Music Monday: May 25, 2015

Here to make Monday a little easier =)

Here to make Monday a little easier =)

I’ve been listening to too much indie recently and haven’t been able to find a way to embed them (Xiami!!! Expand to the U.S. already!) , so most of the songs are theme songs this week, including ballads by Zhou Bichang, Aska Yang, and S.H.E.  Rounding up the group are a song from Zhou Ziyan‘s debut album and electric rock from Yaoband‘s new album.

But more importantly, here’s an awesome cursing song, Death Comes Early for the Handsome 长得帅死得快,  for Detective Di Renjie 名侦探狄仁杰 aka the only good new series this year so far.

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“Beijing Love ” conquers all box office records

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True love not only melts icy kingdoms, but also box office records.

If you thought a month was fast for breaking box office records, Beijing Love Story 北京爱情故事 is here to prove you wrong. The Chen Sicheng– film used the double holiday on Friday to their advantage to take in 120 million RMB on opening day, breaking the previous record for highest box office for a 2D film made by “Dad, where are we going?” just 15 days ago.

The romance (plotwise unrelated to the series of the same name) stars newlyweds Chen Sicheng and Tong Liya as well as Carina Lau, Tony Leung Ka Fai, Yu Nan, Wang Xuebing, Wang Qingxiang, Siqin Gaowa, Ouyang Nana, and Liu Haoran. As with the series, Chen Sicheng is both the director and head scriptwriter.   For those of you in North America, the film is currently showing major cities across the US and Canada.

Listen to the pretty theme song by new 2013 favorite Xiaoke below:

Translation: How Wonderful by Yu Quan, Tan Weiwei, Xiaojuan

How wonderful
To be able to go where we want to go
to reach one’s dream before nightfalll

Warmth flows from this song by singers Yu Quan, Tan Weiwei and Xiaojuan on the simple but wonderful things in life. Translations of the Xiaoke-penned lyrics below the cut, and video below from fountainpark723@YouTube.

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Translation: Vine by Beijing artists

Please sprout at the speed of light,
it’ll be a while before you can cover the sky
Please grow with all your might,
your story is only beginning

A beautiful song by composer Xiaoke and featuring a number of top Beijing-based artists headed by Wang Feng, Vine 藤 ‘s lyrics remind us to remember our dreams and reach for the sky at any age. The song is the theme for documentary Beijing Memories, and may one of my favorite cities grow and sprout while never forgetting its roots. Translated below the cut.


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Hunan TV’s new program showcases new artists

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Who cares if we get eliminated every round? We

One of the biggest criticism of Super Girls was that it lets out singers with little or no training and shoots them to fame. Hunan TV’s new program aims to change that. “jie jie gao sheng/mix-box,” a spin off of the word “going up a step everytime,”is a competition between (somewhat) new artists from different recording companies every week. The show will serve as a platform for companies to showcase its already trained artists.


Jiayou! Little Caterpillar by Japanese-Chinese group Caffe In

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