Refraction

I’m currently listening to Duran Duran’s “Ordinary World” right now, and it struck me that there’s something very familiar about the chorus. I suddenly realized that it reminded me of LOVE’S (Fukiko Nakamura) song “Trigger.” (Go to her myspace page to preview. Do you agree?)

This seems to happen to me a lot, and not everyone agrees with me: my brother likes this song whose opening reminds me forcefully of Nickelback’s “How You Remind Me.” Naturally, he doesn’t hear it at all. To be honest it’s maybe just a couple of bars, but every time I hear it, I think of Nickelback’s song first.

“Cloud 9” by Maaya Sakamoto and “Une héroïne” by Laurent Voulzy kind of seem similar too, although I can’t really place my finger on what’s so similar by the two songs.

The opening chords of sagayuuki’s “Hatsuyuki” also inexplicably remind me of Green Day’s “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”. This connection is so tenuous, though, I’m tempted to say it doesn’t really exist.

Ooooookay, so on a bolt of inspiration, I stumbled on LinkedIn.com and searched for my former supervisor. He’s found a new job, so–good for him! I just find it a little odd, to be honest, that someone else he used to work with is also working there… hmm…

(I tried searching for two other group members as well, but their profiles are closed off. Wouldn’t it be odd if they were all working together?)

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I lately have fallen in love with the Japanese vocalist サガユウキ (sagayuuki). Unfortunately he’s one of these up-and-comers and so I haven’t been able to find much. I’m thinking pretty seriously about ordering his album, but to tide me over until then, I’ve been listening to the stuff on his MySpace page.

I hadn’t realized the extent to which artists use MySpace. (I hesitate to say “indie” because some, like サガユウキ, are actually signed to major labels.) So…. all those artists I always wanted to hear more from? MySpace’d.

So, I now recommend for you:

Josée Allard: Bilingual singer-songwriter. Her music’s fun and light (most of the time). On her page she’s only got the French stuff, I think, but they’re worth a listen even if you don’t understand the lyrics.

Bevlyn Khoo: A multilingual singer from Singapore. Some of her music reminds me a bit of Ariane Moffatt; it’s a very soothing, pleasant sound. In the mood for French? Mandarin? English? Bevlyn does all three.

Ellery: Mellow pop-folk sound here. Nothing groundbreaking, really, nor too challenging, but good easy listening.