K-pop (2014)

Unfortunately those dumb lyrics make the chorus hard for me to swallow. The song is in some ways similar to f(x) Red Light except the (sing-y parts of the) chorus provide harmony and relief.

I like the full version of her and LE's Blacklist on the mini. They go a bit sweary, in Korean and English http://youtu.be/B0Y_TVmVkgA

I like the lyrics, but it's a good thing HyunA is good at branding because she's sounding more like Fran Drescher every day

BTW new Kpop groups are reaching into the past and going all the way back to the origins of K-idol music (apparently a group Fire Engine - this is a remake of their hit song from the 80s): http://youtu.be/-UtpWl-3o9I

The new Yenny/HA:TFELT (pronounced like a mix between hot and heartfelt) mini is really refreshing. Can't even say I'm a huge fan of it but it feels so nice hearing a relatively diverse album from a major company. I'm assuming JYP waited to release this against Hyuna so I really, really hope that this encourages people to branch out in sound. Ditto for the mv. The album cover is laughably 90s, which I suppose is appropriate considering Iron Girl sounds like it could've been a release from a late 90s alt pop singer-songwriter. I think my favorite track is actually Nothing Lasts Forever, the ballad that closes the mini: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K24ScQn6lF4 // sounds like something that could've been released on Pastel

And here's Yenny + 15& covering That XX (+ a single line from My Boo/Body Party):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzyo6j3qLhI

Yenny's EP is really good in that it sort of defies definition, she doesn't go down any obvious routes, sources of inspiration aren't obvious on first listen, I'm not sure how to label her as an artist. Hope this thing works out for her as she could be one of the more interesting singer songwriter types in kpop.

SM's new girl group reveals debut MV in face of lots of angry fans of other SM groups http://youtu.be/z4I2Ai-nNOw

I dig it. Some say it's f(x) lite but it's not quite that style of manic vocal delivery f(x) does on their singles. More importantly it lives outside of other current kpop girl group trends.

Well looks like Red Velvet won't be debuting in Japan anytime soon.

In other news, apparently SPICA is debuting in the US on August 8th and that's surely going to fail

I remember joking with friends that it was hard to tell the various members of SNSD apart, way back in 2010... but then after getting into Kpop and following the headlines (not even specially about SNSD) for a while it seemed silly to have thought that since they clearly are different. And then Miss Korea lookalike thing turned out to be at least partially make up.

But gotdamn Red Velvet rly do look like almost exactly the same person - especially with the way they are being styled and presented (color-coded by dip-dye???)

They are older, though (mid-20s!), which I appreciate. But then their song kinda sounds and looks like a Coca-Cola commercial. Also it's hard not to be bitter about the fact that they might be a substitution for f(x), whose post-Sulli future is looking kinda uncertain.

Speaking of the future, BANGTAN look to be continuing their possessive-aggressive-stalker theme from Skool Love Affair: http://youtu.be/_3OLpHsAR54

I hear all their trailers are HQ but this was unexpectedly long and intense for a teaser???

Also, I thought Airplane were a fine if kinda generic pop-rock band, but their latest single has some interesting production choices on top of the pop-rock-rap: http://youtu.be/-Si_g0PeCgc

Have also just learned that Bangtan have a song about being unemployed - classic hip hop theme brought into the idol world were it seems weirder than it really is.

Wait there's one more thing - was going through some things I missed and FIESTAR's single is quite good!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9sEjiBew18

How Many of These Korean Pop Songs Released Between January and June of This Year Do You Recognize? http://youtu.be/FvxY8Y5bN60

http://pitchfork.com/features/starter/9475-20-essential-k-pop-songs/

What're the odds that whoever wrote that is reading this thread? Because they seem high to me.

That list is a lot more idiosyncratic than Elite Gymnastics'

Wait... soyrev did you write this???

lol I do believe that it was indeed soyrev.

speaking of K-pop in the states, SPICA's US debut is erm... not great :/

http://youtu.be/j6Mns7IbRFE

Yeah looking back, the rec for SHINee - One Minute Back kind of gives it away lol. I'm not sure he chose tge most logical songs for an uninitiated audience and there's a little too much repetition of artists going on, but the descriptions are well done.

SPICA... why.

Gotta push for f(x) so they won't be canned post-Sulli though.

The Spica song is good, I really don't think the label is pushing for a US breakthrough, just using this as an alternative way of getting publicity with Korean and international k-pop crowd.

it's giving me Wonder Girls and "Nobody" vibes tbh. Not terrible, just boringly predictable and safe.

someone needs to explain to me wth hell is going on with f(x) and Sulli - even after reading all the posts on omona, I still don't get how it all went pear-shaped so fast. #savefx

No one knows #SMentertainment

Krystal saying this on her reality show with her sister doesn't bode too well though

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BuTn5MCCYAEoloo.jpg:large

:(

SNSD only group with skin thick enough to not be split up by SM's ways.

SNSD are rumoured to get gentler treatment because Sunny is Lee Soo Man's niece

f(x) are rumoured to have been on the rocks for a while, especially Sulli who is rumoured to be temperamental. She's a former child actress so she's doing this for a really long time.

If you want to see something really weird and heartbreaking, look up f(x)'s episode of "A Song For You" - only Amber, Victoria and Luna are in it because (the story goes) Krystal was filming and Sulli was resting at home due to illness. But actually Sulli was on site during the recording - in behind the scenes photos she's sitting with the rest of the group staring vacantly into space like a severely depressed person. The other three carried on the filming like everything was normal and Sulli was edited out afterward.

Which seems kind of telling

Listening to all the songs on this Pitchfork listing is reminding me of this one that would fit right in:

https://soundcloud.com/bleachndlp/ill-talk-plainly

But Phantom aren't that popular, sadly :( Their full-length album was also kinda disappointing

New Brown Eyed Girls:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKe0Mq-COvQ

Okay I listened to SPICA and they seem to be trying to reach America before Little Mix does

hey yeah! that p4k list is me. though i've been really into "one minute back" since it came out :) http://www.tinymixtapes.com/music-review/shinee-everybody

thank you all, though, who replied to my earlier inquiry. i'm not sure if any of the ones mentioned here that i didn't already know made the list, but lots of great picks and thoughts! whoever suggested B1A4 "What's Happening?" and 2PM "Hands Up" has really great taste. i'm just happy to be getting such a serious, flattering analysis of k-pop into such an influential publication. hopefully the start of something neat...

Odd 2NE1 choice I have to say.

yeah

:D

I saw you quoting me on reddit, lol yr welcome.

@hurricane weather, yes! never knew about that song before you, and the way you talked about it/them was the perfect bait for me. this would be much awkwarder if it had made the list, huh?

*best* 2NE1 choice, you mean!!! i haven't read what p4k posted so i don't know if they left this in the piece or what, but hopefully it still says something about the climactic whole step modulation in that song (which, considering the song repeats nothing from the prior key in the new one, is perhaps a unique instance of such in a pop song). 2NE1 are known for their bangers, but i will stand by "missing you" being their best (-written and -performed) song 'til they top it.

Are you afraid to read it, soyrev?

I'm not a music major but I tried to outline the structure of What's Going On once, it was something crazy like:

Intro Vocal
Rap Bridge A
Intro Verse w key change to minor
Minor Chorus/Rap Bridge B
Major Chorus 1
Major Chorus 1
Rap Bridge A
Rap Verse
Vocal Bridge A (Middle 8) w key change to minor
Minor Chorus/Rap Bridge B
Chorus 1
Vocal Bridge B (Vocal+Rap+Vocal) w key change one major step up
Chorus 2
Chorus 2
Climax Verse
Rap Bridge A

Or something like that...

Have you heard any other B1A4? I like them because they have the Kpop willingness to use 4-5 different melodies in one song, as if to say there will always be more where those came from, but even more so than most groups. Lonely is the kind of euphoric-depressive thing PF might like, and they have some great album tracks too.

Wrote an exploratory post regarding "Disco Boybands" on my lj; included this tentative list of tracks for an Infinite playlist (not that all of these tracks are disco-y):

The Chaser
Season 2
Lost Romeo
To-Ra-Wa
Victorious Way (Infinite H)
Without U (Infinite H)
Going To You (너에게 간다)
Rosinante (로시난테)
Paradise
In The Summer
Infinitize
Cover Girl
Inconvenient Truth
Breathe (숨 좀 쉬자)
Over The Top
Be Mine
Back
Shower (소나기)
Be Mine (Remix)

Interesting. Sweetune/Infinite are ground zero for this in K-pop I guess, but to me their sound comes from the same strain of disco/dance pop that would eventually lead you back to the Bee Gees via the Pet Shop Boys, rather than the black vocal group lineage you're thinking of.

SHINee, who have always drawn heavily from Michael Jackson, went more overtly disco/funk on their album tracks last year:

Runaway http://youtu.be/10xPF0y4nD8
Like a Fire http://youtu.be/wi7FmfC3ja8
Plus their disco-on-steroids live performances of Dream Girl: http://youtu.be/jw4pUpGNgag?t=2m29s

Meanwhile, Big Bang's presumptive heirs WINNER finally debuts:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEqlF5N8UMs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQIfXg7UukI

Slightly underwhelming tbh - it seems they've elected to skip the usual manic, flashy boyband debut and went straight to the "grown up", second album man-pain.

Both songs are a pretty good showcase of the group's strengths though: distinctive vocalists, harmonies for days, pop rock melodies, a typically YG-esque penchant for drama. They're going to be massive obviously.

Now that Inifinite have gone full Hollywood and stopped working with Sweetune, I'm pulling for Boyfriend a little harder these days. But anyway I think that's a good list, Frank... personally I also really like Nothing's Over (for the video abt helping a friend with depression as much as anything) and their album track Hysterie. Also I'm surprised you didn't include their most gonzo live track Before the Dawn.

Thanks Rox and forapper!

Actually, I never dl'd BTD for myself, so I don't know it that well. The video's a stunner, of course.* Listening to some of the live BTD's I hear how echoing in the live space with the audience excitement coming back at it gives it an extra kick. (Actually, the melody to BTD does sound a bit freestyle, a genre whose only well-known boyband was TKA, as far as I know {and I don't remember if they fit the too-narrow defn. of boyband I was using in my post.)

*Did we ever talk much about video director Hwang Soo Ah on these threads? Mat taught me about her. She directed Brown Eyed Girl's "Abracadabra," Ga-in's "Irreversible," IU's "The Story Only I Didn't Know," Sunny Hill's "Darling Of All Hearts," as well as Infinite's "Be Mine" and "Before The Dawn." That's just a sampling.

I think we talked about her in the Bigbang thread a little bit.

I loved SHINee's various Misconception LP's last year. A special favorite was "Music Box," though its being an ambitious ballad, I don't know what line of descent to put it in (other than "Ambitious Ballad").

(Sorry for mistyping your name, Roz.)

Just listened to WINNER and wow @ Empty, Team A fans who complained about YG playing favorites must be SO mad (Team B's B.I. wrote the song). For that matter, Team B fans can't be too happy at YG taking a very Team-B-ish songs and giving it to the rival group either.

"Color Ring" is a lot more WINNER-like and showcases their strengths as vocalists better, I hope it stomps all over Empty on the charts.