K-pop (2015)

daaaamn i would've loved this Jung Yong Hwa song if it weren't for the rap. really kills the vibe. still decent on the whole but it's too much of a push and pull.

at least it's more interesting than jonghyun's title track... man what a let down :/

Yong Hwa's sounds like two different songs that were both pretty good separately and didn't really gain anything from being put together... and I kinda like the rapper more than Younghwa on this track, whoops. But not bad. Funny to think of his end-of-year collaboration with Zico being a precursor.

taemin's (very solid) mini was a gammon, made me think (esp. after Everybody) that jonghyun's mini would go in a comparably adventurous direction. turns out he made an adult contempo record, top to bottom. can't imagine the impetus behind that, other than the likelihood that this is just what he really likes. judging by the collaborations SM really gave it room to be his pet project.

When I think about it, his track for IU and some of the tracks he'd play on his radio show were like this too (but more bedroom lo-fi which was charming).

Ii girl Hani (of EXID) lipsyncing Jinsil (of Mad Soul Child)'s parts on a Mad Clown song. I don't usually like Mad Clown's rap style but he fits here:

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

IT girl Hani, I meant

Wiggle Wiggle grew on me and I think Mileage will as well... especially when spring rolls around cos it's such a spring track.

for the folks reading along at home (and this'll be my video allotment for the week):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDfixuXfMT4

i'm not used to being two weeks deep into a year and having zero quality k-pop yet.

Everyone is clearing way for BoA's 15th anniversary release.

The fact BoA is only 28 still seems so crazy to me; she's one of those artists I've known about since I was really little because of my older sister + my cousin. Same goes for Beyonce from when she was in Destiny's Child.

Wiggle Wiggle's grown on me as well. Mileage is a cozy track.

apparently BoA is barely a factor even in the japanese market nowadays. but maybe the 15th anniversary marketing push will do some good in drumming up nostalgia sales.

okay, "neon" by jonghyun is really nice. great '90s RnB throughout, and then the bridge goes J Dilla mental. wish all the songs had curveballs this wild.

best of the lot, though, is "Fortune Cookie," a bonus track limited to the physical edition - and i have no fucking clue why. it's basically Voodoo status. super sophisticated...modulates awesomely too, some of the weirdest RnB i've ever heard out of korea. here's a slightly botched bootleg for the time being:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52rX07pSMzw

Neon is def my favorite on the mini, really incredible production on that. Definitely feel the D'Angelo vibes on Fortune Cookie. Also digging Beautiful Tonight.

apparently BoA is barely a factor even in the japanese market nowadays. but maybe the 15th anniversary marketing push will do some good in drumming up nostalgia sales.

― soyrev

She goes top 10 with her singles and albums on the Oricon and held a tour there last fall, she has a steady core fanbase that's obviously smaller than her peak powers when she was pushing a million copies per album. You don't stay on top for 15 years. But even Ayumi struggles topping charts these days - compared to most newer solo female stars in Japan BoA's still in an enviable position (RIP Jasmine's career).

In Korea last real promotional activity was with Only One which was one of the 30 best-selling songs of that year. (full disclosure: I went to her first solo concert on Korean soil ever in 2013).

SXSW lineup:

http://sxsw.com/music/news/2015/k-pop-night-out-showcase-returns-third-year-sxsw

Hitchhiker, Crayon Pop and Epik High are the headliners.

Tahiti coming on strong in another Brave Brothers track: http://youtu.be/M9medBE7GD4

There's no WAY they can use that choreography on broadcast

Thanks for digging up those Jonghyun tracks <3

I feel like ever since Lee Hi's "It's Over", there's been this trend of Kpop companies picking the safest boringest track on the album for the single (which they didn't used to do).

well i appreciate that Brave realizes he/they can't keep cranking out the same template anymore. good to finally hear a little variety from him again

"Brave Brothers recycles the same songs over and over" is a misconception - the producer Kang Dong-chul (AKA Brave Brothers - a single person) has always tried out new styles. It's just a question of whether you'll be one of the lucky groups getting a meticulously constructed exploration of whatever new style or trend dude is currently pursuing, or whether you'll get a cast-off recycled throwaway song dude spent two days on.

Speaking as this board's resident Brave Brothers fan :p

when Brave is on he/they are on, but no denying that 4minute "only gained weight" is a rewrite of 4minute "like water?," AOA "short hair" a rewrite of AOA "miniskirt," etc

(which, i might add, are my four favorite brave songs in a long time)

LE's been my fave girl group member since her debut basically and now she seems to be everywhere. This is pretty good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Tj5EDxXmZQ

not sure i like it yet but JJCC (jackie chan's group) just came back with a song that's 2012-grade k-pop ADD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRHcId9ENk0

I wanna like that but the stadium-chant parts are pretty low-level... A+ thievery though, there's snatches of a bunch of different recent songs in there

Mr. Kim is nice!

And "Fortune Cookie" got a quickie MV: http://youtu.be/G7PeqM_HnAQ

If we keep talking about it maybe we'll get one for "Neon" next.

I'm kind of looking forward to UKISS, actually. Maybe I'm just used to their voices but there's something about "Smart Love" (the pre-release track) that elevates it above garden-variety schmaltz (maybe it's the brisk tempo): http://youtu.be/M9If2kigxr0

New group gunning for current-SNSD's spot with vintage-SNSD's sound:

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

I thought Lovelyz were wimpy but I like this!

verse vocals feel so stilted and tuned...chorus is aight. choreo is cool! might click for me in time, lovelyz took a while

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yotstIG8_3k

From last year, but I played Jun Hyoseong's "Goodnight Kiss" a lot

You liked that one, ∞? I thought it was a case where the "experimental structure" (all chorus all the time) didn't really work.

Sailor Moon!

forapper, yeah, I thought it was decent track? What have you been listening to lately?

Wiggle Wiggle... and Kpop from 2012, English pop songs, and Angel.

I actually like that Wiggle Wiggle track

"wiggle wiggle" is a solid comfort zone k-pop track with an awful awful pre-chorus. brave was right that the song needs a dramatic break to keep it from getting too circular, but it sounds like he had one idea, tried it, realized it's pointlessly atonal, then said fuck it when hellovenus' people seemed to like it anyway.

went to an old bookstore in shinchon and made off with my first handful of 2000-won used CDs. some absolute lost gold here that's just not on the internet. going to consider ways i can get these online in nicely blended, moody soundclouded mixes that have the right kind of visual aesthetic to appeal to and beyond the extant koreaphile contingent...

no one posted the video to fortune cookie yet?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9CjXKisv-s

What albums did you get soyrev? It shouldn't be too hard I think but it you ever find some Kim Wan Sun albums (that aren't 삐에로는 우릴 보고 웃지 or 평화의 날개) or stuff from Kim Choo Ja please give me a holler. There's actually a ton of things I'd be scoping out if I was in Korea but those two are relevant to the thread at least :3

Also, I was never bothered by the prechorus to Wiggle Wiggle for some reason. If there's something that bothers me it's the dialing that opens up 4Minute's Is It Poppin? or the singing in the bridge of Sistar's Touch My Body.

i love the weird atonal dialing in is it poppin!

also, fuck that "fortune cookie" video for cutting out at the best part of the song. shameful.

Yea I guess it's not the lead single so they're taking free reign on cutting it down a la the video to Taemin's Ace

so stupid. i can't write about it now =\

same with "symptoms" off everybody in 2013. for such cheapo videos, just film enough roll for the extra minute, guys

You know, if HIGH4 cut the first 1:30 off "Day by Day" and didn't spend so much time intoning over a super basic plucked guitar riff, they could have a slightly-above-average boyband song carried by ~emotional boyband falsetto~ like Dalmation's ER or BAP's Rain Sound.

Since it's the new year though... is it time to start a new thread? Because 2016 is off to a more kickin start than 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR6ge_NYXNE

Also since I came around on Hot Pink... have an acoustic version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG9aJPIcX3Q

As good as that 2NE1 IDC acoustic from back in the day!

(Or better, honestly)

oooooooookay, i'm redoing a spotify list for this thread, top down. Gonna take me a day or two.
I am listening to SO MUCH kpop via this right now.

:D

Local college radio station is doing top 10 of 2015 lists... tuned in to the Kpop list tonight, from #6 the order went

#6 Four Walls - f(x)
#5 I Feel You - Wonder Girls
#4 Catch Me if You Can - Girls Generation
#3 I - Taeyeon
#2 Don't Be Shy - Primary ft. Choa, Iron
#1 Bang Bang Bang - Big Bang

And I gotta say, CMIYC and Bangx3 improve a LOT when they're blasted over car speakers

wow, that was a real experience getting a year's worth of k-pop over several (and i do mean several) hours.

I'm wrapping this playlist for the year. It has been updated with most every track mentioned on thread that is available via Spotify's US catalogue as of EOY 2015. If I missed something or if a track comes available sometime in the future, bump here to let me know and I'll add.

K-pop's eccentricities make it VERY difficult for a non-speaker to search for songs, especially amongst an artist base that appears to have been named on twitter and is more or less ungoogleable. That said, 130+ tracks, most all from this year! Enjoy!

Rolling K-Pop Thread Spotify Playlist

forks, you are a hero and a saint, fyi

Thanks for that list. That will be a great step towards giving due to all the great songs I didn't listen to or only barely

Speaking of which

My k-pop songs of the year.. mostly from the top of my head, subject to change

1. IU - Twenty-three
2. IU - Heart
3. Suran - Calling in Love
4. Hyuna - Roll Deep
5. Nieah - No Rush
6. 4Minute - Crazy
7. BoA - Kiss My Lips
8. EXID - Ah Yeah
9. Primary - Don't Be Shy
10. Neon Bunny - Romance in Seoul
11. Red Velvet - Dumb Dumb Dumb
12. Kim Sawol - Bedside
13. D.Holic - Chewy
14. G.Soul - Crazy For You
15. Wonder Girls - I Feel You

Albums:
1. BoA - Kiss My Lips
2. Kim Sa Wol - Suzanne
3. Wonder Girls - Reboot
4. Red Velvet - The Red
5. Primary - Vol 2
6. IU - Chat-Shire

Hyukoh didn't quite fit on the lists but I have to say I've quite enjoyed them, for a regular ol indie band

I'd thought about nominating D.Holic - Chewy for the ILM tracks but didn't get around to it.

New thread, since we're wrapping up the year: K-pop (2016)

I'd have to think about my top 20... probably the Jun Areia remix of 9 Muses' Sleepless Night would be on it: https://youtu.be/Bzhc1UggIO8

Maybe also Lim Kim Stay Ever... I can't remember if we talked about it in this thread or not. https://youtu.be/fjXeup1ZbX0

Or maybe they're just on my mind since they're recent

Albums:
1. Wonder Girls - Reboot
2. f(x)- Four Walls
3. Red Velvet - the Red
4. iKon - Welcome Back, but only if they repackage it with the three new singles
5. Girls Generation - Lion Heart

Mini-albums:
1. Miss A - Colors
2. Hotshot - I'm a Hotshot
3. Seventeen - Boys Be
4. Oh My Girl - Oh My Girl (First mini album)

Oh yeah I forgot Awoo

voted awoo on my ilx singles ballot

mostly due to this thread!

This one snuck up on me after they added a video, great RnB jam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWTsl8sAJFY

not sure whether to file until 2015 or 2016...

GAON's end of year chart is out, by the way:

http://omonatheydidnt.livejournal.com/17330907.html

Didn't realize miss A and Baek A Yeon had done so well, good on them though.

There's something a little off about this

http://0.soompi.io/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/29230246/lovelyz1-800x450.jpg
http://0.soompi.io/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/29230407/lovelyz-21.jpg

Not that there's any immediate danger of students getting hold of guns in Korea.

Mostly just funny.