upbeat

Mix Tape Monday: Feel Good

Posted on by Get Set Go

You know Mondays mornings can be kind of a drag.

Alright let’s face it 90 % of the time they stink. Who wants to say good bye to the weekend and get up early? It’s hard to wake up happy when you have the rest of the work week staring you in the face. But don’t let those Monday blues get ya down!

Start your week off right with these tunes and it will fly by in no time.

Jung Yong Hwa with JJ LIN – Checkmate. The first step to surviving the work week is knowing that you are not alone. When you feel like the working world is against you these boys (from Korea and China respectively) have got your back!

Atif Aslam – Jeena Jeena –  Waking up Monday morning can’t be that bad with this gentleman by your side. I can see it now, me drowsing on a boat rocking to the waves in the sunshine with Atif Aslam crooning my stress away.

Also a former flautist (7th and 8th grade represent!) I fully endorse songs that rock that flute.

Nazim Ziryab – Tchakchouka. Get yourself outta bed and put on the coffee with this rollicking tune. Who can say no to the blues guitar with a berber feel by this UK based Algerian musician?

C2C – Happy. Words cannot express how much I love this song by French DJ collective C2C. Listening to this song I feel like I can conquer any work week drudgery thrown my way. Plus dancing is pretty much required. Dancing before work (or at work) will make your day better. I guarantee.

Songhoy Blues – Irganda. Are you dancing yet? This Malian band’s joyous song is great for commuting because you can bob along to beat and maybe fit in an inconspicuous shuffle or two on the train.

Anybody  have songs that make you feel prepared for the work week ahead? Put ’em in the dooblydoo below!

Khalil Fong 方大同

Posted on by Get Set Go

Do you want

  • new beats for that casual dance party?
  • to kick up the soundtrack to your morning commute?
  • to reminisce about R&B days gone by?
  • to impress your friends by throwing out words like mandopop and Chinese neo-soul?

Well, have I got the artist for you! I stumbled upon Khalil Fong, the Hong Kong based artist also known as Soulboy, through one fateful click. When I came to three hours and multitudes of music videos later I knew it was love (I was also convinced I knew enough Mandarin to sing along.)

Khalil, Khalil, Khalil, you have filled a neo-soul shaped hole in my heart I didn’t even know was there. He melds the genres of soul, RB, pop, in a manner that is instantly relatable without sounding generic. Throw in an upbeat retro flourish and I was sold. While he may be news to me he actually released his first album in back in 2005 and has been consistently releasing music since then. With so much music to choose from there’s bound to be one song that catches your ear and has you tapping your feet.

Check out some my favorites (and music videos) below:

Romeo is the kind of song you want to hear at a party to get people up, on their feet, and smiling. Just try not to dance. I dare you. If you like this song check out Eric Nam’s song Ooh Ooh.

BB88 is more laid back than the other two songs shown here but just as catchy. I like to think of it as my boppin’ around town song.

Dangerous World has the most distinctive “pop sound” of these three as well as some electronic elements. I’ve had this song stuck in my head for the past three days.

There are so many more songs available by Khalil Fong! This is some of his later work but his early albums (like Soul boy) as well as his collaborations are also worth a listen. Check them out on Youtube and on iTunes!