ↀ (muhan) - LOVElution / tripleS
type: EP
genres: kpop, dancepop, future bass
date released: 17 august 2023
okay confession time: when i listened to this on release. i was not very sold on it....
i genuinely dont remember if i was in a really bad mood or what but i DID NOT like this a lot. but i think i knew i had to let it "marinate" a bit because some songs here sound like something i would go crazy for.
for example: the drum and bass in speed love is so awesome and I DID think it was really good on my first listen but i still felt like something was missing....
but yeah i listened to this EP again and i enjoyed it (and appreciate it) way more now. hmm. i think my problem was that i had really high expectations for this. because Most of these songs are pretty damn great. they are catchy, they are funky. i'll still ignore cry baby and pretend kpop is past the pop rock b-side trend. but the rest of this EP is really nice! idk what i was expecting tbh LOL. because seoul sonyo sound and complexity are pretty crazy on their own and so up my alley
maybe i just felt like being a hater that day, i wonder why
also i just noticed how ↊ is the continuation of chowall from assemble, and a personal fav from that EP. very nice touch. yes i just noticed their outros tease future tracks ha ha
highlights: speed love, seoul sonyo sound, complexity
rating:
listened on 17.aug.23, relistened on 29.aug.23
shell complex 04y3 - optic core
type: album
genres: liquid drum n bass
date released: 9 april 2021
this was recommended to me by houndyne on RYM!
a very chill drum and bass album! i don't really have much to say about it but this is definitely perfect for something to play on the background rather than me seeking it out on purpose
still a very enjoyable listen nonetheless
highlights: waterway, aether world, distant shore, saturn skyline
rating:
listened on 29.aug.23
meringue doll - ichiko aoba
type: single
genres: chamber pop
date released: 26 august 2023
ichiko aoba, lovely as always.
i saw this on my newly released tab yesterday as i was about to go to sleep. put it on. didnt even listen to it cus i IMMEDIATELY fell asleep to it. perfect
also love the strings in this
rating:
listened on 28.aug.23
虎狼来 (Kororon) - eve (dir. ligton)
type: music video
genres: jpop, dancepop
date released: 27 august 2023
wow what a TREAT is it to look at this music video!!!! this is so gorgeous to me i was wondering if i should put this on my journal log or here since im not really talking about the song itself? in here but fuck it
i love love love the colors of this so much and it just has such an amazing composition too. it was directed by japanese illustrator / animator ligton. While going through their twitter i saw that they work at MAPPA and even worked on the chainsaw man anime which was awesome to see since i loved the animation of CSM so much.
but besides talking about the animation, i found the story super beautiful. its pretty simple. two girls find each other randomly and have the time of their lives together. but one of the girls gets scared at how close they've grown together. but again, the animation just does such a fantastic job at portraying these emotions and feelings and i swear i let a tear fall when i finished watching it cus i got emotional?!?!? and its kinda (VERY) gay too! YAY! i fucking love gay girls so much shoutout to them fr
closing thoughts: i will eventually listen to the EP this song is from. i did really like the song too!!! its very fun and it's prob something i'll put on my playlist. i also really like that very subtle 2-step beat that it has and the synths? in the chorus are a very nice touch. honestly kind of a lowkey banger from eve since most of his songs dont really stick with me despite liking them a Normal amount. oh and the intro reminds me a lot of one my fav songs from eve: 退屈を再演しないで
but today i just wanted to talk about the MV of eve's kororon. awesome. thank you to ligton and everyone else that worked on this music video for blessing my eyes
here i share some of my favorite frames from the music video
rating: song / video
listened on 27.aug.23
im lost in a neverending dream - akiba
type: EP
genres: atmospheric drum and bass
date released: 29 january 2022
i've had this EP in my "to listen tos" for such a while because of that time spotify's discover weekly came in clutch and recommended me MOOGCiTY. i went so crazy when i first heard this. minecraft and DRUM AND BASS?!?!? oh hell yeah!!!!!
i feel like this is just like a compilation of remixes tho? each track (with the exception of the last one) also feature parts of vocaloid songs. which, dont get me wrong, its cool af!! and i know these genres are mostly heavy of the sampling part but it just kinda feels like a remixes release rather than its own thing, you know?
but besides that thought, i REALLY enjoyed this overall it was a pleasant surprise to listen this type of stuff i am already familiar with. the vocaloid song that is sampled in waon existence is something that i've playing in project sekai (I THINK) but i cannot for the life of me remember the name of the song
highlights: MOOGCiTY, waon existance, popipo00
rating:
listened on 24.aug.23
metamorphose - bye2
type: album
genres: hardcore breaks, drum and bass
date released: 2 december 2022
i got recommended this artist thru a tumblr ask!!
most of these arent Exactly My Thing but it was cool for the most part! i'll still check more of this person's music out cus their stuff seems really interesting to me so thank u tumblr anon for the rec
that the nightmare on elm street sample in infinite isopod followed by the beat drop fucking killed me oh my god
highlights: injection v slug pharmacy, puyopuyopuyyo, infinite isopod
rating:
listened on 24.aug.23
열 (fever) - lucy
type: EP
genres: kpop, pop rock
date released: 17 august 2023
LUCY BELOVEDS super happy they are back with another EP
i'd say that i like this EP a tiny bit better than their last one in february. both are very cohessive which is something i feel like kpop releases take for granted, given how they are always trying current trends with their b-sides instead of just making songs that just fit the overall release but ANYWAY i am going into rambling mode let me back up a bit
fever def has a more rock feel to it than insert coin which is a style i prefer more compared to insert coin's more electronic sound.
but despite this, i think my fav song from this EP would be hot! which is pretty ironic given that this song has a lot of electronic music elements to it... IDK!!! i just love the vibes.
the title track is also very nice. and as usual with lucy, the music video was an absolute treat to watch! mystic (the company lucy's under) does a really good job with getting nice directors and all that for their MVs. and the storyline for these are very sweet too.
magic is probably the least "energetic" song here but i find it quite nice and fun. and is probably the song that i'll be playing the most from this EP
nothing mindblowing but this was a nice release from them, overall. thank you lucy!
highlights: 뜨거 (hot!), magic, 내버려 (so what)
rating:
listened on 17.aug.23
se bueno - TURQUOISEDEATH
type: album
genres: atmospheric drum n bass, dreampop, post-rock
date released: 28 july 2023
so i was looking around the drum and bass charts of rate your music cus i’ve been meaning to really get into this genre (and some of its sub genres too!) more cus man.... i do be loving those drums! whenever i hear some breakbeats here and there in a random ass kpop or vocaloid song i get so so so happy. so yeah, so i wanted to check more stuff out and hopefully expand my DnB playlist a bit more.
and from those charts, the first one that got my attention was turquoisedeath’s se bueno !!!
i saw the cover art for this album on the charts and it just made me immediately click on it. not only that, but i also saw that it was a mostly atmospheric dnb and shoegaze (from the RYM genre tags) release which made me super excited to listen to it bc shoegaze is another one of my favorite genres.
the opening song while just being a simple intro, i kinda fell in love with it. i loved the sounds of someone scribbling away with their pencil. and its mostly just that btw. but it felt very smooth to my brain
like i had mentioned earlier, some of these songs have breakbeats while also having that shoegazey sound to them, something i had never really listened to before. and man was it so cool.
the prime example of this would be dive, which also features korean artists such as asian glow and parannoul. this was a super pleasant surprise as someone who has listened to both of them and enjoys their stuff! both being mostly shoegaze / noise pop artists.
at first i didnt think much of the song. it does start pretty slow afterall. but i didn't really mind the runtime. anyway, it was looking to be a very chill dreampop / shoegazey song and then the breakbeats hit. and i think that opened my eyes to the endless possibilities you have with music. like i've never thought about how it would sound like if you mixed these two genres together, but the result is pretty fucking cool.
another thing that this album also excels at is in its use of samples. Which is why, to my understanding, this is considered more of a jungle release than a drum and bass one. i wouldn't call them excessive but theres lots of them and i find them very fun as well. i even managed to catch a sample from pinkpantheress’ break it off in sinking into you which i thought was pretty neat. made me smile a bit.
another highlight i’d like to talk about is vertigo. this was a super lovely song. and id say its one of the most atmospheric songs in the album. its something i can see myself falling asleep to (i want to say that if i ever say this about a song ever, this is one of the highest compliments i can give it. i love falling asleep to music)
overall, this was a great album! i had such a great time listening to it and i might be rating it very highly for a first listen too because of my excitement for it, but i honestly dont give a fuck. this was such an awesome and amazing listen to me. and i love the different genres in this as well. the post rock influences, ambient / atmospheric songs with the breakbeats. i genuinely loved it a lot. its so me. i cant wait to listen to it more and more
will also remind myself to get this on a bandcamp friday at some point
highlights: crawl space, vertigo, the sky fell, sinking into you, starfields
rating:
listened on 17.aug.23
ghosts - yeule
type: single
genres: dreampop
date released: 9 august 2023
super cute single i fucking love yeule so much
i keep saying this with every single they put out but this album is going to be so fucking good
rating:
listened on 10.aug.23
warning - sunmi
type: EP
genres: kpop
date released: 4 september 2018
this was a relisten!
decided to come back to this EP since it's been a while. and you know what? i just found out that gashina and heroine were included in the initial release of this EP, so i went ahead and listened to it with those songs added and oh boy... i am so happy they DID take out those songs
because okay i might have my own personal taste but my GOD. besides the fact that i just, simply, dont really like those songs... i just think they sound sooo dated and like. they just dont fit in!! with the rest of warning. so closing thoughts about this: THANK GOD they are not in the current digital version of this album
AND NOW onto my ACTUAL thoughts of this EP and why i decided to go back to it: i love this album a lot and every song in here is so great (you will everntually read about this when my fav albums page is finished!)
i do have to be honest and say that probably another reason why i love this EP so much is because i associate with that time where i was Just stepping in into the world of kpop. but i just genuinely think that this is so great!!! it makes me very nostalgic. especially when i get to secret tape
from the first time i listened to it til this day, i am still so in love with secret tape. i've always loved how sweet and just how heavy it sounds. like its so emotional to me and i love it so so much. i hold that song very close to my heart
highlights: secret tape, the rest of the songs
rating:
listened on 08.aug.23
반향 (echo) - dosii
type: EP
genres: alt r&b
date released: 25 may 2020
im always listening to this !!! such a chill EP and i love their cover of fairy of shampoo
(also i just find it very interesting that in 2020 there were two covers of fairy of shampoo, this one and txt's)
highlights:
rating:
listened on 06.aug.23
the flash - kwon eunbi
type: single
genres: kpop, electropop
date released: 2 august 2023
IM SORRY miss kwon eunbi, but i just simply ?? dont really care for this
flash was nice imo but the bsides while not super terrible were just like, a bunch of nothing for me.
honestly im just making peace with the fact that i wont like another song of her's as MUCH as i liked glitch
rating:
listened on 05.aug.23
new mind - NINE.i
type: EP
genres: kpop, dancepop, synthpop
date released: 3 august 2023
one of those finds where i listen to a mv teaser of a group i had never heard of before and decide that i will tune in based off the instrumental. because honestly, when i listened to that teaser it felt a like smelling fresh air or however that saying goes. i hear some synths and i am in! it just sounded very refreshing to me
i was only just looking forward to the title track (turn it off) but the entire EP kinda surprised me upon listening to it!
but yeah, turn it off was pretty damn good and it delivered for me. i also recently found out it was produced by a team member of sweetune. its always them and their crazy ass synthpop songs, which i need to listen more off tbh... but moving on.
like crazy was a pleasant surprise in this EP, i LOVEEE songs like these. very upbeat, makes me wanna do jumps everytime i listen to it. reminds me a lot of tempest's start up. its the same vibes.
and i also got a drum and bass song in here with hurt ???? i lowkey won. and i say lowkey bc its a very okay song but i see the vision okay?
overall i dont think this release is anything mindblowing tbh but i def appreciate the effort that went into making this! there are some solid jams in here and for that i give it 1 thumbs up
highlights: like crazy, turn it off, one, hurt
rating:
listened on 05.aug.23
『少女A』 - UROMT
type: song cover
genres: jrock
date released: 29 january 2023
i dont listen to a lot of covers of my favorite songs, but a while ago i stumbled upon this video. a cover of siinamota's young girl a, and man. i really just love how heavy (not literally but) their voices sounds. like i've stumbled upon a lot of cover of young girl a before, but this one just... gets it. i get it. i really like their voices.
rating:
listened on 01.aug.23