Kpop: Asakura Saya - Shinjo Melody (新庄節)

Shinjo is a part of the Japanese region Yamagata, which is where Asakura Saya come from. This then is fully natural, as she writes about and sings in the dialect of Yamagata. This song is picked from the album "Future Trax", just like the last song I wrote about. She really does something simple but magical with these folk songs.

• Asakura Saya - Shinjo Melody (新庄節)

Jpop: Suiyoubi no Campanella - Ikkyu-san

Again Suiyoubi no Campanella goes back to a Japanese cultural icon when naming their latest song after 14th century zen-buddist monk Ikkyu. WC and their videos is always charming and cool, but I find myself loving this video extra much and I think it is due the kind of warm energy radiating out from it.

• Suiyoubi no Campanella - Ikkyu-san

Kpop/pop: Far East Movement ft Tiffany & King Chain - Don't Speak

The next song from Far East Movement's Identity album is "Don't Speak", which is an interesting pop/EDM song starring (ex-Girl's Generation) Tiffany delivering another stable english singing performance.

• Far East Movement ft Tiffany & King Chain - Don't Speak

Mongol pop: NMN

I felt it was time for some mongolian pop again. Not many people in the west is aware of the great vibes on the mongolian pop scene. It is quite something different from its Chinese or Korean neighbours, instead drawing much more on eastern european vibes combined with some great steppe melancholy. I don't know much about NMN than that she has a voice that I love hearing more of.

• Zorigt ft NMN - Special
• Lego ft NMN - I do
• NMN - Bi gantsaaraa bish
• Orgil feat. NMN - Ene Udaa
• Tsetse ft NMN - With You

Kpop: We are the night (위아더나잇)

The first image is from "You Are In", the rest from "BRother"

We are the night is the project band of punk/rock/pop band Rocket Diary, and here they have a more electronic sound with the voice of singer Ham Byung Sun being so central to the sound as to almost becoming to dominant, but if one goes back beyond this years releases, there is a more synth focused sound that makes a one-group-playlist all more viable.

• We are the night - You Are In(유아인)
• We are the night - BRother 
• We are the night - #Night (드라이브)
• We are the night - Holiday (할리데이)
• We are the night - Dial (부재중)
• We are the night - Air Balloon (열기구)
• We are the night - Star, Fire, Night (별,불,밤)
• Rocket Diary - Yahwa (야화) 
• Rocket Diary - Space Boy (live)

Thai pop: Slot Machine

Slot Machine is a thai pop band that has been around for quite some time now (2000) and they have been steadily gaining ground abroad and their english versions of newer singles is another sign of this I think. The new "Say What You Want" is an excellent example of a smooth and liable piece of time- and placeless pop that everyone should get to hear.

• Slot Machine - Say What You Want (English version)
• Slot Machine - Say What You Want (ยังเหมือนเดิม, Thai version)
• Slot Machine - I Know, I Know (English version)
• Slot Machine - I Know, I Know (ค้น, Thai version)
• Slot Machine - Give It All To You (English version)

Kpop: Drug Restaurant (드럭 레스토랑)

Ever since his audition and following success in the korean reality show Superstar K4 in 2012, the voice of Jung Joon Young has evolved and it has become more and more clear what a perfect sound it has for rock music, with its signature darkness and feeling. After him becoming more and more part of the band first named after him (JJY Band) they now has gone full circle and renamed them to the less self-centred name Drug Restaurant, but the sound is still unmistakably JJY-ish, and happy am I for that. The song Mistake is a glorious emo piece and the video is well produced and interesting in itself.

• Drug Restaurant - Mistake
• JJY Band - OMG
• Jung Joon Young - Teenager
• Drug Restaurant - Sexy Bomb (Audio only) 
• Drug Restaurant - What?! (Audio only)

Thai pop: Aof (อ๊อฟ)

Thai/Chinese singer and actor Pongsak Rattanapong, as his real name is, has a positive energy that really gets me going in this new video "Just One Night".

• Aof - Just One Night

Jpop: Oyasumi Hologram (おやすみホログラム)

The odd duo Hachigatsu-chan ("Miss Hachigatsu") and Kanami Mochizuki make up the duo Oyasumi Hologram, an indie band that with their second album "2" this spring has some interesting songs on it, especially the song "Neuromancer". I really liked their cooperation with Have a Nice Day!, especially "Emerald". Neuromancer continues on that sound that they do well, their typical disharmonic tension, but at the same time it is more stable and focused than most they've have done, making it more likeable in my ears.

• Oyasumi Hologram - Neuromancer (ニューロマンサー)
• Oyasumi Hologram & Have a Nice Day! - Emerald (エメラルド)
• Oyasumi Hologram - 11
• Oyasumi Hologram - Someone's garden (誰かの庭)
• Oyasumi Hologram - Way home
• Oyasumi Hologram - Note 

Austrian pop: Supermax

Supermax was the pet project of Austrian musician Kurt Hauenstein, and his "Love Machine" really is such a great piece of dreamy rock.

• Supermax - Love Machine
• Supermax - It Ain't Easy

Jpop: Dempagumi.inc - STAR☆TT Shichauze Harudashi ne

I have a really hard time decoding the meaning of the Japanese title of the new song from Dempagumi.inc, my best guest being "It's time for this darn spring to start!", but anyway, the video itself is a whopping 8:52 long but then the last four minutes is basically ending credits made fun by the girls. If you know them since before, this video delivers more of their nerdy, happy high-speed idol pop, and if you haven't; if you feel the least thirst for more they have a heap of even more nerdy songs and videos since before. Enjoy!

• Dempagumi.inc - STAR☆TT Shichauze Harudashi ne (STAR☆ットしちゃうぜ春だしね)