K-pop (2014)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSAVsstaj4E

Oh man, Ga-In, I don't know how to respond to this MV.

I wish the song was better though, starts off kinda promisingly but doesn't quite go anywhere. Might have been better as a solo track.

Wasn't there another BEG member who did a "Fuck You" style song?

I think I'm thinking of Miryo - Dirty, but I'm on a work computer so I can't check.

Yeah, "Dirty" has the phrase, though censored. "Amazinger" has an implied motherfucker. There's also Tymee:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BHbjpHPvnM

Tymee also had an excellent and moody single late last year:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sv-e7tM4G1E

Speaking of which, Miryo and Narsha's sub-unit is going to have a hip-hop concept, which is brilliant. Miryo gets to show off on some proper rap tracks, and I can't even begin to imagine what Narsha is going to do.

http://i.imgur.com/3SmvkuN.gif

Aw man just watched the MV and feel bad for posting this GIF

Tough stuff

Yeah, I just got to watch it too. Wooooow.

It's like the anti Do What U Want.

It's a strange topic/collection of feelings to frame in a pop song.

that's as far as I seem to get.

Well, the themes are kind of old, as far as the guy being forceful and the girl being "wait no slow down". I like to think that they are already in a relationship and she's tired of being treated like a sex toy and looking for space to breathe so she can regain interest, but he's hooked and won't back off, because that's an interesting angle to take.

Two cutesy rookie songs in the new year

The really good one from OH!nle http://youtu.be/LQbPzG--WQ4

The really cutesy (and pretty good if a bit tacky) one http://youtu.be/BSIogAdk_is

Going to SK for the LNY :D

Re: Grade Seven Class One, it upsets me that their Oppas are all so much older than them :(

I see OH!nle don't have that problem, though...

BTW this is from last year, but Blady - Type B Girl could use some love: http://youtu.be/J6YicUmV0tE

Also find myself liking BIGSTAR - Standing Alone more as time passes: http://youtu.be/FXJwOqQK_oM

Sorry for being so boring about the sexualization of young girls stuff, normally I would be more chill but I'm teaching in a middle school right now

With "Fxxk U", it's not so much the theme as the sensibility that seems strange for a pop song. Between the clammy and insistent unpleasantness of the words (on both sides) and of the vocal dissonance and the headachily stumbling beat, it purposely repels rather than hooks in order to get the mood across. This could be cool, but the song does not seem to amount to anything very coherent as artistic expression outside of the pop song mode which it refuses, either. Taken in isolation from the video, I'd read the text as being about Gain's lack of interest because her partner isn't passionate enough, until the dynamic flips on its axis for the duration of the bridge ("Can someone tell me when / It's a difficult question / I'm afraid of this person") and returns to normalcy for the last chorus with Gain uninterested/inconvenienced/annoyed with his advances ("there's still not enough / want in your eyes"). Together with the video I've no idea what to make of it except for a general sense of tension and vertigo, and that Gain is kinda confused and scared by the relationship.

Who cares about my opinion though, the song's doing well enough on the charts. Maybe it isn't as unpleasant musically as it seems to me, or it is unpleasant but everyone else aren't such wimps and can dig it.

Louie: "(The Mother Fucking) Twilight"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWB-AoZi37A

There's also a new SPICA song, "You Don't Love Me", composed by Lee Hyori:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hc1RwpRfbT0
I wonder if Hyori is trying to remake them in her image and as her artistic vehicle, only with the vocal prowess she never had. And maybe because she's getting older and married herself. If so, I'm fine with this fate for Spica. The song's good, funny MV too.

The best part about "Twilight" is how he plays it absolutely dead fxxking straight. Also really like the classy "dementia patients" diss.

Fxxk You seems to me like it's getting at a specific kind of dynamic, where the (more experienced) girl doesn't want to have mediocre sex all the time - she wants there to be a bit more tension and build-up. But the guy just wants to do it as often as possible. To me it seems like a quantity vs. quality argument.

Will listen to the other two when I get home, for now though I just want to say that I'm really looking forward to BAP's comeback! All the snippets of the song that're out sound good.

While we wait for GLAM to return, here's Lip Service:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z41qIK7-s4k

The description says it's 90s-hip-hop- and trap- based, with 808 drum beats, about wanting to eat but being on a diet. Their other single off the album is supposed to be social commentary too.

I wonder if they know about the TV show Lip Service, which is 'The L Word' set in Scotland.

You Don't Love Me is nice! It really is Lee Hyorish yeah...

Lip Service is great. Respect for the tonkatsu love.

hahaha, "Yum Yum Yum" is amazing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH1V5WLNKc8

Quoting from the description,
"A total of 15 korean artists are in this project :
산이(San E), 타이미(Tymee), 뉴챔프(New Champ)
MC META, 나찰(Naachal), 제리케이(Jerry K)
JJK, 와디(Wadi), 팻두(Fatdoo)
면(Garion), Huckleberry P, Jolly V
사무엘(Samuel), 슬릭(Sleeq), 자라(Zara)".

A clip of Hyori directing Gain's new song. Hyori is become pretty prolific as a composer and the songs are good; besides the above, "YDLM" and her own "Miss Korea", she also wrote the dusky "내가 미친년이야" for Spica's Kim Bohyung last year.

For any Korean speakers among us, Puer Kim has been holding a witch council via webcam, occasionally broadcast live on the Mystic89 channel. I think you can ask her questions via the form in the video description.

Aha! It's every Tuesday and Thursday 22:00 KST. (sorry about the spam guys!!)

Let It Go covers all over the place! So far the best of 'em seems to be - not Hyolyn or Ailee - but Dia (Kiss&Cry) on Show Champion.

Some nonstandard girl group stuff:
GLAM return with mediocre Valentine's Day single
Pungdeng-E go cutesy for official debut
Another very decent single from Lip Service, who are a duo! I didn't realize from Yum Yum Yum that they weren't a group.
Interesting comeback strategy from GPBasic in the vein of N.O.M. and SHinee's military-sexy getups last year. What I want to know is, who's the audience for this?

And some slick-sexy guys to go with the sexy-sexy girls:
Eunhyuk and Donghae (Super Junior) - Motorcycle Speaking of duos. I thought their other Japanese stuff was good but forgettable, but this... is something else, woooow. WHERE IS THE REST OF THE VIDEO AVEX??! I need it!
Lee Minwoo - Taxi This Certified Jam Brought to You by the Color Orange.
Gary (LeSSang) - Shower Later for fans of Benny Bernassi's Satisfaction.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anrh6iSKCNQ

I'm kind of taken by Puer Kim calling her online fanmeets "witch councils", that's awesome XD

the Bbax3 rock cover you didn't know you needed

BAP's latest comes pre-ready for export to Japan (and it's good):

Shttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGolQ9LzbkY

The part after the bridge is weird actually, but it wouldn't be a BAP song without a bizarre change in style/tempo or two, I guess.

The Louie upthread sounds like he listened to 'Same Damn Time' right before making it

Er maybe there are more accurate references but it's very much of the orchestral bombastic rap trend of the last 1-2 years

Also I was in Korea over LNY and unfortunately the closest I got to looking at K-pop stuff was a bookstore at the airport on the way out that seemed to be exclusively SM (filled almost entirely with EXO & SHINee merch on the boy's side, Girl's Gen & some other female group on the girl's side)

Looked longingly at a few SMTown buildings from our tour bus

Favorite heard-in-a-department-store discoveries are these two, one from 2012 and one from 1999 (!):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PehZMcA7duY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzCd8Z1VPGY

I guess the "Twilight" sound comes from trap, although I'm not very up to fashion in hip hop genres. BTS's "No" had a similar thing going recently.

There's something very adorably badass about Puer Kim.

Spica's skilled Kim Bo Hyung joined in the "Let It Go" madness but, alas, her senior Miryo had already pretty much flayed the song and the competition. Brave effort from our promising young vocalist in the Miryo Queen's aftermath, however.

xpost lol the Koyote track is not actually from 1999 though! It came out last month. :P

Hahaha I was about to say, it sounds really modern

And I love the Spica mania on omonatheydidnt, haha. They were nominated to win for the first time, which was a long time coming, but then the fact probably didn't escape at least our omona regulars.

It's really weird that Koyote are going all retro 90s though, considering they were there the first time around. From 1998 (for real this time):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mg9lGPElNJ4

^^also, supposedly Gangnam Style's horsey dance was taken from that video

This new b-side is one of BoA's better Japanese ballads in recent years http://youtu.be/e6or6_87myE

yesss orange caramel comeback set for the first week of march

Get out

I like 1999 okay, but I really really really liked their recent Xmas song Hug Me - maybe just for the atmosphere at Inkigayo that day but either way (http://youtu.be/YgTmW5ZfccY).

STELLAR returned to kick butt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCQpzHPYRUc

Ask a Korean was doing a similar project, though his was very rockist. Have you seen it?

http://askakorean.blogspot.com/1998/02/50-most-influential-k-pop-artists.html

Music Core's year-end show is a nice collection of groups with strong live performances... add Orange Caramel, 4minute, EXID, f(x) and TOPP DOGG and it comes pretty close to matching the list of idol music show performances I personally enjoyed the most this year.

Infinite's Back remix and Teen Top's Missing remix were highlights I think, alongside Block B (as always).

yes, have read some of his stuff and will definitely continue to now that i'm in korea and actually have a chance of getting my hands on a lot of this music. his will be a crucial resource for my own project.

i think we differ a bit in audience and intent, not to mention format – but AAK's knowledge and expertise re: korean pop history is definitely an aspiration of mine!

That's a weird list.

speaking of, here's my top 20 k-pop songs of 2014, for vice/noisey:

http://noisey.vice.com/blog/the-20-best-k-pop-songs-of-2014

Which one's weird, mine or AAK's?

switch it up: K-pop (2015)

Looks like I can retire - soyrev's on it!

BTW I thought MBCGayo picked up a little steam toward the end - or at least TVVQ "Something" was the perfect song to end on. 2012 is still the Gayo year to beat though.

Somewhat of interest: SISTAR and Ailee and Taemin turned in good performances, Zion.T was blowing everyone else on his stage away, EXO sang both Thunder and Overdose LIVE and sounded good, the Zico/CNBlue collaboration stage was a hilarious mess, SNSD's MR MR remix was decent.

More seriously of interest: I wish B1A4 would stop messing with Lonely because that song doesn't need a remix. The swelling-orchestral-strings version of "Solo Day" was actually good though, in a Brian Wilson masterwork kind of way.

http://youtu.be/WrSgz63g-Ko

Skip to the end for B1A4 "Solo Day" (orchestra ver).

And to round out 2014:

Boy Group Debuts http://youtu.be/0ZBsXkbSp0Q

Girl Group Debuts http://youtu.be/u7Lsxskse_Y