Taebin - Performances - Cover Songs

Taebin's cover of songs sung by American artists such as Usher, Mario Winans, etc. I put all the performances together here:

Cover of Usher's "U Got It Bad" - I can never find a good quality of this performance, but this is the performance that first got me interested in Kpop. Taebin really has a unique style when he performs.




Cover of Mario Winans' "I Don't Wanna Know" -



Cover of P.Diddy's "I'm Missin You" -



Cover of Richard Marx's "Right Here Waiting" - Only the first part of the performance is the cover

Album Review: Khalil Fong – ‘Timeless’

Album release date: 2009
Genre: R&B/Soul, Cpop

Rating: 3.5/5

Review by: jct

R&B/Soul singer Khalil Fong’s fifth album, Timeless, is essentially a tribute to the artists and songs that inspired his music. He covers a range of artists and at the same time adding something new or incorporating his style to the songs. Thus, the album isn’t entirely retro as it somewhow manages to expertly and easily walk the line between classic and modern day R&B/Soul music.

Classic/Modern Day

If you’ve ever wondered how Khalil Fong has an overflowing amount of soul, a large part of the answer is within the songs in this album. He clearly covers the songs that he felt had influenced his music style and lyrics. The artists he covers range from Stevie Wonder to Faye Wong.  The opening track is Stevie Wonder’s “You Are The Sunshine Of My Life”, in which he kept the music the same as the original, but adding his own distinct sound to it. Maybe the album’s best song is Glenn Medeiros’ “Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love For You” as Khalil kept the song simple but at the same time, updating the song to appeal to the younger generation. Not to mention he sings it smoothly with true genuine emotions. Also, deserving mentioning is the cover of Susanna Kwan’s “Frenzy (狂潮)” in which he adds an R&B flavour to it which makes it sound less classical. At the same time, he kept it clean and crisp. This version is certaintly unique as the vocals and style is different from the original. Also, the cover of Ritchie Valens’ “La Bamba” is an impressive remake as the song is in Spanish and although he doesn’t speak the language, he delivers it very well. If you did not know better, you’d think he can actually speak Spanish. He also adjusted the music and beats of the original song to fit his style and vocals, and the result is impressive.

However, the album does falter slightly on some songs. Although the songs itself are good and well-sung by Khalil, some songs simply doesn’t fit his style or nothing new was added, such as the songs “Bad” and “Remember”.  Overall, the album lives up to its title, as he embedded the idea of timeless, and doing justice to the artists that inspired him musically.

Tracklist
1. You are the Sunshine of my Life (Stevie Wonder cover)
2. Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love For You (Glenn Medeiros cover)
3. Bad (Michael Jackson cover)
4. 狂潮 (Frenzy) (Susanna Kwan (關菊英) cover)
5. La Bamba (Ritchie Valens cover)
6. Red Bean (Faye Wong cover)
7. Georgia On My Mind (Ray Charles cover)
8. Remember (A-mei cover)
9. Wonderful Tonight (Eric Clapton cover)
10. Moon River (Andy William cover)

Album Review: Z-Chen – ‘Happiness’, ‘Love Tree’

Album release date: 2005, 2006
Genre: R&B, Cpop     
Review by: jct

Note: These two albums contain nearly the same songs, with only 2 new songs added to Love Tree. So, I wrote a review for both of them combined.

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In a perfect world, R&B singer, Z-Chen would be huge, while other, lesser-talented artists would flop instead of chart-topping successes. Z-Chen has a unique music style and his vocals are smooth and powerful. He might not top the charts, but Z-Chen is definitely an outstanding artist.

Hope & Love

In his 6th and 7th album, Happiness and Love Tree, respectively, Z-Chen continues with what he does best: creating music that tugs on your heartstrings. The albums are filled with a handful of slow and soothing songs with romantic lyrics. The title track of the 6th album, “Happiness” is a mid-tempo R&B song that he composed using a popular tune from the Cantonese song “Needing You Every Minute (分分钟需要你)” as a sample. The song is about being in love and understanding happiness in the process, as he smoothly sings in both Mandarin and Cantonese, “Loving you, I understand happiness/ It allows me to go through a rare and precious lecture/ Having you, I will become happier and also fulfilling”.  The title track of the 7th album, “Love Tree” is a slow-tempo R&B song about comparing one’s love to a tree. He sings, “The most painful thing in love is cannot lean close to each other/ But I will wait for you/ Recalling the season/ My love is a tree/ Never will it leave a step/ Snow and wind is so ruthless/ but I believe I can stand them all.”  Also deserving mentioning is the cover song of Shakin Stevens’ “Because I Love You”, as he sings completely in English to demonstrate his fluency in the language.

The albums do falter slightly as a couple of the songs may sound similar to the tracks from his previous albums. However, with his smooth vocals, the songs can still tug on the listener’s heartstrings and are pleasant to listen to. Although the two albums have nearly all the same songs, the addition of “Love Tree” and “Recovered” in the 7th album is certaintly welcoming. Overall, the two albums are very solid releases and are recommended for those who enjoy slow-tempo R&B and R&B/pop.

Overall Rating
Happiness - 4/5
Love Tree - 4.5/5

Tracklist

Happiness
1. 快樂 (Happiness)
2. Just Once
3. 讓時間開口 (Let The Time Say)
4. 擔心 (Worry)
5. 貼身情人 (Close Lover)
6. Because I Love You
7. 拖延 (Delay)
8. 樂天派 (Optimist)
9. 預言 (Premonition)
10. 放我的真心在你的手心 (Placing My Sincerity Into The Palm Of Your Hands)

Love Tree
1. 愛情樹 (Love Tree)
2. 快樂 (Happiness)
3. 痊癒 (Recovered)
4. 讓時間開口 (Let The Time Say)
5. Just Once
6. 擔心 (Worry)
7. 貼身情人 (Close Lover)
8. Because I Love You
9. 樂天派 (Optimist)
10. 預言 (Premonition)
11. 放我的真心在你的手心 (Placing My Sincerity Into The Palm Of Your Hands)

Artist bio: Z-Chen (張智成)

Profile
Date of Birth: May 8, 1973, in Malaysia
Education: Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Profession: singer
Debut Album: 名字 (My Name) 2001
Also Known as: Little Prince of R&B (R&B 小王子)

Early Life
Z-Chen (Zhang Zhi Cheng) was born and raised in Malaysia, but based his career in Taiwan. While in university, he was involved in many music activities. In 1996, he won first place at a national singing contest (Seven Star Cup Singing Contest) in Malaysia. This led to his debut and career in Taiwan.

Career
Z-Chen is an R&B singer-songwriter, but in general, he doesn’t compose much. Z-Chen has a unique style as he sings R&B genre and commits to it throughout his music career, which is rare in Cpop. His debut album was released in 2001 in Malaysia, but from 2002 and onwards, he focused his career mainly in Taiwan, where he gained the most success. In Taiwan, he is nick-named ‘Little Prince of R&B (R&B 小王子)'. Although his songs are in Mandarin, there are some songs that are in Cantonese and English. This allows him to gain a wider fan base in other countries like Hong Kong and Malaysia. Z-Chen is fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese, English and Malaysian.

Discography

名字 (My Name)   2001
May I Love You   2002
凌晨三點鐘 (3 a.m.)   2003
 Listen To Me     2003
蒐藏張智成 (Save Z-Chen) Z-Chen Greatest Hits    2004
快樂 (Happiness)     2005
愛情樹 (Love Tree)     2006
暗戀 (Secret Love)     2009
你愛上的…(In Love With…)  2011
記得,是最好的遺忘 (The Best Memory)  2013

Source: princezzz.blog (Z-Chen’s blog), itunes

New Music: Gummy & Bobby Kim - '러브 레시피 (Love Recipe)'

The single was released on November 23, 2010. Gummy and Bobby Kim are both great singers and their vocals are great together. I really like it!!

Yoon Jong Shin - KBS Music Warehouse Performances 10/11/17

Yoon Jong Shin appeared on KBS music show, Music Warehouse, on Nov 17, 2010. He performed songs from his new album, Vol. 12, and also several older songs, with a total of 7 songs.

Here are the performances:
 1. "You are so beautiful" - From Vol. 10. 




2. "Instinctively" feat. Swings - From Vol. 12. 





3. "The Temperature of Separation" - From Vol. 12





4. "Can't Live Without You (Late Autumn) - From Vol. 12. 





5. "몬스터" - From Vol. 10. 





6. "Walking Man" - From Vol. 12







Credits to jangyeun, windins2 for uploading videos

Album Review: 2AM – ‘Saint O’Clock’

Album release date: 2010
Genre: Kpop, Ballad, R&B/pop
Rating: 3.5/5                
Review by: jct

On their first full album, Korean male group, 2AM delivers more love ballads with tints of R&B/pop. Most of the songs properly showcase the group’s strong vocals and rely less on studio computerization. However, there are quite a handful of songs that sound very similar to their previous songs.

Strong Vocals…

2AM pretty much delivers their usual set of ballads onto their first full album, and the results are mixed. Despite being a young group, there’s nothing particulary fresh or new about what they’re offering. But despite that, the album does have its moments particulary around the middle of the album with more tender and slightly original tracks.

The album’s title track “You Wouldn’t Answer My Calls” is a piano-centered song about a broken heart. Both the title track and the second single, “Crazy”, sound very similar to their previous single, “Can’t Let You Go, Even If I Die”. Thus, the songs really lack originality. Things do get better though after these two songs, but most of the songs are quite typical especially the R&B/pop songs such as “Just Me feat. Glam" and “Mirage”. Both are mid-tempo songs with nice vocals, but it's nothing outstanding as they are simply the usual contemporary R&B/pop songs.

… but Same Old Song

As mentioned earlier, the problem with the songs in this album is a lack of originality. Nearly all of their songs sound similar to their previous singles. And the songs that do sound somewhat different simply aren’t that spectacular or outstanding. However, each member does have strong vocals, and they really stand out. Overall, the album is not bad at all, as it is expertly produced and well-sung, but most of the songs sound like the same old thing.

Tracklist
1. Intro – Phone
2. 전활 받지 않는 너에게 (You Wouldn’t Answer My Calls)
3. 미친 듯이 (Crazy)
4. 바로 나야 feat. GLAM (Just Me)
5. Mirage
6. 다시 사랑하기엔 (To Love Again)
7. 이젠 없다 (Not Now)
8. 불안하다 (Anxious)
9. Love U, Hate U (feat. 방탄소년단)
10. With Or Without U
11. 사랑한단 말 못해 (I Can’t Say I Love You)