Wednesday, February 20, 2019
[MV] LOONA - Butterfly
Kinda wish this was their official debut instead of 'Hi High'. Really strong.
Nice choreo.
[MV] (G)I-DLE - Blow Your Mind
I don't know all the details, but I believe this is a b-side pre-release before their upcoming single. The members were involved in the writing/compostition and making the MV, which is cool.
[MV] Yoon Jisung - In The Rain
Jisung was the eldest and leader of Wanna One.
He will have to enlist in military service pretty soon after this debut album release.
[DEBUT] The Pink Lady - GOD GIRL
They're being called a 'popsical' group, blending pop and musical theater genres.
I think one of them was in Playback(?).
Monday, February 18, 2019
[MV] MONSTA X - Alligator
Official channel link
That one phrase sounds almost exactly like AOA's 'Good Luck'. How funny.
Completely different kind of song, but I can't unhear it. Lol.
Saturday, February 16, 2019
[MV] Park Jungmin - XTC
Official channel link
Can't embed.
Not sure if Jungmin is still in SS501... ?
No idea what the status of that group is anymore.
[MV] Band Oyster - Casual Girl
This is so tight. Nice band. Great vocalist.
Reminds me of The Reign of Kindo, which is an American band I like a lot.
Wednesday, February 13, 2019
[MV] Dreamcatcher - PIRI
I love this group so much.
'Piri' is a Korean reed flute.
This might get a little sonically crowded, but I don't mind for some reason. The bridge does a nice job of providing a quiet breather. Those black/red outfits are rad.
[MV] HWASA - TWIT
Not sure I've ever seen an MV with a less coherent concept. Lol.
Maybe I'm missing something. Didn't miss WheeIn though!
Love when the big heavy percussion/synth stuff kicks in towards the end.
Monday, February 11, 2019
[MV] TAEMIN - WANT
Love the production, especially in the chorus.
I think it's Rodin's 'The Gates of Hell' in the background at the end there.
The whole mini album has a pretty dark feel. I dig!
[MV] ATEEZ - HALA HALA
Thought this was worth posting. ATEEZ ramping up their promotions.
The styling is like dark cowboy/bandit kinda thing, which I'm here for. And the effect in the video of selectively breaking the edges of the letterbox is pretty rad.
UPDATE: There's a full performance version of this now, so I'll add it and bump the post up again!
Sunday, February 10, 2019
[DEBUT] ITZY - DALLA DALLA
This was released at the strangest time. Lol.
The highly anticipated new JYP group. Intense debut. It's too all over the place for me, but the girls look like excellent performers, which bodes well for the future.
K-Pop and the GRAMMYs!
Just some personal thoughts...
It was mostly a slow and unspectacular week due to the Lunar New Year. Minimal promotions and releases. But the GRAMMYs are today (Sunday) here in the US and K-Pop is more present than ever before!
BlackPink performed at Universal's GRAMMYs industry/corporate showcase yesterday ahead of their US activities. They'll be on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Good Morning America, and play Coachella.
Then we have Lay (EXO) representing China, Crush, and BTS invited to the actual GRAMMYs ceremony. BTS are scheduled as presenters and will be seated close to front-and-center. The design team behind their LOVE YOURSELF album packaging, Huskyfox, is nominated for a GRAMMY.
It's all pretty exciting!
Downplaying these invitations as GRAMMYs being a dying institution chasing after ratings, or that no one is actually nominated for music, or this is just a flash in the pan... are missing the point.
Not long ago, and forever before, South Korea might as well have not existed on the global music scene. Within a couple decades, they pushed into the rest of East Asia successfully and then quickly took advantage of the Youtube/social media era to gain fans worldwide. And BTS used those tools better than anyone else.
It's not about being under the delusion that K-Pop is the greatest form of music, or that it's going to have constant presence on the charts, or that K-Pop names will be on par with Beyonce or Drake in recognition to the average American. That's all pretty silly.
It's that, as far as the American industry is concerned, K-Pop didn't exist, then it got a snack in the kitchen, then it had a seat at the kids' table, and now it's sitting at the table in the banquet hall. It's here. The largest music industry in the world has taken notice. This is about normalizing Korean music and Korean faces in global entertainment--Increasing much-needed representation. It will probably come and go in occasional surges, like Latin Pop, and that's great! That's worth some excitement!
There will be a bunch of K-Pop tours and festivals through the year. OH MY GIRL and Red Velvet are touring and there will be so many more. It's lovely to see!
Good luck, safe travels to all the artists and fans, and here's to hoping the GRAMMYs go well!
It was mostly a slow and unspectacular week due to the Lunar New Year. Minimal promotions and releases. But the GRAMMYs are today (Sunday) here in the US and K-Pop is more present than ever before!
BlackPink performed at Universal's GRAMMYs industry/corporate showcase yesterday ahead of their US activities. They'll be on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Good Morning America, and play Coachella.
Then we have Lay (EXO) representing China, Crush, and BTS invited to the actual GRAMMYs ceremony. BTS are scheduled as presenters and will be seated close to front-and-center. The design team behind their LOVE YOURSELF album packaging, Huskyfox, is nominated for a GRAMMY.
It's all pretty exciting!
Downplaying these invitations as GRAMMYs being a dying institution chasing after ratings, or that no one is actually nominated for music, or this is just a flash in the pan... are missing the point.
Not long ago, and forever before, South Korea might as well have not existed on the global music scene. Within a couple decades, they pushed into the rest of East Asia successfully and then quickly took advantage of the Youtube/social media era to gain fans worldwide. And BTS used those tools better than anyone else.
It's not about being under the delusion that K-Pop is the greatest form of music, or that it's going to have constant presence on the charts, or that K-Pop names will be on par with Beyonce or Drake in recognition to the average American. That's all pretty silly.
It's that, as far as the American industry is concerned, K-Pop didn't exist, then it got a snack in the kitchen, then it had a seat at the kids' table, and now it's sitting at the table in the banquet hall. It's here. The largest music industry in the world has taken notice. This is about normalizing Korean music and Korean faces in global entertainment--Increasing much-needed representation. It will probably come and go in occasional surges, like Latin Pop, and that's great! That's worth some excitement!
There will be a bunch of K-Pop tours and festivals through the year. OH MY GIRL and Red Velvet are touring and there will be so many more. It's lovely to see!
Good luck, safe travels to all the artists and fans, and here's to hoping the GRAMMYs go well!
Friday, February 8, 2019
Thursday, February 7, 2019
[MV] JAEMAN - Snow (With You)
This is called 'snow' in Korean everywhere I look, except this official upload on the Fluxus channel, which says 'snow' in the title code, but 'With You' on the actual video. ?????
Whatever... it's pretty. Lol.
Sunday, February 3, 2019
[MV] VIXX - WALKING
It'll probably be a long while before VIXX has a full group comeback. Military service is coming up, starting with N next month.
[DEBUT] Jiselle (feat. Chancellor) - Missed Call
Excellent debut. Production sounds great.
She's done work in the industry before, but this is her first real solo effort.
[MONTHLY] Favorites for JANUARY 2019
New year, new music! The monthly posts continue!
January was a slow start for me. By this time last year there were already tracks that ended up in my top 30 for the whole year. Nothing like that has stood out so far. There were plenty of interesting tracks from big groups and beautiful videos, but there wasn't much that 'sparked joy' in me (Lol!).
I picked three anyway!
SHAUN, Chung Ha, and The LEE HI/CODE KUNST collab on top for January.
In the full post: J-CAT, VERIVERY, GRRIEND, FAVORITE, ATEEZ, Hyomin, Cherry Bullet, SEVENTEEN, Woody, IMFACT, ROH TAEHHYUN, MINSEO, NeonPunch, CLC, and BewhY.
January was a slow start for me. By this time last year there were already tracks that ended up in my top 30 for the whole year. Nothing like that has stood out so far. There were plenty of interesting tracks from big groups and beautiful videos, but there wasn't much that 'sparked joy' in me (Lol!).
I picked three anyway!
SHAUN, Chung Ha, and The LEE HI/CODE KUNST collab on top for January.
In the full post: J-CAT, VERIVERY, GRRIEND, FAVORITE, ATEEZ, Hyomin, Cherry Bullet, SEVENTEEN, Woody, IMFACT, ROH TAEHHYUN, MINSEO, NeonPunch, CLC, and BewhY.
Wednesday, January 30, 2019
Tuesday, January 29, 2019
[MV] Hi-Lite Project - Air
Hi-Lite Records artist collab: Reddy, Sway D, Paloalto, G2, YunB, Huckleberry P, and Jowonu.
Friday, January 25, 2019
[MV] ROH TAEHYUN - I Wanna Know
Solo debut, but he's in HOTSHOT, participated in Produce101, and was in JBJ.
Probably one of the most talented dancers in the industry.
[MV] Tiffany Young - Born Again
More English from Tiffany.
The audio on Youtube is pure garbage. Obviously some kind of problem in the uploading process. Hopefully they get it fixed eventually.
Sounds fine on Spotify and elsewhere.
[MV] Big Marvel - Thursday Party
Seeing him use that microphone wrong the whole time was killing me.
Tuesday, January 22, 2019
[MV] SEVENTEEN - Home
It's like the ultimate anti-drop EDM track. Lol.
I really like how sparse it is though.
[DEBUT] Cherry Bullet - Q&A
It's like TWICE's 'YES or YES' styling and AOA's 'Bingle Bangle' MV had a baby.
Solid debut if not the catchiest thing in the world.
[MV] Lee SoRa (feat. SUGA) - Song request
Nice collab. Love Lee SoRa and Suga's voice works well with her.
It was produced by Tablo and it's unusual for me to not like his work, but the insistent beat is grating on me. Lol. Everything else is lovely.
[MV] PUNCHNELLO - Absinthe
There's some strobe-light flashing in the 'elevator' scenes and it also gets a little violent in there. More implied than actually shown.
[DEBUT] MUSTB - i want u
This video was released back in December, but they just officially debuted with another MV that's more of a performance video (which can't be embedded).
Official MV link
Sunday, January 20, 2019
[MV] Bang Yongguk - HIKIKOMORI
Could be a pretty intense video to watch if you have social anxiety/depression or have ever had trouble leaving your house due to mental illness. The track is named after the Japanese phenomenon.
Wednesday, January 16, 2019
Monday, January 14, 2019
[MV] IN&CHOO - I'M NOT COOL (+2 more)
She's on fire:
So Cool (released last year, but now there's an MV):
[MV] ultimadrap - #selfharm
Trigger warning for this one. The title is pretty self-explanatory.
Basically just a lyric video with a rapper exploring his depression. Heavy stuff.
Basically just a lyric video with a rapper exploring his depression. Heavy stuff.
Friday, January 11, 2019
[MV] Shirosky (Feat. HAKI) - Closer
Really have to be in a certain mood for this one.
And that's the mood I was in.
The beat is cool when it kicks in.
Wednesday, January 9, 2019
[DEBUT] ONEUS - Valkyrie
I finally figured out the ONEUS, ONEWE thing. They are RBW's new brother groups, but both were previously active. ONEUS is an idol/dance group that was identified as RBW Boyz before. ONEWE is a band and had debuted as MAS 0094 before. So this is a re-branding for both groups.
[MV] GREYISH - CANDY
I admit... I cringed through most of this.
Fully lolita J-Pop without the Japanese.
Monday, January 7, 2019
Saturday, January 5, 2019
[DEBUT] M.O.N.T - Will you be my girlfriend?
I think these guys have been trying to debut for more than a year.
They were also on MIXNINE.
Thursday, January 3, 2019
[MONTHLY] Favorites for DECEMBER 2018
The last Monthly post of the year! I've really enjoyed putting these monthly posts together, so I plan to continue it into 2019. There were lots of mellow songs and ballads through December, but I mixed in some of the livelier tracks I enjoyed.
My favorites for the month were the collaboration between Jannabi and Suhyun (AKMU) 'Made in Christmas', which is so fun and nostalgic-feeling to me, and also OVAN's staccato, but emotive rapping in 'Happiness' with its gorgeous orchestral track.
My full Top 30 list for 2018 is coming soon!
In the full post: ONEW, Kim Dong Ryul/IU, DAY6, dinin', Jinsil, Gaho, TWICE, Yesung/Chung Ha, Eyedi, PENOMECO, SEVENTEEN, 75 & gracie, TVXQ, and LEES2UN.
My favorites for the month were the collaboration between Jannabi and Suhyun (AKMU) 'Made in Christmas', which is so fun and nostalgic-feeling to me, and also OVAN's staccato, but emotive rapping in 'Happiness' with its gorgeous orchestral track.
My full Top 30 list for 2018 is coming soon!
In the full post: ONEW, Kim Dong Ryul/IU, DAY6, dinin', Jinsil, Gaho, TWICE, Yesung/Chung Ha, Eyedi, PENOMECO, SEVENTEEN, 75 & gracie, TVXQ, and LEES2UN.
Wednesday, January 2, 2019
[DEBUT] flor.us - Maquerade
Technically they debuted in November with 'Voice', but this is their first MV.
Tuesday, January 1, 2019
[MV] SHAUN - Bad Habits (+2 more)
Good to see SHAUN making use of his 'Way Back Home' budget. Lol. Three videos.
Also, Terminal and Traveler:
[PLAYLIST] KPOPPY's Best Of 2018 : The Eclectic Mix
Why was this so excruciating to narrow down to 30? Why did I like so much music this year? Maybe instead of becoming more cynical as I get older, I get more easy to please. Regardless, this mix of 30 eclectic choices in Korean music for 2018 is heavily expanded in the full post with some extra categories full of songs that could easily qualify for my top favorites. I'll have honorable mentions and some indie stuff and some hip hop stuff and album recommendations and really it's all too much, but I'm compelled to include everything. It's my blog and I'll do what I want!
Fashion-wise, the strappy/bondage-esque styling continued along with over-sized pieces and wide-leg pants coming back for the gentlemen. The mullet contagion is still spreading and I'm not happy about it.
MVs often get filmed at the same sets. In recent years, music videos had trends of being shot in abandoned pools/bathhouses and then wind farms. Over the last year, the most popular place continues to be this building...LOONA, Stray Kids, SOYA, Jerastar (seen here) and at least a dozen more artists have all been seen at this distinctive building with the circular architecture.
The Latin rhythm playlist I started early in the year continues to grow though I have a feeling this musical trend will not have the same staying power as Tropical House. I feel like it may have already peaked? I'm sure there will be more songs following the style, but I'm getting the sense something else will take over instead. We still have a lot of 80s pop and 90s hip hop sounds going strong.
The usual rules! Only songs with music videos. No OSTs. No repeating artists. It's all my subjective and personal taste. My goal with the final playlist is that no matter what song comes on I have the same feeling of, "OH, I LOVE THIS SONG!" for every one of them. So, we have the playlist, some notes on it, and then anything goes at the end of the full post for honorable mentions (chalk full of good stuff this year!).
[Link to the full playlist on Youtube]
My 30 favorites in chronological order:
- OHHYUK, CIFIKA - MOMOM
- JBJ - My Flower
- Kate Kim - So Long, Baby
- gugudan - The Boots
- Zagmachi - God's Lament
- NCT U - Baby Don't Stop
- djfriz (ft. MRSHLL, Megan Lee) - Dive
- Sojung (Ladies' Code) - Stay Here
- Heize (feat. Gaeko) - Jenga
- PENTAGON - Shine
- Mad Clown X - Ailee - Thirst
- The Rose - BABY
- Jay Park, Simon D, Loco, GRAY - Upside Down
- (G)I-DLE - LATATA
- Gaho - Stay Here
- Dreamcatcher - YOU AND I
- PRISTIN V - Get It
- ONF - Complete
- Taeyeon - Something New
- SHINee - Our Page
- Hyolyn - SEE SEA
- WOODZ - DIFFERENT
- IMFACT - NANANA
- BAEKHYUN X Loco - YOUNG
- Jimin Park - April Fools (0401)
- SUMIN - WOO
- Cacophony - Breath
- IZ*ONE - La Vie en Rose
- K/DA - POP/STARS
- Drunken Tiger - Mantra
Notes on selected tracks and all the other shout-outs and recommendations in the full post.
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