Kick'em In The Ghoulies

Asian mUSIC Reviews

It amazes me with all the music and films in the World many Western people are very blinkered in what they watch and listen to.Even though i produce this site  i listen to all sorts of music from Pop/Jazz/soul R&B and new age from all around from the USA /UK/ Hong Kong /Japan and Korea,India and other European artists.And the Same goes for films ,some of the Bollywood films are amazing as are some French films .But this site is about the East and this is where i will introduce to you some amazing talent in the form of sounds for your ears.

copyright ©2006 JYP Entertainment

Rain Bi is a Korean singer who has released a number of albums 'this is his fourth( his latest no'5 will be reviewed in the near future.In total he has released six albums 5 Korean and one in Japanese. He has also starred in the film ''I'm a Cyborg but That's OK '' and has been in two American films ,the first being the kids film Speed Racer from 2008.and the next being Ninja Assassin yet to be released and directed by James McTeigue and produced by Joel Silver and the Wachowski Brothers.Any how this was the last album Rain made under the JYP  label .Below is the track list comprising 14 tracks.

Track list 

01 . Rain's World
02 . I'm coming(Feat. Tablo)
03 . With u
04 . 내가 누웠던 침대(In my bed)
05 . 하루도(Not a single day)
06 . 카시오페아(Casiopeia) (Feat. 임정희)
07 . Him & Me(Feat. Dynamic Duo)
08 . Don't stop
09 . Touch Ya(Feat.태완.K.A.C-Luv)
10 . Move on
11 . Oh Yeah(Feat.Al)
12 . Friends(Feat.Tigher JK)
13 . To My Friends
14 . 나(B-Garage Remix)

 With a very hip hop and RnB feel to his music ,the moment you put this on it has quite a theatrical feel to it with a opening intro track that leads on to one of his top singles 'I'm Coming which gives you a good feel for whats coming and entertainment it surely is.

On to track 3 With U ,which is a soulful melody with some brilliant sounds and shows the power of his voice.Track 4 'In my Bed 'a beautiful ballad that's a great chill out song once again showcasing that voice.

Track 5 'Not a Single DAY 'is one of those power type ballads with a uplifting feel it's music ( I love this Tune).CasioPeia no'6 is a duet ballad with a sad sound.Him and Me brings us to a Hip Hop feel again with a soulful overtone .( it amazes me how nice Korean rap sounds to the western stuff ).

Don't Stop ,track 8 and more then half way through we have this upbeat dance track that gets you tapping ,Quite cool !.Touch Ya our next track featuring K.A.C-Luv. is another Hip Hop treat with a good beat with a similar sound to ''I'm Coming''.

Slowing Back down for the next track and'' Move On'' is another ballad with a really nice sound with a chorus in English.

Hip Hop RnB is  backs with ''Oh Yeah''  and this upbeat tune shows by now that this album is pretty top as by now most albums have had a low point in the middle .(not here though).

Featuring Tiger JK ''Friends '' is a nice slow tune that could send you asleep 'in a good way though. Chill out in top form. 

Track 13  and coming to a close with ''To My Friends ''which is a instrumental  interlude.

Track 14 and closing with a hard Hip Hop dance track which Rain pulls off along with everything else on this album, and top marks to him.It's one of those albums that although 14 tracks is over far to quickly.Looks like i need to get on and listen to his next album .Check back soon for a review of that.But in the meantime This Rocks .The Snake .

Copyright ©2008 Ocean Butterflies International PTE Ltd

JJ Lin (Lin Jun Jie)  is a Singaporean Chinese pop singer /Songwriter Who was Born in March 1981,and made his debut in 2003 with his first album Music Voyager.LinJun Jie was born in Singapore and graduated from Saint Andrews Junior Collage before Launching his Music Career in Taiwan.This is his Six album hence the title Sixology.                   The one thing i like about this guys music is his ability to change his style quite dramatically between albums (off the ones i have heard). With this album it's more laid-back with ballads but the odd more upbeat thrown in to keep you entertained throughout.But it's a a far-cry from  his 2005 No'89757 album , which i kept playing for ever like.

But this is very mellow but once again his soulful voice captivates ,and you have to realize i don't speak or understand Mandarin or Cantonese.Below is the track list and a video of JJ performing.

Track List  

01. Sixology
02. 不潮不用花錢 High Fashion (Bù Cháo Bù Yòng Huā Qián)
03. 小酒窩 (feat. 蔡卓妍) Small Dimple (Xiǎo Jiǔ Wō)
04. 黑武士 Lord Vader (Hēi Wǔ Shì)
05. 醉赤壁 Tale Of The Red Cliff (Zùi Chì Bì)
06. 由你選擇 (feat. 農夫FAMA) The Choice Is Yours (Yóu Nǐ Xuǎn Zé)
07. Always Online
08. 街道 The Streets (Jiē Dào)
09. 主角(feat. Machi) Centerstage (Zhǔ Jiǎo)
10. 我還想她 I Still Miss Her (Wó Hái Xiáng Tā)
11. 點一把火炬 Light The Torch (Dián Yī Bá Huó Jù)
12. 期待愛 (feat. 金莎) Waiting For Love (Qī Dài Ài)
13. Cries In A Distance
14. 愛與希望 (FEAT. 重慶市青少年宮殿杏童聲合唱團) Love and Hope (Ài Yú Xī Wàng)

 So over all from the first track which is just JJ speaking in English as a intro,your then whisked right into a very upbeat tune with very funky soundtrack which encompasses a slight rap in-between,and the minute you hear this you know this is gonna be a good album(this is just a blinding tune -High Fashion) .

Thing is it carries on with track 3 - Small dimple which is a slow ballad but very nice to listen too and it's a duet too with no other then Charlene Choi.On to Lord Vader which starts with a nice piano solo and a power ballad which really shows this man can sing.

With the next track .Tale of the Red Cliff with it's traditional Chinese feel and film like quality's your taken on a adventure which grabs you along with the various instruments plucking your ears.Then we have the Choice is yours ,now where back to a more upbeat feel good song with a rap base and some nice sounds thrown in for good measure ,it's one of those songs you play in your car with the windows down blasting it to the world.

With Always Online we come back to slow ballad with a good helping of English within the song.(nice tune very mellow)and once again that piano is there giving you some real feel to it.

The streets is up next which is a very Techno sounding fast paced tune with lots of backing and some cool sounds in the instrument /synthesizer area.On to Centerstage with it's Eastern feel and heavy R&B /hip hop  influence (very good though).

Now with I STILL MISS HER  where treated to a sad ballad with a nice guitar solo featuring throughout.Now Light the Torch (no'11) ia another slow ballad that really showcases JJ voice and a blinder it is.Then it's on to Waiting For Love ,which has a familiar sound to me ,is one of those power duet's ,it would fit in to a film quite easy.

Now with Cries in A Distance (no'13) which is sung in English ,and for me being i understand every word shows how talented this guy is,(Another singer who needs to get worldwide exposure)Marvelous.

On to the last' Love and Hope is another ballad which is once again very dramatic and sad sounding with that piano haunting you in the background along with what sounds like a children s choir.

Now on this album i am reviewing where treated to a track 15 which is another version of track 3 'Dimples which is the duet .

Then we have a separate DVD with two music video's on which are  the Duet with Carlene Choi 'Dimples'.The other video is of Tale of Red Cliff .So that's a Bonus .All in all really nice album which deserves to be listened to at least once by all.Here's to the next one JJ. The Snake.

Park Jin-Young  often referred to as J.Y PARK or JYP is a Korean artist  and record producer who has released 7 albums and help make stars out of many Korean singers including Rain Bi and The Wonder girls ,he's also the first record producer to cross over to the States producing for Will Smith and Mase.Born in 1972 and active in the industry from 1994 he has had many a hit.

This is a review of his 1997 album Back to Stage.

 Back to Stage is JYP's seventh album and contains a varied balance of upbeat and to mellow  slow tunes all in a R&B style with a hint of Rap and Kpop.But then this man is Known as the Asian Soul.

                                      Copyright 2007©JYP Entertainment

Track list as below

 01 . Kiss
02 . 니가 사는 그집
03 . 니여자
04 . Delicious(니 입술이)
05 . Single (Feat. Bobby Kim)
06 . 딴따라 블루스
07 . 사실은
08 . 나 돌아가
09 . 이런 여자가 좋아 (Feat. Dynamic Duo, 전제덕)
10 . 위험한 장난
11 . 엇갈렸어(Feat. t 윤미래)
12 . 대낮에 한 이별 (Feat.선

 The track list is above and is written in Korean and English ,on some of these albums it's hard to get English breakdowns when you don't speak Korean 'even though i can count in Korean it does not help me here.So to the album from the opening track Kiss your taken straight in with it's catchy beat and laid back feel and the sultry voice of JYP is a joy to listen to even when you don't understand Korean.I really liked this track.

Second track kicks in  which Translated means "Your House" is a beautiful mild dance tune with very soulful  feel to it and reminds me of soul from the eighties.

We go more upbeat for track 3 and this is a good tune with slight Rap style molded in with it.Then we get the brilliant DELICIOUS in track 4 which is a very sexy slow song ,it's just Soul at it's best .

Track 5 is Single feat.Bobby Kim and the mellow feel stays with this catchy beat with a chorus to have you hooked and  singing along,on to track 6 and upbeat we go with this tune to get you up and dancing which has very distinct beats in and it's another tune that you will be humming to for the next few days.

Track 7 and you get a slight electronic sound once again in a slower soulful song that you can shut your eyes to and just chill ,you know when your just content after eating or whatever you might be doing this is chill out bliss.on to a soulful ballad with track 8 which continues with the chill out feel and it's here that JYP's voice really shines .

Track 9 which features the Dynamic Duo and it's upbeat again with a helping of RAP but with a nice mellow background ,it amazes me how the Koreans  do Rap and in my opinion it's better then the stuff from the states which is to aggressive for my liking and is not music to my ears where this truly is..

Track 10 and soul is back and JYP has brought it to us with this brilliant track with it's catchy beats ,bloody marvelous.Coming to a close nearly with Track 11 and a song  with a slight Rap and featuring a female artist who Raps partly in English,this is a nice tune before our closing track which is up next and featuring the Wonder Girls in a closing slow epic ballad with a orchestral fell to it .

So all in all a very entertaining album with no lazy tracks on ,it comes packaged in the standard western style of case with a the cover book which features a lot of pictures of JYP and a word list if you can read Korean.If you like Soul and mellow tunes this could be for you ,you see you don't need to understand a language to appreciate it's Music. The Snake.  

Released  in March 2008 Heart Station the album was Utada's fifth Japanese produced album  and in it's first week of sales sold over 480'000 copies .This is for me Utada perfection as it's a album i keep playing my self and considering i don't speak or under stand Japanese i think this proves what a marvelous talent she really is.

 From the first track Fight the Blues which was released as digital single prior to the albums release ,it went on to reach no '1 in virtually every online music store in Japan including the Japan iTunes store.

The second track  which is the title song which is about a theory about a radio station that connects people by picking up the frequency  of their Heart,it's a very mellow song that sets you up for the rest off the album .

On to Beautiful World which was used as the theme song to the Rebuild of Evangelion movies and has a very reminiscent feel to her earlier Passion single.

Flavor of life which was her 18th Japanese single and her first to sell over 200'00 copies in the first week since 2003.it was inspired by First Love at the request of a director of a popular drama in Japan who wanted to use it in the series.It also s the highest selling digital download single in Japan at over 5'5000'000. 

Stay Gold which is a  song  about a woman reassuring her partner to stay true and happy and was inspired by a Poem by Robert Frost and a Stevie Wonder song,this is one that grabs you and stays in your head ,can't stop singing the title

.Kiss and Cry which featured as the Freedom Anime and the theme for Nissin cup Noodles on TV ,Again it's quite a upbeat tune which changes it's style during quite a bit.Next up is Celebrate which was the last track on the album that Utada composed and was done so the night before the album's release.There is a interlude before this track but once this starts it's a really funky track that reminds me of those Sega Tunes you used to get on their games when they made consoles and unique games.I love this track it's just so cool.

Next up is  awe inspiring track the Brilliant  Prisoner of Love which to be honest was the first track i purchased of Utada's even though i had heard her songs Passion and Flavor of life previous.I thought i would buy her latest album and ended up ordering the single Prisoner of Love by accident (Not Cheap for a single).But you know it did not matter i got it put it on and wow what a song sung with such passion and this is evident in the video that accompanies the single,it was then i knew i had to get more of her CD's .

Next up is Take 5 again  a nice tune that reminds me of those Cherokee style music Cd's that were about some years ago.Then we have Boku Wa Kuma (I'm a Bear) which is her first attempt at writing a children s song for a Music TV program, i like it i just stays in your head 'i was singing it for days.

Coming to the end we have Niji-iro Basu (Rainbow colored bus) this i like a lot it has very Dance feel come cream anthem sound to it,but very mellow.Then last you have a Bonus version of Flavor of Life.

So should you buy this 'of course i truly believe you have missed out on a whole part of music with out listening to Utada and this album is her at her best ,not to say that her other albums are not as good but this album truly is The Flavor of Life.And i for one cannot wait for her next Japanese album,so check some of these tunes out below at the bottom of the page in the Utada video player.

Boa is a Korean pop artist who jumped to fame after attending a talent search in 2000 and producers  took notice of her there ,whats crazy about this well she attended with her older brother as he was the one entering the contest ,but it was Boa that got the attention ,not bad for a girl aged just 14,she was signed to a record deal.Now nine years later at the still very young age of 22 she is one of Korea's and Japans biggest artists.This is because she sings in Korean ,Japanese ,Mandarin Chinese and speaks English,and has recorded songs in English to.

Now your thinking BoA is that her name well yes she was born Kwon Boa but Uses the BoA as her stage name (It stands for Beat of Angel)And that's exactly what she sounds like ,to think at the age of 16 she had her first album sell a Million.

Now several albums later and all to high acclaim she is entering the Western market with the release of her American debut album BoA -The First Album.Now i have been listening to Boa for time now approximately 4 years ,i forgotten where i first heard her but whenever it was and what ever song it was it got me hooked.

 So here it is a album from SM Entertainment and Avex Trax now most of Boa's previous albums have been inspired by R&B but have that Kpop /Jpop sound  that is unique to music from that region ,even though she has been labeled the Britney Spears of Asia i think because of her diversity in the style of songs she sings from she is more accomplished then the fore mentioned ,and also the fact that she sings and releases albums in various languages from gentle pop songs to dance tracks and sad ballads.And all this with a sound that's unique to her because of her voice and accent i suppose.

Now to break into the US and Europe markets she has got together with US producers and talent and what we have here is a 11 track album of dance style tracks with a heavy R&B feel ,i mean the first track features Sean Garrett ,it seems a compromise to give Americans what Americans want but with all the other talent making similar records i fear she may get passed by for the likes of Bey ounce ,Kelly Rowland and similar artists.Because the truth is Boa has more talent and does it in a way that you have to watch and listen ,on top of that she is a amazing dancer and her videos are a testament to this.

The first track 'I Did it for Love ' featuring Sean Garrett is pretty funky and she gives a top performance in the song and dance stakes then were treated to 'Energetic and Did Ya' which gives us more of the same with different beats and some nice rifts.It's not until track 6 'Obsessed that we get a song that resembles Boa's Asian tunes but only resembles it does not come close to tracks like Valenti or Listen to my Heart.

Don't get me wrong i liked the album i play it a lot but how many tunes can you have that have the same lyrics played over again and again which is what all the American artists do 'clever that'.

Take' Eat you up' it's a good track but listening to it it does get repetitive though i did find Touched and Scream a blast to listen to but then again the American version of Girls on Top did not do it for me but luckily the last two tracks gave me something to smile and dance about.

But then it was over and i found myself wanting more ,but not of the same .I wanted Asian Boa the sad songs and the up beat happy go lucky songs with super catchy beats and the clever inclusion of English lyrics in the songs to get me hooked even though i could not understand the the rest of it it did not matter because i was happy listening to them.

  I hope she gets a chance to shine in the West and give us the music we have come to expect of her as if any one deserves to make it in the US ,Boa is one of them but America's funny and fickle towards certain types of people ,basically if your face doe's not fit your not coming in.

So think about how many Asian Pop and Film stars are A line in the States ,Even Jackie Chan is always cast with a white American guy or a annoying Coloured guy who gets on your tits.No racism intended but i think the racism stems from the states towards Asians,i hope this changes , i'm not Asian it just pisses me off.

      Anyway check out below for some tunes from the Album and go and Buy it because it is very good just not mind blowing like some of her other songs which i will cover soon with a review of her Best of Boa II album. 

Now before i get on with the Album here's a little about UTADA.         Utada Hikaru or Hikki as she is known to her fans is a Japanese Pop sensation who was born in the USA in 1983 .

Her father is Teruzane Utada is a Record producer and her Mother Junko Utada was an Enka singer.Now Hikaru was educated in New York ,did her first recordings at the age of twelve with help from her mother within a band called U3 these were not successful for her even though her Dad was a big Japanese record producer and the fact that they did not release in the States .In 1996 she started her first solo project I'll be stronger under the artistic name of Cubic U this also failed to release in the States ,and it was the first song she had wrote and composed herself.In 1997 her next project a cover of the Carpenters song Close to you and then went on to do her album Precious which also failed to get released in the States as her Record company Capitol was under going restructure.

She finally released Precious in 1998 in Japan and later relaesed it in March 1999.It has sold over 700'000 copies in Japan ,not bad for an album sung in English.

 Then in 1998 she moved to Japan and attended the Seisen International School and later on the American school in Japan.

It was here that her success happened with a new contract with Toshiba /EMI and sticking to songwriting and composing as opposed to trying to be the latest in artist in an idealistic sense.She composed her first album FIRST LOVE and released two singles from this which went on to sell over a million each .

Utada had arrived and what a brilliant piece of talent she is.You have most likely  heard her sing but not known it ,if your into your computer games she did the songs for KINGDOM HEARTS Simple and Clean and Sanctuary.Since then she has sold millions and is Japans biggest Music Star.But now she has made a 2nd English language album 'This is the One' which was recently released in the States and mind blowing it is here you have an album which this 26 year old has Composed and written and sing and she also plays the Piano and Guitar.

The one thing that strikes you when listening to this is compared to her Japanese language albums she has not lost any of her magic.

From the opening song *Come Back To Me with it's very classical opening which instantly grabs your attention.to the classic *Merry Christmas Mr,Lawrence which is done with a new edge to the Sublime * Apple and Cinnamon which will have you hooked and a converted Utada Fan.

Two tracks after this your treated to the title song *This one and you know you have purchased music heaven .Each and every track is a joy to hear even when it gets more up beat compared to the earlier ballads .*Automatic part II is a brilliant fast paced tune and a sequel to the Japanese Automatic on her first album.

So is if your into people who can actually sing you can not go far wrong buying Utada's latest album.And i assure you this will be playing whenever you have the chance .Check below for some video of Utada's songs both English and Japanese.