Kpop 2018

it's been fairly slow january again

Jonghyun's posthumous track is nice, "Always Be With You" indeed, RIP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J41qe-TM1DY

other highlights so far:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQGRg8XBnB4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=900X9fDFLc4

LOONA's Go Won should release her track in a week or so to hopefully continue their excellent run of singles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmJL2_9BscM
this is good too

Chunga's good, good do well at a Eurovision, I like that we have a couple of popular female solo pop stars doing their thing now.

sigh, that Jonghyun video is making me sad all over again. He really was one of the best.

;____;

Just can't get behind Ravi as a rapper (he's an OK producer) but nice to see Park Jimin getting some work.

Jonghyun's entire album is out:

https://youtu.be/9RYkdsaMdq4

Proceeds are going to his mom, you can read up on how to support here:

http://fyjjong.tumblr.com/post/169944328293/support-guide-poet-artist

I really like Jonghyun's Rewind off of the new record:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVFJ5yzIjbY

The whole album is great but I can't quite bring myself to replay it. It's #1 on iTunes BTW.

I'm really enjoying the fanscreams for East Light, they sound like elementary school students...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjPGv-lfZy8

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

new red velvet is ok but their r&b 'velvet' singles are never as good as the pop 'red' ones

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5qwcYL8a0o

loona continue to be excellent

Loona stuff continues to sound quite different from release to release but maintain its cool, and a conceptual consistency.

Velvet song seems ok, but yeah, when they're not 'Red' they tend to get more generic

I guess I'm in the minority that likes Bad Boy more than their last two singles... winter is the best season for RnB and the production on this is so nice.

I really like the Go Won track too!

I like Bad Boy a fair amount, and more than Peek-A-Boo, but it's summer here. it's probably their best r&b single so far but Red Flavor is my favourite single of theirs.

Thoughts on Holland, the first openly gay idol? song isn't great imo but am glad there's actual making out in the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVzGsh0zRec

And I really like how breezy this iKon track is (their actual title track was bleh). The fun choreography helps:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzZOvqE1pxg

He has a nice voice (Holland). The BF is cute. There have been other idols who were all-but-out but it's something different to have a scene that purposefully removes the ambiguity. I wonder if he'll end up with a niche audience like Double A (never forget).

or the fabulous, Kazaky-inspired N.O.M :D https://youtu.be/3vmlYkbcVeA

yeah someone on omona pointed out that even Adam Lambert hasn't had any gay scenes in his videos, which honestly surprised me considering how long he's been out.

I'm reading that most of Holland's fans are international, which could be a problem for him financially (again similar to Double A). A solo singer is a lot cheaper to produce than a group though, hopefully he'll make it.

I have to say that I like Love Scenario more than Beautiful... on the one hand Love Scenario is really minimal and sparse, so on that count it's kinda boring but on the other hand it's got the old-tyme-country feel with the weird off-beat rhythms like Bae Bae had and that's a recent YG production trend I enjoy and support.

Another excellent single from Sunmi:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4qfN5UeFvQ

New Suzy is good too, kind of Bad Liar-ish:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgT4CPv_CCE

Finally an NCT release that fulfills the promise of the project:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0DqRstCgj4

It's young, hip, melodic, retro, current, and has an easy chorus. And for once the easy chorus/dense throwback harmonies aren't at odds with the rest of the song!

Though I do like BOSS too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJMdTzq5xEQ

Like here, they are still making unusually melodic hip hop over a decent beat, but they don't know how to incorporate the more traditional "kpop" melodic content, except by suspending the beat for a few bars.

great sunmi track
the riff reminds me of 'fight for this love'

Sober is quite good but I think I'd like it more if it had a moment of cartharsis like Bad Liar does with "oh baby let's make reality actuality" etc.

I really like all the overlapping vocals in the Baby Don't Stop chorus, definitely one of the best NCT singles.

Right??? And right before it ends, there's some straight-up jazz do-wop harmonies.

Be ba da loo bob beep bop ba

Lol this is the first time I'm watching the "BOSS" video - that is both great and hilarious.

And "Baby Don't Stop" is just great, period. Those vocal arrangements are incredible.

Bad Boy has grown on me quite a lot. Roller Coaster still great, glad to see Chungha killing the charts.

Interesting to see if Momoland can follow up BboomBboom and become a truly major group. I enjoy their Egyptian Shumba-like screams live. Seems Japanese interest is high.

@Roz that's not the official video for BOSS, it's just something MNet does. I kinda prefer it tho lol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?FvuYGPS9J0Y

Is there some brand value to putting "ft Jay Park" on a Loco song? Because I'm not sure what he adds to this lmao.

whoops forgot the v=, here's the link : https://youtu.be/FvuYGPS9J0Y

OMG guys... this is the most brilliant marketing scheme of 2018...

https://0.soompi.io/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/19085054/the-boyz2.jpg

What's the 1 thing preteen girls love more than Boyz?

The spoiler sounds awesome too, I'm excited:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJPq0I0WmdQ

GIDDY UP, guys!

Also JYP on a roll with the self-produced boygroups... this one has a rock/hiphop sound as if some Korean American kids who grew up on eminem and linkin park were later given a chance to produce an idol group.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJPq0I0WmdQ

GAH...

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

this one has a rock/hiphop sound as if some Korean American kids who grew up on eminem and linkin park were later given a chance to produce an idol group.

oh good, i was trying to figure out where that familiar sense of secondhand embarrassment was coming from.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkY8HvgvBJ8

middle section of the new LOONA is maybe a little too disjointed but I love the rest of it

chorus seems a bit lacking, but it's a lot better than the last one (GoWon's). The other song on her single is great too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Un3eG6AWyDI

Their sound design is incredible - i can't wait for their group debut.

I think she's a little weaker than other vocalists in LOONA, which makes the chorus sound lacking. But her emoting on the verses is good. I like the last section starting at 3:45 when they put all the echo effects on, other sections were a little predictable.

Dunno if EXID's new jack swing will bring back all their fans who drifted away but I really like it, it's chill without being boring (lots of breaks for vocalists to show off):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=Q1JiptOTxno

Could use maybe a change in tempo or volume though. I was a bigger fan of DDD.

I really like that too, it could use a more distinctive bridge or something to change things up as you said, but I prefer it to DDD

Love this track, sounds very SHINee-esque.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNH7X46gMjQ

that's pretty good, I love the bridge especially

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0p1bmr0EmE

Helpful youtube commenter:

Once * Army
6 minutes ago
Movie references in the MV:
0.31 Ghost - 1990
0.49 Pulp Fiction - 1994
1.07 Romeo and Juliet - 1996
1.14, 2.43 Love Letter - 1995
1.23 La La Land - 2016
1.42 La Boum - 1980
2.19-2.31 Leon:The Professional- 1994
2.39 The Princess Diaries - 2001

decent but it's pretty TWICE-by-numbers

TWICE-by-numbers >>>> 90% of K-pop

Plus the video really is a delight

it's a total earworm even if it's not as exciting as Likey

I'm a fan of Giddy Up, even if they didn't put the horses in the actual MV.

best horse-related choreography since Gangnam Style.

Yup!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7EMEwHPpQY

Really nice jazzy b-side from CLC. They have good voices for this style, it really makes me wish April's "The Blue Bird" was their song instead. (See also: CLC "Distance" for a song that mines the same emotional territory as April's "The Blue Bird" but less jazzy/Jpop-y with a more straightforward drum machine beat and throwback fast-sad rap.)

The whole CLC album is good, I like "Like That" a lot too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qnbzT5jmNs

For all you LOONA fans of chopped and screwed stuff.

Can I just say, because it just missed my 11-favourite-songs-of-the-moment-fuck list, how much I like LOOΠΔ’s “Rosy”, even if it’s sort of the B-side?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbeQ4zn-buI&list=PLhHsVaKji0ug6X8rp5o2KYmTt-ajUfR-X

My favorite nasal-voiced, whiplash-loving boy group back at it again:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv8UhEjL2yA

Nasal rap, nasal rock, nasal crazed breakdown, nasal pop chorus, it's all there <3

Also, auto-post for VIXX, who reward but don't demand your attention:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MctZLEYlU4s

It's a very layered song, and interesting to hear everyone but Leo singing low and keeping the vocal runs short. It goes with their new, restraint is sexy vibe.

"Eux de VIXX" is a very coherent album, rise producer Ravi.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Rb5ISGbAbU

Sounds good

I know it's meant to be like "heartfelt", but Ha:Tfelt always just makes me think of fedoras.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40Z9-kr504w

Some Sweetune for spring

i'm late on this but "egoist" is wonderful

https://i.imgur.com/uHSbI7t.jpg

would love it if something came of this (grimes is a known fan of them too)

omg yes please. "Loonatic" is the best grimes song not by grimes.

#이달의소녀 #yyxy / LOOΠΔ yyxy [beauty&thebeat]

tracklist
2. love4eva (Feat. Grimes)#LOONA #이브 #츄 #고원 #OliviaHye #Yves #Chuu #GoWon #올리비아혜 #beautyandthebeat #love4eva pic.twitter.com/WsV3HwvITC

— 이달의 소녀(LOOΠΔ) (@loonatheworld) May 19, 2018

it's happening, she's appearing on a track on the LOONA mini-album that's out at the end of the month. no idea how she'll fit among k-pop idol vocals but i'm excited

Nice!!

BTS album is out, not much to say about it overall except that I really like the jazz flute on PLUTO:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FBYVkn7phA

They have two rappers with naturally deep voices, it works well for something spoken-word-esque like this, Suga in particular sounds great.

Most of the rest of the tracks are thoughtful takes on the subject of fame/the pressures of, which IMO is smart writing for a band whose main selling point is their connection with fans.

The songwriters speak, LOL @ them getting the writer on "Havana" to do their Latin song.

Good
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0gDCmVuwME

nice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CTGxKIzD7M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dGwk5-QMpc

the Pristin V track is nice, odd to hear a 2014 rnbass track these days though. the SHINee and Khan tracks are good too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIWpr3tHzII

new LOONA is ok but the chorus is so frantic that it ends up a little unsatisfying. i really like the pre-chorus at least. the Grimes feature just being the introduction is lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Niz3DrENv4

the real gem from the mini is Frozen though

probably should listen to the BTS album since they've hit #1 in the US, still feels wild that they've actually crossed over

Loona & E-tribe looking back to Gee for inspiration and Grimes doing the Jessica opening bit lol. Catchy song.

love4eva just makes me want to listen to Gee, lmao. The instrumentals are fine but the vocal melody is too simple and there's soooooo much autotune, in a way that takes all the energy out of the track.

Twice mini album is really good. The lead/title song is the weakest thing on it. 'Sweet Talker' is probably the highlight but 'Ho!' and 'Dejavu' are not far behind.

beauty&thebeat is pretty good too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MiQonPvlVM

V. trendy but v. well produced song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa8wR2JGK-k

Great production, fun summer song.

Yubin solo is more like recent Wonder Girls than anyone else solo, interesting choice.

I like her voice, she sounds like a S. Korean soloist (a lil bit of in trot in there).

wow Complete is fantastic, a great summer jam for sure

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4ELX7LyXDw

enjoying this too, it's been a good week for summer singles

New Blackpink is very good!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHNzOHi8sJs

yeah I like it, the coda and Jennie's rap in the second verse elevate it. the whole mini is good

This mini is disappointing, though the production is good as always. Really underwritten IMP.

On the other hand Taeyeon is killin it (literally) on her solo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=im1UUY8dQIk

The only unbelievable part of this is that Taeyeon would actually carry her own suitcases :P

not a fan of the new blackpink - seems a bit idk, 2013. might grow on me though.

mostly enjoying all the new SHINee. Jonghyun's absence still stings a bit but generally, it's been nothing but good vibes.

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

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MXj3Dr7tOY

I'm with you on Blackpink, I think the whole mini is over hyped, songs feel like they were pulled out of a drawer...

Re SHINEE, the capstone single for part 3 of their 3-part release is the Jonghyun tribute ballad we've been expecting, but it was really nice to get the summer songs first.

MV - https://youtu.be/Psl-x_nw7TI
lyrics - https://youtu.be/WQF7KnYwkWw

Jonghyun is also on this one:

https://youtu.be/jmzSxX601rc

It hurts but it feels authentic and not exploitative, also.

I'm gonna knock you out! Mama said knock you out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uer7k-jkk78

The new Momoland so far doesn't seem to quite connect with the public like Bboom Bboom https://youtu.be/txWmd7QKFe8

There are parts of it that sound like T-ara and remind me how awesome it would be getting that sound back on top though.

yeah Baam just feels like more of BBoom BBoom but less hooky, and not as good as the T-ara songs it sounds like either

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sHIq41sI-w

this is from a few months ago but coming back to it now I really love it, the groove is great and the layered vocals in the chorus are overwhelming in the best way. is that buzzing sound in the second verse autotuned vocals? i love it

https://i.imgur.com/yM4XZKq.png

sigh

speaking of LOONA though.... Kyungri's solo kinda sounds like a LOONA solo, it is better (and higher budget) than I was expecting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3-TZ04M6F4

NCT Touch is great!

Key randomly shows up on a Years&Years remix. It's not bad! I like his vocals way more than Olly's on this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaaxU9k2e4c

Key does sound good, he just sings so straight and murders the pitch every time.

I feel like I need to embed the SHINEE songs I linked before cause I keep listening to them... especially Lock You Down:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmzSxX601rc

Not sure if this deserves an embed but I'm into UNB's Black Heart rn, more of the jazz/swing trend and the performance is really fun: https://youtu.be/VcSvwHMwDvI

Except for Shaun, only girl groups topping the instz chart!

https://i.imgur.com/J2J9yOa.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9P90QTo_uE

GFriend coming through with city pop vibes, I'm a fan

I like the backtrack and some of the chromatic progressions but overall it's a miss for me. I think I want more Sistar-style belting and the voices are too processed and cute.

Hard pass on Triple H - Retro Future but I like the new Seventeen a lot:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5PELxP8Udg

absck, is Chung Ha one of the girls on the chart? It seems like every time you turn around, she has a new single out.

Surprisingly heavy follow up to Holland's "I'm Not Afraid":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwwAmwMe3fM

xp Chungha was not on that chart. The hangul names are Mamamoo and Bol4. But she is now! ;)

This new Minseo release rules on many levels. Some of the best recent work of the old IU team

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYPT5MMb75E

There is something very suspect about white men in their 30s who are into Kpop girl groups.

Better for them to be into Britney or Christina or Rihanna, right?

Get off it dude, this concern trolling is played out.

who the hell is JB?

love that minseo track

Awesome video too.

drive-by troll?

but yeah I really like the minseo, also the new The Boyz track (KeePer) that's way more stripped back than Giddy Up but also in a weird happy minor key like Giddy Up so I guess that's their thing?

and speaking of minor keys... this is waaaaaaaaaay too high for Day6 to sing comfortably but it is, nonetheless, a singalong :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2X2LdJAIpU

SUPER hooky earwormy!

I'm going back to last year's Day6 releases too, some of these tracks are really good.... "What Can I Do" is so happy and jazzy !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RJWqIEo_Tc

the minseo track is like a really motivational anime opening song... she is great and the orchestration is so full!

and sunny summer is growing on me too.... I like the instrumental more the more I listen to it.

that Minseo track is indeed great!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiHSVQy9xN8

really like the new Red Velvet. not quite as great as Red Flavor but still a worthy successor as summer single. especially like the chord changes in the nanana section. the mini is very solid too

the minseo track is like a really motivational anime opening song... she is great and the orchestration is so full!

― hurricane weather (forapper), 25. juli 2018 00:27 (one week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Lol, this is absolutely otm. Great track! The video is pretty anime as well, reminds me of Your Name or Girl Who Leapt Through Time.

wow power up is so fun

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFJPFfnzZ7w

LOONA full group debut is pretty good

Good song, terrible video. I lol'd at omona commenters who said it's pretty much a boy group song done right - it absolute is! Sounds like an EXO track.

"Power up" is fun, but can't shake how the chorus melody is lifted directly from Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend".

oh it is very similar now that you mention it, but it has a completely different feeling there so it doesn't bother me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1OUMTMwVsY

this on the other hand is such a rip of Tinashe's Superlove lol

Wow, that is *brazen*. Please tell me Tinashe and her ppl were duly compensated.

the Red Velvet mini-album is great so far

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MthLgPs7oU4

not sure why Brave Girls are releasing a remix of Rollin a year and a half later as a new single but it's even better than the original

WOW that remake is really good... and why not try it out again as a summer single, since we're still getting trop house from all the other popular acts

And speaking of (kinda)... I know it's a YG songwriting cliche but I really like the last drop on this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7upxtfys2QI

Good to see girl group member producers/songwriters (Soyeon) flex.. this is one of the more interesting gg singles of the year

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKNXn2qCEws

ooh I really like that. nice to see Soyeon continuing to be great yeah, I loved her solo track Jelly from last year
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ8kJdTYj1o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDAqx45Duqw

also really enjoying this from a few weeks ago, one of the best tropical summer singles this year

I'm into all the jazz piano slowly invading the idol scene... the bridge on this is WILD:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCb6XJ_2Z3E

It feels spare but not boring, a bit like Pentagon's SHINE, and that song grew on me a lot.

It just makes you smile!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBuZEGYXA6E

new BTS is fantastic, really was not expecting something like this from them

it s supposed to be influenced by Gqom

For real. It’s got the gqom sound palet, especially in the intro and the verses (the drum rolls, the whistles, the synths), but the chorus is firmly in the Kpop zone. Fantastic baby!

Heard it's meant to be a mix of traditional Korean sounds and the South African music hitman bang has on his ipod right now...

I like the production touches and "BTS as global commodity" visual messaging but the song feels thin on melodic ideas to me... more "Bang Bang Bang" than "Fantastic Baby" (if Bang Bang Bang was less dated-on-arrival).

What I do like about BTS is how quick the feedback loop is. Less than a year in from Love Yourself: Her setting sales records and rather than continue to tour that album, they already released the 2nd and 3rd acts wherein they tentatively/enthusiastically embrace their fame. It's the Kpop production schedule combined with a savvy sense of narrative and self-reference.

DNA was their Fantastic Baby, obviously.

Apart from my enthusiasm my exclamation was mainly inspired by the “ooh-hoo!” in the chorus. The guys were clearly thinking of BigBang and “Fantastic Baby” themselves. The song itself is somewhere halfway between FB and BBB, I guess.

yeah the "ooh-hoo!" is straight from Fantastic Baby. the South African/traditional Korean blend is extremely effective here and i'm really glad they're doing something so fresh while at their peak, unlike their last few singles which have felt overly safe. i don't have any complaints about melodic ideas since it's driven so strongly by the rhythms and has plenty of hooks even if they aren't very melodic ones if that makes any sense

Girls' Generation coming back (as 5) in September

So then Seohyun and Sooyoung are out?

Going back to BTS, I think IDOL needs "something" more to be really good... but it is head and shoulders above most of the other songs on the BTS album which are, like, total snoozefests. So there's that.

yes...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQ8MFfg3DHA

Seohyun and Sooyoung left SM with Tiffany, yeah.

hello k-pop thread, haven't had much time to post lately but just wanted to say how much i've been enjoying everything Hyolyn's put out this year. I think "Bae" might be my fave at the moment, so much summery goodness:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2V4lymB6VU

yeah her singles this year have been great, See Sea is definitely my favourite though

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNWMZIf7eSg

this is my favourite Sunmi solo single so far

also coming soon is a Blackpink & Dua Lipa collaboration! it'll be interesting to see if Blackpink attempt any sort of Western breakthrough then

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

With credit to Our Girl Jamie for working so hard all these years to consolidate Jimin's fanbase... some of the best fanmade Kpop content on the English-language web!

All joking aside, the (long overdue) Jimin Park mini is solid. I like tracks 1, 2 and 4 especially. See if you can spot the Shine reference!

lol

BTS was playing in downtown L.A. tonight and apparently they've sold out four shows here at Staples Center. People camping out in tents in the line waiting to see them.

My friend wanted to see them at Citifield (where the Mets play), tickets were by lottery and we didn't get them. But I'm pretty agnostic on the new album so maybe we dodged a bullet.

Oh!GG Lil Touch isn't terrible but it's suffering pretty hard from every line being written twice so they can be divided 'fairly' between all 5 girls.

Either have a 3-girl subunit, work harder on the song structure, or forget about the distribution...

I like the new NCT Dream song though!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV1Es22E0RI

Supposedly Mark will be "graduated" from NCTDream after this song which is a bit weird to think about considering he's featured so heavily on it and even the other rappers sound like him. But just like Cube think they can have Pentagon without E'Dawn...

Here's an opinion piece on the NCT franchise model and other artist-as-commodity long term planning by SM:

https://omonatheydidnt.livejournal.com/22890849.html

Popular culture critic Kim Hyun Sik said, “In a franchise, the flagship store must be successful in order for its brand power to expand to its chain stores. It would be sequentially correct to develop a team that can be the center of NCT and then expand its influence to its derived teams.”

Would you buy a home AI system with Wendy's voice and image?

Sunmi's "Siren" rules <3 She does high drama so well.

Performance predictably great too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcBFktktV80

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrvdjyIL0fA

iiking this track in the k-patchwork-pop tradition

the OMG track is great, I hear a lot of other songs I like in there

the one that most comes to mind is GLAM's Party (XXO)

also I Got A Boy

Wow this is awful: https://www.soompi.com/article/1229651wpp/breaking-hyuna-edawn-removed-cube-entertainment

I could see them letting go of E'Dawn but Hyuna?! She practically carried the label.

wow that's awful and shocking, absurd that dating scandals are still such a thing and that companies can react like this over them

It just seems incredibly short-sighted. Hyuna was probably popular enough to ride out any dating scandals, while E'Dawn was a rising star. Good luck Cube imo.

i've seen some suggest that the issue was that Cube denied the dating rumours only for Hyuna & E'Dawn to publicly confirm they were dating afterwards and it seems Cube really didn't like that they did that

Yeah Cube's shares tanked after they went public (and is tanking now after this latest announcement).

I feel bad for Pentagon though - they were just starting to make waves. They don't deserve this.

lololol what a mess

[UPDATE] A senior official from CUBE Entertainment said the withdrawal of HyunA & E'Dawn is not final yet. The agency officials are having an urgent meeting & will gather the opinions from their artists as well https://t.co/yZlkxg3xhw pic.twitter.com/weppSv4c3U

— The Seoul Story (@theseoulstory) September 13, 2018

If the point was to show Hyuna and E'Dawn who's boss, it backfired big time.

Pentagon are promoting right now and the song is pretty bad, but that might be because E'Dawn is not there to sell his Shine pt 2 co-write

The main thinh OMG's Remember Me reminds me of is f(x)'s Pinocchio

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

I've never really been able to get into GOT7 but that's quite nice.

I like it, it kinda sounds like Teenager (fan favorite off the last album): https://youtu.be/MPhAEcLaiNs

I think I'd like it more if it was just a touch more relaxed

dirrrrrrrty bass (but the chorus is poppy):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YROy48zGzW4

Doesn't quite stick the landing but I love the first 2 minutes of this...

https://soundcloud.com/bangtan/seesawxineedu

i like this way more than the components

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ekJOWBejSU

this is a very good r&b track with a great keyboard solo that i'd completely missed until now

listened to the GOT7 album and it's really great, one of the best kpop full lengths i've heard. nearly every track could have been the single

this is one of the highlights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6rhxI80-FY

Oh yeah Lee Jin Ah pitched as this piano genius could be very noodle-y but she's shown a great pop sensibility too, even in the songs where she IS doing jazz piano throughout

Like

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

Her album this year is beautiful

I've been listening to a lot of Lee Jin Ah on my jazz(y) Kpop odyssey this year, it's bubbling up from the Korean underground to the idol scene.

Random is my favorite Lee Jin Ah track.

yeah her album was quite enjoyable too

Working toward a theory of how these idol groups are positioned for an audience... not just on a cute/sexy axis for girlgroups (or a puppy love/possessive love axis for boygroups), but thinking about that axis in terms of the (sexual) agency allowed to the artist (the x axis), and also adding another axis for the age/sophistication of the target audience (the y axis).

So you can have a group with a pretty sophisticated presentation, using sounds from the indie scene or otherwise outside the idol scene, with MVs that use indie film tropes (clever transitions, artsy black and white, unexpected juxtapositions, or maybe tried indie tropes like filing at the laundromat), but because the artists are young, the target audience is also young (or are people who are into "young") - so the portrayal of the relationship will lack agency on the part of the artist, and they will be in the bottom left corner of the graph. (Ex: Infinite forever complaining about how they are controlled by Bad Girls, IU adding musical complexity while still appealing to the uncle fans, Stellar going meta about how they are objectified while being poked by computer mice in the music video).

The ultimate goal of this exercise is escape to the quadrant in the bottom right, where you can have a sophisticated image (y-axis) AND sexual agency (x-axis), the only way to retain fans after aging out of your original image, whatever it was (young and sophisticated, young and cute, or sexy but in a simplistic, 1-dimensional way). Because as an older artist, you not only want to be more true to your actual lived experience, but you also can't compete with the younger artists to be MORE cute or MORE inexperienced or in a MORE kdrama-rama relationship, right?

This isn't to say that the bottom right quadrant is actually more sophisticated or sexy, more that it's a Justin Timberlake going to "Suit and Tie" type of deal, where you successfully keep your audience into adulthood.

So examples of artists who succeeded here might be G.o.D, IU, Suzy from Miss A (and actually, Miss A as a whole, although they disbanded shortly thereafter), Taeyeon from Girls Generation, EXO-CBX and the other EXO subunits, Red Velvet, VIXX, Minah from Girl's Day, Sistar both as a group and as individual artists, Big Bang (maybe, they can also be self-reflective without being emotionally mature).

Just a thought, and since the pop culture website I used to write for went under, I figured I'd put it here.

ANyway in the young but sophisticated (but lacking agency) quadrant we have MXM, who I am enjoying quite a bit these days:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFszwM0WhNg

Or it could be that this is the new young-and-cute puppy love quadrant, updated with what the kids are actually into these days.

And speaking of that sexy/tasteful quadrant, here's another one for the Continued Mainstreaming of Jazz Piano Watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcwJvgs53Ng

Interesting theory, but time to get to paint and start filling in the names so we can tell you why we disagree

Much as I dig Red Velvet not sure they've escaped to the bottom right just yet? Sophisticated presentation, but lacking agency, a bit all over the place, still very much dancing at the whims of SM. They're also just a few years old.

Lee Hyori is/was the ultimate example, I guess, going from a squarely cute 'n innocent concept group to major success in the mature phase of her career as something completely different and now in the 'do what she pleases' phase. Although she's mostly done with music by now.

Yeah, for Red Velvet actually I think you are right, they are bouncing back and forth between the top left (cute & upbeat) and top right (sexy bad girls) as a group, as planned from the start of their careers. Because when you establish from the beginning that you're going to be switching up your image, it makes the final transition easier & more credible.

Seulgi as a solo artist might be a better candidate for escaping to the bottom right, and SM Station in general seems to be an outlet for SM artists to try out some different sounds and maybe gain credibility as mature artists so they can escape whatever image they started out with.

For boy groups, I think the textbook example would be VIXX - they were video game characters at debut, then did some Jekyll/Hyde concept switch stuff, and now are playing up the 'sexy, mature, tasteful, and/or musically adventurous' image both as a group and in their solo releases.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM0xDI5R50E

Subbed, but IU's difficult to translate, puns and poetry aplenty

The song is great. Surprisingly catchy.

^ i love this one! thanks for pointing it out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX-e5rvmtas

APRIL have moved away from their usual cutesy innocent sound here with great results. 80s-influenced but still pretty distinctive in sound and it flows fantastically

woo

https://youtu.be/AX3Bsiq-13k

oh it didnt embed, but ^ thats the new dua lipa x blackpink song

wow that song really sux

duua lia x blackpink obviously, not APRIL or IU. We don't even get Lisa rapping in English! Total money grab.

The John Legend x Wendy rnballad is superior in every way and an actual collab.

The APRIL song is really good... the production is hypnotic and it really suits their (lighter) voices.

The song kind of sounds like something Wondergirls or TWICE would do, with a vaporwave (or the 80s Jpop sound that inspired vaporwave) sensibility and updated with modern production.

re APRIL: love how movie trends tend to permeate throughout k-pop - a few years ago, it was all the Batman stuff, now clearly it's Clueless (see also, LOOΠΔ/yyxy's look/MVs)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4tBlQ5yTwY

I've actually never heard of this group - came across via Youtube autoplay. Extremely enjoyable!

They're from the survival show Idol School, I think. Kind of CJ E&M's answer to Mnet's Produce 101 or KBS's The Unit, but not as popular as either of those. I think this is the first fromis_9 track that's gotten any traction with the general public.

Love Bomb is quite good, much better than the previous fromis_9 singles i'd heard which i barely remember at all

the Batman trend in kpop videos was really so odd

EXO doing some crowd-pleasing current hip hop trends, but then there's an extended barbershop call and response bridge:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwd8N6K-sLk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAKsZ26SabQ

new TWICE is fun, certainly one of their best singles. feels kinda Kylie-ish?

Really like 'Tempo'

Me too Frederirk, me too.

I think TWICE might repeat the chorus many one or two too many times, but it's pretty enjoyable. TT is their best song I think.

Speaking of songs that will please fans, Key x Soyou is everything you'd want and expect from that collaboration, they both have such nice/contrasting voices and the song sounds like it could have been a b side on the last SHINee album.

https://youtu.be/BJUjR2N0aEM

Also, my boys MXM out there doing their MXM thing, I love how consistent they are with the shout vocals, simple hooks and indie visuals:

https://youtu.be/_Xgyys2zZc8

Both songs are simple but I like them.

Forever Yours is fun!

my top three TWICE singles are pretty easily Likey, Yes or Yes, and What Is Love?

I'm really glad Key is doing well in this post-Jonghyun world - for a while there, it seemed like he might have been the hardest hit by the loss.

Yes or Yes is great, and more Clueless-esque plaid skirts and berets! I like Tempo too, not least because SM has finally realised how popular Sehun is and decided to give him double the number of his usual lines haha.

Have I mentioned before that I'm into the jazz trend in Kpop? Because I'm into the jazz trend in Kpop. US producers, you need to get on this.

That's a collab between Park Jiyeon (ex-GLAM) and Park Kyung, by the way.

EXID come back with one of their best earworms yet

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

NCT putting melody in their hip hop again, the producers have nailed the formula, this is really good:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arjy2v7zEI0

It kinda has a similar aesthetic to EXO's tempo, but younger / edgier / trendier.

Really like Hani on the bridge of that EXID song

For those of us who miss old school BAP... plus one of these guys has a really impressive ability to shout on pitch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=It8JCNyFW38

If 5 minutes is too long for you, they shortened it to 3 1/2 for the broadcast version (this is worth watching IMO): https://youtu.be/FA_yq0mLgHw

So have there been any consensus stand out hits this year? Out of curiosity and also, of course, looking forward to the ilx best of the year voting.

nothing's been quite as exciting as last year's highlights in LOONA's amazing run, and Red Velvet, Twice and Blackpink all releasing their best singles but there's still a lot i like

a quick list of some favourites:
BTS - Idol
Oh My Girl - Remember Me
NCT U - Baby Don't Stop
NCT 127 - Touch
LOONA/Olivia Hye feat. JinSoul - Egoist
(G)I-DLE - HANN (Alone)
Sunmi - Siren
Yubin - Lady
Apink - I'm so sick
Red Velvet - Bad Boy
Red Velvet - Power Up
Brave Girls - Rollin' (New Version)
Hyolyn - See Sea

out of those, i'm certainly voting for "Idol", "Remember Me" and at least one NCT track, and maybe a few of the others

I could support GIdle, maybe Sunmi, BTS, well, they've had a year anyway. Will probably add IU, though still disappointed we didn't get her top 77 last year. I'll be voting for BoA's Woman in the album poll.

'power up' for me

Merry and happy 2018 from Twice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfUGjK6gGgs

That's a great list, ufo... I'm down to vote for everything on it up to Siren.

I'll add:
Momoland - Bboom Bboom
Pentagon - Shine
Seventeen - Oh My
Chungha - Roller Coaster
GFriend - Time for the Moon Night
Dean - Instagram
Lee Jin Ah - Run (with Gray)**
NCT 127 - Boss
NCT 127 - Simon Says
Minseo - Zero
The Boyz - Giddy Up
April - Oh My Mistake
SHINEE - Countless

Other songs I'm thinking about but don't feel strongly about:
ONF - Complete
Got7 - Lullaby

And the ones no one else will vote for:
Brand New Boys (MXM) - Ya Ya Ya
Soyou - All Night (with SIK-K)
Day6 - Shoot Me**
UNB - Black Heart
SHINEE - Lock You Down

**Mostly as a stand in for the songs from these artists I wish I'd nominated last year lmao, but both songs are pretty hooky.

Also, this is separate from my year-end list, but here's my JAZZ WATCH 2018 list for those who are interested:

Lee Jin Ah (with Gray) - Run
Dean - Instagram
Soyou (with SIK-K) - All Night
Minseo - Is Who?
Brand New Boys - Ya Ya Ya
UNB - Black Heart
April - The Blue Bird
Fromis_9 - Dancing Queen
SHINEE - Retro
BTS - Pluto
Heize - First Sight

Fully expecting this trend to jump over from Korea to the US at some point, or maybe that's just my wishful thinking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhXDFl6tmVY

To let you guys know how serious this is, we have two local very good jazz stations these days they are the only thing I listen to on the radio.

Basically last year would have been a great time to nominate some jazzy Kpop

(example:
Heize - Jenga
Lee Jin Ah - Random
Day6 - What Should I Do)

and these songs have grown on me a bunch, so this year is my chance to make amends.

Also add CLC - Seventh to that JAZZ WATCH 2018 list, I think I might nominate all the tracks on it just for laffs.

i could definitely get behind 'Run' and 'oh! My Mistake'. i'd forgotten about 'Run' but it's excellent

Since I feel so strongly about this, I went ahead and made an 8tracks playlist for ya'll. Some of the songs on it are from 2017 tho:

https://8tracks.com/subdee/jazz-watch-2018.

I love oh! my mistake, have you seen the video of April doing it live acapella after the audio cuts out at some college festival? They aren't power vocalistss by any means but much stronger than I'd thought.

Not sure if there's a consensus pick yet but I *still* haven't gotten over the vocal arrangements on NCT U's "Baby Don't Stop" so that's probably going to be my highest-placing K-pop pick.

Other faves, mostly the same as what everyone else has posted:
Red Velvet - "Bad Boy" (a real slow-burner for me but it's now kind of my favourite RV song? Weird.)
SHINee - "Good Evening"
Hyolyn - "SEESEA"
TWICE - "What is Love?"
Pentagon - "Shine"
G)I-DLE - "HANN (Alone)"
SF9 - "Now or Never"
April - "Oh! My Mistake"

Also was this ever posted here? TSJ reviewed this a couple of weeks ago, and it's incredible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KR5CtMLuiqQ

ooh that's great

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

this is pretty nice

Year-end BANGER from BoA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1XOFi42xZM

#BoAforilxoryearend

WINNER track is really fun! Seungyoon sounds good in that range and Mino's rap is really fun at that speed.

I like the BoA a lot too, SM stays on point with the Latin fusion tracks.

@Roz

SF9 - Now or Never is nice, and I think we forgot Super Junior - Lo Siento too! https://youtu.be/odl7J8Ms6MQ

Though how legitimate a list that doesn't include NCT U - Baby Don't Stop is, I don't know.

oh i'm glad that reminded me of SEVENTEEN - Thanks, i really love that one but keep forgetting to add it to my 2018 playlist

also See Sea is just the ideal tropical house track, so effortless and i love the vocal layering in the chorus so much

Happy holiday whatevers K-Pop people. Here's a playlist with all the songs discussed on the thread this year.

ILM's 2018 Rolling K-Pop Spotify Playlist

Thx!

This is on just now

[Live] 2018 KBS Song Festival I KBS 가요대축제 !! [2018.12.28]
- www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5k9K5iJWuE

*not available in Japan for some reason

Videos from last night: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=KBS+Song+2018.12.28

kpop 2019

here's a new thread

Holy crap guys, I got sick and didn't nominate anything for the 2018 year end list :(

I'm just about to check if it's on there, but the best kpop song of 2018 is Heize's Jenga. For some reason, I'd been thinking all this time that it came out last year. Hopefully someone else nominated it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw_HR9jIJww

thanks ufo!

Not there, dang :( I'll just continue to talk about it up in this thread then, maybe one day I'll be able to forgive myself for not nominating this and First Sight.

my vote were for Red Velvet 'Power Up' and IU 'BBIBBBI'
this Heize track is pretty great tho!