K-pop 2013

Yeah, they're pretty straightforward. The video is unimaginative too - and cheap - they must have blown the budget on "I Like That".

G.NA ft. Illhoon - Oops. I'm a sucker for this kind of You Are My Pet older-woman-younger-guy team up, and I think the rap parts keep it from being overly cutesy. But I really wonder why those "oops"es are in there - why not some less-coy "oh"s instead?

new girl's day album!? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUtGJtyoIfg

aaaand https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ok9MLMd7ccE

super bummed I won't be able to see 2NE1 (with the Backstreet Boys! lol) play a free concert in my city this week - have a flight to catch the following morning :( :( :(

one listen through the girl's day album and I really like it... then again 1. i'm a girls day stan and 2.) i'm love ott bubblegum pop

pull an all nighter and sleep on the plane imo xp

really enjoying that girl's dayo

it made the will.i.am/2ne1 thing sound especially anemic

yeah the 2ne1/will.i.am sounds more like a proof of concept than anything

pull an all nighter and sleep on the plane imo xp

i would but it's just a one hour flight, and then straight to a conference after arrival. :/

I'm still trying to pretend will.i.am doesn't exist.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=rAUwimJaZKU

Short n sweet

i really like the elite gymnastics k-pop mix and want to hear more. what are the albums to hear? is it more of a singles genre?

In some ways. "Mini-albums" / is a popular format, though. What did you particularly like on the mix?

Mini albums / EPs

this is the tracklisting to that elite gymnastics mix I think?

kahi* – 돌아와나쁜너
4MINUTE – 거울아거울아
after school – SHAMPOO
girl's day – 잘해줘봐야
IU – 미리 메리 크리스마스 (Featuring 천둥 Of MBLAQ)

*of after school fame

it's a lot of heavy k-pop hitters, you could probably spend a few hours on each of their wikipedia discographies and find lots of good stuff

yeah for me it's mostly a singles/EP/mini-albums genre

i cut out all the j-pop from the listing btw

currently re-obsessed with this after they included it on their lp https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWpl2CaCnVA

@clouds, it's an EPs & mini-albums genre, but there are some strong albums too. It's very visual, so maybe the best place to look is on Youtube.

Some stuff that sounds like the elite gymnastics list:

2NE1 - To Anyone: happy-sad anthemic exercise music. Late-90s stadium rock / will.i.am / Bangladeshi beats (e.g. "Follow Me").
Sistar - So Cool. If you absolutely must have more 2NE1.
Big Bang - Still Alive: like 2NE1 but more clubby, hedonistic, electronic, trend-chasing (LMFAOish), and insane.
4minute - their singles (Hot Issue, HuH, I My Me Mine, Love Tension, Mirror Mirror, Ready Go, Volume Up, Why): Japanese Italodisco / freestyle / poppy pop (but 4minute are style chameleons, really)
B2ST - Fact or Fiction: like 4minute, but more introspective and sad-energized and rock-y
After School - Playgirlz: melodies borrowed from stadium anthems ("Ya'll Ready for This?") and rewritten to sound more indie. They buy a lot of songs off Norwegian producers. This is a Japanese best-of album, so it's not technically K-pop.

Going a bit further afield into Korean folk sounds:
T-ara - Absolute First Album: Britney Spears dirty club pop / trot (Korean traditional music genre that sounds like Eastern European folk music with a disco beat)
T-ara - John Travolta Wannabe : More disco and trot and Max Martin, less Britney.
Super Junior - the singles (Sorry Sorry, Rokkugo, Bonamana, Mr. Simple, Sexy Free & Single, Spy): trot / disco / wacky novelty songs
Lay.T - neo-trot (trot + disco). I'm not seeing their albums on wikipedia but they're a high-quality group.

Going more into Eurobeat/Japanese Italodisco sounds:
SHINee - Lucifer: futuristic RnB with funky polyrhythms and tightly-produced harmonies / boyband concept album about obsession
UKiss - Neverland: Eurotrash gutter-pop with pop-punk vocal harmonies / boyband self-loathing. Basically Emo Club Music, but filtered through Japan. Ukiss are a hit-and-miss but incredibly trashy even when they hit, so YMMV.
Sweetune - a songwriting team, not a band. Sounds like Japanese anime soundtracks from the mid-90s that reflect the excesses of music production of the late-80s. More manic: Kara singles (Wanna, Step Up, Pandora) & Rainbow singles (A, Mach); more cheesy: Infinite singles (Be Mine, BTD, Paradise, The Chaser) & Boyfriend singles (Love Style, I Yah); more grown-up: Nine Muses singles (Figaro, News, Ticket, Dolls)

Going more old-school RnB and rap and soul:
Big Bang - Remember: Justin Timberlake / K-rock / house beats / boyband concept album about group dysfunction
Primary - Primary and the Messengers: throwback to jazzy, funky, early-90s RnB guest-featuring some of SK's most popular rappers.
Lee Hi - First Love: more throwback jazzy RnB. Lee Hi is 16 but has a soulful, Adele-like voice. SK discovers audition shows and neo-soul.
Miss A - their singles (Bad Girl Good Girl, Goodbye Baby, Touch, I Don't Need a Man): old-school soul with modern production touches. Per Frank Kogan, they are not strong singers and this lends vulnerability to what would otherwise be highly-polished and professional music.

And here's some decent EPs and mini-albums, in no particular order:

2NE1 - 2NE1 and 2NE1 2nd mini album. Produced by Teddy who works a lot with Big Bang as well. Teddy leans hard toward electronic, club, stadium anthem sounds. while co-writer Kush injects rock, reggae, and sadness/vulnerabily
Sistar19 - Gone Not Around Any Longer. If you absolutely must have more first-EP-era 2NE1.
OneTwo - Walala lalale: I think this is Brave Brothers' (Sistar, Big Bang) most cohesive single release. Classic Kpop sounds + reggae + disco + aren't these guys too old to be idol singers?
EXID - Hippity Hop, and their singles. Managed by Shinsadong Tiger who also works a lot with 4minute and B2ST
Wonder Girls - Wonder Party. Bratty teen girl pop written by the Soulful JY Park (Miss A, Lee Hi)
SPICA - Painkiller. Strong RnB vocalists with advanced production.
EXO-K - Mama. More futuristic, experimental RnB with a debt to Michael Jackson and Rock from SM Entertainment (Super Junior, SHINee)
BAP - Warrior. These guys are into Linkin Park and Tupac. If that's your thing, this is a pretty strong EP.

Add in Girls Generation and this is close to being a physical-album best-seller list from the last couple years.

damn, that's a great post, thanks

np!

4minute - top 9 Japanese singles
Super Junior - top 10 songs as voted by fans
UKiss - top 10 songs. Sonically, they are more like a girl-group (dance music + vocals processed in service of the song)
Sweetune - introduction mix

And listening again, I think I'd rate After School Playgirlz, T-ara Absolute First Album, SHINee Lucifer, Sistar So Cool, Big Bang Still Alive, 2NE1 To Anyone, in that order, just in terms of album cohesiveness and flow.

Also Z:EA - Spectacular is an underrated but surprisingly strong album! (Here.)

yes! omg thank you!!

forapper and abcfsk, do you find there're any significant differences between what labels will release in japan as opposed to what they'll release in korea

A+ posts forapper, as always <3 <3

I think I like Sweetune the cheesier they get lol, hadn't realized they did "Ticket" and "Dolls" too though! amazing songs.

i'd say miss a's a class is a great album but it's mostly their first two years of singles anyway

Yeah, the Japanese releases tend to be either full albums or collaborations with Japanese/European producers.

New Infinite is a big ball of fun http://youtu.be/2C-dsCaFJzE

^ Speaking of Infinite and cheese-leaning songs

Speaking of SWEETUNE, sorry

haha yeah, that's super corny but so very Infinite/Sweetune.

As always, love the way they launch into the choruses - I can't always identify them as individual singers, but their vocals work incredibly well as a unit. kinda think it's why Sweetune saves the cheesiest songs for them too - they're the only group that wouldn't otherwise be overwhelmed by the opulent production.

:D

So BoA's great <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w7RJRMwN2E";>I Did For Love</a> was written by and featured Sean Garrett, who is now producing <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w7RJRMwN2E";>his very own boyband</a>. Heh.

I did NOT mean to hit submit on that, sorry everyone ;_;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFny8iYc9L8

have seen some good press on the mindless behavior album

That's the one! Thanks 乒乓.

http://i.imgur.com/oHXGG9J.jpg

:D

The other good song on Infinite's EP is about not wanting your gf to wear short skirts: eng sub.

Oh but about Grimes, are there pictures of her with 2NE1 and SNSD too???

(http://actuallygrimes.tumblr.com/post/45979235032/i-was-about-to-cry-from-exhaustion-and-then-i)

love that pic so much. wish I liked Grimes' music more, she's basically my imaginary best friend.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKjjXCqVK5s

feels like an H.O.T. throwback ^_^

OFFROAD - 'head banging' much more anemic than the title would suggest

Oh god, we're officially in Spring. The pastel-colored flower boy stuff is going to continue for another three months.

;____;

(Said as someone who quite likes ZE:A)

The ZE:A5 mini EP is really solid. Or maybe I just think so because I'm an easy sell on all things Brave Brothers.

lol @ hyuna schilling for toyota

i'm gonna ask this from a position of ignorance, so please forgive me, but is there any ... consternation at all for hyuna repping for a japanese automaker?

No idea about Hyuna, but wasn't 4minute's last Japanese single used in an Audi commercial?

Lee Hi's best performance yet:

http://soundcloud.com/ipaaaul4s/04-1

Rose is just embarrassing though, I hope she promotes something else.

F(X) doing Funny or Die with Anna Kendrick - http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/78b1d27dab/anna-kendrick-goes-k-pop-with-f-x