#attack+all+around

 Daily Music Recs 2023: Day #18

AAA - 風に薫る夏の記憶 (Kaze ni Kaoru, Natsu no Kioku // Memory of Fragrant Summer Wind)

I think this is a song that captures nostalgia extremely well, in all aspects—whether the arrangement, the melody, the lyrics, or the MV. To me, it’s a song that will always be timeless.

A AAA translation? In THIS day and age? It's more likely than you think!

A loooong time ago I set myself a goal of translating their entire discography. That... will probably not happen, but I did at least want to finish the songs from Way of Glory. So... here's Yell.

Attack All Around | September 14, 2005 - December 31, 2020

Why hello friend and future Kpop cohort!

I totally get you. The genre is pretty expansive and it can feel overwhelming. Especially if you’re brand new and you have no idea what’s good and what’s not. I got into it with a slight bit of advantage because I got into it about 10 years or so ago, before it really started getting big in western pop culture. So I was able to kind of grow into it and watch the genre grow with me and from there I could figure out my tastes when it comes to that industry.

How did I originally get into it? Well, like the total weeb I am, I am an anime lover so I would listen to their opening theme songs and a lot of it I really liked the sound of, so from there I kind of got into jpop (Japanese-pop) and then I started experimenting more with Kdramas, jdramas, cdramas, tdramas, etc. And just like with anime, I would listen to the music being played and think, “ok, I like that, where can I buy it?”. The downside is that 10 and 15 years ago, the Asian pop industry was not big in western culture so it was super hard to acquire the music through legal means. A lot of the music wasn’t available on the US Itunes or any of the other venues. I would literally have to make playlists on youtube for those songs or illegally download them, etc. But the thing with finding the music on youtube back in those days was that youtube was still relatively new and copyright issues was a seemingly never-ending battle there (I mean, it still is but that’s beside the point, youtube needs to hurry up and get with the times!). So you could create playlists of your favorite Asian drama songs but the videos had a tendency to be blocked frequently because of copyright claims (especially with the Japanese songs, Japan takes no prisoners when it comes to copyright). There was also a time when I would go on Amazon and just purchase the physical soundtrack CD as well.

But thankfully, those days are now over. I am so happy that this music industry is starting to make more of a wave over on this side of the world so I don’t have to jump through all of these hoops trying to find music that I want to listen to. i can typically find everything I’m looking for on Spotify these days.

As for any tips on how you can get into it, there’s really not much I can say. Like with all music, its completely subjective, based on your own music tastes. A lot of it is going to be trial and error. If you have Pandora, I would recommend listiening to a Kpop station and that should kind of give you a feel for the type of music you’re into and which bands and artists you would like to follow. You could also take my approach -- you could watch anime and the various Asian dramas and listen to those soundtracks and that can also give you a feel for the kinds of music you like. What I’ve taken to recently is creating two Spotify playlists. One playlist is designated for putting all the music in for all of the artists I’m interested in potentially following (Asian Pop is what I titled it). Then while I’m at work, I’ll turn on the playlist and whenever a song comes on that I’m really vibing with, I add it to the second playlist (Asian Pop Faves). And after a while, you start building up a good playlist full of songs you’re really vibing with.

As I don’t know what your music tastes are, I can’t really recommend music that you’ll definitely like. But I can give you some of the bands and artists I listen to.

Here are a few of the more popular bands that are getting pretty big right now:

-BTS (I’m not a huge stan of BTS but they have a few songs I like)

-Twice

-Red Velvet

-Blackpink

I’ll also give you some of my faves.

BoA (K-Pop, J-Pop) – Of course, if you’ve been following me a while, you knew there was no way I was not going to include her as a recommendation. I love her so much, I think her voice is super unique and she’s an absolute powerhouse when it comes to performing live. She’s been dubbed the Queen of Kpop and no matter what, no matter what the next big thing comes out of the industry is, BoA will always by my Once and Future Queen of the industry.

2NE1(K-Pop) – If you like Blackpink but have never listened to 2NE1, what even are you doing with your life? So much of Blackpink is heavily inspired by the era left behind 2NE1. 2NE1 sadly isn’t active anymore but they have left a permanent mark on the industry for sure. NO ONE interested in Kpop should sleep on 2NE1 in my opinion.

AAA (J-Pop) – This is a J-pop band and much like BoA, I’ve been following them for the past decade or so. They’re kind of unique in the sense that the band is a mix of both men and women. This is actually a rarity within the industry. You don’t see it too much. I suspect its because the industry often caters their music to different fanbases. All male bands will cater to a specific fanbase in their music, while all-female bands will cater to a different fandom with their music. So when you have both grouped together, you kind of have to find a middle-ground in that area and I think AAA has really succeeded in that area. I love their sound and they are so much fun to watch live.

Back-On (J-Pop) – Another J-Pop band. This one is all-male. If you’re into a little more of a rock vibe, this is the band for you.

Hikaru Utada (J-Pop) – If you’re into Kingdom Hearts, then you’ve already heard her but definitely don’t sleep on any of her other projects. I think she’s really great and has more of an R&B style approach to her pop.

Pentagon (K-Pop) – An all-male band. They got the nice boy-band pop sound if you’re looking for that

IU (K-Pop) – Female artist. She has a very clear soprano voice and she often mixes jazz style into her pop which creates a really unique sound that I enjoy.

Punch (K-Pop) – Along the same lines with IU, a really very clear beautiful voice

KARD (K-Pop) – A mix of male and female artists, they don’t have a lot out right now, but what I’ve heard so far I really like.

Also, if you’re looking for a soundtrack to listen to, I recommend the You’re Beautiful kdrama soundtrack. It’s really great and also if you want to watch a kdrama, You’re Beautiful is also a fantastic drama as well.

Here’s some individual songs that I like a lot:

Cool Hot Sweet Love – Red Velvet

RPM – SF9

Drama – AAA

Horizon – AAA

Milky Way – BoA

Masayume Chasing – BoA

Woman – BoA

Manhattan Tango – BoA

Make Me Complete – BoA

Everlasting – BoA

The Shadow – BoA

No. 1 – BoA

M.E.P – BoA

Implode – BoA

Romance – Boa

Hurricane Venus – BoA

Etude – BoA

One Shot, Two Shot -- BoA

(alright, that’s it with the BoA recs; I told you guys, I love her)

Grip! – Every Little Thing

Dejavu – AAA

First Name – AAA

Next Stage – AAA

Thank You – AAA

Hide-Away – AAA

Find You – AAA

Get Chu! --- AAA

Strike Back – Back-On

Bad Boy – Red Velvet (there’s both a Korean and English version, both sound great!)

It’s Me (Pick Me) – Produce 101

Just Do It Yo! – Pentagon

Make It Right – BTS

Boy in Luv – BTS

Done For Me – Punch

DNA – BTS

2NE1 – Happy

As If Its Your Last – Blackpink

It Hurts – 2NE1

Ugly – 2NE1

Psycho – Red Velvet

Don’t Leave Me – BTS

Scary Fairy Tale – IU

Come Back Home – 2NE1

Lost Child – IU

Havana – IU

Dinosaur – AKMU

Fake Love – BTS (both regular version and rock version)

With you – Back-On, Me

Yes or Yes – Twice

Endless Fighters – AAA

Peter Pan -- EXO

3-6-5 -- EXO