Neyse - Kırık

This song was one of my favorite discoveries during my Turkish music YouTube rampage.

Neyse - Kırık [Broken]:

Lee Hi - Rose

I only know of this Korean artist because of a presentation about the evolution of K-pop I attended. I was struck by this singer’s tone that does not imitate the sound I typically hear from female Korean singers. My friend and I couldn’t help but notice her image in the MV was going for neither of the types women are typically shown as in K-pop MVs, cute or sexy, but instead, pretty.
Note: The video is the music video, in HD.

Lee Hi A.K.A. 이하이 - Rose:

Cazwell feat. Jonny Makeup - I Seen Beyonce at Burger King

Welcome to your new favorite music video. The costumes are so ridiculous! I think this was the first song by this hip hop artist I heard. It’s such a stupid song but it makes me laugh, especially the chorus how he asks, “She was what?” and then says, “Oh,” before the other guy even finishes answering. Gets me every time.

Cazwell feat. Jonny Makeup - I Seen Beyonce at Burger King:


The music video is must-see:

JoJo - Too Little, Too Late

I had a weird experience lately when I was listening to the radio and this song came on. I wasn’t familiar with it, but I immediately thought, “She sounds just like JoJo, that pop singer from when I was 12 that I only know one song by.” But I thought it couldn’t have been her because her career as a mainstream pop star was long over. But it was her!
Note: HD!

JoJo - Too Little, Too Late:

Disturbed - Darkness

Here's a (gasp!) PRETTY song by Disturbed?? It’s kinda weird how pretty and mellow this song is, considering how high-energy and screamy this band’s music usually is.
Note: And you can listen in HD!

Disturbed - Darkness:

Ellie Goulding - My Blood

I saw this artist perform last night for the first time—she was great, as expected. She performed this song, which was a nice treat because it wasn’t one of her singles, but it’s one of my (many) favorites by her. I just realized that I haven’t posted a single song from her latest album Halycon, which is ridiculous because that’s in my top 3 most-listened-to albums of 2012, so this track off of it couldn't come too soon.
Note: HDDDDDDDDDDDD!

Ellie Goulding - My Blood:

Bobby McFerrin - Don’t Worry, Be Happy

I grew up with this song because my mom had this talented artist’s album with it. I didn’t appreciate until recent years the fact that the song uses no instruments other than Bobby himself. It turns out this is kinda what he’s known for—doing all sorts of unique stuff with his voice to create cool effects so he doesn’t need instrumentation.
Note: Although I’ve heard this song many times since I was young, I only just now saw the music video. It’s greater than I ever imagined, so I’m including it. And also the song in HD!

Bobby McFerrin - Don’t Worry, Be Happy:


And the entertaining music video:

Julie Maria - Gør Det Kort

I like the self-harmonizing vocals in this. This has that nice singer/songwriter feel to it—probably because the artist IS a singer/songwriter. I think I found this Danish artist through YouTube surfing.

Julie Maria - Gør Det Kort [Make It Short]:

Damien Rice feat. Lisa Hannigan - Cold Water

OK, when the male choir kicks in I honestly find it creepy-sounding, but the rest of the song is lovely. I really like the inclusion of Lisa Hannigan's voice.

Damien Rice feat. Lisa Hannigan - Cold Water:

Rihanna feat. Mikky Ekko - Stay

This is one pretty song. I first heard it on the radio, and since I’ve heard it covered by various other artists, and it’s pretty every time!
Note: In case you’ve somehow missed it, enjoy in HD!

Rihanna feat. Mikky Ekko - Stay:

Hide - LEMONed I Scream

I thought I’d already posted this song, but I guess I haven’t. This song by one of the more famous figures in Japanese rock music is pretty weird, enough to amuse me. It’s in English, but in true Japanese fashion it’s pretty difficult to understand. This guitarist was from the immensely popular band X-Japan, and he was so much of an influence on pop culture that his death years ago was followed by a rash of fan suicides. R.I.P. Hide.

Hide - LEMONed I Scream:

LeAnn Rimes - Can’t Fight the Moonlight

It’s a country song I like, and it’s not by the Dixie Chicks! I guess it sounds more like pop than country, but oh well.  This song used to be on the radio all the time.
Note: This video was, according to the description, uploaded in some fancy kind of HD.

LeAnn Rimes - Can’t Fight the Moonlight:

Matt Alber feat. The Cello String Quartet - Velvet Goldmine

Cellos! I’ve only heard a handful of songs by the main artist, but they’ve all had nice, poetic lyrics.  I stumbled across this recently and thought the same.  This is a continuation of yesterday’s pianist/singer/songwriter trend.
Note: Experience it in HD!

Matt Alber feat. The Cello String Quartet - Velvet Goldmine:

Wanting - 我的歌声里

There was a different song by a Chinese artist that I wanted to post for today, but I can't find it ANYWHERE on the Internet in decent quality and it's frustrating me.  So I'm settling for this.  I’m not in love with this song, but I came across it on YouTube and thought it was interesting that the artist’s singing style is a departure from the high-pitched, thin-voiced style of many female C-pop singers. She's based out of Vancouver, and she's a pianist/singer/songwriter, so maybe those things have something to do with it. Other than that, it’s pretty typical of Chinese pop, but that ain’t exactly a bad thing.
Note: You can watch/listen in HD, and there are English translations of the lyrics included! Fancy.

Wanting A.K.A. 曲婉婷 - 我的歌声里 [Wo De Ge Sheng Li - You Exist in My Song]:

Westlife - Us Against the World

This Irish boyband of yesteryear isn’t such a big deal in my country, but for some reason they seemed to be inexplicably popular in Korea, as quite a few of the kids I talked to there named them as among their favorite music artists. They actually disbanded the same year I learned this, last year, but they had a good run. Their Wiki article even notes that they achieved success throughout most continents of the world, but for some reason North America (and the U.S. in particular) was the outstanding exception—we weren’t having it.

Westlife - Us Against the World:

Jean Grae - Taco Day

Ain't gonna lie--this hip hop song is disturbing. It's also very good. This artist is one of the most well-respected emcees out there, and this song provides a good demonstration as to why. She narrates a violent rampage from the perspective of an unconventional assailant: a popular blonde cheerleader who's been driven to the edge by domestic abuse and societal pressures placed upon girls. The irony of the song is that it illustrates how even the most well-adjusted-seeming, privileged teenage girl can often be subjected to a plethora of problems, pressures, and abuses in her life, yet it is rare for the perpetrator of mass violence like a school shooting to be a girl—although similar issues are what are used to explain away the destructive behavior in boys. Bear in mind, the song contains graphic depictions of violence, as well as references to self-harm, abuse, etc. I’m also including the music video, which contains a truncated version of the song, but even that preserves a good amount of the potentially disturbing content.

Jean Grae - Taco Day:


And here’s the official music video, with a truncated but still NSFW version of the song:

Harajuku feat. Kristina Bach - Phantom of the Opera

It’s been so long since I listened to this version of the famous song from the famous musical play by the same name that I forgot the name of the artist who covered it in this version. (In my defense, my copy of the song didn’t have the correct artist tag to begin with, so I only found out the artists years after acquiring it.)
Note: Despite how difficult it was years ago to find out the artists’ names, this was surprisingly easy to find in HD!

Harajuku feat. Kristina Bach - Phantom of the Opera:


I originally came across this song through a pretty cool AMV for the really cool short anime film Magnetic Rose in the collection called Memories, which you can watch here:

Loreen - Crying Out Your Name

I was impressed by this Swedish artist’s album the very first time I heard it, as the only track on it I consider to be skippable is, ironically, her most popular song. And she writes her own music, which is cool! I’m not accustomed to seeing that in dance music.
Note: You can listen in HD!

Loreen - Crying Out Your Name:

Donny Osmond, Jerry Tondo, Harvey Fierstein, Matthew Wilder, Eddie Murphy, and Lea Salonga - I’ll Make a Man Out of You

This song from the Disney film Mulan is really popular. People like to break out in song with it and start public singing sessions with it, I don’t know why—and I’m included in that. It’s always been one of my favorite songs from the Disney movies of my childhood, too.

Donny Osmond, Jerry Tondo, Harvey Fierstein, Matthew Wilder, Eddie Murphy, and Lea Salonga - I’ll Make a Man Out of You:


Here’s the scene from the movie in which it is sung:

Erika - Папарацци

I have no excuses for liking this Ukrainian song. I just do.
Note: Only the official music video is available, but at least it has HD. Actually, the MV ain’t that bad.

Erika A.K.A. Эрика - Папарацци [Paparattsi - Paparazzi]:

Team Kozan - Telephone

My friend sent me this cover of the famous song by Lady Gaga featuring Beyonce, as performed with traditional Japanese instruments. (They are the shakuhachi and the koto.)  Cool idea, ne?
Note: This is the official video, and you can watch in HD!

Team Kozan - Telephone:

Richard Buckner & Patty Griffin - Remember

I heard this song in the indie movie Dream Boy. Wikipedia describes the two artists as “alternative country,” which I guess is a good way to characterize this song. I dunno, it just sounds pretty to me. I’m not really familiar with either of these artists outside of this song, even though Wiki says Patty Griffin is a Grammy winner. Her name does sound kind of familiar, but meh.

Richard Buckner & Patty Griffin - Remember:

Flume - Holdin On

My friend posted this song on HIS music blog a little while ago. Before that, I don’t think I’d ever heard of this Australian artist. Catchy song, eh? The lyrics are largely repetitive, but they manage to contain a bit of profanity.
Note: HD, buddy!

Flume - Holdin On:

Sara Bareilles - Brave

What I said last time about this artist still holds true: the more I see and hear of this singer/songwriter/musician, the more I like her. I just came across this song’s MV today and indeed my appreciation of Sara grew. I like that she has songs about somewhat atypical subject matter—this is encouraging its listeners to be true to themselves and speak with honesty.
Note: Enjoy in HD!

Sara Bareilles - Brave:


And the official music video is worth watching:

IAMX - Music People

I listened to this artist’s album Volatile Times many, many, many, many times last year. This song sets the tone for the album in that it is a scathing hate letter, essentially, to the music industry in which he is a participant but from which he has seemingly tried to distance himself. He criticizes the vapid and even harmful messages put out by mainstream artists, the rampant egos that drive their clambering for success, their lifestyles of excess, and their willingness to sell their soul for the chance to be remembered after they’re gone.  You can practically taste the disdain.
Note: Listening in HD is advisable!

IAMX - Music People:

Sirusho - Հեռանում եմ

I think it’s high time I posted some Armenian music, eh? Pretty language + pretty melody + pretty voice = pretty song.  I think I'm gonna have to look up more music by this artist now...

Sirusho A.K.A. Սիրուշո - Հեռանում եմ [Havatum Em - I’m Leaving]:

Kendrick Lamar - Swimming Pools (Drank)

I was gonna post a different hip hop song today, but I couldn’t find it, so instead I’m going with this one because it keeps getting caught in my head lately and then after I finally got it out, I heard someone blasting it from their car yesterday, which of course re-instilled it playing in my brain. I gave this popular artist’s album Good Kid, m.A.A.d City a few listens recently to find out what all the fuss was about and this ended up being one of my favorite tracks from it. It also allowed me to bond with a coworker on my first day at my new job, because I was asked what the last album I listened to was, and I named this artist, which seemingly surprised and pleased my coworker, who then fistbumped me in approval. The end of the track, BTW, is a set-up for the next track, so you needn’t try to connect it to this one. The song has profanity.

Kendrick Lamar - Swimming Pools (Drank):

Jefferson Airplane - White Rabbit

I heard this song in the film The Game. The lead singer Grace Slick reminds me of Florence Welch. It’s like if Florence + the Machine made psychedelic rock. I read that this artist is the first band from San Francisco to be successful in the mainstream commercial world.  This song is comprised of a bunch of allusions to the book Alice in Wonderland, which I read in college. Obviously, it’s also about taking drugs, which is not surprising since 1) Alice is Wonderland is often associated with that, and 2) this song is from the 60s.
Note: HD listening!

Jefferson Airplane - White Rabbit:

SID - 依存の庭

It’s time for another of my favorite songs by this artist. Something about that bass sounds so cool!

SID A.K.A. シド - 依存の庭 [Izon no Niwa - Garden of Dependence]:

Natacha Atlas - Light of Life

This song is from the soundtrack of the film Kingdom of Heaven. The movie is British & American, but since it takes place in medieval Jerusalem I guess this song was considered appropriate for it. Reflecting on it, I guess this confusing background suits the music after all, since the lyrics are in Arabic but singer is from Belgium.
Note: HD again!

Natacha Atlas - Light of Life:

Zedd feat. Foxes - Clarity

I’ve heard this song playing on radio stations over and over and I somehow haven’t gotten tired of it. In fact, I like it very much and find it pretty addictive.
Note: HD, of course!

Zedd feat. Foxes - Clarity: