for the folks reading along at home (and this'll be my video allotment for the week):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDfixuXfMT4
― hurricane weather (forapper), Friday, 9 January 2015 23:25 (nine years ago) link
i'm not used to being two weeks deep into a year and having zero quality k-pop yet.
― soyrev, Sunday, 11 January 2015 16:44 (nine years ago) link
Everyone is clearing way for BoA's 15th anniversary release.
― abcfsk, Sunday, 11 January 2015 16:55 (nine years ago) link
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.
― misterjoshua, Monday, 12 January 2015 00:47 (nine years ago) link
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, Monday, 12 January 2015 00:58 (nine years ago) link
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
― soyrev, Monday, 12 January 2015 02:07 (nine years ago) link
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.
― misterjoshua, Monday, 12 January 2015 08:10 (nine years ago) link
― 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).
― abcfsk, Monday, 12 January 2015 08:45 (nine years ago) link
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.
― hurricane weather (forapper), Tuesday, 13 January 2015 03:51 (nine years ago) link
Tahiti coming on strong in another Brave Brothers track: http://youtu.be/M9medBE7GD4
― hurricane weather (forapper), Tuesday, 13 January 2015 04:16 (nine years ago) link
There's no WAY they can use that choreography on broadcast
― hurricane weather (forapper), Tuesday, 13 January 2015 04:17 (nine years ago) link
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).
― hurricane weather (forapper), Tuesday, 13 January 2015 04:27 (nine years ago) link
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
― soyrev, Tuesday, 13 January 2015 06:42 (nine years ago) link
"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.
― hurricane weather (forapper), Wednesday, 14 January 2015 00:57 (nine years ago) link
Speaking as this board's resident Brave Brothers fan :p
― hurricane weather (forapper), Wednesday, 14 January 2015 00:58 (nine years ago) link
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
― soyrev, Wednesday, 14 January 2015 07:08 (nine years ago) link
(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
― abcfsk, Wednesday, 14 January 2015 09:30 (nine years ago) link
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
― soyrev, Thursday, 15 January 2015 00:18 (nine years ago) link
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
― hurricane weather (forapper), Thursday, 15 January 2015 04:14 (nine years ago) link
Mr. Kim is nice!
― hurricane weather (forapper), Thursday, 15 January 2015 04:15 (nine years ago) link
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.
― hurricane weather (forapper), Thursday, 15 January 2015 04:21 (nine years ago) link
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
― hurricane weather (forapper), Thursday, 15 January 2015 04:25 (nine years ago) link
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!
― hurricane weather (forapper), Thursday, 15 January 2015 04:31 (nine years ago) link
verse vocals feel so stilted and tuned...chorus is aight. choreo is cool! might click for me in time, lovelyz took a while
― soyrev, Thursday, 15 January 2015 13:50 (nine years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yotstIG8_3k
― abcfsk, Thursday, 15 January 2015 18:36 (nine years ago) link
From last year, but I played Jun Hyoseong's "Goodnight Kiss" a lot
― F♯ A♯ (∞), Thursday, 15 January 2015 19:10 (nine years ago) link
You liked that one, ∞? I thought it was a case where the "experimental structure" (all chorus all the time) didn't really work.
― hurricane weather (forapper), Friday, 16 January 2015 21:12 (nine years ago) link
Sailor Moon!
forapper, yeah, I thought it was decent track? What have you been listening to lately?
― F♯ A♯ (∞), Friday, 16 January 2015 21:20 (nine years ago) link
Wiggle Wiggle... and Kpop from 2012, English pop songs, and Angel.
― hurricane weather (forapper), Friday, 16 January 2015 22:13 (nine years ago) link
I actually like that Wiggle Wiggle track
― F♯ A♯ (∞), Saturday, 17 January 2015 00:50 (nine years ago) link
"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.
― soyrev, Saturday, 17 January 2015 08:22 (nine years ago) link
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...
― soyrev, Saturday, 17 January 2015 08:23 (nine years ago) link
no one posted the video to fortune cookie yet?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9CjXKisv-s
― misterjoshua, Saturday, 17 January 2015 22:26 (nine years ago) link
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
― misterjoshua, Saturday, 17 January 2015 22:32 (nine years ago) link
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.
― misterjoshua, Saturday, 17 January 2015 22:36 (nine years ago) link
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.
― soyrev, Sunday, 18 January 2015 01:00 (nine years ago) link
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
― misterjoshua, Sunday, 18 January 2015 01:41 (nine years ago) link
so stupid. i can't write about it now =\
― soyrev, Sunday, 18 January 2015 02:02 (nine years ago) link
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.
― hurricane weather (forapper), Sunday, 18 January 2015 06:06 (nine years ago) link
Just sayin'
fuuuuck GFriend's new mini intro is awesome
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dbl5AUx1BWc
what are these vibes, before the beat drop? i get something very distinct and sountracky, like John Carpenter maybe, or some kind of particularly poppy Vangelis soundtrack...can't quite place it though, might have something else in mind entirely, but it's pretty OTM of whatever it's referencing. '80s, though, pretty sure of that (on account of them analog-aping synths)...
― soyrev, Sunday, 18 January 2015 08:39 (nine years ago) link
also, i think you're right hurricane, but i like that minute and a half. slow builds are always a nice change of pace in k-pop. that was the first song i liked this year – i feel like HIGH4 are a little bit underrated.
― soyrev, Sunday, 18 January 2015 08:45 (nine years ago) link
It's at least different, I guess. But I like the in res starts.
GFRIEND's White is good too!! It's a solid Jpop mini:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKtfosL8Xh4
― hurricane weather (forapper), Sunday, 18 January 2015 18:48 (nine years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mt3D4H93hNs
^^JYP's 15-year trainnee
― hurricane weather (forapper), Sunday, 18 January 2015 22:02 (nine years ago) link
That's his Eyes Nose Lips single... JYP talking about putting G.Soul on a sub-label "not concerned with mainstream sounds" but it's not like the mainstream hates this sound, ya know?
Track #2 on the mini, Superstar, is excellent though: http://youtu.be/AA-bvV184sw
― hurricane weather (forapper), Sunday, 18 January 2015 22:15 (nine years ago) link
do not need this song personally, but i hope he kills it. would make a potentially sad story a happy one.
waiting for k2n to upload his whole mini, i imagine there's something there i'll dig...
― soyrev, Monday, 19 January 2015 00:37 (nine years ago) link
ahhhh you weren't kidding about "superstar," especially those fkn verses. choruses somewhat a letdown but if guy can actually sing this way live he should have a nice career ahead of him in korea.
― soyrev, Monday, 19 January 2015 05:06 (nine years ago) link
I'd thought about nominating D.Holic - Chewy for the ILM tracks but didn't get around to it.
― rap is dad (it's a boy!), Thursday, 7 January 2016 21:01 (eight years ago) link
New thread, since we're wrapping up the year: K-pop (2016)
― hurricane weather (forapper), Friday, 8 January 2016 00:24 (eight years ago) link
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
― hurricane weather (forapper), Friday, 8 January 2016 00:26 (eight years ago) link
Maybe also Lim Kim Stay Ever... I can't remember if we talked about it in this thread or not. https://youtu.be/fjXeup1ZbX0
― hurricane weather (forapper), Friday, 8 January 2016 00:28 (eight years ago) link
Or maybe they're just on my mind since they're recent
― hurricane weather (forapper), Friday, 8 January 2016 00:30 (eight years ago) link
Albums: 1. Wonder Girls - Reboot2. f(x)- Four Walls3. Red Velvet - the Red 4. iKon - Welcome Back, but only if they repackage it with the three new singles5. Girls Generation - Lion Heart
Mini-albums: 1. Miss A - Colors2. Hotshot - I'm a Hotshot 3. Seventeen - Boys Be 4. Oh My Girl - Oh My Girl (First mini album)
― hurricane weather (forapper), Friday, 8 January 2016 00:52 (eight years ago) link
Oh yeah I forgot Awoo
― abcfsk, Friday, 8 January 2016 05:35 (eight years ago) link
voted awoo on my ilx singles ballot
― Copy rights, pleasing all star wars fans, hiring professionals. (forksclovetofu), Friday, 8 January 2016 16:15 (eight years ago) link
mostly due to this thread!
― Copy rights, pleasing all star wars fans, hiring professionals. (forksclovetofu), Friday, 8 January 2016 16:16 (eight years ago) link
This one snuck up on me after they added a video, great RnB jam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWTsl8sAJFY
― hurricane weather (forapper), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 01:33 (eight years ago) link
not sure whether to file until 2015 or 2016...
― hurricane weather (forapper), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 01:34 (eight years ago) link
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.
― hurricane weather (forapper), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 01:36 (eight years ago) link
There's something a little off about this
http://0.soompi.io/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/29230246/lovelyz1-800x450.jpghttp://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.
― abcfsk, Saturday, 30 January 2016 10:16 (eight years ago) link
Mostly just funny.