50 Shades of Gangnam Style

That would be an awesome book. Please understand that I am heavily drunk in caffeine and am bored out of my mind, while my superior is still late to work and I have nothing left to do.

So I went and looked for all the original covers of Gangnam Style. Not dance covers. Those don't count in my books. Anyone with two legs and two arms working can do that, and I've been seeing it everywhere so frequently, that I'm simply not amused by the horse dancing anymore, at all. Christ I'm sure I can teach a monkey to dance like that and put it on Youtube for a quick one million views.

After a plenty of listening, I think I've got it down to a handful of instrumental covers that are worth checking out as much as the original one. Like I said, I only listen to the ones that don't have the original song playing in the background, or have electronic playback accompaniment.

This one's a pretty cozy one. I like the acoustic transition they made. A completely different feeling from the original song, but it's a very pleasant spin on the original electronic madness that is Gangnam Style. In fact, it would be safe to say that it is almost a separate song, with a slower jazzy coffeehouse-esque guitar instrumental, and calm, mellow vocals. It's not something to dance to, and yes Gangnam Style is a dance song. In my opinion though, this is a cover version that has more merit in listening to. So for the moment, calm your horses.

This version doesn't quite use instrumentals, but they sure know how to use their voices like instruments. Behold, the Pentatonix, and their five-piee acapella version of Gangnam Style. I have to admit, this one's pretty creative. Throughout the song I was constantly caught by surprise from the unpredictable use of their vocal skills. Thumbs up. Listen away.

And now we have the famous Korean guitarist, Sungha Jung's version of it. Like every other guitar covers that he does, it's just full of acoustic awesomeness.

Anyways, I'm going to stop there, partly because I have to get back to work and partly because I'm running out of great covers to post, but do let me know in the comments if you find one!

For the shits and giggles, here's Psy's Gangnam Style, all in its glory. Happy ridin' folks.

Lovin' The Koxx

If your mind is in the gutter and have heard it wrong, then I'm going to say again. I like The Koxx, a five piece Korean band that's sweeping over the live indie rock scene in Korea. I recently found them out by digging through Youtube, and boy, was I simply SHOCKED to hear them.

Seriously. Where did these guys come from? That song blew me out of the waters, because it was just something I've never heard from a Korean band before. Certainly from the North American rock scene, primarily comparable to Franz Ferdinand, but holy damn they are simply one of the most bad ass bands I've heard to come from Korea.

The Koxx, formed back in 2009 as three art school friends wanting to play electro-fueld rock. Ever since then, they've been gaining fame as a band that puts up the wildest, the most energetic shows the underground indie scene has seen in the recent years.

With their first EP named Enter, The Koxx made an electric debut, bringing out explosive songs like this one below.

It's so indie. I know. It's actually really, really indie. But Koxx doesn't stop there. With their second album, Access OK released in 2011, The Koxx took up a heavier electro profile, radiating traces of MGMT and Daft Punk in their wake.

For Korean bands, you don't get one as colorful and multi-dimensional as The Koxx. There are so few that dare to cross boundaries and experiment more and more in the Korean music scene, and The Koxx is certainly at the forefront of it all. They're unafraid to take a step that pushes it only further, and they do it in a graceful way that comes out as a sweet surge of mega-voltage music.

I've gone around some indie concerts and when they try anything unconventional it just comes off as weird. With The Koxx however, everything is musically sound. Their dissonance all comes together in harmony at the end. Every line of melody has a purpose, every layer of vocal with a firm position.

They flow like a storm, seemingly uncontrollable, but it's so tight, and sharp. The edgy feeling mixes with the musical mellowness and even maturity.

Keep your eyes on The Koxx. This is really one of those bands that you won't find another of in the Korean indie-scene. So strap on. It's going to be a hurricane ride of music. All you can do is surrender your ears.

Take me to Neverland, Peter Pan.

That almost rhymed. Anyways, the point is that I want to stay young. Of course, I'm young now, and I'm quite happy at the level of youth I'm at right now. I can drink with enjoyment, I can eat to my heart's content, I can think fast and learn many things, and my physique is probably near its peak at the moment. Nevertheless life must go on, and with each year added we all cross our fingers for that inch of maturity to be gained on top of whatever we have. Then we disappoint ourselves, by making the same mistakes yet again. At least that's the story for some of us, including myself. To me that's mostly the reason why I'm afraid of growing old, since I won't be able to say 'hey, I'm young,' when I make those mistakes.

But who can fight against the tide of time? Surely I know I cannot, so I try to learn well from my mistakes at least. At least I'll be able to save face. And hey, as the years go by, I discover more and more great bands to listen to, like this one.

And that brings us to today's band. Peterpan Complex is a Korean indie band consisting of four members, with Lee Chi Won (Guitar), Kim Kyoung In (Drums), Jun Ji Han (Vocal), and Jun Ji Il (Bass) currently forming the band. This indie giant is a apparently extremely well known in the Korean Indie scene, and has garnered much fame throughout their 5 albums long career since 2001. Also the girl is the drummer. I thought I'd mention that because that's just so damn cool in a very rare way. Let's check them out in action.

Officially, they're a modern-rock band, but often times they become something much more than that. For their sound, I have one word to summarize it: daring. This is one band that is not afraid to explore with different styles. Here's one of their songs incorporating electronica, from their fifth album, O[ou].

And here's another one of them, coming from their 4th album, Love, with a little more melo and jazzy sounds mixed in.

Have to admit though, despite the great instrumentals and the creative melodies, the vocal is a bit off when he goes off into his falsettos. It's simply lacking, he needs to work on it, and I'm going to stop there since there's so much about this band that is good. Maybe it's that shakiness in the vocals that adds to the effect that Peterpan Complex has.

I don't know about the band members themselves, but in their music, Peterpan Complex indeed lives up to their name: they always manage to keep it fresh. Throughout their 11 year career, they've been exploring different genres, different styles, but never losing that musical hitch. So you better keep a keen eye on this band, because no one knows where they are going to jump to, and because wherever they go, it's surely a place that your ears to be. Cheers!