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

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

Forget about the pressure to release new material, what about the pressure of being 90% of the revenue stream of what's now the most valuable publicly traded music company in Korea?

They got to play it a little safe, but not *too safe, or it wouldn't be a Big Bang release.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4TfsMdHN3Q

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

And some free promo from Jinusean @0:05 "Big Bang is back" https://youtu.be/t4vDEt9CpAI

BAE BAE has lowkey earwormed itself into me

FYI the composer credits are Teddy/GDragon for Bae Bae and Taeyang/Teddy for Loser... which explains the ENL-ness of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMwqhnJs_w8&feature=youtu.be

Always amazed at how much effort goes into designing their music show stages, considering they're basically one-off performances and those sets will never be used again.

You gotta post the Loser stage too, those transparent steps were freakin cool:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0XMQmRhw7I

I think I liked last week's Inkigayo performance a little more but these stages are really gorgeous.

Reports are that G-Dragon cried after they won. They received almost a perfect score - full points for digital, physical and live voting, just missing some SBS mobile app advance voting points. Now VIPs have to download that app, I guess.

I wanna know who thought up the double-single idea for BigBang, that was kind of genius 'cos now they are only being compared to themselves, and not to any of the other idol groups/artists currently promoting.

M Countdown stages suffered from too much bactrack but the official BTS video is quality: https://youtu.be/hk-XeYDlcTE?t=3m0s

the obvious young thug-derived "skirt skirt" stuff is so silly, hahaha (wonder if he got it from thug or from keith ape getting it from thug...)

that "loser" stage is especially insane. you know the label has to pay for everything on these shows, too, which makes the one-time-only aspect of all that investment especially nuts.

also, fuckin ridiculous i have to use a VPN to watch k-pop videos in korea : |

the Loser stage at least makes use of the LED columns that were already part of Inkigayo's main set - they just look better because YGE has some of the best lighting designers in the biz. The Bae Bae one seems way more of a hassle - all those flowers scattered on the stage couldn't have been easy to clean up. Plus what else can they do with a set worth of fake flowers afterwards?

soyrev, you should be able to watch them on the artist's official Youtube channel, no?

sometimes! not always cross-posted. easier to just fire up spotflux anyway :)

didnt know inkigayo had those columns already. but i've seen YG build huge elaborate staircases and the like for winner stages, etc

After watching those I

1) need to get a varsity jacket
2) think with a few minor adjustments I almost have seungri's hair, minus the platinum dye

Other groups stood under the columns, only Big Bang built staircases to stand on top.

Last week's (Inkigayo) Loser stage was their live stage transported to SBS. But last week's M Countdown stage was truly nuts, Bae Bae's set was suspended from the ceiling, Loser's had Big Bang moving up and down in tiny elevators. I don't think the fancy sets necessarily improved the performance though... this was kind of my issue when I saw them at the Prudential Center, tooooooo much flash.

Gender-fuckery, c/o Roz:

http://s21.postimg.org/65yur3non/BIGBANG2.png

Generally men wear blue, women wear pink on this talk show:

http://images.hanbeat.com/data/images/full/14663/happy-together-3-ep-366.jpg?w=750

Also here's Taeyang on why he likes wearing women's clothing, and other issues related to fashion, art, and cooking:

http://omonatheydidnt.livejournal.com/15826524.html#comments#comments

it's a little weird how much their personalities have merged over the years - some parts of that interview sound like TOP talking, other parts like GD. and honestly, Taeyang was NOT the bigbang member i expected to talk about wearing women's clothes so extensively, it's pretty great.

also, name-dropping Miriam Schapiro! <3

I was thinking exactly the same, he's become a mashup of GD and TOP lmao but no one else has talked about their love of cooking shows yet!

When you starting getting into cooking, gardening, and home decorating, that's when you know you're getting old.

forapper, do you remember that discussion we had a few years ago where we were trying to figure out whether GD's love of skirts was a genuine form of genderplay, mere fashion-forwardness or just trolling (or a combination of the three?). Taeyang's interview feels a bit like a response to that. I mean, here we have arguably the most masculine (in the traditional sense) member of BB saying that he likes wearing women's clothes because he thinks they neutralise his masculinity, plus buying feminist art, and admitting to loving flowers and cooking - it all adds a few extra layers to the discussion.

there's a part of me that still can't quite believe that all of this is coming from the current biggest Asian boyband in the world who hail from what is still one of the most patriarchal societies in the region. Let's not deny that BB have always been a deeply problematic band, but I love how their fashion-forwardness + penchant for breaking rules have ended up with them actively fighting rigid gender norms in both mainstream pop and Korean society in general.

Maybe... we had a lot of discussions, lol. I don't think you have to classify it, but GD's been sending these messages for literally years so whatever's going on is probably pretty deep-seated.

Taeyang on the other hand is right about neutralizing his masculinity, lmao. It's better for artists to be kind of androgynous, right? Just being manly would be boring.

Speaking of Big Bang merging into one being though, Taeyang seems more open than he used to be while GD seems much MUCH more religious... refer to that MV analysis you sent me.

excellent teaser image for round 2:

http://41.media.tumblr.com/9792ca1af3aa5d99c69e26787c77636c/tumblr_nozgqvkEAO1qzjb8ko1_1280.jpg

: ) : )

Sudden flashbacks to Coup D'Etat

I know you guys are talking about it in the k-pop thread but i'm not caught up yet

did anybody else think they were taking some cues from mad max for the BANG BANG BANG vid? haha