Kung-Fu Music

[GeneChing]

I could have sworn I posted this here already. I'm working a Major Lazer show this Friday and remembered this.

[GeneChing]

San Francisco's international Plum Blossom Kung Fu tournament? How did I miss that?

I've found some reference on Yu Dai Fu on the web (but you can find anything on the web if you look hard enough. Here's more on Laidback Luke here, here, and here. I've tuned into Laidback Luke and I do like his stuff. I hope we can meet someday.

Laidback Luke wins four medals at professional Kung Fu competition
By Lucy Davidson · @lucylough
Sep 23 2015

Veteran Dutch DJ and producer Laidback Luke is known around the world for his chart-topping hits and explosive main stage sets. Luke (real name Lucas van Scheppingen) has a less-known but no less impressive talent as well: he is the current world champion in the Kung Fu sub-category Yu Dai Fu. Luke travelled with the three other members of the Dutch national Kung Fu team to San Francisco for the international Plum Blossom Kung Fu tournament.

The competition is well-known for its high caliber of competition, and the team managed to bring home an impressive eleven medals. Luke won four of the eleven- two gold, one silver, and one bronze. About the experience, Luke said

“It was an extremely tough playing field with a lot of close finishes. Very proud of the Hong Ying Kung Fu pro team with a result of 11 medals and I am very motivated to keep working on my skill.”
Luke has also recently participated in championships in the USA and China. The Dutch team’s coach, Mark Horton, was elated at the recent success as well.

“I was incredibly proud of the guys for the fantastic results even though the level of the competition was very high, especially with the American teams. This is a great indication for the world championships in 2016.”

[GeneChing]

[GeneChing]

Soundcloud tracks are available if you follow the link.

Shermanology On Their 'Philosophy,' Second EP, Martial Arts, More [Interview]
by Ryan Middleton Oct 13, 2015 12:38 PM EDT


Shermanology (Photo : Courtesy Of Shermanology)

Holland is known as one of the powerhouses for dance music. Whether you have the titans like Armin van Buuren, Laidback Luke, Sander Kleinenberg, Joris Voorn Tiësto or Hardwell, talent is everywhere in the small Northern European country. That is not is not just reserved for those who stands behind soem CDJs and make beats, there are those who also write songs and sing them, in addition to making tracks and performing them live. This is where the exciting group Shermanology step into the fold. Strictly a family affair, brother and sister pairing Andy & Dorothy Sherman, have collaborated with the likes of Avicii, Afrojack, Fedde le Grand and Martin Garrix, but are now entering a new chapter in their career, leaving the main room behind for a more soulful sound closer to their hearts and roots.

Their father was Tony Sherman, who was part of the 70s funk band the Sherman Brothers, which had a major impact on Andy and Dorothy's youth and their decision to get into music. A process a year and a half in the making, Shermanology released their Philosophy EP. Coming in at five tracks, it was a much more personal affair from the pair, devoid of collaborations and felt more honest as they dove into a sound where they felt more at home.

We had a chance tp catch up with both Andy & Dorothy after the release of the EP to discuss their Philosophy on dance music, forthcoming music that includes a secodn EP and some collabs with MNEK and past jobs and talents like Pencak Silat. Stream the EP below and purchase it on iTunes.

MT You guys started as MCs and singers, was it tough transitioning to being DJs too?

Andy: In the beginning it was because most DJs, not all of them looked at us as singers not DJs and thought we should keep it separate. But I had already been DJing for years at my friend's house with vinyl. So when I had to get to know the CD players, it was quite an easy switch. In the beginning, we were lucky we had support from all of the promoters in Holland. So that made the step easier.

MT: What is tough to being producers too?

Andy: I was already making music even in the MC and singing time. But when I found out I really wanted to DJ, I picked it up more seriously. From a very early age, Dorothy and I were writing toplines on top of existing r&b songs.

Dorothy: The first song we wrote was with Fedde Le Grand and they took the song right away. That was when we knew this might work.

MT: What is the Philosophy of your new EP?

Andy: As long as it feels good.

Dorothy: In the past we would make a song, but didn't really like it. However they would release it anyway. Now we are never going to do something that isn't good for us. Maybe it will be good for somebody else, but if it doesn't feel good for us, then we won't do it.

Andy: In the past all the songs like "Can't Stop Me" and "Blessed" were ones that we really believed in, but because we made all of those songs with different artists, we never really got to brand the songs like we wanted music-wise and vocally. It always had a touch from a different producer and that's why with this EP, we said let's do what we feel music-wise. That's why it feels 100 percent Shermanology compared to tracks before.

MT: When did you decide this was the direction you wanted to take with your music?

Dorothy: I think about a year and a half ago. We just decided to press the reset button and build a whole new team around us. Once we decided to make the music we wanted to make, that's when we booked a flight to New York and hooked some very good writers.

Andy: After a certain point, we would come back from gigs in Holland or somewhere abroad. We would come back with a bit of an unsatisfied feeling. At one point I was playing music to please the crowd instead of playing the songs that we really want to play. That's when your heart and your mind start to conflict. It just didn't feel right anymore so we hit reset.

Dorothy: If you aren't having as much fun anymore, then you need to change what you are doing to make sure you are having fun.

MT: This EP has five songs. Why did you choose these five and were there more you could have added?

Andy: We could have done an album.

MT: Why didn't you do an album?

Andy: We decided we had some collabs on there and we have some ballads as well. Instead of doing an album where it might confuse people even more from where we came from, we picked the five songs that were in between the club and downtempo style we want to do as well. We said "let's do it one step at a time" and not put too many collabs on there. We had to kill our darlings. However for our second EP we have a lot new songs ready. We are going to be able to put more variety on the EP like ballads and club tracks.

We are working on it [the second EP] now. We have half of the songs done now. The next few months are going to be a lot of traveling and doing a lot of songwriting for the second one.

MT: How the song with Pep & Rash come about?

Andy: Every year we have a writing camp with our publisher at Spinnin' Records. We got into a session with Pep & Resh. There was a really good connection even in a friend level. We had a really good connection, started the first track at that session and then went to their studio to finish the song. Their studio is about two hours away from Amsterdam and it was more of a friend kind of thing. That was when "Sugar" was made.

MT: In one interview you said, vocals should lift you up. What about the times when life is difficult and filled with hardships?

Dorothy: Yeah of course. I believe that every type of emotion that people have, if I take myself as an example, every type of emotion that I feel, you can put it into your music. If you feel sad, you probably listen to sad songs. If you want to make dance music, it should be songs that make you feel good. If we want to make a love ballad or a sad ballad then we will. If it needs to be something you want to dance to, then it is something that feels good.

Andy: I think the context that I said that was for the dance floor. It isn't like we don't want to make emotional songs, but they usually don't make the cut when you want to make dance music.

MT: What else do you have coming up?

Dorothy: We just made the music video for "Sweet Surrender" last week. We are waiting on it to be finished.



Andy: Next week we have the video for "Sugar." We have to go back to London soon because the last session we did there with a guy MNEK. We did a couple of tracks with him and I hope two will make the next EP. There is this other girl called Rafaela that we did some sessions with as well. I think the second EP is going to have a lot of UK influences - a lot of bass lines. I used to live in London and there was this UK garage group called Artful Dodger where I was the front singer for two years. Now that I am doing this kind of music, it helps that I lived there for a little while. We are just reviving all of the old influences we had with the first EP.

MT: What is something people might not know about you?

Andy: Dorothy started in Merengue and salsa bands when she was 14 or 15. I used to work at Pizza Hut and she was making 10 times what I was making. But I wasn't mad.

Dorothy: I just decided when I was 13, if I had to have a summer job, even though I did some waitress work and hated it; I was just going to sing.

Andy: I still know how to make one hell of a pizza.

Dorothy: Andy was a Dutch martial arts champion of Pencak Silat.

MT: Can you still do it?

Dorothy: We both can. We both did it, but he did all of the bouts.

Andy: If I get myself in trouble I am the black Bruce Lee.

MT: Who would win in a fight, you or Laidback Luke?

Andy: Oh no, you don't want to fight Laidback Luke. The problem is that he is still doing everyday. So I would run really fast. You know who you have watch out for as well? Fedde le Grand. He is a black belt in Pencak Silat. He is not to mess with.

MT: That is how you deal with unruly people in the booth...

Andy: Once we had a streaker on stage. That was funny.

Dorothy: It was at Amnesia in Ibiza. They wanted to take him out, but I told them to let him dance. He wanted to be up here naked, so let him do his thing. It was funny.

[GeneChing]

[GeneChing]

Cool. Who is that girl?

[GeneChing]

The girl in Sia's new music video 'Alive' is 9-year-old Mahiro Takano, 3X consecutive champ of All Japan Junior Karatedo Championships and Shotokan exponent.

[GeneChing]

Meet Mahiro Takano, the Young Martial Arts Star of Sia's 'Alive' Video
By Associated Press | November 20, 2015 3:25 AM EST


Sia's video for "Alive."
Courtesy of VEVO

She has a soft spot for Duffy the Disney Bear and her favorite food is chocolate. She does her homework before dinner but really loves skateboarding, playing video games and bouncing on her trampoline.

If Mahiro Takano sounds like any 9-year-old, think again: The third grader from Niigata, a rice-growing region in Japan, stars in Sia's latest music video "Alive," the just-released single from the singer's upcoming album This is Acting (due Jan. 29).

In a backdrop of stark gray, the girl, wearing a white and black wig evocative of Sia's hairstyle, performs a dazzling routine with quick fists and kicks, and an adorably determined concentration of energy.

Watch Sia's Ass-Kicking New Video for 'Alive'

Mahiro, a three-time Japan karate champion in her age group, found making a music video was quite fun, and agreed she would do it again, especially if Justin Bieber or Taylor Swift offers.

The video shoot with Sia in a Tokyo suburb took about a week. She made a point to move to match the music, and "look cool," Mahiro said in an interview at her home, where she was gulping down her dinner of curry and boiled eggs before rushing to karate practice.

"She was nice," she said calmly of Sia. "She kept saying I was fantastic."

"Amazing" was the way her thoroughly impressed mother, Masayo Takano, remembers Sia repeatedly praising her daughter.



"I was so excited," her mother said, letting out a squeal not quite as fierce as the long throaty screams her daughter makes during her karate routines.

Mahiro - whose name means "ten thousand kindness, as well as ten thousand talents" - has a quick sweet smile when she isn't screaming.

Her kicks, turns and punches in the air are part of "kata" forms that are like choreography in the Japanese defensive martial art of karate. Kata competition is separate from combat matches, which are also part of the sport.

When doing kata, you slip into a focused character, Mahiro says, by imagining "a far more powerful enemy."

She lost a contest just once, when she was in kindergarten. She wept, she recalls, so painful was it to lose. The trick is to practice as though you are in competition, and compete as though you are in practice, she said.

And she practices with a ferocious frenzy, working out every day after school with her older brother. She was 4 when she started karate, inspired by her brother, then 5, who began lessons with their father, a truck driver.

The moves must be powerful, precise and sharp, and getting better never ends, you can keep working at one detail after another, she added, sounding almost like a guru.

When asked about the appeal of karate, her reply is rather simple - being able to make friends.

"You get to play with them," such as tag, she said.

Her parents say they are grateful to karate because it teaches a child discipline, hard work, the resilience to perform under pressure and manners. Bowing and cheerful replies, as well as constant practice and respect to hierarchy, exemplified in the belt system signifying skill levels, are integral to karate.

Her teacher Takako Kikuchi acknowledged that some purists may disapprove of a young woman's participation in a music video.

"But this little girl did not compromise in the music video. She is doing her best, delivering, correctly and thoroughly, one by one, the moves that she knows, with utmost concentration. There is nothing false about it, nothing made up. She is truly telling the world the way of karate," Kikuchi said proudly.

Mahiro has already been chosen an official "ambassador" for karate for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The sport is vying to be chosen for the games. Never mind that, even if that happens, Mahiro may not be old enough to compete. The age cutoff is still undecided.

"I want to go to the Olympics," she says, "and win a gold medal."

Cool song, cool vid, and a very cool little girl.

[GeneChing]

I'm not a fan of death metal or Taiwanese music, but put them together in ancient Chinese armor, and it gets my vote.

WATCH: This death metal superstar is gunning for a seat in the Taiwanese parliament



As this weekend's elections in Taiwan draw near, death metal front man Freddy Lim is gearing up to run for a parliamentary seat.
Lim is apparently not content with just making himself heard over the aggressive guitar riffs of Chthonic. He's taking a hard line pro-democracy stand against the mainland, and is acting as a voice for Taiwanese youth who dread eventually being put in the same boat as Hong Kong.



Lim belongs to one of the many smaller political parties hoping to break up the stranglehold that the KMT and DPP hold on Taiwanese politics. He's also fighting to reverse the current trend toward closer ties with the mainland.
"The government thinks that relying on China will result in economic prosperity, which the youth do not agree with," he told CNN.
Lim is being contested by an incumbent who is telling his constituents to not vote for someone "who has hair that is longer than a woman's and is mentally abnormal." It should be quite the race.



Watch CNN's profile on this death metal superstar turned politician here:


[Video via CNN]
Contact the author of this article or email tips@shanghaiist.com with further questions, comments or tips.
By Shanghaiist in News on Jan 15, 2016 8:00 PM

[GeneChing]

BABYMETAL’s new single “KARATE” is the **** + ‘Metal Resistance’ trailer
IATFB 02/25/2016



BABYMETAL continue to build towards the release of their ‘Metal Resistance‘ album on Apr. 1, and their new single “KARATE” was played live at various outlets recently.

Here’s a recording:

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3...l-karate_music

*In case that goes down, here’s a mirror.

“KARATE” reminds me of a heavy metal version of a Do As Infinity track, which is a definite positive as the latter’s songs are usually catchy. The instrumentals provided by the Kami Band are widely regarded to always be on point, and that doesn’t change here with an intro that engaged me instantly and somehow manages to merge perfectly with a catchy J-pop hook.

The fusion of constant energy from the talented band with SU-METAL‘s consistently developing talent as a front-woman makes this group shine and difficult to duplicate (though others try). The “screamo” by YUIMETAL and MOAMETAL is honestly still a bit jarring, but I’m growing used to it by now and they’ve gotten better as they’ve gotten older. SU-METAL’s still obviously the star of the track, though, and she dominates it with an on-point haunting pre-chorus that leads to an even better performance over the addictive hook. Her progression and evolution is probably shown to be most complete over the outro, where she really powers through the track and finishes it off on an extreme high that makes you want to hit repeat.

I dunno if I’m supposed to love this **** by whatever musical elitist standard, but sorry, this is amazing and I can (and have) listen to it over and over.

continued next post

[GeneChing]

Here’s the album trailer for ‘Metal Resistance’, which also serves as what I think is a music video teaser for “KARATE”.



Give us the **** music video.

If you don't know Baby Metal, you don't know J-pop at all.

[GeneChing]

Wide world of snort?

Hear Baauer Team With Future, Pusha T for Hard-Hitting 'Kung Fu'
"'This is one of the missiles. This is one of the ones I guarantee is gonna make some kind of noise,'" "Harlem Shake" producer says of track

BY DANIEL KREPS February 24, 2016


Future and Pusha T guest on Baauer's hard-hitting "Kung Fu," a track off the producer's upcoming LP 'Aa.' Prince Williams/Getty, Jerritt Clark/Getty

Baauer teams with Future and Pusha T on "Kung Fu," a track off the "Harlem Shake" beatmaker's upcoming LP Aa. Future contributes the woozy chorus to the hard-hitting cut that finds Pusha rapping, "The dope game is my sport / Welcome to the wide world of snort / They quoting 36 a kilo / Nah, there wasn't 36 of me though."

Baauer
Kung Fu ft Pusha T & Future

Baauer debuted the track on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 radio show, where he also discussed how the collaboration came together. "I was working with Pusha on his project, just giving him some beats and working on some songs," Baauer told Lowe. "This kind of came through it. This was one of the songs we were working on and I managed to get it for my album. I was like, 'This is one of the missiles. This is one of the ones I guarantee is gonna make some kind of noise.'"

Aa (pronounced "double A"), which also features guests like M.I.A., Rustie, Leikeli47 and more, is due out March 18th. Baauer recently spoke to Rolling Stone about the viral fame of "Harlem Shake" and how he hopes he never becomes that famous again. "I look at Kanye, who lives in that 24/7, and I can't imagine what kind of a person you must be to deal with that," Baauer said. "Just getting the smallest little touch of that experience was too much for me."

[GeneChing]

New BABYMETAL song debuts on BBC, immediately shoots to the top of iTunes charts【Music】
Preston Phro about an hour ago



Put your kitsune up!

At this point, BABYMETAL doesn’t need much in the way of introduction. If you read RocketNews24 regularly, you’ll probably be familiar with the group and their music. Needless to say, we’re big fans, and we have a feeling quite a few of our readers are as well! So, we know just how you’ve felt waiting for new music from our favorite kawaii metal group.

Well, your wait is over! “Karate” just debuted on BBC Radio 1 and was uploaded to YouTube as an audio-only track. You can listen to it below, and we’ll get out of the way and let you listen now, though you may find that the video is blocked in your location.



The new song was also released on iTunes, and it shot straight to the top of the charts, as you can see below.

BABYMETAL
4 hours ago

The song is also available in Japan in iTunes (even if it’s not available on YouTube). It probably goes without saying, but the new single topped the charts here as well!

BABYMETAL
8 hours ago
New song “KARATE" is available and No.1 on iTunes Top Song Chart in Japan! New Album "METAL RESISTANCE" iTunes pre-order begins! ‪#‎BABYMETAL‬ ‪#‎itunes‬

The full album, titled Metal Resistance, will be released April 1 along with the start of a worldwide tour. You can pre-order the full album now on iTunes (Japan) or Amazon (UK) or buy “Karate” on iTunes (Japan) or Amazon (US) or you localized iTunes store.

Sources: Facebook/BABYMETAL, YouTube/BABYMETALVEVO (h/t NoCleanSinging)
Featured image: Facebook/BABYMETAL

This is one of those rare situations where Karate beats Kung Fu for me. Baby Metal is really growing on me. Future and Pusha T, not so much.

[GeneChing]

Baauer & Pusha T's Kung Fu track.

There's a lyric vid if you follow the post, but it might not help...

Baauer Unveils Lyric Video For "Kung Fu"
He'll distribute free download codes for the song this weekend.
By ELIAS LEIGHT

Baauer's new clip comes courtesy of Apple Music. "Never really understood lyric videos so this one's in arabic, russian & simplified chinese," the producer explained. "The translator said, 'I'd like to warn you this song would be illegal to release in China.' The visuals are a lil glimpse from the Aa shows we've been working on."
Baauer also decided to hand out free download codes for "Kung Fu" inside fortune cookies. Those special cookies will be available this weekend for fans that live in New York City or London. The NYC supply can be found at Turntable Lab (120 E 7th St, New York, NY 10009), while the U.K. stash will be at Goodhood (151 Curtain Rd, London EC2A 3QE).

[GeneChing]