K-pop 2013

I see we've moved on from fanremixes but since I'm somewhere where I can't watch youtube videos, I'll just say that yes Kpop remixes/mashups are a huge thing. Besides tzechar, I like Areia (areiacreations) and Ely (PuNk3Ly182 -- incidentally her channel is a good way to stay updated on remixes since she "likes" tons of them). Where Have You Been + I Love You mashup by I don't remember is better than either song.

Part of it I think is that some labels just the instrumental track, where when you buy the instrumental you also buy the right to use it in remixes. I know YG does this.

I really want to listen to all this new stuff... especially the Sistar and Nine Muses tracks :(

That Sistar song is great!

*ahem* SiSTAR19 *ahem*

With Sistar I keep getting distracted by the little things, like their glass-cleaning butt dance, the instrumental bridge that could have been a second Bora verse and continued the Sistar tradition of songs that are all hook, or the fact that this might as well be Hyorin ft. Bora for all the time Bora gets... not that I mind, exactly, because Hyorin has one of the best voices in Kpop, but it still seems like a wasted opportunity. Really good song but it feels like it could have been even better - like the seams are showing.

On the other hand, I love everything about Nine Muses - Dolls.

Sistar19 is reminding me of a Patsy Cline song. I think it's Walking After Midnight but I'm not sure.

Yeah, the verses of Walking After Midnight - "about to see a weeping willow" - sound a bit like the verses to Gone Not Around Any Longer. Alone sounded a bit like the Rolling Stones' Missing You so this is continuing the trend of nostalgic songs for Sistar, I guess.

No one else has mentioned it so here's Myname - Just that Little Thing. I mostly like it for the contrast with VIXX - On and On.

i've been listening to that MR.MR song upthread and kept thinking there was something unsatisfying about it, like it needed to be a minute longer or an extra bridge or something.

And then I realised what was missing - no rap verse! apparently, they don't even have a designated rapper?

It's not even remotely good, but it is mesmerizing: Team H (Jang Geun Seok & Big Brother) - What is Your Name.

JSG is an actor who's been building a second career as a singer in Japan, and was previously the star of a documentary titled: "I Am the Hallyu Wave". He's the same age as Big Bang's GDragon (24) and has been in the entertainment industry for about the same length of time (20 years). I bring this up because the video has some One of a Kind vibes :p And also because I'd never heard of the dude before this, since I don't follow actors or Japanese music releases.

As far as what's in the video, stalking women and harassing them at work is uncool, but the overall vibe is less disturbing than - although also not nearly as good as - Crispi Crunch Menboong Time, where the film itself is covered in a druggy haze and you worry about someone's neck being broken every time they push a woman into that tiny pool.

And since I feel like I have to atone after posting that, here's a really good single from 2012 I forgot to put on my year-end list and didn't see on anyone else's, either: Dal Shabat - Have Don't Have.

Other 2012 songs I missed last year but have been enjoying this year thanks to other people's year-end lists are Rania - Style; Nine Muses - Ticket & Nine Muses - News; SPICA - Russian Roulette; and Verbal Jint ft Miss $ - Good Day.

Oh and Hello Venus - What Are You Doing Today!

BAP One Shot is nothing special to listeners already familiar with gangsta rap, but truly epic - and bloody! - music video, TS Entertainment continuing to splash out on these guys.

I am really looking forward to Rainbow next week: album teaser & recent trot performance.

omg that BAP video is glorious - irl lol when the blood spattered on the camera towards the end.

looking forward to possible Azealia Banks vs K-pop beef also.

'ring ma bell' heralds the arrival of the clapper trend to k-pop (though I feel like there must be earlier examples of clappers in k-pop right?)

2NE1 "Clap Your Hands"? lol jk I can't think of any, actually...

Does anyone remember Going Crazy (Song JiEun ft. Bang YongGuk)? Because BYG sure does.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy_sgB4EJB8

Those of us who were fans of Rainbow and especially the two Daishi Dance produced singles last time they promoted waited two years for this - arguably one of the least memorable / worst singles from any major k-pop act in the past 12 months.

I feel pretty much the opposite of you about this

i like the athletic strings on it but yeah it's pretty nothing otherwise

y'all are crazy

compared to "to me" it's like they were drained of all personality

god there was a bobbins track from last year that i think samples the "just wanna be with you!" from "to me" and i can't at all remember what it is

to me it's like yeah, production is a little dAted or at least not what's fashion rn but the melody is really strong and it's still a tune

re-listening to 'to me' yeah I can see how you might be disappointed by this - none of the swagger

maybe they should have given this song as a debut for some other group, or given it to orange caramel or something? idk

still find it enjoyable tho

I'm with abcfsk and Brad but am holding out hope for the second half of the EP which is supposed to be "different in style" from the first half.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzNaAY2yn6g

I assume everybody else loves this?

First time hearing this.

Oh Yes!!

yes indeed.

Absolutely. Video proper is great too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vhxjEXDAy6s

haha I didn't know they released two vers. thought they were dangerously close to dancing with broomsticks

they could prob get away with dancing with broomsticks though

shinee song is a certified jam

disco guitar forever

yeah and it sounds very distinctively 'shineee'

haha speaking of throwbacks check out this straight rip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lieFdkYA-Q

What's it a straight rip of?

Dream Girl is awesome.

weirdly enough what comes to mind is 'ghostbusters,' haha

feel like I like this new speed single but maybe i just like the synth warble idk

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

Actually releasing a Sistar single is a decent strategy to getting your first hit, I guess, but I don't think there's any place in the music industry for SPEEd or the other Co-Ed leftovers. Just realized today that one of their members is Zico's brother, though.

I like the warble. The rest of it doesn't do much for me.

^ yeah I think that's how I'm gonna come out on this one

It's too bad, there's one pretty good rapper in SPEED and those LED glove things they used in "It's All Over" were cool. I still really like their remake of Lovey-Dovey.

乒乓 and EZ, if you like the synth warble in "Pain the Love of Heart" and haven't listened to Myname - Just the Little Thing yet, you should.

Verbal Jint ft. Ailee - If It Ain't Love

I think this is the first Ailee song I really like. The key point here is the lyrics.

Soompi has a compilation of all the debut songs of all of 2012's debut groups: boys and girls. The song that stood out the most to me (because I'd never heard of the group and the label couldn't even afford a video or a grammar-checker for the title) was Jackpot - Catch It Me. Also Kboys - Kboys was surprisingly catchy in parts, for such a terribly named group.

Honestly there a lot of strong songs on here, though, and not all from the groups you'd expect either...

This is both strangely impressive and absolutely bananas.

http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/75764816.html

Speaking of impressive and bananas:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaGCTbqJKO0

<33333333

Oh but on the spoon thing you gotta check the top-rated "netizen" (Korean anonymous forum posters exercising their right to free speech in a democratic country) comments (because hilarious) + additional evidence (because impressive and scary).

loool I've said this elsewhere but I honestly thought I had seen all the ~crazy~ in the heady days of Harry Potter and Twilight fandom. And then I came across K-pop fans.

somewhat related: this is impressive both on the part of the fans AND the group, because I swear I watched this performance the other day and didn't notice ANY of this happening: http://byuntaenoona.tumblr.com/post/43701700946/shinee-youre-so-professional