K-pop 2013

The Tracks Of My Tiers

Dash, as promised, here's a roundup of my favorite tracks from K-pop's lower commercial tiers.

Except for the artist formerly known as E.via, I'm steering away from hip-hop as such, where moderate sales are considered pretty good (though obv. the hip-hop influence is all over this list). And I'm not counting trot, otherwise LPG would definitely be here. Or a jazz-blues singer like Woo Hye Mi ("Maria"), whom I discovered shooting flames on The Voice, or a jazzy balladeer like Barbara ("꿈..그보다 아픈 사랑"). And I don't know if we should consider middling sellers like Nine Muses ("Figaro") or Block B ("Halo") or RaNia ("Masquerade") as lower tier or not, but I left them off, and left off Jewelry ("Look At Me" [inst.]), who once had a number one hit.

Other than guest rapper Vasco, we don't get a male voice until the honorable mentions. It's not that women singers have more talent than men, but the zeitgeist and arrangements seem to be working to their advantage, while guys struggle to find a voice that fits.

In ascending order. As you can see, I like both it and that:

Leader'S "Hope" (2011). The song is called "Hope" but the sound is heartache 24/7. I left NYC several years before Hot 97 or whatever it was came in with a Latin freestyle format, but I can imagine this humid emotion emanating daily from car radios and bodegas on my block (I lived on the northern end of Mott Street, which was nominally still part of Little Italy, but the Italians had mostly moved to more well-to-do neighborhoods, being replaced by immigrants from the Dominican Republic).

D-Unit ft. Vasco "Stay Alive" (2013). Produced by Zico of Block B, this is a lot more natural than his own group ever was at creating a hip-hop idol sound, emphatic rapping with a backdrop that's half dreamy and half disorienting.

Chi Chi "Sexy Doll" (2012). A come-on that sounds at least as ominous as it is salacious.

Z.Hera "Peacock" (2013). Haven't yet discovered who wrote this, but it's someone with a far better understanding than I of Chopin or whoever, the track moving along towards inevitable bliss, while the singer uses the strain in her voice to suggest struggle and uneasiness. She just debuted, and I'm hoping for great things.

Clinah "So What If" (2011). Fractured power pop. It feels Japanese.

Tiny G "Minimanimo" (2013). I wonder if Bo Diddley had the least inkling in 1955 that he was setting the beat not just for buckets 'n' guts, but for sprites and nymphs.

Miss $ "Physical Or Emotional" (2012). Back to the dark Bodega wail. Miss $ had been a so-what r&b act for several years until they suddenly blossomed into passion.

Evol "Get Up" (2013). Get ur twisty little freak on, and take it to the disco.

GLAM "I Like That" (2013). Samples New York City sorrow, then pushes towards a joy most complicated.

Flashe "Drop It" (2012). A lot like "Bo Peep Bo Peep" in the way it teases and nags you.

New.F.O "Bounce" (2011). While the video apes 2NE1-style imperiousness, the band bubbles and bounces.

ChoColat "I Like It" (2011). Young Melanie wants it all, with a massive voice of promise and pain.

Crayon Pop "Bar Bar Bar" (2013). Perhaps they're lucky not to be stars. They get to spray everyone in their audience with water pistols.

E.via (now calling herself Tymee) "Pick Up! U!" (2010). The queen of the lower reaches, she can be anything from a severe art bitch to the cutest and quickest of the wild spirits. Here she gives us fractured power pop, fractured dance pop, fractured Poképop.

Fat Cat "My Love Bad Boy" (2011). Putatively cute and catchy, our heroine breaks her voice into scrapes, sparks, and splatters, and the sort of hooks that rip flesh.

I've made a YouTube playlist out of this, though the Fat Cat performance I wanted was deleted from YouTube (fortunately not before someone ripped it for Youku), so for that playlist I had to go with a different performance from Fat Cat, better recorded sound but not as immediately vibrant, shot several weeks after the camera people became afraid to close in on her ticking tush.

Honorable mentions: Gangkiz "Honey Honey," A-Jax "Hot Game," MYNAME "Just That Little Thing," Blady "Spark Spark," Delight "Mega Yak," X-Cross "Crazy."

Supplemental reading: In early 2012 I started a "No Tiers For The Creatures Of The Night" tag on my lj - though you can see that some of this goes back earlier. I only chose one track per group; but I urge you to listen further, especially to D-Unit, Chi Chi, Miss $, ChoColat, and of course Tymee, the artist formerly known as E.via.

An interesting story surfacing at SM Entertainment where in-house producer Kenzie is establishing herself as a lead songwriter, being responsible for the latest singles of two of their boybands. There's a lack of female producers in pop anywhere, and in Korea despite the many lyricists and songwriters, and a lead role in SM is a leading role in K-pop.

In later years she's increasingly taken on more executive roles on albums or giving purchased songs the 'SM gloss', a role SM's musical director Yoo Young-jin has held in the past, in addition to composing and producing. Of course Kenzie has a long history with SM since 2002, with older highlights like BoA's "My Name" and SNSD's "Into the New World", but two title tracks in a row and shaping the musical direction of the new boyband EXO is a new kind of responsibility.

Of course her latest two singles, Shinee's "Why So Serious" and EXO's "Wolf" are hugely divisive. I particularly like the latter, even though some western fans have been harping over how bad and weird it is since a version was leaked long time ago, but I can see how some think the 'SM style' is taken too far. She's composed both super melodic and sweet bubblegum such as the aforementioned SNSD (also "Oh!") and tough, dramatic maximalist stuff. The latter is perhaps closer to a signature sound.

The weird, ambigious and underrated / largerly ignored 'One More Chance' written for the comeback of one half of 'The Grace' is a personal favorite. Hard to pin down in many ways: http://youtu.be/q2Hmiu5m-v4

Wikip's got an (incomplete) list of songs by Kenzie. SNSD's "Oscar" jumps out at me. A lot of the others don't, though, so I I've got some exploring to do. (You mentioned her when the Dana & Sunday track first came out, but other than that, the only real attention I paid to her was when the Wikip entry on SNSD's/f(x)'s "Chocolate Love" listed her (and still lists her) as sole songwriter, which just wasn't credible. (Song is actually by Bloodshy, Avant, Jonback, and Poole, and is a reworking of Rachel Stevens' "Sweet Dreams My L.A. Ex" (by Bloodshy, Avant, Jonback, Dennis); Kenzie probably only wrote the lyrics.)

"Wolf," like a lot of EXO tracks, strikes me as interesting and audacious, but doesn't fall into the category "I'm pulled to listen to this a lot." I kinda go with forapper on the "joyless" comment.

Brilliant, thank you Frank! No EXID though?

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

also can't help but post this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T33CRYSk2SQ

i've always wondered what kind of incarnation of hip-hop the intro is meant to be evoking. to me, it looks like late 90s/early 00s rnb - like Brandy, Aaliyah or when Jennifer Lopez turned J-Lo. I wonder if it's intentional or if both styles just happen to have parallel motivations/manifestations. i've always been a fan of the early-00s rnb sound and i know i've been searching for it in k-pop. i wonder if i'm just reading into k-pop with my own Western reference point or if this stuff just still has a life over there.

The Wiki for Kenzie (and most songwriters I guess) is indeed incomplete, even on recent stuff.

Wolf is up at TSJ today, with what I guess will be my 'final' thoughts on the matter. I stole Frank's "audacious" descriptor and used it as my own, thank you very much koganbot.

'8 Hot Girls' and 'First Love' are growing on me. I know I like them better than Sistar's 'Give It to Me' has all of the flash and none of the dreaminess. After School's live performance is hypnotic in a good way.

And on a totally different note: http://youtu.be/qWxtVysaiSA

I like LEDApple to much to be objective about this song, but it's more of the somehow-very-Korean Big Band sound they've been pursuing for a while. Besides their covers, Young-hee is another LEDApple original I enjoy (their covers are where it's at, though: Go Away, Sherlock, Mr. Taxi, Gentleman. And they're Crayon Pop fans, too!).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2wHqCVhtxA

Lee Hyori, sometimes known as Korea's sexiest woman, turns out to be a sexy man as well

You know the world can see us in a way that's different from who we are

Also, Crayon Pop are on Music Core this Saturday (h/t warthoginrome).

More 2eyes, with an interesting Poker Face ish song (and I can hear Mr. Taxi in there, too): http://youtu.be/Livyqlxvypk

Also SHINee have a Japanese single that sounds like a mashup of Dream Girl and Why So Serious: short MV and radio rip.

Has a slight edge on Why So Serious because Jonghyun is on it, not sure yet how it compares to Dream Girl. I know I, personally, might like it better, but that's really only because Dream Girl makes me nervous.

For you guys on crayonpopwatch, they have a practice video up for "Bar Bar Bar" that's totally hysterical. Crayon Pop <3 <3 <3

...a practice video up for "Bar Bar Bar" that's totally hysterical...

Dash, I've always felt at a distance from Exid, felt something wasn't quite being delivered; I don't know why: songs are good, writer/producer Shinsadong Tiger is great and he's the boss, not answering to an agency. Have the same problem with Dal★shabet, another group where brilliant producers (E-Tribe) are in charge, get to do what they want, and what they do isn't up to the best of their work-for-hire.

(Btw, there's a new Dal★shabet album out just now that I haven't listened to yet, 'cept I'm watching the feature vid right now.)

I'm really so disappointed by Be Ambitious - like really - and I'm not going to change my mind this time, like I did for First Love. It sounds so basic, like someone took the autotuned vocals of a Tahiti single and mixed them with a second-rate attempt at a B1A4 single.

(Also, since "Tonight" and "What's Going On" did both grow on me... augh ;_;)

"Bar Bar Bar" on Music Core.

Lotsa YouTube comments, but Google Translate is hopeless; e.g., "What woman dancing since I feel sorry for my" and "Full gwiyeom rate Potentiometer pop curse. Why"

Korean music I've linked on Rolling Country this year:

2Yoon "24/7"
Lee Hyori "Holly Jolly Bus" (which I'd describe as "Nancy Sinatra-country")
Lee Hyori "Bounced Checks Of Love (stylish western swing that edges into rockabilly)
Sunny Hill ft. Hareem Darling Of All My Hearts (Irish folk-country flight-attendant pop)

I also posted, for background and context, 4minute's "Hot Issue" and a brief live set from blues guy Kim Tae Chun, the composer of "Bounced Checks Of Love."

Sunny Hill track is actually "Darling Of All Hearts," not limiting itself to all my hearts.

Irish maybe, although I was immediately reminded of more local Scandinavian sounds. 'Featuring' star Harim also plays the swedish instrument Nyckelharpa (which produces similar sounds to the Norwegian Hardinger fiddle), but even the vocals during the 'lalala' part sound very, very Swedish 'trad' in my head. The dance supports the connection.

In LOEN's description of the track on YouTube:

"The song has a Bohemian polka-rhythm along with Jungle and Rock feelings with it as well.... the musician 'Hareem' joined as a session to make the music even more fun. The greek bouzouki, nyckelharpa, Drehleier, and the Irish Whistle is personally owned by Hareem himself. These instruments are rarely found in Korea, and in this song they make the polka even much more fun to listen to."

I claim over on Rolling Country that the polka element makes it country, and the Bohemian element makes it folkie. (I'm joking about the latter, but only partly joking about the former.)

Song credited to Kim Yena (I'm guessing this is not a spelling variant on frequent LOEN songwriter Kim Eana, though obv I think the latter is a possibility) and LOEN in-house producer KZ. Neither name seems Swedish, or Greek, or Bohemian. Or Irish.

Unfortunately it is Kim Eana spelled in yet another way.

Well, it's an interesting song, so I'm not unhappy that Eana had a hand in it (the lyrics about being the shoulder everyone else cries on while not having a romance of one's own to cry about are likely her contribution). Do you know if Hwang Soo-ah did the vid?

Are you saying we should all be crossposting to other threads, Frank? Because I've had a hankering to put Smoky Girl in the RnB thread for a while...

Appreciated the twist and noted together with some youtubers theme similarities to GLAM's I Like That.

Directed by Hwang Soo-Ah, yes.

I think of Girl's Day as one of the more flavourless and dull groups in k-pop (who only found real success with their last single), but they deliver the weird with the lyrics for their new single 'Female President'. It's a love song, but it gets to its point via this chorus:

"Even our president is a woman
why is it such a big deal
is it a crime if a girl steals the first kiss?"

(1) Girl's Day do seem kinda workaday and generic and not distinctive. But this just goes to show how great K-pop is at the moment, since Girl's Day to my mind have had two great and one very good single, which is a lot (as much as Sistar/Sistar19 including wondrously talented singer Hyorin): "Nothing Lasts Forever," just a bit of knock-it-out-in-a-(girl's)-day dance r&b that yanks an emotive pang out of their ordinary voices; "Oh! My God," a switch in concept to cartoon kiddie martial arts that's got even more bubble than "Bubble Pop!"; and "Expectation," kinda splits the difference between the two; sparks and yet another emotive melody that reminds me of the bodega pop I left NYC too early to experience first hand.

(2) I don't really have time for ilX at the moment, so I'm not actually here; this post is just a mirage. Anyhow, I'm too busy to attend to yet another thread. But as a matter of fact this week I had the exact same thought as forapper, that "Smoky Girl" needs to be on the R&B thread as Terius and Tricky goin' to the disco. Damn intense song, even if the singing barely gets by. Go to it, Sonya. Also, someone should post Lee Hi's two Kpopstar audition tracks there, which are still the best things I've heard from her: "Bust Your Windows," the incongruity of centuries of dark pain coming from the mouth of that hopeful cute girl; I really think her version is a better approach than Jazmine Sullivan's; Hi doesn't overpower the song, she just sits in it; and then is even better several weeks hence on "For You"; she fleeces and dissects what should have been an impossible ballad, is too strained on the high notes but returns immediately to controlled passion. I don't think K-pop knows what to do with her. She should be in America.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yMqL1iWfku4

yessssssssss

http://www.whereisgirlsgeneration.com/

xpost: done! I didn't bring up Lee Hi, for one because her audition was last year and for two because I'm not as into the nuances of vocal performances as you, Frank. But Gummy's All for Love is another contender for that thread.

that 2pm song you posted in the rolling r&B thread is great, forapper

:D

I usually post stuff here that was omonatheydidnt first, but here's a great thing they missed:

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

Also on Lim Kim's excellent mini-album are Number 1, Colorring and Alice!

Seems like an indie song, but looking into it a bit more Lim Kim is Kim Ye Rim is one half Two Months (also known as two gaewol), third place finalists of the same Superstar K season that gave us Busker Busker and Ulala Session.

Also! This! Is awesome!

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

Beating out MYNAME for the boyband-falsetto-of-emotional-turmoil spot in my heart.

Well indie flavored artists have been dominating the Korean talent shows for a while now. "All Right" has done very well on the charts.

Ha, that's true

Tymee gets down and angry (I definitely recommend the angry, though it's nsfw) (h/t David Frazer, yet again).

so you guys... is it poppin'??

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

Not sure yet if it's poppin'. Don't think so. Is bright and summery, and the beats push but clumsily. That's often my opinion of Brave Brothers, that his tracks are blatant in a way that only sometimes works. Except...

You'll prob'ly be pleased that After School's Brave Brothers-produced "First Love" has been a beautiful grower for me. Is a crème brûlée kinda sound, which I usually pass over, but this one just seeps in (appropriate enough, for crème). Mr. Brothers has had a lot of la-la-la in his mood recently.

Two other tracks on the Maxi Single I like almost as much, "Love Beat" which snatches every hook and technique it can find; remember that Hi Tack remix of "Say Say Say" that builds off of a repeating riff and vocal? This repeats like that but then shifts into surprising chords; adds processed vocals that manage to combine wailing and chirping. Crowded, but I like that crowd. Also like "Dressing Room"; the writing credits include Linda Sundblad, whose "Lose You" made my top ten back in 2007.

"First Love" fanchant code.

I think that I shall never see a poem ugly as a twee, and Togeworl's "Number 1" makes me reach for my hatchet. But Lim Kim's "All Right" is better than all right, is more matter-of-fact, has a steady uninflected "Girl From Ipanema" thing going on.

respect to the guy w the SATAN 13 shirt in that 4minute video

Is It Poppin' has been a big grower for me, at first I thought it was too light and breezy to pop but now I like it a lot.

wow at 'birthday cake' popping up in the middle of dressing room

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEVd9pSG85Q

Minzy <3

Minzy <3 x2

Lovely! Maybe a bit slight for a comeback single, but they look so relaxed and gorgeous that I can't complain. Didn't realise how much I've missed Bom's voice too.

I like it a lot. Nice hot summer night tune.

this song is amazing

incredible beat + white reggae vibes + extremely slight chorus = idk

great video though

minzy <3 x3

would love a solid gold soda fountain cup