The Useless Critic 2.0

This is an open Challenge to Ke Iris of China, the writer for Ke Ying Ying’s Online Blog . I bet that she cannot find five Chinese songs that are better than these five here on The Useless Critic. I am going to begin with something jovial that carries all the vivacity of China in a single song. This is just great to listen to for any reason on any occasion. The Er-Hu fiddle on this one is particularly well-played. The Grapes are Ripe. – Jump 20 Seconds in to get right to the song. This is a song that features all the power of the singer’s voice. She does it so well, and you can feel strength. Powerful Voice I am going to bend the rules a little, and I will feature this song by AR Rahman in the Tamil language sung by a Chinese singer. As I stated in the post “Tamil-Bolly” I love the Tamil language, and this Chinese musician sings it so well. Tamil Song I might pick this song as the top one, and I don’t like to pick favorites. It just has a touch of darkness, and it is embellished by the...

Hello Middle of Spring, and prepare for something Asiatic. Dombra The stringed Dombra/ styles of Western Mongolia, Watch this player. He creates quite the entertaining arrangement. This song holds a touch of bitterness, but really, it has a feeling that winter is gone. Yes, winter is gone, but it still rests in memory. Ulytau – Turkish March This take on Mozart comes from a group from Kazakhstan. You can hear some occidental violin playing, but with some folkie touches. The jovial transition into Spring. This is the heart of the post. This song from Laos is the pure epicenter of springtime. It is the emotional horizon of sensual music. It is soft, passionate, and most importantly, it gives the feelings of rebirth, life, and pure bliss. Shahrizoda – My Sorrow I try to fit Shahrizoda (Uzbek origins) into all of my Asian Music Parties, and I really wanted a reason to post this song. The chorus is extremely addictive, and this song just holds the quality that reminds us that Spring will l...

Hello, So the world is going through a lot of the Nasty Bits right now, But I was just hoping to make a tiny minimix just to remind us all and myself that Japan has some really awesome music. Shintaro Katsu One of my idols from my younger years was Shintaro Katsu, and I learned of him because of all those « Blind Swordsman » films that he made. Thanks to Amazon.com I also learned of his singing. Someone on the internet says straight up that this sounds like « Kill Bill » music. When searching for Folk Music, it seems there is one that comes up so often. Sakura Song for Seji Kojima Good traditional feeling that is expanded with the use of classical guitar. I need a bass video. Copied and pasted : By the way, this "bass girl" is a guy crossplaying Yuki Nagato from the anime Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu. That sounds weird, but I love the song, so here it is. QATFYG: Were you one of those kids in High School that was obsessed with Japan? For me, I was only really obsessed with the...