K-pop (2014)

Apparently the back wheel came off, which makes it sound like a maintenance problem too. Really sad. Ladies Code had some moderate chart success before this so hopefully it'll help raise awareness, at least.

Ladies' Code I'm Fine, Thank You at No. 1 in tribute... it probably helps that the song is good.

Man, I was away on holiday for just a few days and came back to this news - so horrifying and sad. RIP, it seems she was well-loved among other idols. :( :( I hope the others will be ok too.

It's tragic from every direction ;_; I keep expecting to see some acknowledgement on the music shows (or something), but so far there's nothing. The show goes on.

Speaking of... A.KOR leaving a strong impression with their debut, like the BAP of female rookie groups:

But Go - http://youtu.be/fcrSwNKEuJA
Payday - http://youtu.be/0e7cSoPPA5I

I take it back, actually there was a memorial message on M!Countdown.

BAP of female rookie groups otm description

New Neon Bunny track! Now on a drama soundtrack - making moves! http://youtu.be/_HKPqm9pivA

Comparison also including my reservations about the group's music...

That Neon Bunny OST song is nice!

Fuck.... RiSe has now passed away as well.

http://metro.co.uk/2014/09/07/ladies-code-singer-rise-dies-after-car-accident-which-killed-bandmate-eunb-4859473/

It's terrible but I had a feeling that this was going to happen esp after the reports about the extent of her brain injuries. I kept hoping I was wrong though. :(

This whole thing has just been unspeakably sad - I haven't been able to bring myself to read the comments from fans on all the news articles. It feels like it's been a very sad year for K-pop in general.

:(

Sistar have been very sweet in paying tribute to Ladies Code during all their music show wins.

T-ARA!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_eo5j5sib8

Song is great. Here's the lyrics.

Even Jiyeon's not-very-good spoken rap over the (awesome) instrumental bridge 3min in is growing on me.

This version is a bit better actually.

whoops... http://www.soompi.com/2014/09/11/t-aras-latest-single-sugar-free-accused-of-plagiarism/

My first reaction on hearing it was that it was an attempt to incorporate the "Animals"/"Tsunami" sound! It doesn't sound that specifically alike to me though.

In the wake of Hoody's latest I've reassessed KittiB's "Wake Me Up" and concluded it's surely one of the year's very finest http://youtu.be/w2MvLbt4F-s

That KittiB is pretty effective...

New Girls Generation-TTS is very classic RnB and I like it http://youtu.be/Ouf9kGfpb0Y
New 2PM is a'ight but feels five minutes long and doesn't do anything interesting with the bridge: http://youtu.be/uwD51VS0Uko

More like an attempt to shoehorn that sound into the song, since it seems like they already had a dance Kpop track and just replaced certain sections with the Bigroom sound, lol. Now I wonder if someone from T-ara's camp wrote that plagiarism article to generate controversy and press for the album...

tearjerker Ladies Code song got a video http://youtu.be/C7JYOzTl-ec

also there's a crazier version of that 2PM song http://youtu.be/_Jgln2RmY-k

or bet yet, there's the live version:

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

Truth In Song Titling x10

though the backstory behind this is apparently that they've been spending mornings doing variety in Japan (where this song just hit #1 on Oricon), afternoons doing chart shows in Korea, and evenings with interviews and appearances sometimes running straight through the night until 8am the next day

which is the really crazy thing ofc

BTS - Danger Taekwondo ver.

Also here's T-ara in English. American takeover coming shortly?

It's track 1 on their 14-track remix album and it's not half bad.

(track 8 is the original, the best, in English)

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

actually i don't know why i posted that, carry on

Kidoh (Topp Dogg)'s solo album is out, is a surprisingly solid indie and about 100% less manic any of Topp Dogg's songs:

She Was Too Nervous
Still Alive

While I'm here, here's one of those manic Topp Dogg tracks:
Peekaboo!

Topp Dogg are signed to Block B's former label/Cho PD's label Brand New Stardom but have been acting more like an underground group. Yano had a mixtape out earlier this year that was also not bad.

^surprisingly solid indie release

Awesome rapper lady puts out awesome mix tape http://rokhiphop.com/ab-7118-544 after (really) awesome first single earlier this year http://ahnlee.tumblr.com/post/72772718743/choi-sams-debut-single-answer-buy-it-on

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1B82LkWZheU

Well SM managed to fuck up SNSD as well. Pure incompetence from their side it seems. Can't negotiate to keep group's alive for shit.

i haven't been keeping up with the news lately so I'm actually surprised by this - for all their fuckery, you'd think SM would take better care of their biggest asset. what a mess.

SM doesn't negotiate, their style is totally "do as you're told or we'll ruin you".

Apparently there's a Jessica & Kystal album sitting around already done, too. They filmed an MV for it and everything, but since Jessica is out of GG and publicly unhappy about it everything's been shelved.

I mean it makes sense that they'd want to promote GG more than once a year but booting Jessica out right after she re-signed a three year contract is some kind of serious fuckery.

Anyway I came here to post IU x Seo Taiji, and comment on abcfsk's awesome rapper lady (she's awesome).

She is!

And IU Seo song is really nice, will be interesting to see if ST manages to deliver a full-length album that makes sense in 2013. IU's found every possible way to all-kill the Korean charts in the past 12 months. Big major single, low key acoustic release, helping out a rookie boyband, covering old songs, working with k-pop's founding father.. and she is the best-selling digital artist of the last 5 years http://www.allkpop.com/forums/discussion/197756/top-10-selling-digital-artists-gaon-history

2014*

Annnnnd there's an MV: http://youtu.be/GHu39FEFIks

Also, have some YOLO: http://youtu.be/hIifkvZGXng

And here's B to B back for one last shot at the Korean market before they ship their nuttiness off to Japan: http://youtu.be/GRl7ZfzzISU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S86Cr1kaH7I

Actually, I think Seo Taiji's version is a little better than IU's:

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

Also, YG is now officially the biggest entertainment company in S. Korea:

http://%3A//ic.pics.livejournal.com/aki_san/3432044/17483/17483_original.png

That 15% drop is what happened after Luhan (of EXO) filed for a divorce from SM -- and it probably would have been higher if the KOSDAQ didn't have a 15% daily upper/lower limit on stock price changes.

whoops, let's see if this one embeds:

http://koreanslate.com/images/sm-entertainment-stock-price-kosdaq-halts-trading-15.jpg

VIXX and Song Jieun's albums are out... VIXX's is about what you'd expect, Jieun's has some really good album tracks on it.

And I see that I'm the only person here who cares about EXO, lol.

Jieun's is pretty solid overall, actually, even if not that different (musically) from Hyosung's single album earlier this year. There's a pretty big disconnect between the lyrics of her single, 25, and the MV though:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL5kNlgP0P0

In other news, BTOB hopping on board the Booty Train http://youtu.be/KXnEGUGmkbA

More notable stuff:

Strawberry Milk (Choa and Way from Crayon Pop) doing SUPER JPOP cute-creepy twin stuff: http://youtu.be/1VQ-OJ3vCn0

+Another Strawberry Milk song: http://youtu.be/D5H4iIly2lw

Seo Taiji's Nightmare Before Xmas song "Chrismalo.win" (get it?): http://youtu.be/EwEeYx9ALbg

Probably of interest to fans only:

Jessica gets the first and last word in on SNSD's new Japanese single: http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/swwHoIOfFfs/?FR=LIAN

+Girl's Day ballad featuring lots of Hyeri (they won't be performing it live): http://youtu.be/EAc3QKoRll0

i fkn LOVE "chrismalo.win." his single with IU was a really nice way to make the Chvrches sound not reek, too. intrigued for his album...