Still Awake

// Younha somewhat reminds me of Frou Frou's sound. Becoming more and more enamored with Korean artists with every new singer I find. Lovin the second album... \\

So it's been a while. Semi-quit my job, going back to school, trying to get my life back on track, etc, etc. And what better way to kick off a brand new start than going to see Utada in concert, not once, not twice, but thr-... no wait, twice. Yes.

Because of the kind efforts of a Boston cousin, I was able to land tickets for the Boston concert at Paradise in addition to the New York tickets at the Fillmore I had already scored. I'm really glad I was able to go to the Boston concert, because it was such an intimate setting, and Hikki was, aside from a Boku wa Kuma flub (which was really quite adorable), really on point and looked like she was having a ton of fun. Youtube the concert in Boston; a line friend got it all, and it's actually pretty good quality, although the sound is a bit meh.

Korean R&B has been surprising me left and right. Aside from Younha, I've been dabbling in a bit of Brown Eyed Girls and Gavy NJ, and it's all soooo soooo good. When I'm not feeling quite so lazy, I'll talk more about them. Until then, good night! Wish me luck on my exam in.... 6 hours and 43 minutes!

~ Kesshi, FXC

Musical Tastes (Part III: R&B)

It's somewhat hard to separate Asian singers into specific subgroups, because so many of them tend to crossover into a variety of genres. The next few artists I'm classifying as R&B will more often than not have a few songs that are decidedly not R&B in flavor, but for the most part will have either the majority of their music conform to the R&B image, or have had their roots in R&B (although they may have subsequently branched out).

Utada Hikaru: Oh Hikki... there are no words to describe how much I love her. My favorite artist of all-time... even with those songs that will not be mentioned here marring my eardrums... She had her roots in R&B, with a soulful English album that served to catapult her to the top of the Asian music scene. Although her style has decidedly evolved into something more experimental at times, it hasn't yet fallen in quality, and only seems to be getting better with every year.

Fuck it, I'm posting more than one video for Hikki. "Sakura Drops."



"Beautiful World."



"Hikari."



"First Love."



"Wait and See."



Okay, so I might be an Utada fanboy. >_> On with the rest...

Emi Hinouchi: It infuriates me that she's not a bigger star in the Asian music scene. She has such a wonderful voice that manages to convey a sense of strength to the listener while still remaining delicate. You can hear her emotions spilling out on her slow songs, and her upbeat tracks invigorate the soul. "Only Love."

愛だけが


Mika Nakashima: Yes, she's more jazz than R&B, but whatever, the two genres are related enough for me to justify putting her here. Besides, I don't really know any other jazz artists... >_> "Aishiteru."



Faye Wong: Not quite R&B either, but it's definitely not pop, at least as far as I understand what pop is. She has such a hauntingly beautiful voice that it's hard for me to shrug off what her singing does to me. Her English is also really damn good, at least in her songs. Posting two of her songs for comparison. "Hero."



"Eyes on Me."



Chae Yeon: This woman embodies sexy. Helps that the music is damn catchy too. "Two of Us."



Bonnie Pink: I'm running out of English to describe these singers, and that's terrible, considering I want to write... I need to go back to school, or buy myself a thesaurus... whatever, I just really really like her stuff. "Water Me."



Seo In Young: She has such potential. I wish she had put out more ballad-type songs than she did. Oh well, I'm content with her up-tempo tracks for now, and the occasional slow song. "I Want You."



Bennie K: Two sexy girls, one rapping, one singing. What more do you want! "Sunrise."



Hn... Pop next!

And yeah, I'm gonna clump BoA into pop. WHATEV, WHATEV, DUNT CURR.

~ Kesshi, FXC

Insomnia: Ramblings II

// It's all because of you, I'm feeling sad and blue. You went away, now my life is just a rainy day. I love you so, how much you'll never know. You've gone away and left me lonely... if only you were here, you'd wash away my tears, and the sun would shine, and once again you'd be mine, all mine. But in reality, our love will never be, 'cause you took your love away from me... \\

It feels so unreal, especially when I look over my old writings, old forums, old drafts. How time flies.

It's somewhat amusing that as I get older, my creativity progressively deteriorates. Sure, the old works were raw and at times incoherent, but at least I was putting pen to paper and venturing forth. Now it feels as though I can't even manage to formulate a simple haiku without coming off... well, like a pretentious douche. Either that, or what I'll manage to churn out will be barely better than your average second grade book report.

Life was different back then. It was harder in some respects, but even though the pain was unbearable at times, at least I had my best friend to commiserate with. She was my motivation, my muse, my confidant, my balance in life, at one point, close to my everything. But misinterpretations, parental interference, and an assortment of other incidents... it broke my heart, knowing how much pain I was putting her through. I didn't want to be the source of any grief in her life, since she had been so good to me for so long. So I took myself out of the picture.

Maybe it was too drastic of a decision, and it did leave me feeling so lost, adrift in life without someone there to lean on. I should've been strong enough to endure, but... I don't know, I suppose I felt as though it was all over. I tried to rebuild, but everything I touched seemed to crumble, and usually because of my own glaring faults. I can't blame everything on someone else. At some point, I failed myself, and I never recovered.

Insomnia's bad for me. Makes me start to qq about random vague bullshit that I never want to go into detail about. I should just get ready for work and take the long route there so I can sleep a bit.

~ Kesshi, FXC

Good Morning Maryland...

// Quietly soaking in the beautiful trills of Ms. Utada (singing on a track with her mother: It's a shame I don't know the name of the song ) while pondering various thoughts that flit to the forefront of my mind. \\

To any errant visitors that happened to stumble upon this page, thank you for visiting. I'm not quite sure what to do with this blog as of yet, but it seems like something interesting to maintain.

Let's get down to the nitty gritty, shall we?

• I'm a huge music fan, and enjoy a variety of genres that range from the jazz stylings of Japanese artist Mika Nakashima to gangsta rap forerunners like Bone Thugs N Harmony.
  
• I enjoy anime and manga, although I haven't read or watched much in the past few years. I'm a sucker for those sappy romances and silly comedies, with the occasional mecha thrown in for good measure.
  
• I adore reading, and find losing myself in the words to be something akin to pure bliss.
  
• I enjoy a variety of video games, and can sometimes be found wandering aimlessly in the terribly addictive World of Warcraft, and at other times vying for that next achievement in Team Fortress 2.
• I enjoy writing... and by enjoy, I mean I wish I could write, although I normally just end up frustrated with any attempt I embark on to put pen to paper and scribble out something meaningful.
  

Hopefully I'll be seeing you again sometime soon. Thanks again for stopping by.

~ Kesshi, FXC