Kpop: The Koxx - Trojan Horse, By The Way & Echo

I just realized it is already almost four years since I wrote about The Koxx (so way back that I still was writing in Swedish...). Water has flown below the bridges, but they still have their great sound. Just compare the three videos from below (Trojan Horse beeing the newest), and it should be hard to miss the quality permeating their music regardless of the sound and style they choose.

• The Koxx - Trojan Horse
• The Koxx - By The Way
• The Koxx - Echo

Jpop: Charan-Po-Rantan (チャラン・ポ・ランタン)

These sisters is ... intensive. Charan-Po-Rantan have a very unique blend of accordion, balkan, french, jewish, gypsy and circus influences that still becomes one unity in the hands of Koharu and Momo. I love it and slightly hate it. It is just like a heavy cake or intensive kitsch - you have to digest it in reasonable amounts... ;-) Read good articles on their background here and here, they make you want to see a movie about their life.

• Charan-Po-Rantan - The End of the Möbius Strip (メビウスの行き止まり)
• Charan-Po-Rantan - Last Supper (最後の晩餐)
• Charan-Po-Rantan - Parade of Life (時計仕掛けの人生)
• Charan-Po-Rantan - Obesessed with France (フランスかぶれ)
• Charan-Po-Rantan - The Marie who wasn't caught by the trapeze (空中ブランコ乗りのマリー)
• Charan-Po-Rantan - Beauty and Youth (美しさと若さ)
• Charan-Po-Rantan - 7.1 Billion Pieces of a Puzzle (71億ピースのパズルゲーム)
• Charan-Po-Rantan - With us to the Grave (墓場までご一緒に)

Kpop: Girl's Day - Hello Bubble (헬로버블)

Ok, let's do this! I love most of what Girl's Day do, and even though I found "Bubble" flimsy at the time of its release one year ago, it grew on me and so, summer having arrived, I feel it should get its own blog post. The video is basically payed for by a hair product company, something not that unusual at all in kpop.

• Girl's Day - Hello Bubble

Jpop: Hajimetal (ハジメタル)

Hajimetal had Kaneko Rie from Ladybaby singing on his track "Giri Gal" before their career took of this spring, but he has several other odd and lovely songs to enjoy. He is really inventive and loves mixing the serene with the somewhat course (which betrays his punk background with Midori).

• Hajimetal ft. Kaneko Rie - Giri Gal
• Hajimetal ft. Mishio Ogawa, Kaneko Rie, hiropon - Hardcore Summer Vacation
• Hajimetal - Last Violence

Kpop: myB (마이비)

I've had myB going on and off for a blog post ever since their debut last autumn, but somehow their gimmick of all being blond has honestly turned me off somewhat of their music videos as I really have a bias for dark hair (liking kpop, hello!) but then finally I felt it was being unfair as the songs themselves (and the girls) does a good job of delivering happy kpop worth sharing.

• myB - Again (또또)
• myB - My Oh My (심장어택)

Jpop: Perfume - Flash

On the 6th of April, jpop synthpop stars Perfume will release their new album "Cosmic Explorer", and as a first single we have already got to hear "Flash" one month ago as part of a trailer for the movie "Chihayafuru" which premiered last week in Japan. That was a movie about a Japanese card game based on first guessing the end of poems being read up, think of it like a version of Jeopardy without the money part.
The new short video released this week instead lets us finally see the three girls themselves with anew martial art styled choregraphy. The music is slightly above average, the hallmark electronic sound well in place.

•  Perfume - Flash (Short)
•  Perfume - Flash (Full audio, Chihayafuru trailer)