Obviously not a music blog anymore.

it used to be two albums a week to keeps your mind at ease.

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Don’t worry about it.

From the lips of a scrupulous professor, "Don't worry about it" sounded too good to be true.

Knight almost felt relief the second the professor's tongue touches the roof of the professor's mouth, with his teeth involuntarily grinning to pronounce the last consonant. The moment of ease didn't last long, neither did the effect of his unintended smile. After a split second, anxiety dragged Knight down into an endless void of fear. "There was something odd about that," Knight thought to himself.

This conversation - a mere instant of intimacy between Prof. Asavadanond and Knight - is not rare, and might be the only few common things they share throughout the course. The occurrence goes as follow: Knight does something wrong, Prof. Asavadanond gets irritated, Knight apologizes, then the prof says not to worry about it. It might sound like it's not a big deal, but it is.

"Don't worry about it," actually means "Don't worry about it because your points are getting deducted anyway and you can't do nothing to fix it."

It first started when Knight did not finish his fifty-question grammar assignment. You would be expecting a typical "I forgot" excuse by now. And yes, he did. Forget. Period.

"BAM," the last person to enter the room closes the door. "Take out your grammar assignment. I'm going to check if you all finish it," the amplifiers vibrate, reciting the word the prof spoke into the microphone. "Shoot. There was a grammar assignment?" Knight turns his head to New, who is sitting right next to him, wearing a nametag with huge letters saying "PANNAPORN." "Yep. Fifty questions," she replies with a pity face. Apparently, she knew Knight didn't finish the questions. "Fifty questions. I can finish that before he walks here," Knight thought to himself.

Unfortunately,  God was against Knight that day. He was only halfway done the moment the prof called for his papers. "You did not finish," the professor's voice echoed in Knight's head. "Yes, sir. Sorry," Knight replied with shame. Knight felt tiny and powerless, while Professor Asavadanond - through the eyes of Knight - was tall and powerful. It was as if Knight was Jack and the professor was the Giant.

"Make sure you remark that on the attendance paper," the prof emphasized before he marches back to his desk.

An hour later, it was time for a break.

"Okay let's take a break," said the professor. Knight followed him out to the hallway, and that was when the don't-worry-about-it situation happens. "I'm sorry, sir. For not completing the assignment," he said. "Don't worry about it," the professor said in a monotonous voice.

At this point, the story sounds like a happy ending. However, Knight soon realizes the consequences he has made. A few weeks later, his phone buzzes.

"Scores are online," his iPhone screen flashes.

It is ten in the morning. Knight is about to finish brushing his teeth. He is at ease. "My scores would be fine," he thought. He washes white foam from his toothbrush, then he came and sat down at his desk.

He gestures his right index finger on his gray Macbook trackpad as if he's about to cast a spell. Navigating through the Google Sheets spreadsheet, he thought to himself "Okay, hmmm, okay, nice."

"Wait," he paused. The score on the grammar assignment section displays an enormous zero.

Some might think of this consequence as foolish, while some might think of it as insignificant. To the undergraduates who are to acquire a profession, this story serves a crucial lesson.

In the world of a five-year-old, an apology fixes everything. You break things, you apologize. That is all. But in the world of career and responsibility, an apology is not a solution. You are responsible for what you do. When you do make mistakes, learn from those mistakes.

What Knight's professor has said was true. Don’t worry about it. Because you can't fix it. What you have to worry about is not repeating the same mistake.

Bruce Asavadanond wasn't only teaching his students to write editorials and articles; he was teaching them life lessons. And in life, nothing comes easy.

As a student of the Editorial and Article Writing course, Knight is proud to say, "Hardship is what makes us stronger."

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For Michael Jackson, the King of Pop.

In 1958, Michael Jackson was born as the eighth child in his family. He made his professional debuts in 1964 with his older brothers, calling themselves the Jackson 5. He began his solo career in 1971, but it wasn’t until the 1980’s that his music became the popular hit. In 1982, his album Thriller became the best selling music album in history, selling up to 48.1 million copies. Moreover, it got nominated for twelve Grammy Awards in which they won eight. 

The 14-minute-long video for Michael Jackson’s song “Thriller” is the most successful, influential and iconic music video of all time. At that point, MTV refused to play black music. Jackson’s label CBS threatened to pull all of its artists from circulation, so MTV gave in and aired it’s first music video by a black artist. The decision would not disappoint them, as it became an immediate hit. It sold 23 million dollars on its opening weekend and 261 million worldwide. It became the highest-grossing concert film of all time.

His family band was so popular that it created the first animated series to depict a black family, Jackson 5ive. The series was a fictionalized portrayal of the band’s career. He became a black role model as well as the king of pop, which in turn helped reduce racism in society significantly.

His music wasn’t the only thing that was a great hit; his dance moves were as well. Even today we see many modern references to his famous dance move, the legendary moonwalk, and the robot, which came from one of his number one hits, Billie Jean.

Michael Jackson’s death triggered a global sadness, the news of his death spread worldwide via websites, causing many of them to overload and crash because of so many viewers at a time. Google search engine came under DDOS attack and had to block out all searches related to Michael Jackson for 30 minutes. 1.6 million fans demanded tickets to attend his memorial after he had died, 12 of them even committed suicide. Even after his death, 35 million of his albums were sold, making him the best-selling album artist of 2009. These points show how much the fans loved not only his music but the artist himself.

Even after his death, he remained king. In 2014, the album Xscape was released, which contained eight songs recorded by MJ himself between 1983 and 1999. It debuted at a number two spot on the billboards top 200 album charts. Even as an old song they still sold well to the modern generation.

Just like the Titanic and Elvis Presley, these people, events, movies, they are the milestones in human history. They are the footprint in our culture. Eliminating them from the history would significantly change the society from what it is right now. Michael Jackson’s career was the talk of the town for years. He was the king of pop and music. He dominated headlines in all forms of media channels newspapers, televisions, every source of communication. He was the icon of a genuinely talented artist, a philanthropist. At the same time, he was also the symbol reflecting society how minorities were struggling against racial inequality.

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Enjoy the infographic presentation of hyperreality and long tail property.

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Photography in TSOTS and why I chose film.

In the era of the society of the spectacle, people pay loads of attention to other people's lives. In order to do so, one way is through viewing pictures, or images. Pictures aren't just pieces of images anymore. Pictures are life. Pictures are reputation. Picture are evidence. But what evidence, you might ask. It's the evidence of life you expect to have. Instagram, Snapchats, Facebooks, Flickr, the list goes on. And if you can notice, these social media have something in similar; they are mediums to share images. It's your birthday, you take a picture. It's New Year, you take a picture. A baby is born, you take a picture. A person dies, you guessed it, you take a picture. Think about it. Photography has a lot of impact on the society. It's basically IS everything.

But as technology improves, people want things that could ease their lives. They want things that are easy, less analog, more digital, smaller, and more compact. People also want things that are stable, fast, and light in weight. So there came the DSLRs. But have you ever noticed how digital photography has made the society ignorant and negligent? I'm one of the people who thought so. I'm not here to say digital photography is bad. I'm just a 90s kid lost in the analog world where everything I like are retros. And I'm here to promote film photography. Enjoy.

PS. I’m no photographer, neither amateur nor professional. I used to shoot, and I’d take it as one of my used-to-be-favorite-hobby. So please don’t judge (even though I know you will) But if you’re here to do so, I’d kindly ask you to leave.

“I love digital photography, and I’m not about to give it up. Digital has many huge advantages, but some of those advantages have made some of us into sloppy photographers, shooting hundreds of images knowing we can just sort through them to find the ‘keepers’ later.” (Rick Schuster, 2011). I asked myself, is film photography dying? The answer is no, film photography is not dead, yet. The number in digital photography tends to increase while the film photography seems to decrease, but there are many reasons to look into the world of film photography. Film camera is a better choice than digital camera for many reasons, and vice versa. Films do offer advantages that digital cameras do not offer, and it could be said that every minute in film photography is worth wasting.

Film photography offers the lower cost on both, the camera and the film. Some cameras even project better quality photo than some of those digital cameras on the market nowadays. For an example, you can get a professional Nikon D90 for under $100 on eBay. Then why bothering about digital cameras that cost $1000 or more, and you’ll throw it away when the newer model comes out. There’s also no need to bother about megapixels. In film photography, there’s no megapixel, the only thing about resolution in film photography is the lens. Because every film camera projected full-frame image, which they are pretty much the same, as a result, then why still trouble to upgrade your camera? According to Ken Rockwell, “Film records and reproduces a broader range of color. This is important for wild landscapes, deep red cars and flowers.” (2011) Film images are raw, no effect added, no cropping, and most important, no Photoshop. Your photos look good right straight from the camera, and even in some cases, you make beautiful mistake.

“Digital might be fun because we can erase the pictures that suck, but if they sucked, why bother making them in the first place?” (Ken Rockwell, 2011). Every moment in film photography is worth. Due to only 36 exposures on a film roll, you have focused on the composition carefully. And because of the limitation that makes you more cautious, you’re sure those images are going to be great.  “In film photography, you only have 36 exposures, so the limitations are less than on digital photography. You cannot just take 36 random exposures and expecting to get 2-3 “good” ones, you have to make all of them perfect” (Paul Cain, 2012). Every photo is worth, as a result, images are more objectively. Films are also the great start for photography, the limitation slower the pace. As a result, when you have entered the digital photography, you don’t just take crappy photos. You have to make all of them worth, knowing that you can take thousands of photos, but the subconscious from film photography still tells you that they must be good, not just sorting for ‘keepers’ later as I mentioned before. Some types of films even offer only 12 exposures in their rolls. “Knowing I’m only getting 12 shots on a roll of the medium-format film makes me stop and think about each shot, slow down, compose the image more carefully. There are a lot of limitations when you’re shooting film, especially in a very old camera, but those limitations can help you focus on the basics of composing a good image.” (Rick Schuster, 2012)

Credits/Bibliography/Citation King, C. (2011). What film photography still has to offer? In CNN. Retrieved May 15, 2011, from http://edition.cnn.com/2011/08/20/living/film-not-dead-yet/index.html

Layton, T. (2011). Why Shoot Film In the 21st Century? In Black and White. Retrieved May 18, 2011, from http://blog.blackandwhitefineart.net/2011/01/why-shoot-film-in-2011/

Rachel. (2011). The Beginner’s Guide to Film Photography. In I Still Shoot Film. Retrieved May 16, 2012, from http://istillshootfilm.org/beginners-guide-film-photography

Rick Schuster. (2011). But why shoot film? In Shot On Film. Retrieved May 15, 2012, from http://shotonfilm.wordpress.com/about/

Rockwell, K. (N.D.). Film vs. Digital Cameras. In Ken Rockwell. Retrieved May 16, 2012, from http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/filmdig.htm

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How the Media Created the DJ Soda Hype: The Female DJs Sensation in Thailand

Just because you are good looking and have huge racks, does that mean you can straight away become a famous and successful DJ? Think about it.

Most of us Thai people will straight away recognize the South Korean disc jockey with the name DJ Soda. But before she became the hottest female DJ within our hearts, this current up-and-coming DJ from South Korea used to be an ordinary female resident DJ, exclusively at the Octagon Club in Seoul. There are several aspects we will look at today in order to find out what has caused this huge sensation in Thailand, basically taking us way back to April of 2015.

Before DJ Soda became the number one female DJ in Thailand, the hype and the demand of female DJs have already taken its place in Thailand for the past several years. Clubs often hire female DJs, especially those with sexy looks and substantial jugs, as a way to attracts more male ravers. With this new demand but with low supply, we often see the same female DJ names in the headlines and no other than: DJ RoxyJune, DJ Faahsai, and DJ Zara Gift. Some honorable mentions are DJ Kongkwan, DJ Helen, and DJ Best Suay. And let me repeat, all of them possess an immense size of titties. Despite their huge boobs as the attractions, some of them have solid DJ skills and reputation. DJ Roxy June for an instant is a widely known female DJ of the nightlife scene around the globe. She was voted as the second Asian hottest DJ, and having won the Pioneer Pro DJ Lady Championship 2010, she has performed in many countries such as Denmark, Abu Dhabi, Japan, Korea, Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Malaysia.

Then there came DJ Soda. Hwang Sohee, aka. DJ Soda and DJ "The Bull", is a South Korean DJ. After a video of her dancing to the song ‘New Thang’ at a club while DJing was released, and with pictures of her in the April issue of Maxim Korea, she became the new sensation on Facebook for the Thais. She started appearing so often on the Facebook newsfeed that everybody recognizes her dance moves. Wherever you go, whichever club you're in, you'll always hear the song New Thang by Redfoo come up and everybody will be dancing their ass off to her famous moves. After that, people started making their own dance covers and parodies of her moves. Popular Thai Facebook pages such as YouLike started posting her videos and her bio. Then the sensation occurred, viva voce took its place. She became the most-talked-about topic during that two months (between May to June of 2015). With enough hype in Thailand, she was finally booked as the headliner DJ of the event BLEND 285 Signature Present DJ Soda, which was held at Safe House Club.  

But disregard her Social Media hype, how did she become so famous? As mentioned, Thailand nightclubs have long been demanding for female DJs as a way to boost up their incomes. Men have more tendency to go out under the influence of sexy female DJs than that when compared women (going out under the influence of sexy male DJs). The hype for South Korean looks was, and always, has been strong in Thailand. With that demand and the fact that she is South Korean, as well as the aid from her huge racks, they make perfect sense why she became a phenomenon in Thailand.

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Today I won’t be reviewing any album. Instead, I will be reviewing (sort of) a gig! The concert I’m gonna be talking about today is the “SAMSUNG Galaxy Presents SOUNDBOX” which was held at Onyx - a club in RCA - on November 24th. The headliner in the one and only “Broods”! The duo/sibling arrived in Thailand a couple of days before the concert date. I was kind of surprised why the organizer chose Broods as the headliner because the duo, as well as the genre, are not artists people would consider as "famous" in Thailand. But whatever, maybe it's a marketing strategy or something.

Here’s the setlist: Never Gonna Change Everytime Killing You Sleep Baby Sleep Four Walls Bedroom Door Medicine Bridges Sober Deep End Pretty Thing L.A.F Mother & Father

I've been to Onxy twice. The first time was because of Deorro, which was not really crowded at that time. But compared to Broods', damn, Deorro was effing crowded. I was certain ninety percent of the Thais who went there didn't know who they were, and what they were singing. The foreigners, on the other hand, I would say ninety percent knew who Broods were and what they were singing. I managed to get in there by the time the duo were singing "Sleep Baby Sleep". I love Georgia Nott's voice, but not as much as how much I love Celeb's coolness. I started producing electronica because of this guy. This dude is so cool I would turn gay for him. Just kidding. I was very pleased to hear that they will be holding a gig when one of my friends showed me the poster. Because I was just introduced to this band a couple weeks before, which I really really love them. And now realizing that they will be holding a concert in Thailand, which is really really rare for electronica artists to do, surprises me. Big thanks to one of my bestie, Phoom, for giving me a free ticket.

Let's talk about the tracks then. My favourite is Mother & Father. The kicks are powerful; the lyrics are emotional and meaningful. My next favourite would be Pretty Thing. Why? The intro gave me the eargasm. The vocal chop is superb. I love them since the EP (sounds like a long period, but I was actually introduced to the EP a week before the full album. HAHA). Four Walls is everybody's favorite. The live version is even better. Georgia is a very talented singer. I honestly think she could sing every genre. "You're everything I need tonight" is my favorite line. Not because of the meaning, but how Georgia sings it out. Gave me goosebumps every time. The symbolism in this song is pretty creative and deep, too. Their collaboration with Troye Sivan, "EASE", was dope. Even though we can't hear most of Georgia's voice; we know for sure Caleb produced the beat. I love Troye, and I love Broods. I'm keen to see some new collaboration between them.

Here are some pics for you guys.

Cool outfit, Caleb.

See the shirts they’re wearing? Those are their names written in Thai.

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This week’s album. URBAN FLORA - EP | ALINA BARAZ & GALIMATIAS Genre: Electronic/Electronica, R&B/Soul, Downtempo Label: Ultra Rec., LLC Top track (based on popularity): Fantasy Personal favorite(s): Fantasy, Pretty Thoughts, Show Me, Can I Rating: 10/10

Guess what? This album will be the first album to be reviewed from my Apple Music account (second actually, but what the hell). So, don't expect me to have pictures of my hands holding the hard copy.

I've been hooked to electronicas for the past several months, and I haven't listened to any of the music in my library that's not in the "electronica" playlist. So, the story. I was introduced to this album by a colleague of mine. My first impression was "that's some nice ambiance you got there". Like Troy's and Disclosure's that I've reviewed, most of the songs begin with ambients. As expected, one of the tracks, which is "Drift", begins with a raining ambient sample. But I'm not going to nag about it. This is a great EP, actually a fantastic one for electronica fans. It's got great vocals from Alina Baraz and great beats from Galimatias. The reverb delivers a big atmospheric sound that makes you feel like you're drifting in the clouds. As you know, I'm a piano freak, and the pianos in here are brilliant. Vocal chops are creative. Most of the vocals, if I'm not mistaken, were filtered. I'm really into the downtempo shit and electronica, so I don't have much to judge since I really like this EP. If there is an actual hard copy/CD, I would be eager to buy one.

Show Me: What I like: the intro ambience, which is somewhat weird and new. It sounds like water drifting through the crystal, kind of like that sound FX you here when a Transformer transforms into another form of itself. Favorite line: "You got me so high, I can finally breathe". Why? According to Genius.com "She’s in such a euphoric place, she can finally let go of everything". But let me ask you, have you ever been high? Ironically, your respiratory works even harder because of the tars you got from the smoke. Thus, making it harder to breath. But that's not the point here. Symbolically, when you're high, you "let go" of everything, like what Genius said.

Pretty Thoughts: What I like: The pads and the sidechains. With the burning-paper ambient samp, it creates a warpy-ish feeling every time the sidechain works due to the kicks. Favorite line: Of course, it's the chorus, but not in the sense of the words but in the sense of the melody that suits along with the line. "I couldn't look away, Chasin’ your pretty thoughts". Man, this song would be so good when you're smoking.

Fantasy: What I like: the strings and the percussion. The track no longer has the "typical electronica percussion" anymore. It's now a full drum kit percussion with the hi-hat, snares, kicks, well you understand what I'm saying. The most interesting of all is the sample that comes after the chorus. After the chorus, which is the breakdown, comes what I think and pretty sure is the sound of a substance burning. Having consistent usage of the word "high" throughout the EP, I'm going to conclude that it's the sound of weed burning. Favorite line: "Listen to the waves" Why? Because disappointingly, the track has no "wave" ambient samp. It only has the sound of burning Mary Jane.

Can I: What I like: The chorus. Which is the part that only says the word "you" for like a million times (actually it says "Can I undress you?"). And I LOVE IT. Favorite line: "There's a universe inside of you". Because that's what HE said. Get it? The opposite of "that's we she said". HAHA.

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This week’s album one. MY BEAUTIFUL DARK TWISTED FANTASY | KANYE WEST Genre: Hip Hop Label: Roc-A-Fella Rec. Top track (based on popularity): All Of The Lights Personal favorite(s): Runaway, Monster, All Of The Lights, Power, Rating: 9/10

Kanye is the sample king, hands down. I started producing because of him. This album takes me back to the time when I was still high school. Back then, nothing really matters. It was just my best friend I fooling around every day, and most of the things we did was talk about music. We would go all day talking about the tracks I listened to and the one he did. Just tracks after tracks. This album was a part of it. It was one of those soundtracks-of-my-high-school-life, along with albums like Diddy's Last Train to Paris, The Weeknd's Before the Balloons or even Drake's Take Care. Talking about Drake, he used to be a lot BETTER back then IMO. But nothing was the same anymore. Get it? Nothing was the same. HAHA. Anyway, Kanye was also a lot less egotistic, too.

Dark Fantasy What I think: A very good opening for the album (I usually don't enjoy album intros). Great voice from Teyana Taylor. Fantastic rhymes by Kanye. Epic chorus What I like: Kanye's rhyme. Background choir make it even more epic. I’m a piano freak; a good track is a track with a good piano melody. What I don't like: Nicki Minaj's opening narrative. I don’t care about her British accent. The song should have started right away with the piano or just the choir themselves without Minaj’s voice. That’s all I want. Best line: "You ain't got no fuckin' Yeezy in your Serato?”. Because I’m a DJ, and I got Yeezy in my Traktor (sorry, Serato)

Gorgeous: What I like: The fact that Kid Cudi is in it. Kanye’s fx-ed vocal. Dem beats at the end of the tracks. What I don't like: Loops. I mean, loops are great, but this one ain’t one of those that you can listen to over and over. It’s like one of those samples you put into your DAW, and you just keep listening to it until you can’t bear it anymore. It makes my depress.

Power: What I think: One of the best songs on the album. Excellent sample. What I like: THE SAMPLE! Kanye’s emotion in each rhyme Favorite line: “In this white man world, we the ones chosen."

All Of The Lights (Interlude): What I think: One word; beautiful.

All of The Lights: What I think: Damn, so many things are happening at once. What the hell is that sound? What's that? Despite those elements, the sound is EPIC. What I like: The kicks. The percussions. Rhymes. Chorus. Everything just fits perfectly. AND IT'S GOT KID CUDI! AND FERGIE! AND RIHANNA! AND  JOHN LEGEND! AND THE-DREAM! AND ELLY JACKSON! AND ALICIA KEYS! AND ELTON MOTHERFREAKIN JOHN! EVEN MR.OVOXO! What I don't like: The fact that Fergie raps about her credit card being declined. Favorite line: "M.J. gone, our nigga dead!"

Monster: What I think: Man, this track is dark as f*. What I like: The beat. I think this track has one of the best rhymes Kanye has had (in terms of rhythms and transitions). Also, one of the best raps by Minaj as well. What I don't like: nothing in particular. Favorite line: "Everybody knows I'm a motherf*cking monster!" I mean, who doesn't love that line?

So Appalled: What I think: I don't really like this track. Not because it sucks or anything, but it's just so dark it makes me depress every time I listen to it. What I like: Swizz's intro. Favorite line: "Dark Knight feeling, die and be a hero Or live long enough to see yourself become a villain" because I'm a superhero geek.

Runaway: What I think: My all time favorite Kanye track. I love everything about this track. The intro makes me depress, but I love it. Every time it was raining, I'll tune-in to this track. What I like: The intro. The beat. Everything. What I don't like: nothing. Favorite line: "And I just blame everything on you At least you know that's what I'm good at". "24/7, 365, pussy stays on my mind."

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This week's album one. COMMUNION | YEARS & YEARS Genre: electronic pop, electronica, synthpop, house. Label: Polydor, Interscope Top track (based on popularity): King Personal favorite(s): Shine, Without, Eyes Shut, Take Shelter Rating: 10/10 Years & Years’ “Communion” is finally out! The electronica trio who won the BBC Sound of 2015 had finally debuted their very first studio album. The release consists of 13 tracks, disregarding the deluxe version AND the SUPER DELUXE edition that contain 17 and 19 tracks, respectively! The reason this album is a must-have for you electronic/indie folks out there is because their past releases had been showing a great success. Thier fourth single “King” reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, as well as the fifth single “Shine” that reached number two on the UK Official Chart, are included in the record. The album came in 3 different formats for fans to buy in 3 different editions, which are the digital downloads, standard edition CDS, the deluxe edition CDs, the super deluxe edition CDs, and the super deluxe edition 7" vinyls. Apart from the on-fire released record itself, Years & Years is at the same time “shining”. The trio was nominated as the Artist to Watch by mtvU, Brand New for 2015 by the MTV, and Critics Choice Award at the Brits Awards 2015! Back to the record itself, the LP is now available worldwide at any of your local records stores. Don’t forget to grab yours! About the tracks, most of the trio’s songs are electro-house with the '80s and ‘90s club pop. Similarly to those of MGMT and Disclosure, Years & Years give you dreamy reverbed synths and percussion. The stand-outs for this trio would be Olly’s voice and the profound-catchy lyrics. My most favorite track would be “Shine”. I mean, who doesn’t like a song about expressing what you feel to your crush? The music is great, and Olly’s angelic voice fits perfectly and well balanced. I’m not going to talk about all the tracks here. You should check them out yourself. Still, I will greatly regret if I don’t talk about “Without” If you love Olly’s voice and auto panning, I guarantee you this will be the next song you listen to every morning for the next few weeks. This is basically the track where Olly shows his voice capability to it’s full potential. The intro and the verse are so smooth it would be the perfect match for my tonight’s dream. Once the chorus strikes, eargasm begins. Oh yeah, and that moment when Olly begins singing “ooh ooh ooh,” yeah, that one literally gave me goosebumps. Damn Olly, YOU are the champion. Regardless of Olly’s voice, we have to thank Emre for his superb beats. Those auto pans are perfect. This week's album two. CARACAL| DISCLOSURE Genre: house, synthpop, electronic, UK garage Label: Island Rec. Top track (based on popularity): Omen Personal favorite(s): Molecules, Omen, Jaded, Masterpiece Rating: 9/10 Well, I haven't literally “bought” them, but I will. Soon. Still, having paid for Apple Music and downloading them on my phone is the same thing as “buying” right? Anyway, SIDECHAIN. Yea, it’s their thing. Sidechain is everywhere. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, check the songs out. If you can hear that warpy effects that are put in the vocals and the synths, that’s called sidechain compression. But I’m not here to explain what sidechain compression is. Alright…… let’s talk about Omen because it has Sam motherfrickin Smith on it! Very warpu as always (because of the sidechain) Not much to say here. It got Sam Smith, what else do you care? That dude lost 14lbs in 14 days! Sorry, out of the topic. Up next, Masterpiece. No, I’m talking about the song, not the figure of speech. If you’ve read my previous post about Troye Sivan’s EP, you would know I’ve talked a lot about rain sound fx. Guess what? Same thing happens with Masterpiece’s intro. Maybe it’s an electronic artists thing, who knows? I still haven't’ got my laptop back. Typing on a tablet is a pain in the a**. I’ll just leave it here. Thanks for reading!

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This week’s album. WILD - EP | TROYE SIVAN Genre: electronic pop, dream pop Label: Capitol Recordings, EMI MUSIC Top track (based on popularity): Wild Personal favorite(s): EASE (feat. Broods), FOOLS, THE QUIET Rating: 9/10

The young Youtuber with 3 million subscribers and the owner of the top hit “Happy Little Pill” has announced the release date of his next upcoming album “Blue Neighbourhood”, which will hit the stores in December of 2015. But before we talk about that, let’s see what this youngster has for us in his latest released “WILD - EP”. WILD is by now the fourth extended play (the second EP released by a major record label) this Australian singer-songwriter/actor/Youtuber, which consists of six dreamy electronic pop tracks. The album begins with, you guessed it, WILD. WILD contains big reverb synths and percussive elements that provide a dreamy atmosphere to the listeners. The song begins with a vocal sample of children’s chorus singing, you guessed it, “wild”. Personally, I’m a fan of Broods myself since before I bought this album (a friend bought it for me, actually), and I have to say the duo never seem to disappoint me at all. The intro has a tight kick, catchy vocal samp, and roomy percussions that have a nice panning pattern. Additionally, there is this faint lightning sound effect that you often hear before a storm is coming, plus an addition of a little reverb; this help creates even more room and dreamy ambient to the track. Talking about the storm - and I don’t know if it’s like a thing for Troye or what - but throughout the album, you will often hear storms and lightning sounds, even a rain sound effect, in Troye’s track. Take FOOLS for an example. If you listen closely at the piano intro, you will hear the sound of the rain, and I’m pretty sure it’s not white noise because there’s the sound of lightning that occurs quite often throughout the first eleven-second piano intro. The same this happens in DKLA. The song begins with the sound of water pouring down, kind of like the sound you hear when it’s raining outside, and there’s the sound of water pouring down on the windows. Back to FOOLS, the verse has a rising filter cutoff synth that creates the warpy feeling. However, the synth’s filter cutoff takes on another level when the chorus hits. It takes a little more time for each note to hit its peak frequency, as a result, create an electronic-synth eargasm. The outro is also quite remarkable. It has a nice jam and would be amazing if someone play it live on a controller or a drum pad/launchpad. Choosing a personal favorite was quite hard for me because I personally love every track on this EP. The percussions on these tracks are magnificent. The track with the best percussion, I’d say, is BITE. Sidechain adaptation is excellent, and the reverb on the synth is great. DKLA bass and kicks are HUGE. Broods’ choice on sample choice is really creative. You can hear water drops, gunfire, and even handgun loading sound in these tracks. FOOLS and THE QUIET are the two with the best drops. When I first heard the first two, both gave me goosebumps. The riser on THE QUIET is a little stronger and more epic than that of FOOLS’. Overall, the EP is amazing. One of the best electropop album I have so far. DO CHECK IT OUT. Troye’s songwriting skill alone is already a good reason enough for you to buy it. With an addition of Caleb Nott and Alex Hope’s collaboration, there is no reason you shouldn’t miss checking this out.

I apologise for reviewing only one album this week since my Macbook broke down a couple of days ago. I’m currently using my tablet to type this down, which takes ALOT of time and is really annoying me because this thing keeps freezing. Hope you all enjoy my review. The next album I’ll be reviewing next week- which I actually planned and was supposed to review it this week - will be “Communion” by Years & Years.

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This week's album one. CHANNEL ORANGE | FRANK OCEAN Genre: Indie R&B, pop-soul, electro pop Label: Dej Jam Recordings Top track (based on popularity): Thinkin Bout You Personal favorite(s): Lost, Thinkin Bout You, Sweet Life, Super Rich Kids Rating: 9/10

"Ocean titled the album as a reference of the color he perceived during the summer he first fell in love," well, we can be sure the album contains a huge amount of Ocean-ness. Starting with the album's background info: Ocean and James Ho aka. Malay started writing the songs together, with Ocean as the main songwriter and Malay as the producer. With the collaboration, Ocean tried to adapt and arrange his lyrics to Malay's producing style as much as he could do. Many of the tracks present Ocean's opinion on, and under the influence, of events or society-based stories, such as the song Crack Rock, which was inspired by the Narcotic Anonymous group. Like many artists, Ocean's aim for the album is to serve it as a letter. The album was released in 2012, following its release, the album reached number one on four different charts. Channel Orange received great ratings and reviews from top professional critics, such as the Pitchfork.com which gave the album 9.5/10 and titled it "Best New Music".  Although the album was indeed used to serve as a letter, Ocean didn't just aim to share his ideas and point of view. Ocean was trying to change the Hip-Hop, in fact, the whole music industry ideas on homosexuality. The American artist was trying to break the wall of sexuality so that artists can speak freely and write lyrics without limitation regardless of their gender. Thus, making a legacy and a new historical step for the whole music industry, especially the Hip-hop's and R&B's. The tracks possess R&B style, with influences from electronic, soul, and funk. "Thinkin Bout You" was a huge success for Ocean when it came out, leading Bridget Kelly to come out and claim that the song was actually written for her. The letter that comes with the CD, or vinyl, contains Ocean's words he posted on Tumblr. If you haven't read it, you really need to.

In case you don't know what it is and where to find it, I have it here for you. "BASEDGOD WAS RIGHT. We’re all a bunch of golden million dollar babies. My hope is that the babies born these days will inherit less of the bullshit than we did. Anyhow, what I’m about to post is for anyone who cares to read. It was intended to fill the thank you’s section in my album credits, but with all the rumors going round... I figured it’d be good to clarify…

Whoever you are. Wherever you are… I’m starting to think we’re a lot alike. Human beings spinning on blackness. All wanting to be seen, touched, heard, paid attention to. My loved ones are everything to me here. In the last year or 3 I’ve screamed at my creator, screamed at clouds in the sky, for some explanation. Mercy maybe. For peace of mind to rain like manna somehow. 4 summers ago, I met somebody. I was 19 years old. He was too. We spent that summer, and the summer after, together. Everyday almost. And on the days we were together, time would glide. Most of the day I’d see him, and his smile. I’d hear his conversation and his silence…until it was time to sleep. Sleep I would often share with him. By the time I realized I was in love, it was malignant. It was hopeless. There was no escaping, no negotiating with the feeling. No choice. It was my first love, it changed my life. Back then, my mind would wander to the women I had been with, the ones I cared for and thought I was in love with. I reminisced about the sentimental songs I enjoyed when I was a teenager.. The ones I played when I experienced a girlfriend for the first time. I realised they were written in a language I did not yet speak. I realised too much, too quickly. Imagine being thrown from a plane. I wasn’t in a plane though. I was in a Nissan Maxima, the same car I packed up with bags and drove to Los Angeles in. I sat there and told my friend how I felt. I wept as the words left my mouth. I grieved for them, knowing I could never take them back for myself. He patted my back. He said kind things. He did his best, but he wouldn’t admit the same. He had to go back inside soon, it was late and his girlfriend was waiting for him upstairs. He wouldn’t tell the truth about his feelings for me for another 3 years. I felt like I’d only imagined reciprocity for years. Now imagine being thrown from a cliff. No, I wasn’t on a cliff. I was still in my car telling myself it was gonna be fine and to take deep breaths. I took the breaths and carried on. I kept up a peculiar friendship with him because I couldn’t imagine keeping up my life without him. I struggled to master myself and my emotions. I wasn’t always successful

The dance went on.. I kept the rhythm for several summers after. It’s winter now. I’m typing this on a plane back to Los Angeles from New Orleans. I flew home for another marred Christmas. I have a windowseat. It’s December 27, 2011. By now I’ve written two albums. This being the second. I wrote to keep myself busy and sane. I wanted to create worlds that were rosier than mine. I tried to channel overwhelming emotions. I’m surprised at how far all of it has taken me. Before writing this I’d told some people my story. I’m sure these people kept me alive, kept me safe. Sincerely, these are the folks I wanna thank from the floor of my heart. Everyone of you knows who you are.. Great humans, probably angels. I don’t know what happens now, and that’s alrite. I don’t have any secrets I need kept anymore. There’s probably some small shit still, but you know what I mean. I was never alone, as much as it felt like it. As much as I still do sometimes. I never was. I don’t think I ever could be. Thanks. To my first love, I’m grateful for you. Grateful that even though it wasn’t what I hoped for and even though it was never enough, it was. Some things never are.. and we were. I won’t forget you. I won’t forget the summer. I’ll remember who I was when I met you. I’ll remember who you were and how we’ve both changed and stayed the same. I’ve never had more respect for life and living than I have right now. Maybe it takes a near death experience to feel alive. Thanks. To my mother. You raised me strong. I know I’m only brave because you were first. So thank you. All of you. For everything good. I feel like a free man. If I listen closely.. I can hear the sky falling too

-Frank"

This week's album two. LOVE IN THE FUTURE | JOHN LEGEND Genre: Contemporary R&B, soul Label: Columbia, GOOD Music Top track (based on popularity): All Of Me, You & I (Nobody In The World) Personal favorite(s): Open Your Eyes, Dreams, Aim High, You & I (Nobody In The World), Dreams, What If I Told You. Basically, the whole album. Rating: 9.5/10

"This album is everything that today's music is missing. It's well-written, beautifully crafted and timeless. John Legend has completely restored my faith in R&B. It was worth every single cent." - Debi

The quote pretty much summed up everything I'm going to say. I love the album from the first track to the last. There's no doubt why it received Grammy Award for Best R&B Album. This album is R&B at its finest.  Legend even managed to get Rick Ross on one of the songs. The first moment I listened to "All Of Me" after I put it in my car's player I thought "Wow, this is going to be a big hit." A couple of weeks later, everybody was singing this song, wherever I go. The reason it was not on my Personal Favorite list is due to the amount of repetition plays I've had in after it became a hit. The song IS good, perhaps one of my favorite tunes of all time. But I can't bare how people keep listening to it over and over again. The album contains much more than "All Of Me" that I think people have missed. "Dreams" begins with Legend's beautiful voice and followed by one of the best piano melodies I've heard. "Open Your Eyes" is also one of the best tracks on this album. Piano and drum/percussion sat perfectly with Legend's voice. Another must-mention track is "Aim High". God, just one word; Bravo. It gave me goosebumps every time. Listening to the saxophone and the piano makes me feel like I'm drifting through the wind like everything doesn't even matter at that time. It's like you're just there, and that there's nothing in this world but you and that tune. The album will give you an eargasm. Best R&B album, hands down.

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This week is for the 1R fans: non-stop three albums by the OneRepublic.

This week's album one. DREAMING OUT LOUD | ONEREPUBLIC Genre: Pop/Rock/Alternative Label: Interscope Records Top track (based on popularity): Apologize (Timbaland's Remix) Personal favorite(s): Stop And Stare, Apologize, Someone To Save You, Won't Stop.

I'm not trying to make reviews only from albums whose artists actually wrote their own songs. But still, Tom Odell wrote all of his songs, and Sam Smith is also a songwriter, but so is Ryan Tedder. I'm pretty you've heard of the song "Apologize" before. But if the name didn't ring the bell, then I'm certain that if you click on the song's link at the bottom, you would probably say "Oh", and when the chorus strikes, you would apparently automatically sing along the famous "It's too late to Apologize" line. Even though this album received many negative reviews from popular critics site, I would still say this album is not a bad choice for alternative-pop fans. Many critics said the album gave the sense of unoriginality, and that some songs were indistinguishable. Popular critics site, such as BBC, mentioned Dreaming Out Loud as an album that will give the U2 and Coldplay-esque elements. However, the album DID reach top ten in nine countries, such as the UK Albums Chart (no.2) and Australian Albums Chart (no.4). The song "Apologize" was the huge success that sparked creation and the release of "Dreaming Out Loud". With Timbaland as the executive producer, as well as the one who made Apologize gone viral, the tracks made appearances on many well-known TV shows, such as The Vampire Diaries, Cold Case, Smallville, and Ghost Whisperer.

The charming thing about OneRepublic is the way they combined the R&B style in Tedder's voice, mix it with rock elements a little pop, then combined those things with string instruments and the ballad tone into catchy tracks. Even so, the melodies of the string instruments somehow add a depressive feeling, IMO.

This week's album two. WAKING UP | ONEREPUBLIC Genre: Pop/Rock/Alternative Label: Interscope Records Top track (based on popularity): Secrets Personal favorite(s): All The Right Moves, Good Life, Secrets, Marchin' On.

I enjoyed every song on Sam Smith's "In The Lonely Hour" and Tom Odell's "Long Way Down", but not on 1R's first two albums. Dreaming Out Loud did a great job, so did the new album "Waking Up".  I've been a fan since 2008 and had bought all of their albums. But yet, in every one of them, there will always be these four to five songs that I will, always or most of the time, skip whenever my player plays them. This album pretty much received the same critics and rating. Mostly due to the same sense of originality, Coldplay and U2-esque sense, and the ballad-plus-pop-plus-rock-plus-r&b atmosphere. The only difference is that they got rid of Timbaland (not completely tho). Enough with the negativity, the good thing is Tedder still knew how to make incredibly catchy songs. "Secrets" was really catchy that most of my friends can sing it. The cello intro was nice, and the kicks were powerful. If I were to say what three things I love the most about OneRepublic's songs, I would say they are Tedder's voice, their cello sounds, and their powerful drum sounds.

This week's bonus album. NATIVE | ONEREPUBLIC Genre: Pop/Rock/Alternative Label: Interscope Records Top track (based on popularity): Counting Stars Personal favorite(s): If I Lose Myself, Burning Bridges, Life in Color.

OneRepublic can now finally make me listen to all of their tracks. If you didn't like the two albums, reconsider checking this one out. Native is more upbeat than the first two. The tracks fresh with ambient and big reverb sounds. The tracks also have this synth noise that give you uplifting and colorful sounds. Counting Stars and If I Lose Myself were on the radio for weeks when it came out. However, some songs were not as strong and catchy as the others, e.g., Preacher and Light It Up. "Au revior" and "Don't Look Down" is nothing but synths and ambient. Other than those songs, everything is perfect and enjoyable. "If I Lose Myself" was fantastic, despite the fact that Alesso was the producer. The verse kind of have the same kick arrangement as the top hit "Apologize". Life In Color is obviously really colorful and uplifting that it makes you want to find a garden so you could dance and sing around like those princess in Disney movies. Tedder's masterpiece on lyrics would be "Burning Bridges". The track is powerful and big, and the drum is quite strong like those you've heard from "Secrets" on the previous album.

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This week’s album two. IN THE LONELY HOUR | SAM SMITH Genre: Pop/Soul/R&B Label: Capitol Records Top track (based on popularity): Stay With Me Personal favorite(s): Lay Me Down, Latch (Acoustic), Restart (Deluxe Edition bonus track)

Tom Odell wrote all of his songs, so did Sam Smith. This English singer isn’t just packed with skills, but he is also one of the examples of real “artists” who are passionate and dedicated about music. The combination of Smith’s high pitch and the beats from various producers will set your ears at ease. The album reached number one on SIX charts (UK’s and Scottish’s OCC, Swedish’s Sverigetopplistan, South Africa’s RISA, New Zealand’s RMNZ, Irish’s IRMA, and Australian ARIA), Top 5 on 15 charts, and Top 10 on 20 charts. The record was also nominated “Album of the Year” by Grammy Awards and BRIT Awards, and won “Best Pop Vocal” on the Grammy’s 57th Awards. Moreover, “Stay With Me” reached no.1 on 14 charts, and made Top 10 on 40 charts! Regardless of its success on the charts, “Stay With Me” also won the 57th Grammy’s “Song of the Year”.

“In The Lonely Hour” holds similar classic soul atmosphere like those of Smith’s favorite: “Away With Me” by Norah Jones. The standard edition consists of ten tracks, while the Deluxe edition includes four bonus tracks. “In The Lonely Hour” is one of those albums that I can listen to every track, from the first till the last, without skipping. Since Smith wrote all the lyrics, and the album title says “In the LONELY Hour,” so expect it to be “lonely-ish” (poor lonely Smith). If you’re a girl or a homosexual male, then you can empathize with his lyrics because the album, or Smith, will narrate you through his story of how he had loved a man who never returned the favor. The album was, in fact, purposely written as a letter by Smith as a way to express his feelings through his soulful falsetto. One of the things I love, apart from Smith’s beautiful voice, is the jazzy music. If you check out “I’m Not the Only One,” the piano melody will stick in your head for days (that happened to me). The song is basically the point of the album where Smith began mourning his broken-hearted thoughts. Moving on to one of my favorites, “Lay Me Down” is the list because it conveys what Smith has been saying since the beginning of the album and put them into a single emotionally rich and powerful song. The studio version is excellent, but I personally prefer the live version that was performed at the Apollo Theater, which was PERFECT. The way Smith communicated in that version is even more emotionally abundant, and the studio version was a little bit too fast in my opinion. Finally, “Restart” is like one of those good songs you’ve never heard before. The reason it was not included in the standard edition, I think, was because it’s not that “lonely” like how all the other tracks are (haha). “Restart” is where Smith “restart” (duh) his feelings. The track is a lot faster and gives you that “happy Smith” atmosphere and bouncy upbeats. Last but not least, I don’t have much to say about the acoustic version of “Latch”. The only thing I would say is Smith’s unreciprocated heart would burst out if the song lasted more than 3.43 minutes. Please DO check it out, because this version sounds even sadder than the one produced by Disclosure (which sounded very pleasant). If you would like to check out my three favorites, here they are.

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This week’s album one. LONG WAY DOWN | TOM ODELL Genre: Folk/Indie Pop/Alternative Label: Columbia Records Top track (based on popularity): Another Love Personal favorite: Grow Old With Me

The two things I love about Odell’s first album are (1) his voice (2) the way he plays the piano. Every time I put on my headphones and play his track, his piano melodies bring me through the streets of Brighton. It gives me the atmosphere as if I was walking down a street in a European country. All songs were written by Tom Odell, with several tracks aided by various songwriters; Francis White, Johnny Lattimer, Andy Burrows, and Rany Newman. Dan Grech-Marguerat and Odell combined piano and other instruments that still gives you the beat but still offer Odell’s sensational piano chord progressions. The album reached number one on several album charts, such as UK’s OCC, Scottish’s OCC, and Dutch’s MegaCharts. Disregard of its success on the charts, his songs were also used in a TV show and a movie. “Another Love” was featured in the episode “Do You Remember the First Time?” of The Vampire Diaries, and “Long Way Down” was used as one of the soundtracks of John Green’s “The Fault In Our Stars”.

His piano is somewhat similar to that of his influencer; Elton John. Most of his songs’ intro are REMARKABLE. Grow Old With Me’s piano intro gives you the emotion of hope; the hope to “grow old with me, just you and I”. Another Love’s intro gives you the feeling of unrequited love, your once earnest and untainted love that is now corrupted; “all my tears has been used up, on another love”. I Know’s presents Odell’s precious memories of his past loves. On the contrary, it gives me the emotion of hope and joy, even though there’s still gloominess in the atmosphere. Every piano key represents Odell’s sentiments that make me empathize with him. Back to the first year being a university freshmen, when I was quite busy rehearsing for the faculty's stage drama, I used to listen to this album every day when I woke up. All the songs are embedded with bits of those moments. Especially the song “Supposed To Be”. During those months, I wasn’t close to anyone in any of my classes because I didn’t have much time and all my energy was drained out by the rehearsals. So as a result, I skipped classes, as well as opportunities to hang out with my colleagues. This song always brings me back to the time I was alone in my dorm room, and it was raining outside. So I just kept starring out the window, knowing that everybody is having fun with their freshmen year and hanging out with their new friends. But I’m just here, sitting alone in a room staring at the droplets running down through the fog. With my only companion; music. 

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I have a new release for the XO fans out there! Check out the newest released music video for the song “Tell Your Friends”, which was directed by Grant Singer; the director of the latest XO top hits “Can’t Feel My Face” and “The Hills”. The song was released early last month, and the music video itself was the released two weeks followed. What’s more important is that KANY WEST aka. “Yeezus” is the track producer! If you want to see the Weeknd bury himself, be sure to check out this video.

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Years & Years’ “Communion” is finally out! The electronica trio who won the BBC Sound of 2015 had finally debuted their very first studio album. The release consists of 13 tracks, disregarding the deluxe version AND the SUPER DELUXE edition that contain 17 and 19 tracks, respectively! The reason this album is a must-have for you electronic/indie folks out there is because their past releases had been showing a great success. Thier fourth single "King" reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, as well as the fifth single "Shine" that reached number two on the UK Official Chart, are included in the record. The album came in 3 different formats for fans to buy in 3 different editions, which are the digital downloads, standard edition CDS, the deluxe edition CDs, the super deluxe edition CDs, and the super deluxe edition 7" vinyls. Apart from the on-fire released record itself, Years & Years is at the same time "shining". The trio was nominated as the Artist to Watch by mtvU, Brand New for 2015 by the MTV, and Critics Choice Award at the Brits Awards 2015! Back to the record itself, the LP is now available worldwide at any of your local records stores. Don't forget to go grab yours!

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B*tch, I'm Spiderman