K-pop (2015)

wow, totally sold on that after about 10secs

Unpretty Rapstar has mostly been met with mockery among interntional k-pop fans but the new track from the show is doing really well on the Korean charts at #2 http://youtu.be/l7Oc2-bOE2c

Lee Jin-Ah also got another chart hit from a K-pop Star performance of her song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSi0GYWzFP4

also pretty fun watching them record My Type too: http://youtu.be/ov2iTGKUghg

냠냠냠 is cute but not something i'll be revisiting often i think

It's a sign MIB needs to return, Jessi and Cheetah are getting a big boost from current interest in Kangnam (and are also holding down the track of course). MIB's Young Cream/Blue Cream is in the dog house with Knetizens for comments about the Korean flag and other bizarre antics on twitter though. Here's hoping dude can keep it together... here's a recent solo from him.

About the girls, Jessi and Cheetah are probably the best rappers on the show and I like seeing these reversals of the 2-guys-1-girl type of hip hop.

production on the Rainbow mini is surprising, makes me feel hopeful about this year for k-pop. the single is probably my least favorite song tbh and Pierrot is probably my favorite. when that synth pad comes in oof

damn i cannot fuckin wait to hear this thing i've heard so much strong hype

um. one of the best minis ever?

several are (unbelievably) close, but yeah, "pierrot" just fucking slays everything. this is one of my all-time favorite k-pop songs, no question...it is so fucking virtuoso man i wanna scream and punch a wall

the manic weirdo verse into the perfect tension-building prechorus, pop valhalla chorus, filter fill back into the weirdo verse...the pacing is golden ratio double rainbows. idol raps are usually the weak point but the rap couplet here is *perfect* and just enough, i just can't believe how on point this thing is

Snippet of Zion.T and Crush's 2013 duet "Two Melodies" on Sketchbook (showcases their chemistry much MUCH more - and you should rewind for the beginning of the interview too, it's interesting):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGpWUQPQ6m4#t=2184

"I was hailing a cab in Hongdae when he came up to me, said he was a musician and asked me to listen to his song."

Oops no timestamp. It's at #t=2184. The whole set is great though.

If all slightly generic cute k-pop sounded as good as this it could (almost) be a source of catnip tuneage on the same level as AKB style j-pop formula

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H85SIUCY_I

better yet is their shockingly sweet, cheery rendition of a few choice megan trainer lines ("naked in your bed," "kiss my ass goodbye") in this new promo vid. it's hysterical. (at 1:30)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_uYPY2B93w&feature=youtu.be

also, hey, K-Pendium entry 3 - Wonder Girls' "Nobody."

http://www.k-pendium.com/003

if you're beautiful you can even vote for what group/artist i analyze next by doing this thing: http://www.k-pendium.com/vote/

That Lovelyz song is great!

LE is a co-writer on quite a few Shinsadong tracks now.. I listened to the new Fiestar single, heard 'leggo' and immediately went to check and yep, there she is.

new fiestar isn't A-level, but the first two lines of each pre-chorus are…the production on that is one of my favorite-sounding things right now

new 4minute interview! https://twitter.com/soyrev/status/573188575472168960

haha abcfsk very astute of you. the song's pretty good imo and it helps that the vocalists are relatively distinguishable. vid is gorgeous too but could definitely do without the way too obvious butt shots

good interview jakob. love how jihyun says '"Cold Rain” may be the only song that does justice to Gayoon’s beautiful voice.' :3

nice interview! did you do it in person or over email, soyrev?

Surprisingly great track from rookie group B.I.G.:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYKwqDLc9vo

check the bigroom EDM breakdown at 2:35

Close To Me from BoA's 2014 Japan tour http://www.oeker.net/bbs/board.php?bo_table=japan&wr_id=2163758

holy moly that BIG song is great. also a huge fan of that sweater that has polka dots on the bottom half, would totally wear that

It's surprisngly great!

All's I know about B.I.G. is one of them was admitted to Julliard but is doing this instead, and their first single was landfill fun-boyband electro. If they keep it up they could turn into Z:EA (hopefully with a better career trajectory).

EXO new single is out in LQ. It's called "Call Me Daddy". They're no longer just following Super Junior in their marketing, they're now getting Suju's castoff title tracks as well.

Album tracks are more tortured and promising:

https://soundcloud.com/namja124/150307-exoluxion-exo-new-track-3-shes-so-dangerous

https://soundcloud.com/namja124/150307-exoluxion-exo-new-track-4

Honestly they should just go theatrical-dark. Half of them are in the hospital half the time anyway.

Yeon-Du goes solo! Woo! (Been waiting for that.)

'EXO new single is out in LQ. It's called "Call Me Daddy". They're no longer just following Super Junior in their marketing, they're now getting Suju's castoff title tracks as well.'

lol, brilliant. not interested in "call me daddy" at all musically, sounds like that one jonas brothers hit. "overdose" era was way moodier, weirder, more interesting

To be clearer, it's not their martketing that's Suju-like, it's their SM-projected career arc. But that's a self-fulfilling prophecy, ain't it...

Speaking of Super Junior though:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bq_6kPqtA1k&t=94

Plot twist!

There's also the this one: http://youtu.be/aqHXrhkS3F0

Like that westernish whistling hook

Though it gets old by the end of the song

I don't know why I posted those... (ilxor's regret)

yeah D&E is continuing the trend of SM solos i don't care about 2015. taemin held a much higher standard last year.

part 2 if anyone's interested (scroll down to 'the story'). includes such fun details as wonder girls' awful nickelodeon movie, and what the city of new york had to say about JYP's business methods: http://www.k-pendium.com/003/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap7AlBxeaFg

honestly don't know what to make of it just yet. if that's the chorus, i don't think i'm going to love it. but ga-in hasn't let me down yet and this is her most ambitious project yet, so i'm still very hopeful

yea i'm in the same boat, we'll see though. still have high hopes for the mini and march in general. anyone see the new stellar trailer? http://youtu.be/qZ_oF4ReBhk the fact the video starts with them looking at negative comments about themselves is kind of awesome

Ga In sounds great

stellar trailer sounds like it could be some SES vibes. into it

ga-in soon, miss a later this month, red velvet (with new member), EXID's do or die moment next month, big bang and ikon and winner sometime this year, CL's american debut, EXO and SNSD's attempts to rejustify their existences...and 4minute and rainbow have already put out the best minis of their careers. definitely shaping up to be the most exciting year for k-pop since at least 2012.

And BoA..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4i32ANEa5mk

video and choreography are great. song has a lot of interesting elements but it's not really clicking with me at the moment. but i'd say it's the best on the mini (which is kind of lackluster after one listen)

Looking at the product itself, Hwang Soo-Ah's note and Loen Tree PD Jo Yeong-cheol's comments: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=460914014065906&id=100004419340159&substory_index=0

-it seems their goal was to re-write Eve's narrative and confront Milton's.. which reminded me strongly of some passages from "Shirley", and any chance at quoting Charlotte Brontë I'll take:

"Milton's Eve! Milton's Eve! I repeat. No, by the pure Mother of God, she is not! Cary, we are alone; we may speak what we think. Milton was great; but was he good? His brain was right; how was his heart? He saw heaven; he looked down on hell. He saw Satan, and Sin his daughter, and Death their horrible offspring. Angels serried before him their battalions; the long lines of adamantine shields flashed back on his blind eyeballs the unutterable splendour of heaven. Devils gathered their legions in his sight; their dim, discrowned, and tarnished armies passed rank and file before him. Milton tried to see the first woman; but, Cary, he saw her not."

"You are bold to say so, Shirley."

"Not more bold than faithful. It was his cook that he saw; or it was Mrs. Gill, as I have seen her, making custards, in the heat of summer, in the cool dairy, with rose-trees and nasturtiums about the latticed window, preparing a cold collation for the rectors—preserves and 'dulcet creams;' puzzled 'what choice to choose for delicacy best; what order so contrived as not to mix tastes, not well-joined, inelegant, but bring taste after taste, upheld with kindliest change.'"

"All very well too, Shirley."

"I would beg to remind him that the first men of the earth were Titans, and that Eve was their mother; from her sprang Saturn, Hyperion, Oceanus; she bore Prometheus——"

"Pagan that you are! what does that signify?"

"I saw — I now see — a woman-Titan. Her robe of blue air spreads to the outskirts of the heath, where yonder flock is grazing; a veil white as an avalanche sweeps from her head to her feet, and arabesques of lightning flame on its borders. Under her breast I see her zone, purple like that horizon; through its blush shines the star of evening. Her steady eyes I cannot picture. They are clear, they are deep as lakes, they are lifted and full of worship, they tremble with the softness of love and the lustre of prayer. Her forehead has the expanse of a cloud, and is paler than the early moon, risen long before dark gathers. She reclines her bosom on the ridge of Stilbro' Moor; her mighty hands are joined beneath it. So kneeling, face to face she speaks with God. That Eve is Jehovah's daughter, as Adam was His son."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSEtAC8wkhw

cuts out jay park's part so is consequently one minute shorter from the full version. i think it actually might be my favorite on the mini at this point. i think jay park's voice is well-suited for the tone of the song. vid is wonderful. she also performed both songs live: https://youtu.be/cpwnSy2XyLY she isn't really singing for paradise lost but man she kills it with the choreo (and surprised that she actually did it live/it wasn't at least partially banned)