[MV] SHANNON - HELLO

[DEBUT] LONGGUO & SHIHYUN - the.the.the

These guys were on Produce 101. This duo is actually going to be a sub-unit of a larger group to debut later. Nice to have Devine Channel produce your debut. Sounds good.

[MV] Supreme Boi (feat. Simo) - Photoshop

Supreme Boi does a ton of BTS's stuff.
It's fun to hear how wild/weird his personal work is in comparison.

[MV] Raina (feat. Aron of NU'EST) - Loop

Official channel link

[DEBUT] Jung Jinhyeong - Calling You

[MV] JJ Project - Tomorrow, Today

5 years later...
It's cool to have JJ Project release new material after GOT7 becoming a thing. Lots of Kpop fans have been begging for JB and Jinyoung to revive the duo. 'Bounce' was loved by many. I wasn't into it personally, but this new album is quite different and pretty lovely!

[MV] PERC%NT - Drunk

[MV] offonoff (feat. PUNCHNELLO) - Good2me

[MV] CLON - Go Tomorrow

More hardstyle.

[MV] Dreamcatcher - Fly High

I'm not quite as big a fan as the first two releases, but I'm THRILLED they're sticking to their guns with the rock and fantasy/horror. The MV is like watching an episode of The Magicians.
Pretty rad.

Dance version:



There's also a 'relay' performance that's super cute.

[PROMO/CF] MONSTA X - NEWTON

Official channel link

That neon sign. I was a little over-tired during my first watch, but that sign made me laugh uncontrollably for a few minutes straight. I really want the set designer to know cursive and have chosen it on purpose to be a troll.
In case you missed it, I'll put some screenies in the full post.

[MV] LOOΠΔ / Choerry - Love Cherry Motion

Well, that's a transition. Ha!
Choerry is 8th of 12.
The b-side 'Puzzle' is pretty tight. I'll embed after the cut.

[MV] ELRIS - My Star

[MV] MOVNING - Turning Light

Choreography version

MOVNING is a band of three dudes.
Not sure if the dancers are trainees or something.

[MV] offonoff - in the car

[MV] BUZZ - Just One & The Love

Just One (360 VR version)

The Love:

[MV] Lim Hyunsik (BTOB) - SWIMMING

Official channel link

[MV] Park Won - all of my life

[MV] KRR - Night Flight

The video caught my eye. Really cute. Turned out to be a rather pleasant track.

[DEBUT] MYTEEN - Amazing

[DEBUT] P.O.P - Catch You

P.O.P = Puzzle Of POP

[MV] TheEastLight. - I Got You

[MV] PENTAGON - To Universe

[COVER] Loopy & nafla - Internet War (Seo Taiji 25 Project)

NSFW: Overall creepy, blood, torture-y, and some flashy light.



This instrumental track is nice.
[original Seo Taiji Internet Wars performance]

[MV] TREI - Easy

Warning: Strobe light/color effects throughout.

[MV] GroovyRoom (feat. Jay Park/Heize) - Music Visual

[MV] LABOUM - only u

[MV] TURBO - Hot Sugar

[MV] NELL - Broken

[MV] offonoff - DANCE & gold

DANCE:



gold (feat. DEAN):

[DEBUT] PRIDE BAND - HELLO

[MV] Jay Park & Dok2 - Most Hated

Most hated hairstyle.
The vocoder/effect on Jay Park's voice is making him sound not like Jay Park.

[MV] Lim Soo Yeon - Cigarette

[MV] My Afternoon - Seoul City

[MV] Joypark - California Orange

[MV] Joypark (feat. Jiaerin) - Alive

[MV] DayDay (feat. GRAY, Jay Park) - Call Me

[MV] Akdong Musician - DINOSAUR

Really interesting to hear AKMU in an EDM context.
Makes me think of Sia's 'single word' songs like Chandelier and Titanium.
I think Chanhyuk intended to enter military service, but he hasn't been called up yet?

[MV] Parc Jae Jung X Mark - Lemonade Love

Station2 #17

[MV] SKULL&HAHA (feat. G.Soul) - Nora

[MV] SNUPER - Meteor

This is nice. Bright summer sound.

[MV] KNK - Rain

Umbrella choreo. +1

[MV] Lee Jin Ah - RANDOM

Love that jazz riffing.

[MV] SIYOON- Beauty

[MV] DJ Juice (feat. San E, Verbal Jint, Babylon) - Beautiful Life

[MV] The Ade - Sweet Summer Night

[MV] The Night Of Seokyo - Walking in the Moonlight

[MV] KARD - Hola Hola

Official channel link

Technically this is KARD's official debut. Finally! Everything before was pre-release.
It's the weakest for me. I like the little references to Oh Na Na and the others in there.

Choreography version:

[MV] Yonghwa (feat. Loco) - That GIrl

Official channel link

[COVER] Younha - Take FIve (Seo Taiji 25 Project)

[Seo Taiji's 'Take Five']

[MV] The KOXX - Blister

Ah, I love these guys!

[MV] Geeks - Woo

Official channel link

[MV] TOPSECRET - YESMAN

[MV] EXO - Ko Ko Bop

Not sure what to make of this one. Seems more like an NCT joint.
Too disjointed for my taste.
Also some tragic hair on display.

[MV] PSY (feat. Taeyang) - LOVE

Always like seeing ReQuest crew!

[MV] Jay Park (feat. Sik-K) - Yacht

Really appreciate how this whole thing is shot.
Update: Also be sure to experience Jay Park's self-aware subtitles. Lmaoooooo.

[DEBUT] 14U - VVV

New 14-member group.
Obviously not much budget, but the song is actually pretty solid.

Update: I don't know the whole story here, but this had been released months ago as 'Very Very Very' and then was taken down completely. Must have been some internal issues to resolve and a re-debut with a new video.

[MV] Big Tray (feat. ELO) - OOH WEE

Vaporwave going strong. And cameos from LE (EXID) and Boa (SPICA)?! Sure!
Big Tray is in the indie hip hop label under RBW.

[MV] WE ARE THE NIGHT - Hello And Goodbye

[COVER] VOISPER - Days Gone By

Official channel link

[MV] EVE - Killing Monday

Official channel link

[SPECIAL MV] SEVENTEEN - Don't Wanna Cry (Part Switch ver.)

Just felt like posting a couple fun things today. SEVENTEEN getting very playful with their choreography and uploading 5 gazillion different versions isn't new, but it never gets old for me.
This one puts a huge smile on my face.

[MEDIA] The World of Dave on Youtube

I've been subscribed to Dave's channel for a while now. Lots of fun stuff. Mostly about language, and general East Asian/American cultural differences. Every once in a while Dave interviews an artist in the music industry and he does a darn good job of it.

The newest interview is with Jessi! It's super charming!



In the full post:

• Car, the Garden
• Code Kunst

[MV] COSMIC GIRLS - KISS ME

Official channel link

[MV] THE SOLUTIONS - All That You Want

Station2 #16

[MV] San E (feat. BolBBalgan4) - Mohae

Make sure you turn on the subtitles.
Bahahahhaaaaa. XD

[MV] LYn (feat. Chancellor) - On&On

[MV] HOTSHOT - Jelly

Noh Taehyun back with HOTSHOT after competing on Produce 101. I was rooting for him!
I wish this video was better quality...

[MV] Green Face (feat. S.J) - White Butterfly

[MV] Jessi - Gucci

Official channel link

[MV] Park Boram (feat. Samuel Seo) - Why, You?

All the little sounds are making me uncomfortable. Lol!

[MV] VOISPER - Crush On You

[MV] ZICO - ANTI & Artist

ANTI (lightning flashes/strobe throughout):



Artist:



I'm putting the lyrics to ANTI in the full post. I think they're important.

[DEBUT] Limesoda (feat. MC GREE) - Z Z Z

Hyerim (Kpop Star 6) and Seungji form the duo Limesoda.

[MV] Dumbfoundead (feat. G.Soul, Jessi) - Water

(Can't stand Rotta as a photographer/director. He pushes lolita so hard it creeps me out.)

[MV] Lee WooJin, Jung SaKang - Love is...

These EastLight kids are too cute.

[MV] Wilcox - Rain Man

[MV] Sophia Pae - Therapy

Tight. And a lovely dancer!

[COVER] Urban Zakapa - Moai (Seo Taiji 25 Project)

It's the 25th anniversary of Seo Taiji & Boys. Seo Taiji is picking artists to remake/cover his old tracks. Urban Zakapa is 2nd. [Seo Taiji's 'Moai']

[DEBUT] ONE - heyahe & Gettin' by

Gettin' by:

[DEBUT] DMEANOR (feat. Swings) - Don't Hold Me

DMEANOR has featured a lot for other artists. Finally his own thing!
Nice feel-good groove to this.

[MV] MILLIC (feat. FANXY CHILD) - PARADISE

Quite the stacked collab.
FANXY CHILD is a crew that includes Millic, Zico, Crush, Dean, Stay Tuned, and Penomeco.

[MV] MeloMance - Gift

[MV] Street Guns - Home is Best

[MV] Red Velvet - Red Flavor

I like a lot about this track and then there are these odd structural and effects choices that are messing it up for me. Really fun though! I think it might improve for me with more listens.

[Album link on Spotify]
'Zoo' is my favorite. Tropical and also ridiculous. XD

[MV] South Club - No

Big motion sickness warning on this one.
I highly recommend not watching/focusing on the video.

[MV] PPL - SHOOT U

The camera movement is so disorienting in the performance shots.

[MV] Xiumin X Mark - Young & Free

Station2 #16

[MV] YunB (feat. YonYon) - Ritalin

Unique collab between a male Korean rapper and a female Japanese rapper.

[MV] Sunwoo JungA - Courtship

[MV] Joo Mi Sung - Ugiyeocha

[MV] E Z Hyoung (w/ Kim Yun Joo) - Vainhope

[MV] LOOΠΔ 1/3 – 51db

[MV] Yoo Seung Woo, Sandeul - OPPA

Official channel link

[COVER] BTS - Come back Home (Seo Taiji 25 Project)

Explicit version (de-blurs tattoos... it's really not explicit)

It's the 25th anniversary of Seo Taiji & Boys. Seo Taiji is picking artists to remake/cover his old tracks. BTS is up first. [Watch the original performance of Come Back Home]

As an aside, BTS just got a bit of a re-branding. 'BTS' comes from BangTan Sonyeondan (Bulletproof Boyscouts), which is a little goofy. BigHit decided to make the official English version of the initialism Beyond The Scene. Lots of fans are wondering if this will carry over to the Korean side at some point as well. New logos, too!

[MV] DAY6 - Hi Hello

This video is about as wholesome as it gets.
In a world where every hitchhiker is an extremely attractive, stylish, young man... Ha!

[MV] Bang Yongguk - YAMAZAKI

There's a warning at the start in English. That covers it.



Honestly, don't know if it's an ad for Yamazaki whiskey or a tribute?
Also surprised there isn't more backlash for the video. A Korean man using criminal Japanese culture as his concept. Uh... ? Lol.

[MV] HALO - Here I Am

[MV] The Barberettes - Summer Love

Aaaaah, this feels sooooo nice. Happy happy!

[MV] SIYOON (feat. ESBEE) - Nothing To You

[MV] KissN (feat. HighSoul) - Love Like I Do

[MV] OOHYO - Dandelion

[MV] 20 Years Of Age - Remind Me

[DEBUT] FAVORITE - PARTY TIME

[MEDIA] YOUTUBERS REACT TO BTS

Featured videos:

• No More Dream
• We Are Bulletproof Pt.2'
• Boy In Luv
• FIRE
• Spring Day
• Not Today

[MV] Lee Hyori - Black

Love this new direction for Hyori.
Off to listen to the album!

[MV] VAV - ABC (Middle of the Night)

Official channel link

[MV[ Kim Tae Woo - Following

[MV] JUNJAMAN - HOT AIR

[MV] L.A.U - So Sweet

[MV] Gu9udan - Rainbow

[PLAYLIST] KPOPPY's first half of 2017

We're already halfway through 2017 and I'm wondering where the heck the year went. Does the year go faster for me when the music is less exciting? I wonder...

Oh, 2017. You've been an odd one. It's a case of 'be careful what you wish for'. Kpop was trending towards more experimental over the last couple years. By 'experimental' I don't mean groundbreaking. It's still pretty firmly in the realm of manufactured pop. But there is a strong showing of songs having non-traditional structures, samples, and effects. The effort to make a straight pop, endlessly catchy, earworm appears to be old hat this year. As a result, many tracks were Frankenstein-esque amalgamations of trap, hip hop, tropical house, and... noise. Loud and compressed noise. Most of the top boy bands are completely swallowed up by rap (which almost always sounds forced to me). Not my jam.

Notably, the songs I've liked the most so far fall into a few categories. (1) Solo women, R&B flavored, with lower vocal range. (2) Boy bands with genuinely catchy hooks/choruses and less 'rippety-rap'. (3) Indie rock.

My Tropical House playlist continues to grow. I'm lucky to actually like the tropical stuff. It's easy to listen to. I say lucky, because if you don't like tropical, Kpop is probably killing you this year. It's everywhere. It's unavoidable. And everything is starting to sound the same. It actually doesn't have a huge presence on my playlist, but it's in there. My sympathies if you're one of those people who hates it. I'll say a little Kpop prayer for you. I still have no idea what trend will be next. I think we're a long way off from tropical being fully run into the ground.

Generally, my playlist is a story of choruses. Catchy choruses are key. That's a bit of a subjective thing, but in a year where choruses have been weird, trap-heavy, monotone things, it's the catchy choruses that form the core of what I'm listening to.

[Link to the full playlist on Youtube]

In chronological order:

1. SEVENTEEN - HIGHLIGHT
2. NCT 127 - Limitless
3. DAY6 - I Wait
4. Koh Nayoung - Cold night, You were warm
5. I (feat. Tiger JK) - I Wish
6. Dreamcatcher - Chase Me
7. Burningsoda - Cutie Puppet
8. Jessi - Don't make me cry
9. Klang - The Wanted
10. Taeyeon - I Got Love
11. BTS - Not Today
12. Subin - Circle's Dream
13. CODE KUNST (feat. G.Soul, TABLO) - FIRE WATER
14. JOOHEE - She's Mine
15. Brave Girls - Rollin'
16. Justin Oh (feat. Hyolyn) - Jekyll & Hyde
17. CNBLUE - Between Us
18. MONSTA X - Beautiful
19. Somdef - Ring Ring Ring
20. WINNER - Really Really
21. MiSO - KKPP
22. UNIT BLACK (BOYS24) - Steal Your Heart
23. LABOUM - Hwi hwi
24. SNUPER - Back:Hug
25. VIXX - Shangri-La
26. SOHEE - Spotlight
27. Kim Lip (LOONA) - Eclipse
28. MARMELLO - PUPPET
29. Kim Ki Peum - Out of my way
30. PRODUCE 101 - NEVER

I'll be highlighting some videos in the full post below.
Popped some non-Korean tracks at the end too!