Music Obsessions – July 2022

Welcome to this month’s Music Obsessions! Today is going to be quite a fun assortment of music from a bunch of different things: TV series, variety shows, Chinese, English, French, etc. Let’s check it out!

À Contresens – Raffy

I don’t listen to a lot of Quebec music but Raffy has been a staple in our home especially since they were a chance encounter probably a decade ago when I saw them perform at a bar in Old Montreal. They have gone a long way since then and have been a constant entertainment via Twitch during the pandemic. As they head back out to performing live, they released their latest single. Its very much in their fun vibe style which I love because their music always sends some positive vibes.

紅日 Red Sun – 聲生不息 “Infinity and Beyond” Singers with Audience

Red Sun is a super popular Cantopop classic by Hacken Lee. Luckily the Chinese variety show had invited Hacken Lee so it made it extra special when he and all the singers and audience joined together to do this song. Its a really fun song and rather challenging since its also fairly fast. This is a pretty good rendition and a good new take on it.

Portrait of You – James Lee
(“Love The Way You Are” Chinese Drama OST)

My latest series binge is Love The Way You Are on iQiYi streaming service. Is it anything super unique? Not really. So far, the first ten episodes have been fairly lighthearted but for once I actually they paced it a little quick that I’m not sure how its going to push another 20 episodes of the story forward. Either way, I’m not reviewing the show yet. Aside from my worrying, the soundtrack is pretty good. I really like this one which I later realized is by James Lee, who I wasn’t familiar with when he was popular in Korea before his unfortunate accident but he joined a Chinese variety show last year and I’m happy to see him making some music there.

現代戀愛安全手冊 Love 101 – 衛蘭 Janice Vidal

Janice Vidal’s latest single here! While I’m a pretty big fan of Janice Vidal’s recent music and even when she first started out in Hong Kong (but missing the whole middle chunk of maybe a decade or something), I only happen to find her music when it pops up in the recommended section on Youtube. I really should be making a better effort since her music is so good and has some meaningful lyrics whatever topic she talks about.

Teenage Dream – The Rescues

This last one is a discovery as part of the soundtrack on Season 3 of The Umbrella Academy. I’m a big fan of covers especially when they are done in a different vibe. I do like Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream however, this rendition actually adds a good change and feeling to the whole song. It definitely was a great find from watching TV series.

That’s it for this month’s Music Obsessions!
What have you been listening to?

Music Obsessions – February 2021

Welcome to this month’s Music Obsessions! The past month of crazy work phase was mostly music and TV that offered a lot of background company so suffice to say, there’s a lot that I want to share but then I’ve picked the highlights of my faves. Let’s check it out!

《无华》 No Extravagance- 张靓颖 Jane Zhang &摩登兄弟刘宇宁 Yuning Liu

While I haven’t gotten back to Legend of Fei (but will soon), this ending theme for the series is one of my absolutely favorites of this year so far. I love songs like this plus some of the lyrics and singing really is my cup of tea. Plus, I do like Yuning Liu quite a bit as a singer. Plus, the lyrics itself is fairly romantic and does match the series rather well.

哥本哈根的另一個我 My Doppelgänger in Copenhagen – Fiona Sit 薛凱琪

In recent years, Fiona Sit has definitely showed off the musical talent that she has. Its not saying that she didn’t have it before but when she first started, it was a very cute sweetheart sort of song singing about writing love letters to Keanu Reeves and all that cute stuff. The last few years, whether its the song she chooses to sing and the music videos that she puts together is much more mature (and it makes sense since she is older now) and it matches her so well.

Love Can Change Our Ways – Raffy

I don’t follow a lot of French-Canadian bands but I had caught Raffy at least a decade ago (if not more) and from then, I’ve been following them on and off. Recently, I’ve found them on Twitch live shows and its been a ton of fun which makes for some uplifting way to spend my Thursday and Saturday evenings. It also lead me to discover a song that had slipped through my radar called Love Can Change Our Ways which has such a positive vibe to it and its absolutely awesome.

玩家 Player -曹楊Young ft. 派偉俊 Patrick Brasca

Patrick Brasca seems to always be featured in someone else’s song. His own music is not too impressive in my opinion however, he does pair up with good singers and in some great songs like when he started off in Jay Chou’s Love Confession or in the Kung Fu Panda 3 song and now, his most recent is with Young Cao, a singer that I actually don’t listen to a lot of but he does have a decent voice. This song is pretty cool overall. I like the rhythm of the whole thing.

Blue – Justin 黄明昊

My latest fave is Justin Huang’s Blue. Its really odd because when Justin was in Idol Producer, I didn’t really think that he deserved as much popularity as he got. I think he ended the show ranked in 2nd but after that, he really shines through the variety shows he picks (and he is in a lot of them) and then still has time to make music and even in another variety show shared how he was accomplishing his dream of creating his own clothing brand. For someone that’s only 20 (or 21, I can’t remember), that’s pretty impressive. With that said, his songs are really hit and miss at times. The last few definitely more hits though. This one is super chill in rhythm, almost like in a relaxing lounge and then the lyrics are really good (and some of it fairly young love sort of cute).

That’s it for this Music Obsessions!
What have you been listening to?

Music Obsessions [September 2017]

Welcome back to September’s Music Obsessions!

Its rare to have My Weekly Adventures segment precede this one back to back. With the last month’s personal life taking me for a long time emotional ride, I’ve been drowning in a lot of music. There was a splurge of going back to some of the older stuff I used to listen which is mostly Hong Kong pop from 80’s and 90’s maybe even to early 2000s. Its been a lot of variety from EDM to hip hop to just about everything, making this month a pretty hard one to narrow down. Anyways, here’s the ones I’ve been going back to a lot.

Divination – KSHMR & No Mondays

Its always nice to start off these obsessions with some electronic music. I love KSHMR. They’ve had some incredible music and its fantastic. This one is pretty good also.

Kings and Queens of Summer – Matstubs

I have this feeling that I heard this on the radio but then, I’m not so sure. However, it was an accidental find but I like the beat a lot.

飛 (Fly) – LMF

I’m almost positive that I’ve shared LMF songs some time in the past however, there was a chat recently with my Game Warp co-host that brought about a talk about hip hop music and while Hong Kong hip hop is not a popular thing as there’s only a few selected few that have done well and are actually decent, LMF is the one that I’d like to say brought this genre to Hong Kong. They aren’t together anymore but they made some great music. This one is one of my faves. Once I start, I just listen to it on repeat.

Tout laisser tomber – Raffy

The newest selection on this list goes to the new song by a Quebec artist/group called Raffy. They have very awesome and fun music. This new one is upbeat and positive and I like it a lot. It makes me happy when I listen to it. Can’t really ask for more.

I Do – Karen Mok

Karen Mok has been in some movies here and there and for those more familiar with Hong Kong movies may recognize her especially in some Stephen Chow movies. However, she is also a singer and a pretty unique one at that. I love her voice a lot. This is one of her newer tunes, I believe and the video is super cute. Its great.

Body Like A Back Road – Sam Hunt

I like Sam Hunt a lot. This song has a really nice beat. I’m not so sure about the lyrics but its a fun listen just for the music itself.

That’s it for this month’s Music Obsessions!
What have you been listening to?