LISTEN!

Another album that's been in my life for a long time. This was probably the first album I really listened to from front to back and loved every track. I remember downloading the whole album onto my iTunes and listening to it during a summer trip back to China. In my parent's apartment where my grandparents had been living my whole life, I listened to the tracks while lying down on the bed of what used to be my Yeye's bedroom on a humid afternoon, with only a little bit of cloudy light from the window coming in. Truly a modern classic, Amy carved a space for herself in the music industry and after her passing, it seems like people have been searching to find who can fill the hole she left behind, trying to find singers whose voices sound like hers, whose music style emulate hers. Every song in this is a good song to cry to, to do karaoke, or to just put on when you want good grooves.

This album has been in my life for nearly a decade! I first discovered Distance in high school from a random Youtube video and it quickly became one of my all time favorite songs. Then in college, I was part of an acapella group, and we covered Sleepwalker. I revisited the album recently and finally gave it a full listen, and came away loving The Animals and Out of the Clouds.

Emily King's kinda husky/breathy voice sounds like she's sitting right next to you yet the production sounds as if we're sitting in a sanctuary of a cathedral with the sounds bouncing off the walls and the arches creating a beautiful slightly haunting sound. The bridge in The Animals and choral voices in Distance shine in this respect, they’re so atmospheric and it brings about a feeling of deep yearning which I love.

I discovered Pelejei on Spotify when I lived in France and kept listening to it over and over. It’s not a spectacular memory but I remember getting off the bus after work, and listening to the song as I walked home, and was so engrossed in the song that I almost didn’t see the cars coming towards me from the opposite direction. I guess that is to say, the discovery of this album helps me remember my time in France, which I miss. The entire album is a massive bop! When it comes to South American pop music, I don't hear Marina getting mentioned so I do don't how big she is, but this album and her sophomore album, Vício Inerente are amazing.

So I think I was a freshman when I came across the EP? I was obsessed with The Feeling, the intro “yaaah, yah, yah” builds up to the first verse in such a captivating way. I also love Sammy Rae’s singing style — she’s got great agility and flexes all the colors of her voice whether she’s using her head or chest voice. Sometimes it sounds like she’s jumping and gliding on the music notes.

I had an embarrassing moment where I was part of a concert promotion club, and reached out to her manager to ask if they were interested in being booked. When I should have been contacting artists one at a time because I could only book one artist per semester, I stupidly contacted multiple, and so it lead to an awkward email exchange with Sammy’s manager. Another memory I have with Sammy Rae is that I saw her for free! At Bryant Park in NYC! It was a hot summer day, there were lots of people watching, and Sammy and the band put on a fun performance ◡̈

When I tell you, that Kali Uchis was THE COOLEST person to me as a highschooler!! In high school, I was moving away from mainstream songs by exploring different genre niches on Soundcloud. This is how I came across Know What I Want on Soundcloud, and I was entranced. Along with the songs, I loved her style and music videos. Visually and sonically, early Kali was mid-century inspired, unbothered, authentic, oozing with sensuality, while being unapologetically bi-cultural. Seeing Kali be in touch with herself creatively and physically meant a lot to me at that time. As a fan I'm incredibly proud of her evolution as an artist and I'm so happy that she's gotten the worldwide attention that she deserves. I recommend that people listen the version of Ridin Round that was released as a single, I think that one's better than the one on the album!

The one and only EP that made me an ARMY. I remember seeing on AllKpop that BTS had dropped their 쩔어 music video and I was like ok, let's see that the hype is about because at that time BTS had a growing popularity in online international K-pop fan spaces. I was immediately hooked, mainly because the production reminded me of Flo Rida's catchy G.D.F.R. I have memories of being a teenager walking around my neighborhood on a summer afternoon listening to 흥탄소년단 and wondering what I would amount to when I was older -- basically I was listening to this at the right time in my life since this was the start of BTS' Youth era. The subsequent EP, 화양연화 pt.2 is a great follow up. What this EP represents to me is my love and preference for BTS' old songs. This EP has a skit!! BTS doesn't do that anymore!!