Summer of 2019 Playlist

I did not spend much time listening to Korean popular songs in the past. But I started listening to a few before this summer, then I got into a few older “Classics” of the Korean pop songs. Then I began my journey of building a playlist on my Apple Music app. I enjoy listening to them when I am on the plane, subway, or walking … any activity that involves commuting.

The lyrics are not at all provocative, and in fact they are somewhat poetic. When I introduce those older Classics songs to my non-Korean speaking friends, I have a trouble translating the lyrics into English. It is very difficult to convey Korean poetic words, especially because often the words don’t necessarily form a complete sentence or the words have double meanings or ambiguous wordings creates multiple connotations, and so on.

Enough with the talks. Here’s the list.

김광석 - 서른 즈음에

이한철 - 산책

아이유 - 비밀의 화원

이적 - 걱정말아요, 그대

이은미 - 우리 두사람

김연우 - 반성문

이수현 - 소리

아이유 - 사랑이 지나가면

선우정아 - 고양이

최재훈 - 비의 랩소디

박정현 - The End

Feel free to share your favourite Korean pop songs with me in the comments.

Postcard from (this) Summer

End of the summer, and the beginning of a new season! 

Autumn makes me excited, and as in fact it is my favourite season of the whole 12-month year. Even the air smells different, and my walk to the subway stop feels different. Too bad that the autumn doesn’t stay with us for a long time. Autumn is more like so-called a summer fling for me, I guess –– something which happened so briefly, and left us with good memories at the end.

Anyway, lots of things happened over the summer: visiting Korea, losing wisdom teeth, playing a few concerts, hunting for wild mushrooms, purchasing a film camera, etc etc etc. Often I have bittersweet feelings for wrapping things up, but this time I don't have that feelings. Finally the autumn is here, and I had a great summer. 

(As I writing about my excitement for autumn, I thought of a scene from a movie, 500 Days of Summer, where Tom meets Autumn after his love for Summer did not work out the way he wished.) 

Here’s a photo I took over the summer. This was taken in Lake George, New York while I was attending a music festival there. 

Lake George, New York. 35mm / olympus om-2n

P.S. Here's a video of what I was talking about ... the final scene from 500 Days of Summer, where Tom meets Autumn ... 

Playlist in My Head: Summer of 2018

1.1: It has been a really hot summer. Perhaps hot is not the right word to describe this summer’s penetrating heat. I always use the summer time to catch up with recordings I did not get to listen to during the season or the school year. This summer, however, I did not do that becasue I was busy binge-watching Bates Motel. 

2.1: Instead of making a long list of summer playlist, there has been an ongoing list of classical music happening in my head. Walking down the street, lying on the bed, driving in a car, exercising ... the music in my head never stopped. 

2.2: I thought it’s perhaps the early sign of a brain-related malfunction or whatnot. But I will worry about that later. Let me share the list for now. 

• Beethoven, Violin Sonata No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 12

• Beethoven, Septet in E flat major, Op. 20

• Mendelssohn, Cello Sonata No. 2 in D major, Op. 58

• Mozart, Clarinet Quintet in A major, K. 581

• Mozart, Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622

• Saint-Saens, The Swan from The Carnival of the Animals

• Struass, An der schönen blauen Donau, Op. 314

3.1: There were also some non-classical tunes popping up in my head occasionally. 

• You do something to me [Leo Reisman and his orchestra] & [Ella Fitzgerald]

• Let’s do it [Ella Fitzgerald]

• Ain’t misbehaving [Fats Waller]

• Cheek to Cheek [Dick Haymes & Carmen Cavallaro]

• Manhattan [Lee Wiley]

• South of the border, west of the sun [Bing Crosby]

• I’ve got a pocketful of dreams [Bing Crosby]

• Taking a chance on love [Helen Forrest & Benny Goodman]

3.2: The non-classical tunes above are frequently played songs on my Apple Music playlist called, “Well, I am drunk.”