K-pop

Don't know if you meant to post the two big old-skool k-pop boy bands after one another, but it's a nice example of how one comes off slightly desperate in his comeback attempts (Tony An, not talking about that performance, though) and how Shinhwa still seem pretty well-suited for the pop star life. Wouldn't say Venus is amazing, but people have been saying the EP is pretty solid.

As for Ailee there, I said somewhere else, she and her songwriter really nailed that formula. The big melodic belter. To be honest I think that stuff would have an easier time making it big on the Billboard than the ones trying really hard.

hah I don't know shinhwa, but it pleased me to see H.O.T. doing 'candy' in 2012 (or, as it were, just tony an)

but yeah ailee strikes a nice balance between ballad and banger

as for ballads I like Lyn

I like this Ali ballad http://youtu.be/U6xIO6j2mqE

New SPICA - Painkiller http://youtu.be/gO-n43lUS7s

http://youtu.be/QbJCB2ArgK0

Tomorrow at the lower east side!!

(probably not the perfect thread for that band but i had to express my glee)

'follow me' really seems to have been the template for 'i am the best'

new 4minute rather disappointing

opening of 'dream racer' rather blatantly copies a part of 'i am the best'

Volume Up is a mega hit.

I can find nothing redeeming about it

Adding the sax hook was a good idea - it will make this a big sales hit like Trouble Maker. Love the rest of the song as well, the lyrics, the techno beat, the main vocalists belting without being cloying about it.

"volume up" is totally awesome, sorry dayo

thought there were a lot more jams on the LP

http://youtu.be/Qk3Cxmvljpk

4minute also totally biting themselves w/ the buildup to the chorus in volume up

http://youtu.be/h97jt1XtnGQ

totally into self-biting

losing my faith in k-pop anyway since 'busker busker' is occupying the charts

Good week - Sistar comes back with a really sexy track http://youtu.be/E0ZHXVp_wUE

http://www.soompi.com/news/jyp-sheds-light-on-koreas-deeprooted-racial-divide-on-sbs-kpop-star

Having watched the show I don't think that was the best example, isolated speaking, as she did reach #5 and except for one dude I thought the others left were better - but it was a great opportunity to bring up a real problem so kudos to JYP. Yesterday's poor performance by the opposition in the Korean parliamentary election wasn't the most uplifting result, but a lot more women were elected and one of them the first naturalized Korean citizen to do so, Jasmine Lee from the Phillipines. Her inclusion was a move by the ruling party to appeal to the growing number of naturalized citizens and is an acknowledgement that that number IS steadily growing. So the topic will (have to) be dealt with, one way or another and I'm happy JYP talks about it in such a super-mainstream setting. The blackface incident earlier this year also got a lot of talk going, which isn't a matter of course as those skits have been pretty frequent on Korean TV. Some people defended it but it got a lot of coverage online and in the news, and artists like Tiger JK spoke up about it (himself being the husband of African American / Korean Yoon Mirae). Pretty obvious there's a lot of work to be done but I'm glad it's a mainstream issue at least (at last).

Didn't mean to suggest a connection between Michelle and the plight of naturalized citizens, of course, though my confusingly worded post might lead you to that idea --- just talking about the new multicultural Korea.

Good week - Sistar comes back with a really sexy track http://youtu.be/E0ZHXVp_wUE

― abcfsk, Thursday, April 12, 2012 6:50 AM (3 days ago)

K-pop SOTY

everything in that sistar song is a hook

it's a lot more po-faced than their previous singles

excited about the new girl's day!

You hate on the two great singles of the year, but Girl's Day gets you in the mood?!

well I haven't actually listened to girl's day yet

but sorry, those two singles are sleek but lifeless!

the 'mehness' of the new 4minute made me revisit their LP though, which is really quite good

http://youtu.be/tL9OB0DxkE4

and 'ma boy' still walks all over the new sistar!

Their LP was really weak, but I like their previous EPs.

I know you don't actually believe that!

I like them american rnb-y (as their album tracks pre-LP are) over that brisk synth pop stuff. And their singles should aggressive, not sweet like the extremely disappointing "Heart to Heart". Now THAT was lifeless.

hah well I guess that's where you and I diverge. K-pop is at its best for me when it's fun and bombastic and spilling over the edges, not when it's trying to be a jet-black sports car, but that's just me!

What do you think about f(x)?

may have heard a few singles in passing but not sure any have stuck. what do you recommend?

my fave from the 4minute album would be first if it was the japanese version. it's my fave 4minute song by far, and i love 4minute, so...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1L8k4KXmbs
i really wanted to like volume up. one of gayoon's best tracks. but the saxophone just puts me off. whatever.

just to troll the f(x) talk, here's their best song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDbUqDGGtl8
the only reason i forgave sm for destroying this, is that the f(x) mv had a pink tank in it.

what do you recommend?

Just asked because they're very far away from a jet-black sports car, and their particular, f(x)-ian style of singing is all about fun and games. But I'm not sure if that's the kind of thing you refer to as your k-pop fun. Melody is ignored in favor of rhythm.

All their singles are kinda similar. "Nu ABO" probably defines them more than anything else and received a lot of analysis and confusion upon release (including the lyrics).

http://youtu.be/E8ZrPFMr_nY

I can see why some people find their style inapproachable, but imo this is a majestic tune and they're one of a select few k-pop groups who truly have their own sound they stick fairly closely to with each release. I put last year's "Danger" near the top of my year-end list, but didn't see much discussion of it among writers.*

* Said this mid-year 2011: "Youthful brattiness and staccato nonsense, one note repeated until a gorgeous bridge achieves liftoff and briefly breaks away from the madness of jump rope rhymes. "

Funny thing is even if their cover of Hot Summer does little new it still sounds like a typical f(x) single. I guess songwriter Troelsen is more or less an SM dude by now, though.

hah nu ABO is great! thanks for that

my fav k-pop group is still 2ne1, if that tells you anything

I kind of love these rhythm-based, motorik tracks like nu ABO and follow me

one note repeated

one-note repetition reminds me of the best one-note songs ever

http://youtu.be/QA1M_Wyrnco

my fav off the new girl's day (warning: very sugary)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pp4teLl8Jwk

that one-note song could be used to interrogate me. i need to put on pop pop pop by rania asap

f(x) Hot Summer and Montrose Hot Summer are the same song because this guy wrote both (also Nu ABO and Pinocchio):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Troelsen

Maybe it's just because I know the reason he gets so much work in Korea is because he wrote Mirotic for TVXQ, but I think of the Thomas Troelsen production style as being like... opening up all aural channels at once. Like just blasting a smooth sound into every single aural receptor. I don't even think Shinee's "Sherlock" is a good song but it has that hitting-every-spot-at-once appeal. I kind of think of this as being the aural equivalent of like... shooting up (heroin), again, because of Mirotic.

My favorite Kpop songwriter-for-hire (meaning not an in-house songwriter) is Brave Brothers, because he adds genre-depth to his pop songs** and they're generally a bit more relaxed than the Kpop sped-up-beat and tuned-up-synth sound.*** His new stuff for Brave Girls ("Nowadays You") is in that mode. Sometimes I wonder if that song, B1A4's "Baby I'm Sorry", f(x)'s "Pinocchio", etc, are all about the same person.

**e.g. Brave Girls reggae phase, the first Sistar LP

***My theory on which BTW is that because Korean censors ban sex and drugs references in idol music, "mania" is the only kind of euphoria left to pop music aha. Though more and more groups are trying to sneak some sex in, which, you know, if it relaxes the music a little bit, I think is a good thing?

he doesn't get much work in korea, only does singles for sm.

my fave is shinsadong tiger. i probably love him for his obsession with the northern european sound.

Nice way of putting it, forapper.

I know Troelsen is behind Hot Summer, yeah. What's interesting is how f(x) sometimes get demos from Europe and then tweak them in-house to get that f(x) touch (not so much HOt Summer, but their originals). Highlighted in this interview with SM's Yoo Youngjin http://omonatheydidnt.livejournal.com/3586995.html

10: These days, even SM takes foreign songs and changes it to Korean style of music. You have done that as well. What do you think is important when you do that?
Yoo: Songs like "Amigo," "Mirotic" and "Nu ABO" were written by foreign songwriters. When we decide we are going to write a certain kind of song, several songwriters including myself start doing the arrangement and write the lyrics. First of all, I don't take a song from a foreign songwriter and just use it. Their songs are incredibly simple in terms of melody, lyrics and arrangement so I add certain parts to the song that I think are necessary to succeed in Korea. Sometimes I take the sub-melody in the original composition and make it the main melody, or even make a new one from scratch. If a song has a great overall flow but a weak climax, I make it stronger. For example, [Korean girl band f(x) member] Luna's singing part in the latter part of "Nu ABO" -- that part changes the entire flow of the track. But the way it breaks the original flow and changes to a completely different vibe with a definite impact -- I think that is the style of Korean pop music.

I've read similar things about "Danger", where it was tweaked to sound more f(x)-y.