Korean artists: checklist February

I cannot believe it has been 6 months since I came to Korea! Let’s see which artists me and my friends have seen in the past few months:

To start of with some big names:

• PSY – I am so happy so have seen him performing! My god, this man has so much energy and such a charisma! Ten seconds after he appeared on stage the whole stadium was already jumping up and down.
• Yiruma –  His Christmas concert ‘Picture Me’ was magical. It was such a special experience and while he was playing River flows in You I just couldn’t stop crying.
  

  
• BTS – okay Rap Monster wasn’t there, but still… BTS… was amazing!
  Those fanchants just make me feel proud…

 

• Sechskies – the feels 😥 I felt so honored to be able to see them live on the Busan One Asia Festival… They are Hallyu legends! And their fanclub YellowKies was simply the best! Look at all those yellow light sticks!
  
• In Suni – what a woman! Love her powerful voice and she was also the only person who came off the stage to greet and interact with the fans.
• BAP – front seats baby!
• Girls’ Generation (SNSD) – It was great seeing Lionheart, but what really got me going was Gee! Can’t believe that I was able to hear it live once again (memories of SM Town in Paris~~~~)

Let’s see… then there was also Red Velvet, Girls Day, B1A4, Block B, I.O.I, Apink and Infinite.

That’s it for today! I will try to keep you guys updated! ^^

Crayon popping in Sardinia

A few weeks ago I traveled Sardinia (Italy) by scooter. Our little Berty – yes, we named the scooter – brought us to such wonderful places!  I had never been to Sardinia and I had never ridden a scooter, but it was a great experience. ❤ Sardinia is simply so beautiful! Those beaches, those mountains! The colour of the water, the warm sun, the good food,…

As it was my first time riding a scooter, I couldn’t resist making a Crayon Pop video parody while wearing that funny helmet. My boyfriend and I filmed the video by the side of the road while taking a rest, so we did not prepare anything beforehand. We couldn’t even play the music. That’s why the choreo is pretty random and the ‘ group members’ make quite some synchronization mistakes… But we had so much FUN while making the video! 😀 So I still feel pretty happy with the result.

 

So here it is… My (very short and very unprofessional) impromptu Crayon Pop “bar bar bar” parody!!!

Lots of Love
Misty

 

JYP parody against domestic violence

Hey everyone!
I hope you all had a lovely Monday! Here in Belgium, mother nature decided to play around a bit. I’ve seen blue sky, grey clouds, sun, rain and even hail!

Today I wanted to share a wonderful video with you. Most kpop addicts must know JYP’s “Who’s your mama”, right? My apologies to the fans, but I don’t like this song. Now don’t get mad at me, but let me explain first.
I actually love the rythm and the awesome vibe, but I don’t like the lyrics and the music video. I enjoy listening to JYP’s music while working out and “Who’s your mama” has a really great beat and is super catchy.
But seriously… this time it’s just too much. The way the song objectifies women is not okay for me.

BUT… that’s not what this post is about! No, the wonderful video I want to share is not JYP’s music video!

I found a lovely “Who’s your mama” parody and you should really check it out! The lyrics got changed and some sketches were added in order to raise awareness of domestic violence in Korea. As in most countries, this issue is still a bit of a taboo. But government and several NGO’s are trying hard to raise awareness of this problem and establish shelters and group homes for victims.

The government also has emergency hotline centers for women who are victims of violence, including victims of domestic violence. The “1366” hotline offers counselling, protection and emergency services. According to UN Refugee Agency the centers help approximately 160,000 victims of all types of violence per year. The 1366 centers also provide interpretation services in eight languages in addition to Korean and a separate national 1577-1366 hotline that serves migrant women exclusively.

Anyway, press play, watch the parody and support this great initiative!

 

In the meanwhile, I will do my cardio warm-up and listen to JYP’s rythm without getting annoyed by the lyrics 😉
Lot’s of Love
Misty

Introducing: Geomungo Factory

Hey everyone!!!
Today I want to introduce a great Korean group called Geomungo Factory to all of you. The four members use traditional Korean instruments (geomungo and gayageum) to create amazing contemporary music.

You can find more information about them by clicking the following link: sonicbirds.com

I went to their concert in Brussels and I was simply blown away by their performance! They were so so good! I really couldn’t get enough of it! The sounds Geomungo Factory created that evening were so beautiful and deep and they really touched my heart.

Because the four members all have their own style and they all like different kinds of music, their songs are creative mixes of different musical genres. It was difficult to decide which song to chose for this post, but I think “Fly to the Sky“, “Geomungo&Tango” and “Bluebird” are all so great and can serve as a lovely introduction to these amazing artists.

Introducing: The Scabs

On Sunday 7th February Berre Bergen passed away. Another sad moment for the Belgian music industry. Bergen was a very talented musician and producer and he used to play the bass for a really great group called The Scabs. So no Korean music this time, but instead I want to introduce this Belgian punk rockband to you. I won’t post too much information, but I’ll just recommend you two songs 🙂

90’s Kpop list 2!

Hello there kpop fans!

A few months ago, Jay and I made a list with our favourite kpop songs from the 90’s!
You can check it here: Our top 90’s kpop songs

Now, here is a second list with really great 90’s kpop. The songs are so lovely and bubbly, I hope you like them! 

Pansori: meeting master Ahn Sukseon

As I mentioned before, I really love many different kinds of music… and one of the genres I really enjoy listening to is Pansori.

I’m not going to give too much information about it, but rather a small intro.

Pansori is a form of traditional Korean music in which a single singer tells a story. The vocalist is generally accompanied by a drummer who plays the buk. Singing pansori requires a lot of difficult vocal techniques. Students learn these techniques by listening and copying their teacher.

I actually think that pansori could be described as… the opera from the East. And Korea’s primadonna would then definitely be Ahn Suk-seon (안숙선).
Ahn Suk-seon is named “the nation’s Important Intangible Cultural Asset No. 23 and the artistic-talent holder of gayageum-sanjo and byeongchang.” I really really admire her so much!

I had the opportunity to see her performing in Brussels and Ahn Suk-seon was simply amazing! I totally understand why she is a pansori master. Her voice, her facial expressions, her emotions… it was all so wonderful. She sang the Heungbuga. A famous story about a poor but good man. 

Introducing: Sunwoo Jung-Ah

On the 3rd of October I went to a collaboration concert of Sunwoo Jung-ah (Korean artist) and Sioen (Belgian artist) at the AB in Brussels as part of the Korean Music festival 2015. I heard about Sunwoo Jung-A before because she produced songs for 2NE1, but I didn’t really know much about her.

Anyway, I really fell in love with her jazz music during the concert. Singing live, her voice was even stronger and more beautiful than recorded I think. Although her English wasn’t that good, she always tried to explain what her songs were about and what they meant to her. She really looked super beautiful and cool on stage. I definitely became a fan 😉

So I will just share this beautiful song with you (one of her more positive songs hehe)

And while I’m at it… I also want to share one of SIOEN’s songs called “Hongdae”. Yes, it is referring to the district near Hongik University, famous for its night life and urban art. I heard this song for the first time during the concert and I really missed those warm summer nights in Hongdae.

Anyway, let me know what you think of the songs. ❤

Lots of Love
Misty

Our top 90’s kpop songs.

So, last week Jay and I selected our top 90’s South Korean pop songs for you! Actually I’m no longer able to follow the recent trends, there are simply too many artists… There are tons of groups debuting and having come-backs and with all the stuff I have to do for school, my head is just… uhh full… 😀 So instead I want to introduce some older songs to you ^_^

We like every song a lot and as our preferences often depend on our mood, I decided to put them in a random order…