Letter ‘R’ || ABC Music Challenge

Contemporary

Royals – Lorde

I first heard ‘Royals’ on the radio and it was one of the best songs I heard at the time. I think this was one of the first ‘modern’ songs I liked because I had an anti-radio phase roughly 5 years ago. So yes, this song has meaning for me.

Run – EXO

No thanks to Sami, I think I’m addicted to EXO songs, such as Growl, Overdose, Mama and more… (#^.^#)
But… I like this one. It’s more uplifting compared to others like Growl, Overdose and Lotto. I think this one makes EXO more on par with Western ‘boy’ bands such as The Vamps and One Direction. I’m not sure if that’ll be correct though… (^_^’)

Reality – Lost Frequencies (feat. Janieck Devy)

I really like this song! I was really into it last year. I used to sing it EVERYWHERE!! I like it because it’s relaxing but it’s somehow motivational for me. Weird, isn’t it? Anyways, I think of older people and their lives when I hear this song. What do you think of when you hear it?

Soundtrack/Instrumental

Reminiscence – Satoshi Takebe (From Up on Poppy Hill)

Ah… Memories… You should watch the movie if you haven’t already… It’s worth your time (in my opinion). If you don’t believe me, you might want to find others’ opinions online but it’s pretty good. At least, acknowledge the soundtrack if you don’t want to watch the movie.

Reprise (AKA Again) – Joe Hisaishi (Spirited Away)

Now, this stirs emotions. I first watched the movie way back and only recently watched it again. It does have one of the best soundtracks I’ve ever heard and I think it’ll be worth your time to watch the movie and listen to the soundtrack because soundtracks are MADE to accompany a movie, after all… But of course, they are beautiful on their own. Still, the best way to listen to a soundtrack is to watch the movie it accompanies (in my opinion)

Baroque/Classical/Romantic

Rondo alla Turca (AKA Turkish March) – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

This is easily one of my favourite Mozart pieces. I can’t play it well at all but it is something I hope to play in the future (along with Chopin’s Études Op. 10 and Op. 25 ^^ ) I hope you like this piece as well because it’s really nice to listen to (I think I use that phrase too much) and I like the mix of major and minor (#^.^#)

Notable Mentions

• Red Lights – Tiësto
• The Real Slim Shady – Eminem
• Rolling in the Deep – Adele
• Ryuusei – TiA
• Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso – Camille Saint-Saëns (I’m not sure if this piece would fit into this letter… )

~Wendi

Letter ‘I’ || ABC Music Challenge

Contemporary

I – TAEYEON (feat. Verbal Jint)

Guess where I found this?? *cough* Shazam *cough* Anyways, it’s one of my favourite songs so I hope you like it as well. (It’s really addicting once you’ve listened to it a few times) Well, if you’re not into K-Pop, you probably won’t like it much but it’s worth a listen. Recently, TAEYEON has been really popping into my YouTube feeds and I guess this is one of her more popular songs.

I Shall Walk Looking Up (Sukiyaki AKA Ue o Muite Arukou) – Kyu Sakamoto

This was one of the songs in the movie From Up On Poppy Hill, which is one of my favourite films of all time. If you haven’t watched it, you should. Anyways, I Shall Walk Looking Up is the name on the paid soundtrack from iTunes but I also found that the song was called ‘Sukiyaki’ because it just happened to be a Japanese term that most Americans knew. Of course, the song has NOTHING to do with sukiyaki (search it up, it looks yummy!! ^^ ) AND… apparently, this song topped the charts for AGES, in the ‘60s. I mean, even my grandmother knew the track and she doesn’t listen to music AT ALL!! 😥 Of course, this video isn’t the MV but I’m not sure they would even have one… 🙂

If I Had You – Adam Lambert

I heard this on the radio ONCE and I was hooked!! Personally, I’m not a fan of Adam Lambert but I was addicted to this song for about 2 weeks. It’s a little older and slightly more upbeat compared to his more recent tracks, which (I think) is part of the reason why I like this song so much… ^^

Soundtrack/Instrumental

I giorni – Ludovico Einaudi

I LOVE this song!! It’s one of those pieces that you could play forever and even if it didn’t end, it’d still sound nice. When I’m upset or bored, I can play this piece. When I’m angry, I can play this piece. When I’m happy, I can play this piece. Therefore, I would recommend it to anyone who plays the piano (because any pianist needs to love contemporary classical pieces, not just the ‘classical’ ones)

Baroque/Classical/Romantic

Intermezzo Op. 118, No. 2 in A major – Johannes Brahms

In all honesty, I don’t have an opinion on Brahms. I’ve only ever played one or two of his pieces *cough* Hungarian Dance No. 5 *cough* Lullaby *cough*. Anyways, I never listen to his pieces and honestly, I don’t really know much about him. I can, however, honestly say that he is a great composer so I’ll leave it to you to form your own opinion on him. (By the way, this is performed by Arthur Rubinstein, one of the greatest pianists of all time, so it’ll be good ^^ )

Notable Mentions

• Infinity – One Direction
• I Will Never Let You Down – Rita Ora
• I Gotta Feeling – Black Eyed Peas
• Indaco – Ludovico Einaudi
• I’m Not The Only One – Sam Smith

~Wendi

Letter ‘C’ || ABC Music Challenge

Contemporary

Call Me Baby – EXO

As you all know, I am a rather hardcore EXO fan ❤ , so the fact that an EXO song is up here, should be of no surprise to any of you. But I genuinely like this song, not because I’m biased towards EXO songs, but because this song is seriously, the best, in my opinion. If you guys have never heard this song before, I don’t even know what to say anymore.

C’est La Vie – Khaled

I learnt this song from my friend, which was actually really surprising since we have really different music tastes, but I actually really like this song. I don’t really know what to say, since I’m so bad at describing stuff, but seriously, you guys have to listen to this song.

Cold Water – Major Lazer feat. Justin Bieber and MØ

I know that not everyone likes Justin Bieber, but you can’t deny that he has talent. And recently, his music has been sounding better and better. This is was one of the I-heard-this-on-the-radio-and-it-sounds-nice songs, but slowly, it became one of my favourites. And now I’ve listened to this, billions of times. You all have probably heard this on the radio by now, but if you haven’t, give it a chance, You won’t regret it.

Soundtrack / Instrumental

Cat Bus – Joe Hisaishi (My Neighbour Totoro)

This is one of my childhood songs growing up. It’s from the Studio Ghibli film My Neighbour Totoro and I love it (the movie and the song) to bits. And I know this is a music challenge, but if you haven’t watched Totoro, I don’t know what you’ve been doing with your sad life, but go and watch it, RIGHT NOW!

Baroque / Classical / Romantic

Les Chérubins – François Couperin

Les Chérubins means The Cherubim, which is why it is under C, instead of L. This was recommended by my sister, and psychologically, I don’t like it because it reminds me of when my sister used to play the piano for hours on end, and I didn’t have a peaceful minute for ages, but in terms of the music, it is rather good? (Sorry everyone, my vocabulary isn’t advanced enough 😉 )

Clair de Lune – Claude Debussy

For anyone who’s watched a specific anime, *cough Your Lie in April *cough, you should know just how amazing this song is. It’s really relaxing, so if you’re studying, or really stressed, chill out and listen to this song, and go and watch Your Lie in April while you’re at it.

Notable Mentions

• The Canal at Dusk (A.K.A. Canal at Twilight) – Satoshi Takebe (From Up On Poppy Hill)
• Can’t Sleep Love – Pentatonix
• Conquer – Na Ying
• Closer – The Chainsmokers feat. Halsey
• Clocks – Coldplay
• Call You Bae – Jimin and Xiumin

~Sami ❤