nanyate » guitar

YUI Yoshioka – My New Idol

Ivy — Tue, 05 May 2009 04:55:42 +0000

Sep 1 ’09 Update – Replaced with a working video!

People who know me in person, have read my blog long enough or have browsed through my Last.FM will probably notice this about me: I absolutely hate rock music. Aside from Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, I have no other rock song on my iTunes playlist of 3,000 songs…

…that is, until yesterday.

While I was watching Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood last night, the opening song captured my ears – or rather my heart. It’s called Again by YUI (ユイ). There’s so much soul in her music that I could forgive the perpetual annoyance of the electric guitar. Her childish yet calming voice pierces through the normally unforgivable guitars, as if striving to overcome all obstacles just to reach whatever she’s trying to reach. (My soul, in my case.)

So like any Gen-Y’er, I wikied YUIand was just so, so, so impressed. YUI also known as Yoshioka Yui (吉岡唯) writes her own songs, plays the acoustic guitar, the electric guitar, the bass, the piano and even the drums! She could just be her own band – if only she could clone herself 4 times over. Coupled with her childhood struggles and her dramatic climb to fame, it’s really hard not to respect someone as talented and dedicated as her. (Of course, her childhood drama could all be a marketing ploy. But who cares, this girl’s got talent).

I shall stop gushing like a fan girl and just let you experience it yourselves.

Can’t wait to go home, pick up my guitar and start learning to play her songs! YUI <3!

Dear Readers, do you have any idols? Who and why do you like him/her?

My Cover of アイシテル Aishiteru

Ivy — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 07:44:31 +0000

My WordPress draft list is getting longer. But I just can’t seem to be able to publish any of them recently. Guess that’s what you call writer’s block.

So here’s a song I’ve been singing whilst in the shower instead. It’s called アイシテル (Aishiteru; I love you), originally sung by a Jpop newcomer 清水翔太 (Shimizu Shota). I sang the whole song except the second verse (which I’m not very familiar with yet).

You don’t have to be shy about it, I know the guitar accompaniment is really bad. 75$ kid’s guitar + a guitar beginner who has no time to practice = shitty strumming. Just as one of my friends says, if I quit my job and practiced non-stop for 3 months, I’d be like Sungha Jung. But alas, I like my job. And I don’t aspire to be a fingerstyle guitar prodigy either. I just sing and play the guitar for my own amusement. So it’ll probably take me years to get any better. Or maybe I should start looking for someone to teach me, instead of struggling to teach myself new chords every Sunday morning.

Oh and those attune to music will also realized that I slowed down the tempo when I got to the bridge. I had a hard time pronouncing the words, since Shota sings it so quickly. Guess I’ll need to sing that bit more often while I’m showering.

Without further ado, here’s my version.

Here’s Shimizu Shota performing Aishiteru live.

And here’s a YouTuber‘s cover of it, which IMO is the best cover ever. He mellowed out the song even more, and really put his own style to it. (He starts singing at 1.15)

Feel free to post your own covers too.

Girl with a Guitar

Ivy — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 13:26:09 +0000

Remember the beautiful Nanyate?! Guitar that looks like my layout? Well, here’s how it sounds with a guitar novice trying too hard to sing and strum at the same time: pretty crappy. But then what can you expect out of a S$99 (USD $70) guitar and someone who hasn’t sung in 5 years?

The song is the opening song for anime ARIA the NATURAL. It’s called ‘Euforia’ and originally sung by Makino Yui. Enjoy!

Yeah, I should really change my tagline to “aurally polluting the Internet since 1997″! Maybe I will. LOL!

The Nanyate?! Guitar

Ivy — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 15:48:10 +0000

While I was showing my high school classmate around Singapore yesterday, a guitar caught my eye. When I saw it, my heart skipped a beat. It looked strangely familiar, almost like something I’d design myself. I wanted to buy it, but I was hesitating, since I don’t make many impulse buys – at least, not the ones that cost $100. But in the end, its likeness stole my heart. And this is what it looks like:

Doesn’t it look just like Nanyate.Com?!

My fingers are so sore from practicing all night. So, I shall keep today’s entry short. For more pictures I took yesterday, including a skyline of Singapore, please visit my Flickr.

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