BIGBANG: K-pop princes of gender-fuckery and family dysfunction

Channeling D'angelo:

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

He sounds amazing. <3

Haven't even listened to the whole thing yet but the album kicks off with an "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" sample um yessss

I cannot wait for that 'Body' MV because this song is a jam and right on time for the Michael Jackson revival:

https://soundcloud.com/givemesomesugar/taeyang-body-2-rise

FANTASTIC record, by the way. Love that the long delay is going to end up paying off for him after all, because sonically, this album is smack in the middle of current pop trends. Full album:

https://soundcloud.com/givemesomesugar/sets/taeyang-2-rise

It's a little too back-to-basics for me, but it's very Taeyang... the first five tracks are great, the last three are getting a little too close to hymnals for me to really embrace them as pop songs.

He really sounds like CL on "Eyes Nose Lips", huh.

I really love "1am" a lot, that's the other one he was doing at showcases last year... wasn't Ringa Linga supposed to be on this too?

I take it back, Taeyang is the best:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kWBgBx_x5w

My favorite song got an MV: http://youtu.be/flVkp4S8CMc

Which was apparently filmed around the same time as Ringa Linga's, then shelved for mysterious reasons known only to Mr YG.

Also here's Big Bang #1 fanboy, Sungha Jung, doing a cover of Eyes Nose Lips http://youtu.be/1ivB0CEW_9o

And an official cover from AKMU; http://youtu.be/DTl4Ib4qbzg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg5nodeum-g

This might be closer to the gloomy record Taeyang originally wanted to make, actually

http://alwaystaeyang.wordpress.com/2014/07/09/interview-gq-korea-july-2014-taeyang-to-me/

Six years later...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlG0fz4WvoQ

And the new single!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk4-bBVLYyk

TOP's Pitbull-esque Cass beer commercial:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqe27eq9lwg#t=51

It's funny 'cause we all know dude never leaves his house

http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/aki_san/3432044/39219/39219_original.jpg

IT BEGINS

http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/aki_san/3432044/38604/38604_original.jpg

family dysfunction?

Ask Roz!

I think that's a "YG family" reference though.

the group is more business-like than it used to be

lol errrr yeeah... it's partly a YG fam ref and partly a reference to weird dynamics within the group, particularly in the early days.

family dysfunction: now available in LINE emojis (I still like how everyone figured out the blue bears from Lee Hi's video were Big Bang without them explicitly saying so)

Wait I thought Kakaotalk was the big app in SK?

the dynamics in BB are def pretty odd still, now that you mention it.

co-dependence errwhere... and they're all from messed-up families to be begin with if you read their book

First promo pic of the new album!

http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/waves_of_light/19973005/35077/35077_600.jpg

they have a book? in english?

In Korean, there's translated bits floating around here and there.

https://kumjae137.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/big_bang_-_shout_out_to_the_world.pdf

thanks!

new japan dome tour live album 'X' has some excellent rearrangements on it. this "blue" is like something off the final fantasy tactics OST

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Utks47jeXU

yeah that's great. mildly amused by this version of "Haru Haru" which uses Ginuwine's "Differences" as a backing track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbj1vdB1-5M

also i thought i already posted their album/tour trailer but apparently not. Tarantino-themed... it's nice to see they're still biting Brown Eyed Girls after all these years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwV2I5tH4no

is it literally just using a ginuwine instrumental? makes me wonder if the new "blue" backing is just grifted, too

Videos are out!

BigBang cry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CTced9CMMk

BigBang get high
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKD03uPVD-Q&feature=youtu.be

Considering TOP's the 'actor' in the group his acting is shockingly bad in Loser, haha.

The song and video do briefly gel around 2:50 when GD drops the cross then himself, I think.

Bae Bae is pretty bold!

Very true to character too

I wish they'd stuck with that @2:50 sound and not regressed back to Taeyang singing over piano just cause the public liked it in Eyes Nose Lips :( But if it placates the generic public so they don't come howling about the drug references in Bae Bae then OK

Loser lyrics, translated by someone who can write: http://popgasa.com/2015/04/30/big-bang-loser/

Loser sounds like a return to the 2nd EP, I'm onboard

I maybe see 'LOSER' as a continuation of 2NE1's 'UGLY'

Bae Bae sure does make 'other' recent idol group output feel cheap and constrained by comparison, though.

(Other in quotes cause Big Bang isn't exactly an idol group anymore, ya know.)

I like the chorus on Loser a lot, just wish it had less extensive solos (from TOP and Taeyang especially). The simple structure if fine when you're going for that anthemic emo sound.

BIGBANG (collectively): I'm a loser

(TOP's outfit cost as much as a midsize sedan)

Loser sounds like a return to the 2nd EP, I'm onboard

― 龜, Friday, May 1, 2015 8:58 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark

I meant the ALIVE one or w/e the one with BLUE etc. etc.

I woke up this morning with "Bae Bae" stuck in my head.

@龜 believe it or not, that's their most recent release!

also yeah i think "i'm a loser" is *such* a ridiculous concept for them to be shilling in 2015, esp. in a song that is the single biggest success in korea all year (and was obviously going to be). these guys have won k-pop so many times over it's silly (and surviving scandals from drunk driving to public drug endorsement to accidental murder...!). "bae bae" feels much more big bang 2k15 to me

I'm pretty sure they wrote it partly to troll Winner. XD

Bae Bae sure does make 'other' recent idol group output feel cheap and constrained by comparison, though.

yeah, so many of the boy groups are trying to 'out-crazy' each other and BB still managed to outdo the whole lot of them. it's a victory lap... dancing on the moon while singing about sticky rice cakes.

I don't think either of these songs are close to being the best of the k-pop year, although reeling back the 'crazy' and writing obvious, solid hits was a good choice, comes off as a confident winner. Production on Bae Bae really works for me.

idk, i think "bae bae" is really weird, just in a way that's much subtler than most weird k-pop. "loser" is totally big bang ballad by the books, though, yeah

Bae Bae is totally odd - the trap beats, the typical acoustic ballad chorus, and then that super floaty Seungri bridge which plays off the aggressiveness of the rap verses... none of it should work together, but somehow it does and not in the same way as your typical 3 songs-in-one k-pop track. not really sure how else to explain it.

Both songs do have a very confident and effortless vibe, which is a feat in itself given the pressure on them to release new material and after lacklustre comebacks from other big groups this year. (i agree though neither are the best k-pop tracks of the year... that would be "Ice Cream Cake" for me.)

Hah I didn't pick up on the WINNER connection XD