K-pop

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.

That's really cool! Also, <adds omonatheydidnt to feed list>

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2012/04/ff_koreanrapper/all/1

this article was super interesting, feel so bad for the dude

Following the "celebs finally free to talk back to haters on twitter" trend, Heechul of Super Junior signed off on that Wired article:

http://ygfamilyy.tumblr.com/post/21901290707/heechul-super-junor-xxyo-tajinyo-stop-it-now

Also Mithra of Epik High (Tablo's group) linked to the Korean translation on his twitter "Mithra’s first tweet in 4 months".

Meanwhile on the Taijinyo boards "it's just some American IT magazine, why are people calling it 'the American press'"?

Also, BAP's new EP is all "Fight the Power"!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vD4Nn4mDyE

(Also this, this, this. "Fight for Freedom" sounds like four different songs to me, but there's no filler on this EP, that's for sure o_O. I think "What the Hell" is my favorite so far...)

yeah listening to the new BAP now. I like this brash sci-fi dystopic sound

Right now I like how "We Got the Power" is making use of everyone's voices (probably why it was picked as the title track). I especially like Himchan's trad melody parts, that Bang Yong Guk starts it off and Zelo adds energy/danger, and that they've decided to divide up the song's most emotional lines between Youngjae (small range) and Daehyun (large range) - because I'm enough of a stan to know who they all are, lol.

Anyway the disaffected youth rap-rock chorus + trad-emotional verse formula is cool and it works. There's no filler in this song either.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOvV0M7V4bA

kinda love how unconventional JYP looks

I like that xp

love this kind of ballad. reminds me a lil of mariah? but maybe only because I've been listening to a lot of mariah lately. http://youtu.be/6JpJUlSyXNY

fun throwaway summer jam: http://youtu.be/Udb1rOT48Mo

That Infinite song is really cool. It really gets that kind of sad and lonely, driving late at night feeling? Dunno about the lyrics though - I was expecting something more introverted and nostalgic because of the like, Miami Vice/Kamen Rider sound, but instead they are going to try again to regain the fickle hearts of the public by casting a spell over themselves that they want it. :p But ah well, I can just turn off the subtitles.

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

Same message, different approach. It's about enjoying the moment and the sound/visuals are also hedonistic and indulgent (because Middle Eastern = hedonistic and indulgent??). I like Junsu's androgynous look, he's like the evil Persian dude in 300.

new big bang http://youtu.be/btDd9rOlc2k

^^^these dudes will be performing in my hometown in October. Kind of tempted to go, but not sure I'm prepared to brave the crowd of screaming fangirls.

There's been quite a few tracks I should've posted and talked about here but since it often happens at other places I guess I forget. But you gotta post a new SNSD single

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXMzPTF6HYM

I like that!

not feeling the new f(x) ep at all :(

Electric Shock is super good though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8I8QGFA1oM

f(x) always on point

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaAl6qfWsAs

XD

lol!

<3 Electric Shock. Unusual details in wikipedia articles:

f(x) (play /ˌɛf ˈɛks/; Korean: 에프엑스) is a five member South Korean girl group formed by SM Entertainment in 2009. The name is a play on the mathematical notation for function, and when input with different 'x', there can be many different outcomes. The f stands for flower and the x represents the female's double x chromosome. f(x) strives to be the kind of girl group that can change and adapt to many situations. The group members have also been nicknamed "function girls".

New Girls' Generation video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3-pUNhYORw

Posted above only with some different scenes.

They did a GREAT performance of it on Music Station today, though.. taken down on youtube but if you find it, watch it.

Up for now http://youtu.be/Guw6BiZxmpE

No wait that's sped up..

http://youtu.be/D2aHXTde57s

This is LQ but better than any of the ones above http://youtu.be/DA7PeBC55q0

(sorry for the spam but at least this makes the thread slightly easier to load)

2NE1 are playing Newark, NJ on 8/17 and L.A. on 8/24; tickets went on sale today and top out at $200 ($300 for the VIP package which includes a gift bag and access to a "soundcheck party").

I have a confirmed assignment to review (and photograph!) the aforementioned 2NE1 show in Newark. Now to figure out who's handling the tickets & photo passes at Live Nation...

I think Kpop is prepared for the Olympics, yo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLunOf5QsYQ&list=PL260E01B49C1B1BA2&feature=plpp_play_all

(It's a playlist)

BoA has composed her new single and it fits her to a t http://youtu.be/PQjovLrnvVo

and almost more importantly, the video allows her performance to shine

That's really cool! It's a very Madonna-like performance without seeming like she's copying anything (because it's so totally BoA). Dance-acting is so cool. I also like the balanced lyrics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hzz4mGyehw

BAP with a Damien Hirst-inspired music video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd-EnU-s9Rg

GLAM song about a girl liking another girl:

Can I kiss you baby girl?
Are you a boy? I don’t care.. Passion is key.
Girl I really really like ya, now just leave the rest to me.
A kiss XXO, anyone can be a Romeo.
A kiss XXO, if the heart starts to race, you’re Juliet Juliet.
Because we break the rules, we dodge the rules.
Got the right to break the wall. Everyone move.
Opposition for opposition won’t work- take off the blindfold that covers your eyes.
Be confident. (We’re a minority.) Fling it off.
Yeah don’t stop the beat now. Now is your time, you shine more than anyone else.

Ok, irresistible

http://gawker.com/5930283/did-this-underground-hip-hop-artist-from-south-korea-just-release-the-best-music-video-of-the-year

gif request for loop of 1:54-2:01

Underground? The song is #1! (unless they're saying underground to them, in which case they've already said 'from South Korea' so it's redundant)

Yeah it's the hit of the year pretty much.

Also I think you'll find pretty much every second gif'd on tumblr. Props to Hyuna for her cameo here securing her summer viral #2 after last year's Bubble Pop.

I kinda figured this thread would now be about "Gangnam Style". To answer Gawker's question, yes.