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Favorite Songs of January 2016

It can get pretty damn hard to find someone who has the same taste in music, and from time to time I find myself feeling frustrated when I come across an awesome song and can't share it with anyone. To be honest, whenever someone recommends a song to me, I'm usually quite unimpressed. I can't explain what exactly makes me hooked onto a particular track, but what I can say is that I really don't have a specific preference and I'll sometimes end up liking the most unlikely and unexpected songs. Which is why I'm reluctant to recommend my favorites to anyone, because I'm pretty sure I won't get the reaction I would like.

That being said, if I can't find anyone to recommend my songs to, I might as well recommend it to no one in particular. I think it would also be a pretty good idea to keep track of what songs I'm obsessed with, in a particular period of my life. I find that upon hearing old favorites, I'm able to associate them with a particular mood, or action, or situation from that time. It's the closest thing to time travel, in my opinion. For example, when I hear "On My Way Back" by Michelle Branch, I instantly think of my 50-minute walk to the Baskin Robbins I used to work at when I was 17, and can nearly feel my sweaty shirt sticking to my back, the throbbing ache in my feet when I'm finished with my shift, and the dusty and polluted air I had to walk through, passing by so many cars and a construction site on the way.

Anyway, here are a few of my favorites this month - obviously, they're not songs that were released this month.


1. "Sunday Morning" by Fourplay


Fourplay makes some seriously good songs that are good for when you're chilling, at work, or making babies. "Sunday Morning" is super relaxing and just feels like a good hug.

2. "Savior Like A Shepherd Leads Us" by Submanda
I'm not even sure, but I think Submanda is a Korean artist and I can only find like 3 tracks online, and nothing on YouTube. This particular one is my favorite. I'm not a Christian but the church has nevertheless been a big part of my childhood, and hearing a hymn arranged so beautifully can somehow find a way to calm my soul.

3. "그냥 (Just)" by Zion T & Crush


Zion T is a pretty big name now, in Korean R&B. I don't like his voice (I prefer something deep and velvety) but he makes some dope ass songs. Recently this one has been my favorite.

4. "Hymn For The Weekend" by Coldplay
No YouTube video on this for copyright reasons, but man this song had me addicted from the start. I can't explain - I'm bad with words for describing what I feel when I listen to music, but the beat is... just really, really good.

5. "Ai Ai Ai (爱爱爱)" by Khalil Fong


This was the first Chinese R&B song I ever listened to; I was thoroughly impressed and not at all surprised when I learned that the artist was American-born. I don't know what it means yet because my Mandarin is still that bad, but it's on my bucket list this year to learn at least 3 Chinese songs and sing them at KTV when I go to Beijing this spring. This is one of the three, the second being the one below.

6. "Long Juan Feng (龙卷风)“ by Jay Chou


I think it was the simplicity of the beat, chords, and melody that drew me in. Jay Chou, much like Zion T, is an artist whose voice is far from my type but makes such good music I'm more than willing to overlook it.

There are so many more songs I wish I could share, but I think I'll need to save those for next time. Listing my top five for this month, it seems a bit evident that I'm into groovy slow jams, or something just quiet in general (minus the Coldplay song maybe). Maybe that's my theme of the month, haha.

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