What This MUSIC! - Articles

Epik High Is Here — Lesson Zero

2021-01-16T00:00:00+00:00

This is “Lesson Zero”, track 1 taken from their new 10th studio album “Epik High Is Here 上” to be released tomorrow.

As Tablo puts it in their “Epik High Is Here” documentary, instead of having a Lesson 6, Tablo says:

“but after all this time, when looking back, instead of all the things I’ve wanted to learn and have learned so far, there is more that I need to unlearn. So like going in reverse. I need to give back some of the things I’ve learned. This is what I’ve been thinking more and more recently.”

Epik High has lessons in their albums starting with their debut album, “Map of the Human Soul”.

“Map of the Human Soul” (Debut studio album) — “Lesson One (Tablo’s Word)” ¹
“High Society” (Second studio album) — “Lesson 2 (Sunset)” ²
“Swan Songs” (Third studio album) — “Lesson 3 (MC)” ³
“[e]” (Sixth studio album) — “Lesson 4” ⁴
“Shoebox” (Eighth studio album) — “Lesson 5 (Timeline)” ⁵

Epik High has also made a documentary of their new studio album, “Epik High Is Here”, where they talk about the album and each individual songs.

More About Epik High

References

Epik High (에픽하이) — 빈차 (Home Is Far Away) ft. 오혁 of Hyukoh

2021-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

The older I get, the more afraid I become.
I’m running but my feet and my heart have forgotten why.
Dreams have become baggage.
My only option is to leave them and keep running.

“Home Is Far Away” is a song that some of us can relate to. It talks about, depending on how you would interpret it, letting go of your dream(s) or things that you once enjoyed doing to meet other (people’s) expectations; and everyone of us is just so disconnected.

Epik High is a hip-hop/rap group from South Korea and it comprises of Tablo, DJ Tukutz and Mithra Jin. I started listening to Epik High because of Tablo, where he was in a KBS variety show called “The Return of Superman”, which I used to watch ¹.

This song is from their ninth studio album “We’ve Done Something Wonderful” (2017) and it is one out of the two singles from this album with the other one being 연애소설 (Love Story) ft. IU (어이유) ². At the end of “Home Is Far Away”, you would hear a snippet of 연애소설 (Love Story).

Take a listen to the lyrics (turn on the caption for English) and you’ll understand why. Tablo has taken the effort to transcribe the lyrics to English and added them to this YouTube video. Also, read the comments on this YouTube video on other people’s experiences related to this song.

BONUS #1: Fan-made Music Film Ft. 소네시대 (Girls Generation)

Holgacity, please correct me if I am wrong, is based in Thailand and they are a big fan of Girls Generation. I have to say that the work they have put in to make all these videos are amazing.

For this music film, they have used Epik High’s “Home Is Far Away” as the music. It fits so well because of the struggles the girls have gone through throughout their career as a K-Pop group and also as individuals.

See if you can spot all nine of them. Jessica might be a bit hard to find. Otherwise, click here to find out the hidden details.

BONUS #2: Epik High’s New Album (2021)

Epik High has just announced on their social media that their tenth studio album, “Epik High Is Here” (Part 1) will be released on 18 January, 2021.

Epik High Is Here (Part 1)

The Tablo Podcast

Tablo had a podcast that he did with Dive Studios. Although Tablo has recorded its final episode (#56), all the episodes are still available on the respective podcasts streams (links are available below). Tablo talks about not only music-related topics, but also other interesting, serious and random ones. For example, in episode #16, Tablo shared two late night snack recipes. Well, if listening to all 56 episodes is a bit too much, you can listen to the highlights instead.

More About Epik High

References

Namewee 黄明志 — My Family ft. 5Forty2 & The Real Masta Clan

2020-12-18T00:00:00+00:00

“My Family”, is the OST to Namewee’s latest film, “BABI” and it features both 5Forty2 and The Real Masta Clan (previously known as Ashtaka). This song is nominated in Taipei’s Golden Horse Film Festival (2020) in the “Best Original Film Song” category ¹. Though, this is not their first collaboration. They have worked together on other Namewee’s songs such as Wake UP!, We Are Gangster and BANGLASIA Gong Xi Fa Cai.

It starts with a children’s song sang in a mystical way giving the listeners an eerie feeling. It is clever how it is used not only to set the mood of the song but also as a way to transition to each of Namewee’s, 5Forty2’s and The Real Masta Clan’s parts.

The song has a very strong message with regards to the education system in Malaysia. I believe the three of them have done well to convey their own perspectives on the matter. To know more about the story behind the song, you can watch The Making of “Happy Family” by Namewee below.

5Forty2 has also recorded a video whereby Phonic, DMent Si Lain and NanaMerah explained the meaning behind each of their parts in the song.

Malaysians will have to find alternative means to watch the film “BABI” as it will not be screened in cinemas in Malaysia as he didn’t apply for it knowing it will not be approved ². Namewee has also confirmed that this film will not be available on other streaming platforms as well such as Netflix, YouTube, etc.

Namewee is no stranger to controversy from his work and having them banned, not only in Malaysia ³ ⁴. He is a talented singer, song writer, performer, film director, etc. Although there are some who applaud him for speaking on sensitive topics, there are also those who see his effort as a national threat, thus police reports have been lodged ⁵ ⁶. In true Namewee fashion, he has made a video starting with him having a few sips of beer before calling out on these people.

I conclude this post with Phonic and NanaMerah discussing on this topic in this YouTube video “Sembang Mambang: Namewee Babi #namewee #babi”. It is important that we should not judge a book by its cover without knowing the content.

More About Namewee, 5Forty2 and The Real Masta Clan

References

大象體操 Elephant Gym — 半個 (Half)

2020-10-18T00:00:00+00:00

Elephant Gym’s 半個 (Half) stands out in their 水底 (Underwater) album, personally for me. Firstly because there are not many of their songs where they use a piano. Secondly, the piano somehow gave the song a different kind of vibe.

The composition of 半個 started with the MV and no music. The director, Lee Yen Hsun (李彥勳), shot the MV based on an old Chinese song (If I heard it correctly in their interview with @CINEMA SESSIONS, the song was 李心潔’s 爱錯) and they then wrote the song based on the MV ¹.

The YouTube video above is their live recording with CINEMA SESSIONS at YuChen Studios. You can find the MV for this song here.

When I listen to songs, I often focus more on the bass and drum. And this is definitely one of the reasons that attracted me to Elephant Gym. KT Chang has a very unique way of playing the bass, something you don’t see and hear often. You’ll also notice that she uses finger tapping to create some of the interesting harmonics. This mixes very well with Tell Chang’s rhythm and harmony on the guitar and piano, and Chia-Chin’s dynamic drumming style.

Other Elephant Gym’s performances

Megaport Music Festical (大港開唱) 2018

This was their performance at the Megaport Music Festival (大港開唱) 2018. If I recall correctly, this video was the first time I listened to their songs.

Audiotree Live Session

Elephant Gym did a session with AudioTree when they toured the US in 2019. If you notice, KT threw her headphones mid-song when they did their first song, 水底.

More About Elephant Gym

References

In the “Behind the Scene” video with @CINEMA SESSIONS, Elephant Gym talked about their song 半個 at around 3:31 ↩

RIP Eddie Van Halen

2020-10-11T00:00:00+00:00

The world lost Eddie Van Halen, another great musician, on October 6, 2020.

When I hear the name Eddie Van Halen, the few things that come to mind are an astounding guitar virtuoso, his band Van Halen, the songs “Eruption” and “Jump”, Back to the Future and Michael Jackson’s Beat It. I have to admit, I am not much of a Van Halen fan. But I admire Eddie Van Halen’s guitar playing style.

The very first time I heard the name Van Halen was in the film Back to the Future. This is when Marty McFly (played by Michael J. Fox) accidentally travelled back in time to 1955. Marty wanted to scare his then-teenage father, George, to listen to him. With a spacesuit on and headphones on sleeping George, Marty then put in a cassette tape labelled “Edward Van Halen” into his walkman and played it. The screaming and wailing of the guitar woke and frightened George ¹.

And the guitar solo on Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”, that was Eddie Van Halen. He not only recorded it, he also re-arranged the song ².

I have always thought of Eddie Van Halen as one of the guitar greats who popularised guitar tapping, creating those incredible harmonics. But little did I know that he is also an innovator. He built the Frankenstrat, whereby he combined the body of a Fender Stratocaster with the Gibson’s humbucking bridge pickup. You can learn more about this side of Eddie Van Halen in the video below of an interview he did on “Is Rock ‘n’ Roll All About Reinvention”.

Thank you for everything, Eddie. RIP.

More About Van Halen

References

Yoyoka (よよか) and Billy Sheehan with Friends Cover Mr. Big's Take Cover

2020-10-04T00:00:00+00:00

Yoyoka (よよか) plays the drums like a pro, and she is only ten years old. Another cool fact is she plays in the band “KaneaiYoyoka”, which comprises of her family members – Yoyoka on drums, her mother on guitar, her father on bass and her brother on vocals ¹.

This is one of the latest covers she did (as of this writing) and it features Paulie Z on vocals, Brandon Paul on guitar, and Mr. Big’s very own Billy Sheehan on bass. Billy is one of the greatest bass players and has played in bands such as Mr. Big, The Winery Dogs and Sons of Apollo just to name a few.

“Take Cover” is from Mr. Big’s “Hey Man” album back in 1996. And this album is their last album with Paul Gilbert before his return in the album “What If…” ².

I bet Pat Torpey, God rest his soul, would be very happy to watch this.

Other Amazing Drum Covers by Yoyoka

More About Yoyoka, Billy Sheehan, Paulie Z and Brandon Paul

References

Yoyoka and her family band, KaneaiYoyoka, in the MV of their original song, Switch on! ↩
Wikipedia: Mr. Big’s “Hey Man” album ↩

ROTTI — Solanin (ソラニン)

2020-09-27T00:00:00+00:00

Solanin (ソラニン) is a japanese manga by Inio Asano. In 2010, a live-action film was made with Aoi Miyazaki playing the role of Meiko.

The Synopsis of the story is (Source: IMDb¹)

Meiko and Taneda are a couple graduated from university two years ago. Unhappy with their lives, Meiko quits her job and encourages Taneda to have this band become professional. They ultimately fail when their CDs are rejected by the record companies. Realizing he has to return to his menial profession and have failed in his dream, Taneda speeds through a red light on his motorcycle and dies in a traffic accident. After his death, Meiko takes over Taneda’s position in the band to find the meaning of life. After performing a small gig, the plot concludes with Meiko taking up a new job and the other band members returning to their daily regimen.

Taneda’s band is called ROTTI, which he formed with his friends from university, Jiro and Kato. He has always wished to make it big with his band. Solanin was the song he wrote but never got a chance to show it to the world. After Taneda’s passing, Meiko picked up Taneda’s guitar and joined the band. And they played Solanin in their last performance.

The lyrics for Solanin, the song, was written by Inio Asano and the music was composed by Asian Kung-Fu Generation². The YouTube video above is a live recording of the scene where ROTTI performed ささかな and Solanin. I personally prefer this version of the song Solanin than AKFG’s. When you listen to Aoi Miyazaki sing it, you can somehow feel the message in the song.

English version of the lyrics can be found here.

This is AKFG performing Solanin at Arabaki Rock Fest 2010. It was after watching the video of Meiko and ROTTI performing Solanin at their last gig that got me into AKFG. They are an amazing band and their music is mostly alternative and indie rock. And they have been around since 1996!

More About Asian Kung-fu Generation

References

Dirgahayu is Back!

2020-09-20T00:00:00+00:00

Dirgahayu, Malaysia’s instrumental rock group, has just announced their new song on Malaysia Day (16 September, 2020), Ilhak.

Although many would say Dirgahayu is a math rock group, but as Zulhezan highlighted in the interview on the Wknd Sessions, Dirgahayu is an instrumental rock group ¹. They began as a trio in 2013 with Zulhezan, Afifi Rahim and Wan Azry and Seikan Sawaki joined in 2014 as the fourth member ². With Seikan on the drums, Zul is able to focus on the guitar.

It wasn’t until I watched LIVE // Dirgahayu Farewell Show di ATAS / Seikan Sawaki’s Departure - Part 1, that I realised Seikan left the group to return to Japan. It was an emotional performance, for sure, and it’s sad to see Dirgahayu without Seikan on the drums. Following that, and as I also got to know when writing this, Zul left the group in 2018 ³. No wonder there were no news about the group since then. Even their website is no longer available. The one I have linked here is the one I found in archive.org.

On July this year, Dirgahayu announced their new member, @tiong.faizal ⁴, and now they are comprise of Afifi, Tiong and Wan Azry, as listed on their bandcamp page.

Knowing this and listening to their songs on their Commemorate! album and Ilkhak again, and I can’t help to feel that Ilhak does sounds different. Still a good song, nevertheless, and a good start for a new chapter for the group.

With the new member and song, lets hope that they come up with more good materials.

Below is the performance they did on The Wknd (around 2015) with three of my favourite Dirgahayu songs – 几 / 十六 (Kyu / Ju Roku), Istinggar and Volumetric. Although it’s old, but still it’s the best one I could find on YouTube thanks to The Wknd team for the amazing audio and video.

If you like this article, do like, share, leave a comment and subscribe (to the RSS feed). Don’t forget to follow Dirgahayu on their social media for updated news and support them by sharing their music, watch their gig when they are in town and buy their merchandises.

Updated 2020-09-22: Added Amazon Music and Apple Music links.

What This MUSIC! - Articles

Epik High Is Here — Lesson Zero

More About Epik High

References

Epik High (에픽하이) — 빈차 (Home Is Far Away) ft. 오혁 of Hyukoh

BONUS #1: Fan-made Music Film Ft. 소네시대 (Girls Generation)

BONUS #2: Epik High’s New Album (2021)

The Tablo Podcast

More About Epik High

References

Namewee 黄明志 — My Family ft. 5Forty2 & The Real Masta Clan

More About Namewee, 5Forty2 and The Real Masta Clan

References

大象體操 Elephant Gym — 半個 (Half)

Other Elephant Gym’s performances

Megaport Music Festical (大港開唱) 2018

Audiotree Live Session

More About Elephant Gym

References

RIP Eddie Van Halen

More About Van Halen

References

Yoyoka (よよか) and Billy Sheehan with Friends Cover Mr. Big's Take Cover

Other Amazing Drum Covers by Yoyoka

More About Yoyoka, Billy Sheehan, Paulie Z and Brandon Paul

References

ROTTI — Solanin (ソラニン)

More About Asian Kung-fu Generation

References

Dirgahayu is Back!

More about Dirgahayu

References