Top Ear Candies: March 2012

I have stopped posting my Top Ten Ear Candies because somebody has been copying it, format and all. However, I have been re-inspired by the songs that I listen to in the radio nowadays so I guess it is time to bring it back.

10. In Your Arms- Kina Grannis- I love the jelly beans, and the rain. So I like this song… is that enough?

9. Push-Avril Lavine- I used to like her so much but I reckon this song does not suit her. I don’t mean to say it is bad because if it were, it would not have made it to my list. All I want to say is she has better songs and this is not one of them.

8. Give Your Heart a Break-Demi Lovato – I am not a fan of her. I actually did not know that she was the same person who sang “This is MEEEEEE” in Camp Rock. The voice is different. Anyway, what I like in this song is its play of words on the word ‘break.’ It is quite intellectual and creative. Nevertheless, the song is about a girl who tries to prove herself to the guy…wait. Isn’t that supposed to be the other way around?

7. Airplanes- B.O.B. – What I like about this song is the chorus part. Creative use of the language. It is about time that composers learn how to write poetries.

6. You Can Count on Me- Default – still in my playlist despite it not being current. It says a lot.

5. Somewhere in the Middle- Dishwalla - There is something about this song that makes me think that people do think clearer when they drink.

4. Stronger- Kelly Clarkson - This reminds of the other hey-I-am-not-the-loser-you-thought-I-was songs I have listened to way back 90s including Cher’s Strong Enough, Britney’s Stronger and Avril’s My Happy Ending. Kelly can give them a run for their money with her trio Behind These Hazel Eyes, Stronger, and Since You’ve Been Gone.

3. The One That Got Away- Katy Perry - I am starting to think that 2012 is for artists who can really compose and sing. This song has a nice groove to it, thanks to Katy’s voice and the lyrics is not something you will see in your daily newspaper. Great.

2. Drive by- Train - Train has always been in my playlist ever since their Drops of Jupiter days. It is no wonder this song is in my top ten. It is about time.

1. Not Over You- Gavin Degraw- I recommended this song to Syme yesterday and he has started loving it. At last we have songs about heartaches and heartbreaks that are not too angsty and bitter.

As you may have noticed, I do not have any Kpop song in my list anymore. I have stopped listening to new Kpop songs since GD of Bigbang admitted using drugs. I thought it is time to go back listening to music that I understand. I started listening to the radio once more for two purposes. One is to be updated. I have approximately 700 songs in my playlist but they are not the currently famous ones. More of, they are my favorite songs of all time. The second reason is to develop my listening and speaking skills. There are good disc jocks in the radio station I listen to every morning so I am quite inspired.

Given that I am a moody blogger, not to mention a very busy human being, I am not sure if  can post my ear candies daily and I guess that would be pretty boring. A weekly list tend to be repetitive. What I can promise is a monthly update of my Top Ear Candies.

What say you?

2011 Top Ear Candies

It has been awhile since I have written something about the songs I listen to. It is just appropriate that before the year ends, I must share those which have made most of my days, and accompanied me through my ups and downs--my 2011 playlist.

10th Departure & Gather (PoT official soundtracks). In the first quarter of 2011, I was addicted to Prince of Tennis. Along with my friends I made up worlds filled with the characters that we liked best and publish them in Fanfiction.net. I used to write fanfics while listening to these songs along with the rest of the tracks from the voice actors of the anime.

9th I Hate You & Ugly (2ne1). In Kpop I am quite YG biased and it all started with Bigbang. I  may not call myself a real Blackjack but one thing I know is I like the songs coming from this group. They have enough spunk and girl power. Though I can only understand bits and pieces of these songs, I can pretty much just settle with the melody.

8th Hands Up (Bigbang). Speaking of YG-biased. I like both Korean and Japanese versions of this song. Every time I listen to this, I feel like having my own concert.

7th Good Day (IU). I find this girl cute. The music video is also cute. I have this funny feeling though that she can be a good substitute for a missing SNSD member any time. But that is just me. The song has a nice feel to it, even though the message is quite sad. It helps that it is not English and I just have to imagine it is a very happy song. I like the bridge part best.

6th Head Over Feet (Alanis Morisette). This song speaks so much about how I started falling in love with the man I see myself growing old with.  It took me years to appreciate this song in its entirety. Now I know that feeling as if the song was written for me or could have been composed by me. Hehe.

5th For Good- (Wicked). "Like a comet pulled from orbit as it passes the sun...Like a stream that meets a boulder halfway through the wood...who can say if I have been changed for the better but because I knew you...I have been changed for good."  I was in the church when I first heard this song performed then by a member of the music team. Then, Simon recommended the musical Wicked and I found out that this song was a part of it. As soon as I got a copy of the song, I kept on playing it. It's quite addictive particularly if I want to feel lonely (sometimes people like me 'want' to feel lonely, believe it or not). I feel like crying every time I wholeheartedly listen to it while thinking of my beau. Hehe.

4th You Can Count on Me (Default). Since I am using his phone, I get to listen to his playlist and one of the tracks is this. I like it, being alternative/grunge. The lyrics is quite mushy but the melody tones it down. It is one of the songs that I sing to him.

3rd I Believe (Fantasia). I haven't created a playlist for confidence-related songs  but once I do, I'll make sure this is a part of it. I know that I'm pretty arrogant and I don't seem to need this song but from time to time I need a boost for my ego. I may not be at the pinnacle of my career yet (not yet I hope because that would mean I could never go any higher), I know that I am already a step toward it. That is saying something.

2nd Defying Gravity (Wicked). I hate it when people tell me what I can't do. I laugh at those who tell me things that I do best. I think these are the things that I should declare.

"So for those who ground me, take a message back from me...Nobody, in all of Oz, nor wizard that there is or was, is ever gonna bring me down."

1st Something Right (Westlife). Although this is a love song and it's nowhere famous last year (I got the song two years ago), this speaks for what I am feeling today. There have been a lot of things I have done in 2011 that are remarkable. I have been to different places, and met different people. I have made so many decisions. I have been turning my life around.

I am still surrounded by tribulations but that doesn't mean I am just going to surrender.  I am still standing.There are things and people that remind me that I am indeed in the right place, in the right situation.

I must be doing something right.

That is about it for my 2011 playlist. I hope I can listen to some real good songs this year. I think I need to revamp my playlist, have enough room for new things. Right.

one percent

Someone: Armo, can you play Neon tonight?


Armo: (bothered) Oh. Um, it's Yael you should talk with. I only go along with his plans. So... talk to Yael.


Someone: Alright, thanks. (walking toward Yael) Hey Yael, Yael. Can you please, please, play Neon.


Yael: Ah, yeah, we can play it but I think people would ... would fall asleep, you know, because, only about one percent of them knows the song--


Someone: And that one percent would be me (laughing).


Yael: (laughing) Right right. I like the song too. It's one of the songs we didn't actually release, and that's the problem, if we play it, they will--


Someone: Right, fall asleep. (walking away) That's ok...thanks.
-----


That someone was me. Hehe.

Wicked... and Simon

Ever since Simon shared to me a song from the musical WICKED, I got hooked, I downloaded the rest of the songs from the said musical, saw some parts in Youtube and got crazy looking for the Ebook only to find out that I had downloaded the ebooks months ago and it has been in my hard drive all along.

Wicked, by the way for those who are new to Gregory Maguire's fictions, is a fanfiction (I prefer using that word) of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, focusing on the wicked witch of the west, not to mention green, Elphaba.

I have been trying to read it for two days now using my phone. I have a problem with the font though because it is tiny. Of course I can zoom it any time I want but that means using the left and right button which is bothersome. I want the text to at least fit the screen decently. This however is uncontrollable, the ebook being in pdf file and made by someone I do not know to whom I must give credit. What is controllable is the type of phone that I use...which is far from being replaced, as far as November is from December. The only thing I can do is bear reading the 612-page ebook. I am on 254 by the way, not that far from the glorious ending.

The book seems very different from the play and even from the book and I am bothered by its highly political inclination since I have always interpreted Wizard of Oz as children's literature.  However as they say, children's lit have more sense than how they look so probably there is sense in the politics and religion I am being bombarded with in the book.

I will try my best looking for the play because I am totally mesmerized by Kristin Chenoweth's and Idina Menzel's voices.

idina menzel (elphaba, green) and kristin chenoweth (galinda, fair)

Since this is all Simon's fault, I will attempt to bully him in giving me a copy. I will try. Simon is not the type that I can exactly bully because he is a dear. And I cannot blame him for bewitching me into liking this musical because, well it's likable. Hmf. But I really have to have my hands on the musical so Simon, please, I think a loooooong blog entry about this whole Wicked thing is enough a clue that I want the musical. Please.

time to shuffle-Crazy

The Rules:

1. Put your ITunes, Windows Media Player etc. on shuffle.

2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.

3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.

=====================

1. IF SOMEONE SAYS 'ARE YOU OKAY' YOU SAY?

-Until I fall in love again - david pomeranz (oh boy, this is weird)

2. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?

-White Horse- taylor swift (eh?)

3. WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?

-Someday-nickleback (this is going nowhere)

4. HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?

-Topsy Turvy- from disney's hunchback of notredame (now that's saying something)

5. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?

-Cry- mandy moore (what?!!)

6. WHAT'S YOUR MOTTO?

-I'll be- edwin mccain ( hehe...)

  

7. WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?

-I hate you-2pm (haha...this is great)

  

8. WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?

-So small -carrie underwood (er--right)

9. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?

-wo nan guo-5566 ( i was about to cheat myself and press the next button. ..this is crazy)

10. WHAT IS 2 + 2?

-Breathing-lifehouse (hmmm)

11. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?

-You're beautiful-jason blunt (ha!)

  

12. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?

-Gather- ao to bin to kan (prince of tennis ost--yahoo...i'll be in tenimyu...haha)

13. WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?

-Stop and stare-one republic (hehe...this makes sense)

  

14. WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?

-Tearing up my heart-n'sync (what the...my wedding's going to be groovy.)

15. WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?

-After the love has gone-earth wind and fire (this is amazing.)

16. WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/lINTEREST?

-Rock with you-michael jackson (hang on ...i am still laughing

17. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?

-Only one day -SS501 (eh?)

18. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?

-fall for you--second hand serenade (hmmm) 

19. WHAT DO YOU WANT RIGHT NOW?

-I, Ng--shiraishi kuronosuke ( i should have set my playlist with all the english songs before i answered this)

20. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?

-Ikaw pa rin--Juana (this should have been my revenge for number 7 but crap)

21. WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?

-crazy -simple plan....(yes this is)

15042011 my top ear candies

After months of hiatus, I am back.




1. Shining- Yuki Shirai
2. Departures- Aozu and Cap to Bin
3. Iroasenai ano sora e- Stones
4. Fly High, Sky High
5. Driving Myself- Hiro X
6. Can't Keep On Loving You- Eliot Yamin
7. Gather- Ao To Bin To Kan
8. Hands Up- Bigbang
9. I believe- Fantasia
10. Don't Go Home, Baby- Gdragon and Top


The list will make sense to those who are into anime particularly Prince of Tennis. There are some English songs here and there and well, my playlist won't be complete without Bigbang.

15042011 my top ear candies

After months of hiatus, I am back.




1. Shining- Yuki Shirai
2. Departures- Aozu and Cap to Bin
3. Iroasenai ano sora e- Stones
4. Fly High, Sky High
5. Driving Myself- Hiro X
6. Can't Keep On Loving You- Eliot Yamin
7. Gather- Ao To Bin To Kan
8. Hands Up- Bigbang
9. I believe- Fantasia
10. Don't Go Home, Baby- Gdragon and Top


The list will make sense to those who are into anime particularly Prince of Tennis. There are some English songs here and there and well, my playlist won't be complete without Bigbang.

bigbang

Friends and acquaintances often tell me that my favorite music is rock.

Funny that they tell me about it and not wait for confirmation. Not that I mind. In fact, I find it awesome that they are concerned about what I listen to.

They are not totally wrong though. I like it. But I don’t stick with it. I am quite promiscuous in music. It all depends on my mood—but most of the time it’s the other way around: music dictates my mood. Rather than feel empty for a long time, I go to music that will give me more life. Since love songs will end up making me cheesy, and dance songs make me hyper, then the next best thing is alternative music.  However, nothing beats official soundtracks of animations and films as they have better substance and quality.

From time to time, I deviate from my usual themes though. I look for new songs and experiment to figure out if they are good ear candies or plain crap.

Through that experiment, I found Bigbang. It is a Korean group composed of 5 members. I have been fond of them since 2008. From then on, I keep track of the group’s activities. They occupy a good number of slots in my playlist. Sometimes they sing rock or ballad. They have sung an OST too. Most of the time they play hiphop. What makes them a good band for me is they keep on exceeding my expectations.

One good clue of how much I like them is: the first time that I bought a CD and not waited for the songs to be converted to MP3 and be available on line was when I bought Bigbang’s Japanese album.

Now that I am saying this to the whole nation, probably nobody will tell me that my favorite music is rock. Otherwise, I will give that person a big bang.

0911 my top ear candies

*wah…I woke up early to retain my record of “days not late for work” only to turn in our office 45 minutes late. How bad can it get…I usually love rain…and heaven gave me much time admiring it in its glory…stuck in 2-hour traffic… creep.

1.       alanis morisette- ironic—this song really summarizes everything for me

2.       train- calling all angels—I should have called them earlier…

3.       shinee- hello—how I wished someone had said a “hello” to me in the ride…

4.       goo goo dolls-name—I even almost forgot my name back there

5.       the script- end where I begin—wah…I wish my favorite day would end

6.       faber drive- second chance—I blew my chances already

7.       lifehouse- storm—right, lifehouse, thank you

8.       nickleback- savin me—how I wish

9.       remy zero—save me—really now…this one of the few moments that I think the world needs a superhero

10.   coldplay—fix you—after all is said and done, yup, I think I need fixing

2510 my top ear candies

How I wish I could get a hang of delivering speeches…am getting pretty clammy. Only a few hours left…

1.      Augustana- Not alone

2.      The All American Rejects- It Ends Tonight

3.      Dishwalla- Angels or Devils

4.      Lifehouse- Storm

5.      2pm- I Hate You

6.      Lighthouse family- High

7.      2NE1- Clap Your Hands

8.      Secondhand serenade- Half Alive

9.      Faber Drive- Second Chance

10.  Faber Drive- It ends

had enough

After listening to Lifehouse’s Had Enough (featuring Daughtry—I didn’t know that two of my favorite bands collaborated in this song which steadily grows on me) while looking at Jupiter (yes, the brightest not-twinkling “star” we can see in our night sky is Jupiter) 2 am of October 14th, I thought it all made sense. Hehe. 

I’m finally saying goodbye (or probably said it already without realizing) and I’m quite happy about it.

Affection can really be a burden.

Loneliness pacing up and down these hallways
Secondguessing every thought
Mystified, just spinning ‘round in circles
Drowning in the silent screaming with nothing left to say

Everytime I reach for you, there’s no one there to hold on to
Nothing left for me to miss, I’m letting go, letting go of this
Lost my mind thinking it through, the light inside has left me too
Now I know what empty is, I’ve had enough, I’ve had enough of this.

I believe that love should be a reason
To give and get back in return (to give and get back in return)
I wanna breathe in a new beginning
With someone who will wrap her arms around what’s left of me

Everytime I reach for you, there’s no one there to hold onto
Nothing left for me to miss, I’m letting go, letting go of this
Lost my mind thinking it through, the light inside has left me too
Now I know what empty is, I’ve had enough, I’ve had enough of this.

Inside I’m barely holding on
There’s something that’s already gone
Inside of me a world is in this all alone

Everytime I reach for you, there’s no one there to hold on to
Nothing left for me to miss, I’m letting go of this
Lost my mind thinking it through, the light inside has left me too
Now I know what empty is, I’ve had enough, I’ve had enough of this.

Everytime I reach for you, there’s no one there to hold on to
Nothing left for me to miss, I’m letting go, letting go of this
Lost my mind thinking it through, the light inside has left me tooNow I know what empty is, I’ve had enough, had enough of this
Oh whoa, oh, I’ve had enough, had enough of this