Declare INDIEpendence 2 : A showcase of Asian American musicians

Celebrate the diversity of Asian American music. This year host, Dawen Wang, teamed up with FAAIM and the 14th annual Chicago Asian American Film Showcase at the Gene Siskel Center to bring you:

Spark*Shop
Lanialoha & Kupono
Cynthia Lin
Wallet-Sized Photo
with host: Seeso
DJ Huu T. Ly
and special guest: Dawen

17 and over
$10

Date:
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Time:
8:00pm - 11:00pm
Location:
Subterranean
Street:
2011 W. North Ave.
City/Town:
Chicago, IL

RSVP on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/s.php?k=100000004&id=61757196122&gr=4&act=2421953394&a=7&sid=f1b4158980e050037b1d07557dac45af#/event.php?eid=61757196122&ref=mf

Hope to see you there!

Angels & Kings present Island Def Jam r&b star Utada--open bar Monday, March 23 at 6pm

ARGH! I'd LOVE to go to this!! Utadaaaa!!! Come to Chicago!!!

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Utada (Island Def Jam) Album Release Party
Monday, March 23, 2009 (6 pm - 9 pm)

Angels & Kings
500 East 11th Street, at Avenue A, New York, NY 10003
Subways: L to First Avenue, 6 to Astor Place

Presented by Angels & Kings with proceeds benefiting Asian American Arts Alliance, Japanese American pop/R&B singer Utada, a multiplatinum seller in Japan, will be on-hand for the release of her new English-language album. Available digitally Tuesday, March 24, the album, which includes her new hit, “Come Back to Me,” features the work of producers Stargate (Ne-Yo, Rihanna) and Tricky (Britney Spears).

Utada fans, here is your chance to get free promos items and win an advance copy of the album!

Open bar sponsored by Ciroc from 6 pm - 7 pm.

Tickets:
$10 Donation at the Door, benefiting the Asian American Arts Alliance. To find out more about the Alliance, visit our website at http://www.aaartsalliance.org.

Contact:
Angels & Kings
http://www.angelsandkings.com

Anoop Desai is Awesome

Anoop Desai is really cool. He can sing pretty well and did so well that the judges even stuck him in the top 13 for American Idol! And if you want to hear him sing Beat It by MJ, then here you go...

Ken Oak Band -> Oak and Gorski

Ken Oak Band is now called Oak and Gorski. Unfortunately, I haven't had the chance to see them perform, but have heard tracks they've cut and they're a tight sounding duo. Here's a message from them via FB:

Hello friends,

We are currently booking our tour for April and need your help! If you or someone you know is at a college in the following areas, and is a fan of our band, and could possibly help book a show at their school... please msg me their contact info! It would be greatly appreciated!

Houston
Dallas
Austin
New Jersey
Philadelphia
DC
Ohio
Illinois

We have changed our band name to "Oak and Gorski" and have a new album, "Good Advice, Bad Advice", which will be released on March 26! Songs will be playing on our new Myspace starting tomorrow!

myspace.com/oakandgorski

We also have a new facebook music page. search for "Oak and Gorski" and add us!

much love,
Ken

I've tried to add them via FB, er, I couldn't. I'll try again later...

Utada Hikaru: This is the One

I really like Utada Hikaru... except for her first official U.S. album called "Exodus" really, just, blah-ed on me. After hearing the single, "Easy Breezy" (...and I'm Japanese-y) chorus from that album, I really couldn't bring myself to listen to the rest of the album. When she released more Japanese singles, I totally loved them; like "Beautiful World" and "Kiss and Cry."

Finally, Utada will come out with another U.S. album and THIS album sounds promising, since I heard the first single off it called, "Come Back to Me." Listen to it here. Pre-order it here.

Props to DISGRASIAN for posting this! I like Hikki!! <3

Feels Like Insomnia: US or Korean version?

I was reading about this at K-Popped! and saw that there was a Korean re-make of this Craig David song, Insomnia. Below is the U.S. release:


And this is the Korean version by Wheesung:


Which do you like? I like both because I can understand the lyrics in the orginal one, but the Korean one is very catchy as well...

Random: HK rocks out with bands in Asia

Read more here!

Shanghai Restoration Project: Zodiac Album

I really like the SRP! Awesome music. I even met David Liang! Got a picture with him. He has some awesome tracks and is one of my favorite Asian American performers and producers.

Shanghai Restoration Project fans,In celebration of Chinese New Year 2009, the Shanghai RestorationProject releases Zodiac.

Inspired by the Chinese Zodiac, the albumfeatures twelve different songs, each representing a different animal.

Album Preview Site: http://www.zodiac.shanghairestorationproject.com/
Album Preview Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fx6D6KKyRp4
Also, for those of you who watch Showtime, the SRP track "MissShanghai" was featured on the L Word season premiere a few nights ago.

Keep your ears open for another SRP track "Jade Buddha Temple" in afuture episode

Thanks again for the support.
Best,Dave Liang
Producer

The Shanghai Restoration Project
Web: http://www.shanghai-restoration-project.com/

MySpace: www.myspace.com/shanghairestorationproject

NPR Interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4rXtNYB324