The Luck of the Irish

Our next stop is IRELAND!!!! It has to be one of my favourite countries right now because it's home to Damien Rice, The Script and Once. Some of these men have those ruggid good looks the Irish are famous for and some of them are clean-cut. Whatever your preference, I'm sure you'll LOVE at least one of them.


Damien Rice
December 7, 1973
Homepage
MySpace
9 Crimes MV
Folk/Indie Rock
Plays the cello, guitar, piano, violin and drums
Known for his charity work
His music appears in various movies and shows such as:
Alias, Lost, House, Closer, Criminal minds, One Tree Hill, Grey's Anatomy and Bones



The Script
Homepage
MySpace
The Man Who can't Be Moved MV
Pop Rock
Opened for Paul McCartney
Supported Take That and U2
Could be writing a song for Leona Lewis' 2nd album






Once
Released 2007
Part of 2007 Sundance Film Festival and Dublin Film Festival
Stars Glen Hansard (The Frames)
Soundtrack received a Grammy
Falling Slowly received an Academy Award
Hansard and Irglová composed and performed all the songs
Set in Dublin
Official Site
IMBD
Falling Slowly MV

The names you won't be able to read

Our last stop on this musical tour...for now at least...will be Taiwan. I really wanted to find some Chinese artists but never really found any I liked. That all changed in Japanese class where I met my new friend. She's Taiwanese and got me into a whole bunch of dramas and music. very distracting seeing we were in class but...so worth it! :P

You might have trouble pronouncing their names and their songs properly but that doesn't take away from their creativity and magnetic energy. A lot of the following artists are all friends and have worked together at some point or another. They might look pretty and bubblegum pop-ish but that's not the case. You shouldn't find any of them annoying whether or not you like their music


~Fahrenheit
~Probably the most popular guy group in China and Taiwan right now
~5 members
~Mainly pop but its goes in and out of variations
~They're all actors
~Official Website
~Zhi Dui Ni You Gan Jue feat. Hebe MV

~Jay Chou
~Piano, cello, guitar, drums
~R&B, ballad, pop
~Played a supporting role in "Curse of the Golden Flower"
~Orange Jasmine MV





~S.H.E.
~Stands for Selena, Hebe and Ella
~Pop
~Often associated with Fahrenheit
~Actresses
~Official Webpage
~Zui Jin Hai Hao Ma MV







~Danson Tang
~Singer/actor/model
~Speaks English
~Also associated with Fahrenheit
~Official Website
~Xin Ge MV







~Rainie Yang
~Singer/actress/host
~Pop
~Official Website
~Wolf MV





~JJ Lin
~From Singapore
~R&B/ballad
~Speaks English, Mandarin, Cantonese and Hokkien
~Piano, drums, guitar
~Official Website
~Cao Cao MV

[a_CROSS//the_EARTH] :: Tear Down The Walls

At the beginning of June my Youth group went to see Hillsong United live at the Molsen Amphitheater. I told myself that I would try my hardest to really get into the presence of God this time. I've only been to one of their concerts once before. Because it was so new to me I tried harder to take everything in than to go into His presence.

The presence you feel is the most amazing and unexplainable sensation in the world. I was in complete awe AGAIN!!!! When you have that many people, singing, worshiping, raising their hands and crying for God, you can't help but go back for more. The thing I like the most is that the band doesn't even do anything amazing performance wise; they're there for the same reason as we are: to worship an AMAZING God.

The passion they put into their music and the time I'm sure they put into their songs is all for us and for Him. I don't know about you but it helps bring me closer to Him, helps me talk to Him, brings up things that might not be on the forefront of my mind and puts words into my mouth; some of these songs are like the story of my life in a way. When I was reading the lyrics to some of the songs off the screen it felt like they were written just for me. That's what I like about Christian music, it so accurately tells us what's going on in our lives and how to fix it. It comforts us in the knowledge that God will always be there. They describe Him in such a way as to make us fall in love with Him with every song that we hear.

For those of you who read this and are not Christian, I'm not trying to butter it up. This is actually how it is and how a lot of people feel. Of course, this is the best side of it; just because we follow Christ doesn't make us perfect. Keep that in mind. We face the same troubles as everyone else.

That being said, here's the track list and links to Youtube vids. There are lyrics but nothing else. It's just the song although I know there are vids of some performances that I recommend you definitely check out.

Freedom is Here
No Reason to Hide
More Than Anything
King of All Days
Desert Song
Oh You Bring
Tear Down the Walls
Soon
You Hold Me Now
Arms Open Wide
Your Name High
Yours Forever

Get out your lawn chairs...

Happy Canada Day all you Canadians!!!!!!! I hope you enjoy(ed) all the BBQs, fireworks, parties and the like. For all those who are working during the summer, hopefully you take advantage of the day off :P

As for the Americans, I want to wish them a happy 4th of July!!! It's funny, I can't say July 4th ever again because of this holiday :P I know you guys do it up good. Enjoy the holiday, eat lots and celebrate till you're too tired to move. That's what the fireworks are for!

KPop Scene

Continuing with my Music Internationale series, our next stop is South Korea! I've found that all of their music, no matter what the style is always inventive and original; the artists ALWAYS stay true to themselves and try to come up with new ways to entertain their fans. So here's a list of artists I think you guys might like. There are so many so bare with me, I'll try and keep the list reasonable and let you guys explore for yourself.

BTW This list will contain artists from EVERY kind of musical genre to accommodate everyone's musical tastes.



~Clazziquai
They're a Korean/Canadian band. They fall into the jazz/trance/electronica genre. If you're looking for something new you should definitely check 'em out!
Clazziquai MySpace Clazziquai Homepage "Fill This Night" MV




~Epik High
Really popular indie hip hop group (I'd say closer to rap) made up of 3 guys. They're kind of like the Black Eyed Peas of Korea in my opinion. Tablo, their front man, is always doing collabos with other artists. They're very talented.
Epik High MySpace Epik High Homepage "Music is My Life" MV



~Big Bang
I'd consider them Hip Hop & R&B. Just like Epik High they're very popular in Korea. You'll see them trying different styles all the time. They sing, dance and rap so if you're looking for something a little less hardcore than rap you'll find it in them.
Big Bang MySpace Big Bang Homepage Haru Haru MV




~Se7en
One of the 3 Korean artists that are trying to make a splash in the American music scene. I'd consider his style to be more hip hop than anything. He's known for his breakdancing skills and has been topping the charts ever since he's debuted. He's also a popular actor in Korea and signer in Japan.
Se7en MySpace Se7en Homepage Live in Radio vid







~Rain
One of the 3 Korean artists that are trying to make a splash in the American music scene. He's also an actor but his style is more R&B. His dancing is also pretty sick! He was in the Speed Racer movie and is planning on releasing an English album sometime next year. He currently owns his own record label in Korea.
Rain MySpace Rain Homepage "I'm Coming" MV


~BoA
One of the 3 Korean artists that are trying to make a splash in the American music scene. She's currently released a full-length album in North America called Look Who's Talking. She's a model, singer and dancer and has been an entertainer since the age of 11 or 12! She's made it big in Korea, Japan and China. She's probably considered pop with hip hop influence.
BoA MySpace BoA Homepage "Aggressive" Fanvid



~Nell
I've only recently found out about them but they are soooo unique just like Clazziquai. They've collaborated with many artists like Epik High. They'd be considered Indie Rock. I love them. If you're looking for something completely new and not mainstream then go for this band. The lead's voice is smooth and the lyrics are so honest and beautiful.
Nell Homepage "It's Okay" MV~subtitles~



~Hyori
She's a pretty popular singer/ model in Korea. I'd classify her as pop but none of it is cheesy. She's a dancer and I've found does a lot ofpromotional music videos. If you don't know what I mean, look up her videos Anymotion and Anyclub.
Hyori MySpace "U Go Girl" MV




~K-Will
He's an AMAZING singer. His voice will blow your mind. Check out his covers of Mariah Carey's songs on youtube and you'll be hooked. There's not a lot of info on him but if you find any it'd be great if you could let me know. He kind of sticks to the ballads but still has a couple of up beat osngs here and there.
"Love is on the Way" ~live~ "Love 119" MV





~DBSK
One of the biggest boy bands in Korea. And when I say boy bands I don't mean like Backstreet Boys. Asia has recreated that scene. They're hip hop/pop and they're popular all over Asia. I can't even describe it. They can dance, sing and act and they give a mean acapella performance.
DBSK MySpace "Love in the Ice" ~live~ "Mirotic" MV

Eurovision 2009

So...this is kinda late but I just want to congratulate Norway on winning the 2009 Eurovision song contest!!!!! They had a record number of points in the show's history! I must admit, it's a very catchy song and the performance was soooooo good!!!! If you don't know what Eurovision is go to their website.

The following is a link to the winning song:

Alexander Rybak-Fairytale