STUDIO APARTMENT

Friday, March 28, 2008

감동했단 나...

사랑은 오래 참고 사랑은 온유하며 투기하는 자가 되지 아니하며 사랑은 자랑하지 아니하며 교만하지 아니하며 무례히 행치 아니하며 자기의 유익을 구치 아니하며 성내지 아니하며 악한 것을 생각지 아니하며 불의를 기뻐하지 아니하며 진리와 함께 기뻐하고 모든 것을 참으며 모든 것을 맏으며 모든 것을 바라며 모든 것을 견디느니라.
(고린도전서 13:4-6)

感動した私...
キリスト教と聖書の興味がありませんが、人間と宗教の関係はとても面白いと思う。英語、日本語、韓国語も書かれた聖書を一緒に読んでいたからリエちゃんが私の一番好きなところを韓国語で教えてくれた (コリントの信徒への手紙13章4-6節)。キリスト教を信じていなくても、リエちゃんの心からの聖書の説明で感動した。そんなに素直な話で、キリスト教の信じている人をもっと分かって来た気がした。

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

ayu-mi-x 6 / SILVER & GOLD

As per usual, Hamasaki Ayumi (浜崎あゆみ) has recently released a couple of remix albums that cover the last few releases she's had. Usually I wouldn't bother to mention any of them since she has so many releases, but the DJs she had mix her songs this time are amazing. It's a pretty star studded list.

Like her first ayu-mi-x album, there are "2 sides" (she's done club/orchestra and black/white before, so this time it's gold/silver). I haven't found any particular musical difference between the two sides like in her previous ones. (Ex. On her black/white releases, the black songs were sad and the white ones were more upbeat.) It's been a while since her last club mix releases, so this should be interesting.

But anyway, on to the DJs!!
The ones that originally caught my attention: dj KENTARO (DMC Champion. Saw him be a judge for the DMC Japan competition last summer. Seriously crazy...and has the gold turntables to prove it), Shinichi Osawa (MONDO GROSSO), ARMAND VAN HELDEN (who did GHETTOBLASTER), and Daishi Dance (piano melody/house mixmaster). Not to say the other DJs aren't good, because all of the mixes are great, but these are the ones I knew before I listened to the album. Here's the tracklists...definitely worth checking out if you like mix/club music.


ayu-mi-x 6 -GOLD-

1. STEP You [The Young Punx Remix]
2. Moments [dj KENTARO Remix]
3. Talkin' 2 Myself [Stonebridge Remix]
4. Beautiful Fighters [MSTRKRFT Remix]
5. INSPIRE [ARMAND VAN HELDEN Remix]
6. Greatful Days [Para One Remix]
7. Startin' [Shinichi Osawa Remix]
8. Glitter [Soul Central Remix]
9. BLUE BIRD [7TH GATE Remix]
10. Ourselves [Coldcut Remix]
11. Ladies Night [AFRA & INCREDIBLE BEATBOX BAND Remix]
12. HAPPY ENDING [MAD PROFESSOR Remix]


ayu-mi-x 6 -SILVER-

1. GAME [YOJI Remix]
2. Together When... [CO-FUSION Remix]
3. No Way To Say [High Contrast Remix]
4. alterna [FREEFORM FIVE Remix]
5. Heaven [Daishi Dance Remix]
6. fated [MAKOTO Remix]
7. About You [Black Strobe Remix]
8. decision [Force of Nature Remix]
9. JEWEL [STEPHANIE POMPOUGNAC]
10. CAROLS [PLAYGROUP Remix]
11. Part of Me [Carl Craig Remix]
12. walking proud [CALM Remix]

Fun stuff. It's taking a while to listen to, but it's a nice change of pace from all her regular releases that they play everywhere. Some of the songs I hate in their original release, but love in remixed form. XD The verdict? GOLD > SILVER

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Art from Hongdae area in Seoul

I just got back from visiting South Korea yesterday (Seoul and Gyeongju). I stayed in the Hongik University area so there were a lot of students and great nightlife there. We saw a ton of artwork and graffiti all over the place, so I started taking pictures. One of the more 'mysterious' things we kept seeing was a heart with the letters 'YOU' in it, sometimes accompanied by 'NANA' or 'NANA IS REAL'. It was literally everwhere in the area.

There were also some pretty great murals and stencils around. Take a look:







There are quite a few more, but I'll stop there... =)

Friday, February 29, 2008

Jero (ジェロ)

I was walking around in HMV (I like to visit music stores a lot since things change quickly..) and I noticed an advertisement for enka that really surprised me. It was a black guy singing. So I went home and looked him up. Jero is part Black part, Japanese and learned to appreciated enka from his grandmother. I don't know that much about enka, but he sounds good to me, though when I saw the video it was a bit jarring. The whole cultural fusion/unexpected foreigner singing in Japanese (enka no less) takes a little getting used to. This song is "海雪"(Ocean Snow).



He is quite buzzworthy though, there aren't even many Japanese people who bother with enka anymore. Go Jero!

Friday, February 22, 2008

BLT Proposal

Being a fan of Justin Lin's film, "Better Luck Tomorrow" I subscribed to Parry Shen's blog a long time ago. Just recently he posted footage he used as his wedding proposal, which basically reworked his character's birthday scene. If you haven't seen BLT, this probably won't make any sense, but if you have, it's absolutely genius...and absolutely hilarious. Enjoy!



Check out Shen's blog for more detail: http://www.xanga.com/ParryShen

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Kashiwa Sato (佐藤可士和)

I didn't know anything about this designer until just recently, but apparently I've been seeing Kashiwa Sato's designs all over the place, I just didn't know he was responsible for them.


He's created a ton of things I see all the time, like the Uniqlo Harajuku UT store, packaging and advertising for Smap, Mr. Children and Tsutaya,and the logos for Rakuten Ichiba (the online shopping website I bought my rice cooker from). Then there's Docomo, Meiji University, Issey Miyake, and Loft. Even PARCO! (I just went there for the PIECE OF PEACE exhibit.) He's EVERYWHERE. It's really amazing just how much of his work I've seen without knowing it. If you want to see someone who's design work is well done, versatile, and successful, Sato's your guy. His design uses a lot of bold colors and boxy shapes, but works out really well, especially in terms of using text.


For more of his work, check his website: kashiwasato.com

Justin Nozuka

I just recently listened to Justin Nozuka's album "Holly" and it's a great, solid album, one of the best ones I've heard in a while. Unlike his brother (R&B singer George Nozuka), he sings in a sort of acoustic-soul style that sounds really good. His voice is pretty intense, and some of the songs also have some really strong lyrics, but it's a good listen. The last track is a mix of singing and spoken word, a collaboration with his other brother, Philip.


Track List:
1. Down In A Cold Dirty Well
2. Golden Train
3. Be Back Soon
4. Mr. Therapy Man
5. Supposed to Grow Old
6. After Tonight
7. Criminal
8. I'm in Peace
9. Oh Momma
10. Save Him
11. If I Gave You My Life
12. Don't Listen To A Word You Heard

I recommend tracks 1, 4, 6, 7, and 10. But really, the whole album is good. =)
I'm not sure how popular he is since he's mainly in the Canadian market right now (Half American, half Japanese-American born, raised in Canada), but hopefully it'll get to the US, and hey, maybe Japan too, after all, his I've seen his brother's stuff here.