk's rapping through out and the great guitar riffs that really just kick the song up a notch! I just can't get over how great this song was for BAP, well at least how great it was in my book! :) And just for kicks since they've topped my chart, we'll go ahead and post a live video as well. The dance is pretty cool for the song. As for the rest of the album, I really liked Bang x2, a more rock style song that's really fun to sing along too and Save Me, a slower song that's a little more rock and uptempo than the normal kpop ballad but great. Actually, now that I think about it, these to songs are also in my top 5 of BAP's songs. They're both really great! Well back on track a little, the video is a little weird, and I really want to know where Yong Guk is with that giant bone formation. And why isn't he blocked off from just digging there? It makes no sense. But as I mentioned before, the song is awesome-sauce! :)



And there you have it folks! February is finally up! Stay tuned for March and soon after Quarter 1 of 2014! As always, here is the link once again to the Youtube Playlist.Questions, comments, concerns, and random scribbles are always welcome and highly encouraged!


Stasi ♫

My Top 50 Albums of 2013: 20-11

Okay, finally back! Going to try to get these out quickly! Getting down to the wire! With out any further rants, I bring you numbers 11 through 20 for 2013!! As always, here is the link to the YouTube playlist!

| Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 |

20. Voodoo - Vixx [216 Points] Released: November 25, 2013 

Oh this album. In 2013 I became a big, a huge, a ginormous fan of Vixx. I had seen their music videos and listened to the singles they released for their debut year in 2012, but Oh My Goodness have they stole 2013 for. They started off the year with On & On (AMAZINGNESS), brought out the mini album Hyde and repackage Jekyll for the summer, and ended the year with another single with Okdal Girls and their first full album, Voodoo. As far as On & On and Hyde/Jekyll go, they'll be further up on the list. Honestly, the only reason that isn't in the top ten is because of it's late release. I still have been listening to a good chunk of the album a bunch, and it's almost to the end of March. Starting out with Voodoo, the promotion song, oh my goodness. Now this song has a little bit of the genre mash-ups that was popular in 2013 for Kpop, but I think this is one of the ones that is done right. The song just completely grabbed me and the music video is full of wonderful and gross creepiness. The dance is really awesome, especially with the stick the members pass around and stab each other with. I'll post the clean version below, but if you want to watch the rated one, click here! Also, if you enjoy the live videos, here is a comeback video full of fan-chants! I also bring you another practice video! As for the rest of the album they have a good mix of ballads and dance, with my favorites off the album being Beautiful Killer, B.O.D.Y, Secret Night, and Say U Say Me (besides Voodoo). Honestly thought, just looking at plays none of the songs have less then 10 plays (and Voodoo above 50 at this point). Anyways, if you enjoy the more darker side of Kpop, definitely check out Vixx and their MVs (especially from 2013 on). Before I continue ranting for the rest of the blog post, I bring you Voodoo! 

19. Incredible - Xia [228 Points] Released: July 15, 2013 

July of 2013 brought one of the former members of DBSK and current member of JYJ, Xia Junsu's comeback with a second album. The promotion song (and title of the album) is Incredible. Most of the album is ballads, which isn't really what I want to listen to in summer, so I mainly just listened to Incredible, but that song alone has over 80 plays. Incredible was produced by Bruce Automatic and features Quincy who is P.Diddy's son. I had to look that up when they announced he was featuring.... Just saying. Anyways, the music video was also filmed in California, so it's mainly foreigners (to Korea)! Yay! It's a simple video with the setting a pool party in Cali and a girl creepily wandering around Junsu's bedroom. Plus we get some really good dancing. Also, Quincy's rap is a little....let's just say JYJ certainly picks odd features when they choose American rappers. I still have no idea what he means when he says he wants me to "shake my spaceship candy," but whatever. Xia also released a music video for the ballad song 11am. The video is pretty cool, because the first three minutes or so is just Junsu singing out in a field with no music or anything; then a piano comes in. It has a very pretty acoustic feeling to it. Definitely worth checking out as well!

18. Endless Game - Arashi [231 Points] Released: May 29, 2013 

Yay! Arashi's 41st (yes 41st) single came out in early summer of 2013 and the title song Endless Game was the theme song for rapper Sakurai Sho's drama Kazoku Game (Family Game). With just a single, Arashi once again grabbed me with just a few awesome-sauce songs. And speaking of Arashi, I just want to throw out there that I have now officially listened to Arashi for 11 years in January. I don't remember the date, but yay! I also want to through out that September this year will be Arashi's 15th anniversary! So awesome! I wish I could go to their concerts! Okay, focus, back to Endless Game. I don't know how else to describe it besides being very Arashi. It's got their great harmonies and solo parts, and I guess has a little more of a pop-rock feel to it. The other songs on the single are Intergalactic (LOVE), Monochrome (SUPER LOVE), Magic Hour (LOVE). Magic Hour is a little more of a ballad feel, while Intergalactic is a fun pop song with lots of space references. Monochrome is my favorite song off the single with it's fun guitar opening and just good melody. The first time I listened to it I was smiling before they even starting singing. It's just a song that makes me feel good and happy and like I could walk in the sun forever. It's got this fun little funky twist to it that reminds me a little of the french film Triplets of Belleville soundtrack! So if you like Arashi, definitely check out this single!

17. Collage - U-Kiss [237 Points] Released: March 7, 2013 

2013 brought fans U-Kiss's third full album Collage. The promotion song for Collage is Standing Still. Standing Still is a great mix of a dance pop melody with ballad type singing and lyrics, and is absolutely brilliant. I love Standing Still even now, and it is one of my favorite U-Kiss songs, and is my favorite when I look at Korean promotion songs. The music video has a good feel between U-Kiss' spot on dancing and belting out close-up moments. My favorite dance move is during the chorus when they pop their knees out and travel going both directions. I don't know why, but I just find it incredibly sexy (weird I know) and it also looks really easy. However I think I would break my leg or something if I tried to duplicate it. Going back to the music aspects, Collage has a lot of great songs, some of my favorites being Sweety Girl, 사랑하니까, Party All the Time, and Can't Even Breathe. U-Kiss are one of my favorite bands so if you like Kpop definitely check them out. They also release some songs in English, and are very active in Japan as well! 

16. Calling/Breathless - Arashi [243 Points] Released: March 6, 2013 

In early 2013 Arashi released their 40th single Calling/Breathless. This is another one of their double sided singles, with both Calling and Breathless being promotion songs. Calling was the theme song for Aiba's drama Last Hope and Breathless was the theme song for Nino's movie Platinum Data. The single overall has a rock tone to it, which completely excited me when Aiba mentioned it in interviews before it was released. Then it was released and I couldn't stop listening to 3 of the 4 songs. The fourth song is full of love and a ballad, which completely got overshadowed by the others. Now a funny story, when I pre-ordered Calling, for some reason I completely missed that there would be two versions of the DVD version. I ended up getting the Calling version and was super excited when it came, watching it immediately. However, when I went on Live Journal to fangirl I saw a second PV. Completely flabbergasted I searched and searched for the Breathless version, which of course was out with preorders in Japan. However I got lucky and stumbled across a version that was released in Korea, so the packaging is a little different, but I was able to get all versions and see both PVs. Anyways, I'll only be posting Breathless since the PV is a bit more entertaining. If you would like to watch Calling, click here! As for the other song on the single, it's オーライ!! and is a completely fun song that has me jumping up and down chanting オーライ! along with the song! 

14. On & On - Vixx [245 Points] Released: January 17, 2013 

In Januray of 2013, Vixx officially not entered my top ten favorite Korean boy bands, but my top five! On & On really brought me into the Vixx fandom and even now it's one of my favorite Vixx songs. It's got such a good rhythm and beat, plus is super catchy. "I need therapy. la-la-la-la-la therapy!" This song itself is one of my most listened to songs at 98 when I started typing this paragraph. Honestly it'll be over 100 once I sync my iPod and finish this blog post! The dance is super awesome and fun, the music video is super weird and a little darker with their concept being space vampires. The other song on the single is I Don't Want to Be an Idol and is a pretty ballad, but nothing else can really compare to On & On...except maybe Hyde and Voodoo. But anyways, here is the link to a live performance so you can see more of the dance and be blown away at how good they are live; they had only debuted the year before and released only two singles! Also I am giving you the link to the dance practice video! As stated above, Vixx popped into my life with this song and I'm so happy they have. If you would like to know their current standing, wait for the last part of my 2013 countdown! Anyways, please join me in the amazingness that is On & On!



14. What's Happening? - B1A4 [245 Points] Released: May 6, 2013 

"Everyday-ay-ay-ay-ay...Ya!" Okay, so when B1A4 released their min album What's Happening? two very big things happened. First, I was completely addicted to What's Happening the song. Second, I got it stuck in EVERYONE's head, including my own. This song is so fun and addicting and makes me laugh. B1A4 is another band that is in my top ten that I adore and have since they debuted. I remember reading all the articles about them before their debut and the endless teasers WM Entertainment released (granted not as endless as EXO). Anyways, What's Happening? is a great song that's catchy and has a really fun and crazy music video. My favorite scene is Baro's rap in the elevator! It's very B1A4! Currently it's the 4 most listened to song that was released in 2013 (after On & On and two songs to come!). Of the few other songs on the extended play I also enjoyed Yesterday, but let's be honest. What's Happening? has like 70+ more plays than Yesterday. Anyways, if you have seen B1A4's music videos before and somehow missed What's Happening?, YOU NEED TO WATCH IT NOW! That is all! XD



13. The Classic - Shinhwa [248 Points] Released: May 16, 2013 

In 2013 many fans were greeted by Shinhwa with their 11th studio album, which also happened to coincide with their 15th anniversary. Apparently I like bands with older members... Anyway, This Love is a pop song that they meant to be for an older audience (most Kpop fans in Korea are around the high school/college age). Anyways, Minwoo (one of the members) choreographed the dance (once again) and it has some elements inspired by Madonna's Vogue. I loved this album, particularly the songs Scarface and Hurricane. This rant may seem a little smaller, but I have to make dinner soon, and I already have a few longer rants above, so the song is good. The album is great, as well as the other songs I've linked above. They also have a dance version of the music video, so check that out as well if you want!



12. Super Show 4 Concert Album - Super Junior [253 Points] Released: June 28, 2013 

Super Junior finally released the live album from Super Show 4 recorded at their Seoul concerts in the summer of 2013. I had been waiting what felt like forever since I wasn't able to see them live and just had to fangirl with partial fancams. I was super excited when I found out it was finally getting released, and the album is to no disappointment. We've got rearranged versions of several hit songs (Bonamana, Superman, Don't Don, etc.) plus we have all of the members solo songs! Just listening I love Teukie's version of She, Kyuhyun's version of Kyuhyun, and Shindong's fun song Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. As for watching the DVD, it's Ryeowook's Moves Like Jagger. We also get Henry and Zhoumi songs for the first time! Yay! Super Show 4 is also the birth of Oppa, Oppa by Donghae and Eunhyuk! Anyways, this is a great version and so much fun live, and it get's even better once you've seen the DVD so you can picture it as well. Since there isn't any real promotion songs, SM Entertainment has posted two different highlight clips for Super Show 4. Displayed below is Opps featuring f(x). This song is awesome, each corresponding member wrote their own rap. Plus we get a VR version of Heechul since he started his mandatory military service right before Super Show 4 started. The second clip is of White Christmas a remake of an old song. The clip is fun and cute, so check it out here!



11. Pioneer - The Band Perry [254 Points] Released: April 2, 2013 

Rounding out our top 20 albums of 2013 is country group The Band Perry with their second album Pioneer. I saw them perform Better Dig Two at the Country Music Awards in the end of 2012. I was super excited for their next album and couldn't wait for Pioneer to be released. Once released, I saw them perform Done on Ellen and knew I had to get the album immediately. I love the album, ballads and all. My favorite songs off the album are Better Dig Two, Done, and Chainsaw. Below I have the music video of my favorite song Done, but they also released one for Better Dig Two. We've got another American band on the last, and only a couple more!



That's it for Part 4 of the 2013 countdown. Stay tuned for Part 5, the top ten albums of 2013! Until then, keep listening to the music that moves you!

Stasi ♫

Surprise!! 2014 Comeback & Top 25 Most Played Songs in 2013!

Happy New Year!! 

So to start 2014, I wanted to try to get back into blogging again. Although with more purpose. For those that have read my blog previously, I love music. It's been a life affair and I though I would starting trying to review and put my own thoughts out there. Anyways, I've been working on some formulas and have finally came up a with a good system. I'm going to try to do a post for each month, and  possibly quarters and halfway through the year and stuff. Anyways, they'll probably be pretty video heavy or just have a lot of links, so I'll separate them out. Anyways, to give a little sneak peak while I finish preparing the rest of the posts, I'll give you the top 25 most played songs of 2013!! Stay tuned for....

My Top 50 Albums of 2013!
| Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 |

Oh, and just a side note. These list will be a mixture of Kpop, Jpop/rock, American Releases, and even some random Cpop. Who knows! Maybe they'll be other speckled in! Until then....

My Top 25 Most Played Songs in 2013!

24. Dream Girl - Shinee (Misconceptions of You Chapter 1) [49 Plays]

24. I Wanna Be Like Me - Sara Bareilles (The Blessed Unrest) [49 Plays] 

23. Rat a Tat ft. Courtney Love - Fall Out Boy (Save Rock & Roll) [50 Plays]

21. Boogie Man - Hong Jin Young (Boogie Man) [51 Plays]

21. Alone - U-Kiss (Alone Single) [51 Plays]

19. It's You - Super Junior M (Breakdown) [52 Plays]

19. Breakdown - Super Junior M (Breakdown) [52 Plays]

18. I Can't Live Without You ft. Verbal Jint - Seo In Guk (Y.BIRD from Jellyfish Island) [53 Plays]

17. I Love You - Akdong Musician (All About My Romance OST) [54 Plays]

16. Ghost - Gackt (Best of the Best Vol. 1 Mild) [55 Plays]

14. One Kiss - Kim Jae Joong (I) [56 Plays]

14. Standing Still - U-Kiss (Collage) [56 Plays]

13. Kill Bill - Brown Eyed Girls (Black Box) [57 Plays]

12. Where Did The Party Go - Fall Out Boy (Save Rock & Roll) [58 Plays]

11. Paradise - Kim Jae Joong (WWW) [60 Plays]

10. G.R.8.U. - Vixx (Jekyll) [61 Plays]

8. This Love - Shinhwa (The Classic) [67 Plays]

8. You Fill Me Up - Kim Jae Joong (I) [67 Plays]

7. All Alone - Kim Jae Joong (I) [68 Plays]

6. Healing For Myself - Kim Jae Joong (I) [79 Plays]

5. Incredible ft. Quincy - Xia (Incredible) [81 Plays]

4. What's Happening? - B1A4 (What's Happening?) [90 Plays]

3. On & On - Vixx (On & On) [95 Plays]

2. Hyde - Vixx (Hyde) [117 Plays]

And last but not least, my most listened to song in 2013 is:

Mine - Kim Jae Joong (I) with 119 Plays!

So that was a little snippet. I'm still listening to Hyde. Outside of plays, my favorite song from 2013 hands down is Vixx's Hyde. I love that song and it's still on my playlist. Also to put it into perspective a little more, Jae Joong's I was released in January and Hyde was released in May. Just sharing. Anyways, I haven't synced my iPod for a couple weeks, so there might be a few more plays on some of these, but I didn't want to risk adding 2014 plays onto.

I'll stop here. Definitely stayed tuned if you're interested and keep you eyes open for more posts!

Stasi XD