Clazziquai Project - 사랑끝에

I have always had a fondness for this group, because they create music with a somewhat original mix of genres that makes for a nice break from typical Korean pop.  As far as I'm concerned, their songs are generally pretty hit-or-miss, but when they're good, they're addictive.  I like Horan's voice, for some reason I LOVE Alex's voice, and the two complement each other well.  Last year I looked into some of their more recent music and was impressed by quite a few of their tracks on their album Mucho Punk.  I have been unable to stop playing this track in particular since I first heard it.
Note:  The video I was GOING to use got taken down, and I can't upload my own copy of the song, so I'm going with this video.  The upside is that if you can read Slovak, you're in luck!  You can understand the subtitles for the lyrics.

Clazziquai Project - 사랑끝에 [Sarangkkeut'e - Love Ends]:

K.K. - हाँ तू है

This song is from the Indian film Jannat. I heard it playing in a Indian/Nepalese restaurant and asked my housemates to tell me what it was so I could acquire it. The beginning sounds like Celtic music to me!
Note: Sorry this video is kinda seizure-inducing... But if you ignore the floating ghost ladies in the background and the incessantly flashing text, you can read the lyrics translated into English.

K.K. - हाँ तू है [Haan Tu Hain - Yes You Are]:

Origa - Shine, My Star

I've known about this Russian singer for years, since she does a lot of work with Yoko Kanno on anime soundtracks, but I found this particular song by her through an AMV.  This is Origa's rendition of the Russian song "Гори, гори, моя звезда," whose title is for some reason already translated into English in Origa's version.  It's also one of the few Russian songs whose lyrics I almost have memorized!

Origa - Shine, My Star:

Chris Colfer - Defying Gravity

To celebrate me getting caught up on all the episodes of the uber-popular show Glee (for once I'll be watching a popular TV show at the same time it's airing, when everyone else is too!), I am posting a song performed by my favorite actor on the show (my favorite actress being Jane Lynch).  In addition to being the EXTREMELY talented young actor who plays Kurt, Chris has some serious singing talent, a ridiculous range, and an angelic voice.  (Also, judging by what I’ve seen of him in interviews, he’s hilarious, witty, intelligent, and all-around awesome, but that’s beside the point.)  This is his cover of a song from the musical Wicked.  Also, I find his voice infinitely fascinating, so I'll probably post more songs sung by him in the future.
Note:  I tried to find a good YouTube video of this version of the song that DIDN’T show the singer, but gave up because this is available in HD and this kid is pretty famous now anyway so I figure people already know what he looks like.

Chris Colfer - Defying Gravity:

Jessie J - Who You Are

British girl got soul, foreal!! I'ma post this now before she REALLY blows up and gets famous, 'cause I think she's getting more and more promotion these days. I discovered this AMAZING new singer around 2 months ago when my classmate posted a link to her "Do It Like a Dude" MV on Facebook. That song isn't the best track to showcase her vocal ability and made a lot of people dismiss her as yet another female singer trying too hard to be different, but I heard hints of real singing talent so I looked up her other stuff and was absolutely blown away. This isn't my favorite song I've heard by her either, but it's easier to find than her others and at least it has a good meaning.
Note: The lyrics in the video aren't all correct, but at least the audio is in HD.

Jessie J - Who You Are:

Fort Minor feat. Lupe Fiasco and Ghostface Killah - Spraypaint & Ink Pens

3 emcees, 3 verses, 3 stories... A lot of hip hop songs use the structure of 3 verses, each dedicated to a story, all held together through a central theme. This song doesn't really have a central theme that ties the stories' content together, but rather is illustrating (haha, get it?!) how the emcees use their lyrics to tell stories so powerful they seem visual. Each emcee takes his turn at demonstrating his verbal storytelling ability by packing a story that can still manage to elicit an emotional response from the audience into the space of just one verse. Apparently it worked, because a lot of people claimed to have CRIED in response to Lupe's verse (the last one). I've never seen the Gundam anime, but everyone is claiming that verse is a reference to it, which wouldn't surprise me since Lupe is quite the anime nerd.
Also, Lupe Fiasco and Fort Minor are 2 of my favorite hip hop artists, so I was excited when I discovered this collaboration. Fort Minor's not that unknown--in fact, under his other names, he's extremely famous--but just in case: Fort Minor is the hip hop pseudonym for Mike Shinoda of the band Linkin Park.

Fort Minor feat. Lupe Fiasco and Ghostface Killah - Spraypaint & Ink Pens:

Uh Huh Her - Explode

I heard this on an episode of the show The L Word... which is fitting, because the singer was one of the lead actresses on it.  I'm not sure why I like this song as much as I do, as it's not really my usual taste, but for a while I practically had this song on repeat.

Uh Huh Her - Explode:

Chris Garneau - Dirty Night Clowns

This song is pretty weird, and at first I wasn't sure how to feel about it, but it majorly grew on me and now it is one of my favorite songs by this artist.  I love the strings and bass!  (I was planning to post this song anyway, but I just found out a couple days ago that this is now a single!)

Chris Garneau - Dirty Night Clowns:

Cherry Filter - 틈

I am SO in love with Youjeen's voice it's not even funny.  OOOMGGGGGGGG.  The lead singer of this band has one of the most versatile (and intense) voices I've ever heard and within this song she showcases a couple different styles she's capable of using.  Oh, and at 3:45...  Yes, you really did hear that.

Cherry Filter - 틈 [T'eum - Free Time]:

James Horner - Dedication and Windsong

This is the theme of the American film Mighty Joe Young.  My brother used to play this movie on repeat so I heard this song a lot, yet never got tired of it because I always found it so pretty, especially the parts with the choir.  Lebo M., the guy who arranged the choir for the soundtrack of The Lion King, also did the arrangement on this choir.  BTW, I always try to find the songs in at least 480p, but the link I found for this is in HD, so take advantage of it!  :D

James Horner - Dedication and Windsong:

Zaho - C'est Chelou

This is the first song I heard by the Algerian R&B singer, which I came across only a couple days ago.  I think it's really catchy and like the music video.  I don't know French, but from what I read the second word of the title is slang that reverses the placement of two halves of the word "louche," which means something like "weird" or "shady."  So it's like saying "irdwe" instead of "weird."

Zaho - C'est Chelou [It's Shady]:

Buck-Tick - Nocturne ~Rain Song~

I think of this band as the Japanese Depeche Mode.  They've been around forever, the lead singer has an awesome, deep voice and singing ability, and the music is rock on the dark-sounding side.  In short, I love them.  They have a lot of songs I love, but this is one of my favorites.  They have a nice gothic feel to their music, and I think Atsushi Sakurai's voice has just gotten better over time.  It can literally make me shiver.  I'm pretty sure I first heard of them through an mp3 rotation site that posted a bunch of their songs at once.
Note:  This video is blocked in Germany and Japan.

Buck-Tick - Nocturne ~Rain Song~:

Angela Chang - 吶喊

I love the combination of influences and styles this song contains.  The singer is one of the more popular pop artists in Taiwan, and unlike a lot of them, she can actually sing as far as I can tell, and isn't just getting by on her looks, so I like her music.  I haven't heard every song she's done, but of the songs I've heard this is one of my favorites.

Angela Chang A.K.A. 張韶涵 - 吶喊 [Na Han - Shout]:

Tony Jay - Hellfire

Holy crap, I can't believe this song was in a children's movie.  This is from one of my favorite Disney movies, The Hunchback of Notre Dame.  This song seems wildly inappropriate for children, not only because of the obvious dark themes, but also because of the complexity & maturity of its meaning--yet as far as I can remember, when I was little I liked the darkness of it and actually understood its meaning.  And even when I was little, l loved the part with Esmerelda dancing in the fire!

Tony Jay - Hellfire:

India.Arie - Video

Hearts for India.Arie!!  I wish more girls thought like her.  The album this song is from is one of the first CDs I ever owned, so major connections to my childhood right here.  She consistently makes music with a positive message and her smooth, effortless vocals.

India.Arie - Video:

Celldweller - The Last Firstborn

This song gets me so pumped, you have no idea. I heard this song on a Death Note AMV that has now attained some level of fame (this one, in case anyone's interested). I find this song to be amaaaaazing. It makes me feel like I'm being sucked into a black hole... but less painful. ...Yeah. >_>

Celldweller - Last Firstborn:

Adele - Hometown Glory

British time! If I remember correctly, the singer wrote this song when she was 16, and recorded it when she was 19. Round 2 in "I'm a failure." *shakes fist* Anyway, this song, obviously, is about the artist's hometown, London. I had heard Adele's name floating around for a while, but never bothered to look up her music until a month or two ago, when I heard this lovely track used in a British soap opera. I don't think the show even used a part of this song with her voice, just the piano intro, but it was so pretty it was enough to spurn me to find the whole song. Interestingly, this artist is but one example of the trend I've had lately of discovering really good British female singers.
Note: I tried to upload my own copy of the track, but it's blocked in the U.S. and Germany, so I'm just linking to the official music video. Which I guess is not that terrible, since I rather like the MV.

Adele - Hometown Glory:

Tanner Cohen & Nathaniel Becker - Were the World Mine

This is one of my favorite songs from the musical film of the same title.  The film is based on Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream, and accordingly lines are directly quoted from the play into the song lyrics (and at times, the film's dialogue).  I really like Tanner Cohen's voice and think it sounds naturally pretty and organic (BTW, when he recorded this he was my age).  I was going to upload the track in higher quality, but I was too excited about this video, for which someone had the brilliant idea to show where the lyrics are coming from in the play!

Tanner Cohen & Nathaniel Becker - Were the World Mine:

Yoko Kanno - Shiro

This gorgeous piece from the soundtrack of the anime Wolf's Rain makes me feel like I'm aching... in a good way.  Yoko Kanno is one of my favorite composers, who is immensely versatile and talented.  If you watch anime in general you're probably already familiar with her work, as she has composed the music for a lot of the most famous anime, and her soundtracks are always outstanding.  I could go on about the genius of this composer, but I'll save that ramble for another time, since I definitely plan to post more pieces composed by her.  For now, I'll just say that this first piece is the version of condensed awesomeness.  The longer version of the piece can be found below it (both were used in Wolf's Rain, but the latter was on a different album).

Yoko Kanno A.K.A. 菅野 よう子 - Shiro:


Shiro Long Tails:

Eyedea - Even Shadows Have Shadows

I believe this is the first Eyedea track I ever heard (not counting a song from his collaboration work with Abilities), back when I was first getting into underground hip hop.  This actually is the song from which a quote on my FB profile comes.  Needless to say, the quirky, insightful lyricism blew me away and led to me to look into more of his stuff.  The hip hop community mourned the loss of such a brilliant mind when he passed away a couple months ago.  R.I.P. Eyedea.

Eyedea - Even Shadows Have Shadows:

Agnes Monica - Tak Ada Logika

This Indonesian singer is also an actress, model, etc.  I think her voice is awesome, and I love that she doesn't always cater to the cultural ideal of the frail, vulnerable woman, and instead cultivates an image of the strong "tough girl."  Even before I read it in her profile, I could tell from her music that she was inspired by P!NK and Christina Aguilera, 2 of the best popular female singers out there.  You can definitely hear it in her music.  I like a lot of tracks on the album this song is from, but this was especially easy to find because it was a single, and I really like the incorporation of Arabic-sounding music.

Agnes Monica - Tak Ada Logika [No Logic]:

K-os - Crucial

A little bit o' reggae flavor for ya, brought to you by Canadian hip hop artist K-os.  He's not the best emcee I've ever heard, but I really like a lot of his music for its originality, themes, and instrumentals.  This isn't so much hip hop as reggae, but it's one of my favorite tracks by him.  (Obviously, he sings as well as emcees.)

K-os - Crucial:

The Pierces - Three Wishes

I only discovered this American duo (sisters, actually) a few months ago, when a website I frequent put them on a list of music recommendations.  I guess their music is being used somewhat frequently on TV shows I've never watched, like Pretty Little Liars and Gossip Girl, so a lot of people are finding them through those shows now.  Their other songs are more beat-driven, and I like them too, but I especially like this one because it sounds kinda haunting; their humming sounds to me like ghosts singing or wind blowing through trees.  Their other songs have rather dark themes running through them, which I think is pretty cool...  Also, they're from Alabama, which tempts me to make the joke that they're the only good thing to come from Alabama aside from me.  :-P 

The Pierces - Three Wishes:

Brown Eyed Soul - Brown City

This is a relatively upbeat track from a very talented Korean R&B group of 4 members, one of which is formerly of another Korean R&B group of 2 members called Brown Eyes (whom I also love).  This song isn't usually my type of music, but for some reason I really like it.  With voices that good, how could I not?

Brown Eyed Soul - Brown City:

Florence + the Machine - Heavy in Your Arms

This rather intense song is my current obsession.  Apparently it is on the soundtrack for Twilight: Eclipse, but I heard it on a dumb-but-popular German soap opera that for some reason uses really good music.  Ironically, my upload of the song is blocked in Germany, so I guess if you're there and want to hear it you'll just have to WATCH THE DUMB SOAP OPERA MWAHAHA--JK, there are probably other uploads of the song that work there.  Sorry.  :-\  Oh, and I heard this British artist first on the single "Dog Days are Over."  I didn't hate it, but I think it was a little too "happy" for me or something.  This song is much more my style.

Florence + the Machine - Heavy in Your Arms:

Tevin Campbell - I 2 I

Yes, this is from the Disney movie A Goofy Movie.  Don't hate!  My favorite parts of the movie were the ones where this singer's music was incorporated (he was the character Powerline). Even when I was little, I LOVED this guy's voice. He's soooooo good, and the song is pretty catchy.

Tevin Campbell - I 2 I:

Faye Wong - 英雄

I think this is the first Chinese song I acquired, EVER.  And definitely the first one whose lyrics I memorized.  This is actually how I learned pinyin!  And what better artist to make a first impression than the world-renowned Faye Wong?  She's one of the most famous Chinese singers, and I quite like her music.  This song is from the soundtrack of the Chinese movie Hero (same title as the song).

王菲 A.K.A. Faye Wong - 英雄 [Ying Xiong - Hero]:

Zion I - The Bay

Time for some hip hop!  Behold, a song about the awesomeness of the Bay Area.  The instrumental seems so simple, yet something about it really draws me in.  Plus, gotta love the violin at the end.  These guys performed this song, which is quite possibly their most popular (at least in the Bay Area), at my university's concert and the audience went NUTS and flooded the stage.  It was insanity.  Bay Area represent!

Zion I - The Bay:

Imogen Heap - The Walk

IMOGEN HEAP IS AMAZING.  Obviously, she is another of my absolute favorite artists of all time.  You may also know her as half of Frou Frou.  That's how I heard of her first, then I heard her solo song "Let Go" from the Garden State soundtrack, then I made an impulse buy of her album Speak for Yourself, and I am SO glad I did because she's a GENIUS.

Imogen Heap - The Walk:

Darren Hayes - Darkness

I had to do it.  My second regular post goes to another of my absolute favorite tracks by one of my absolute favorite artists, Darren Hayes.  I kind of adore him.  Even if you don't recognize his name, you probably have heard of the Australian pop duo Savage Garden.  I definitely was not a fan in their heyday, since I only heard their saccharine, sappy, love ballad pop singles on the radio when I was in elementary school and pretty much hated them.  So when I stumbled across some tracks by the solo singer yeeeeeears later on an mp3 rotation site, I had no idea it was the same guy from "that boy band" from back in the day.  All I knew was that the guy could sing beautifully.  Ironically, I was astounded by the palpable honesty and sincerity of his solo work--which is exactly what I felt was missing in the Savage Garden music.  Plus I loved the tormented, dark feel that is far removed from what I had heard from SG.  I could NOT get over how good the album this song is from is, nor could I stop playing it.  That's still pretty much the case.

Edit:  The song was released under a major record label that blocks its music on YouTube, so I can't post my own upload of the song.  Apparently the music video is allowed, so I guess I'll have to settle for that this time.
Darren Hayes - Darkness:

Kokia - 大事なものは目蓋の裏

I'm gonna kick this off with one of my absolute favorite songs by one of my absolute favorite artists, Kokia.  Expect more from her, 'cause she is as prolific as she is talented.  I believe this is the first song I ever heard by this singer/songwriter, which I found on an mp3 rotation site many-a-year ago.

Kokia - 大事なものは目蓋の裏 [Daiji na Mono wa Mabuta no Ura - Important Things are Behind the Eyelids]:

Nothing Fancy... Just an Overview

Welcome to my music blog!!  I have toyed with the idea of maintaining my own little music-themed blog for years, but recently a few people have expressed an interest in getting regular music recommendations from me (which flatters/excites the heck out of me) so I decided to make this blog, rather than indiscriminately flood all my Facebook friends' News Feeds.  Hopefully this will filter down the audience to only the people who are interested without closing off access altogether.
This is not an mp3 rotation site (although I frequented those back in the day and discovered a number of great artists that way); the intention of my blog is just to introduce people to music I like that they might like too, so using YouTube links instead of posting mp3 download links should serve the dual purpose of letting people hear the songs without taking up space on their hard drive and preventing my blog from getting taken down for copyright infringement or something.  If you listen to the song on YouTube and like it and want to acquire it in mp3 format, that's on you (and probably not that difficult to find elsewhere).
I generally feel that the music should usually be enjoyed AS music first and foremost, rather than evaluated based on the accompanying visuals or artist appearance (it REALLY annoys me when people judge music based on the artist's physical appearance), and I feel that the visual input can significantly dilute/distract from the listener's appreciation of the song, so I will often strive to post YouTube links of just the audio, no video (unless I particularly like the video for it that I find, or don't find it the visuals too intrusive).  Unfortunately, it seems that a lot of the songs I want people to hear first without their perception of the song being influenced by images are only available on YouTube in poor audio quality, with picture slideshows, with accompanying video clips, or atrocious lyrics transcriptions, so it looks like I'm gonna try uploading them to YouTube myself.  I'll probably post music videos sometimes too, 'cause I got mad love for them.
Again, I intend to post the songs I like in case anyone out there happens to like them too.  That said, music recommendations from YOU are welcome!  I am always open to hearing new music and open to expanding my musical horizons, so if you have ideas for music I might be interested in feel free to post about them in the comments.
I am not aiming at any particular type of music, it's just whatever I feel like posting at the time, so it can range from mainstream American pop to obscure Indonesian new age or something random like that.  There most likely will be recurring themes among the artists/styles I post, but that has a lot to do with the music I just happen to get exposed to (e.g., I probably won't post a lot of European music, but it's not because I dislike European music; I just haven't come across that much of it).  I don't hate mainstream music, I don't hate pop/dance tracks, I don't hate outrageous music artists...  So don't be surprised if I post Sodagreen one day and Eminem the next.
As a forewarning, I tend to like more recent music, i.e. music that was recorded after I was born.  I don't know why, that's just the way that my preferences tend to lean.
I also tend to remember the story of when & how I came across my favorite music...  Yeah, I attach a lot of sentimentality to the music I love.  These stories are pretty tied to my perception of the song and I reflect on them fondly so expect that to find its way into my description ramblings.  And don't be surprised if I ramble obsessively about my favorite artists.  It happens.

Just a heads-up...  As somewhat of a disclaimer, I DO:
+post music with profanity.  While I myself don't swear, I usually don't have a problem with hearing it, and I feel that in some songs it does contribute to the meaning (like for the sake of emotional impact).  I'll try to put a warning or something in the description if the song is particularly profane.
+love a lotta hip hop.  I know quite a few people have a problem with hip hop and don't really know how to listen to & appreciate it, but if you're one of those people you can just skip those tracks.  Or, if you're feeling brave, you can listen anyway, with an open mind, and perhaps have your mind changed about the genre.  :)
+post music with non-English lyrics.  While not understanding the lyrics may impede one's appreciation of the music to a degree, I think a lot of music can still be felt through the sound alone.  It has been said that music is the universal language, and I often find that to be true.  Besides, if you close yourself off to everything that's not in your preferred language, you're depriving yourself of a lot of amazing art.  I'll try to post some indication of the lyrical meaning if I know it and think it's important.  (And, honestly, do you understand the lyrical meaning of every ENGLISH song you like?  Didn't think so.)
+post music by queer artists.  There are a lot of brilliant music artists out there whose fame seems circumscribed to the queer community, and I'd love to see their talent be recognized on a larger scale.  If you have a problem with that, you're missing out.
+post songs with otherwise potentially-offensive themes.  Anti-religion, pro-religion, violent or disturbing narrative, political, etc.  Maybe I will mention something about it in the description so you can avoid it if it really bothers you.

So with that in mind, I hope you enjoy the stream of syncopation!