K-pop 2013

A continuation of this thread. Welcome everyone into the brand new year.

So far we have been discussing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wq7ftOZBy0E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9yYkpFZ0II

And I am still looking forward to Gayoon and Jiyoon's "country dance pop" album Harvest Moon.

Man I'm terrible at this. The old thread is here.

K-pop

Finally.

In an attempt to recover:

I've been really enjoying the live performances of I Got a Boy. They're performing a shorter version without the rock bridge and "let's take it back to 140" voiceover. Maybe it's a less interesting song without that flash of uncertainty and darkness, but it's also a more cohesive song and I think it's a good move for the stage.

About that interview you linked, abcfsk, there was an earlier one where they talked a bit more about being "burdened" and Sunny mentioned that she'd rather not try new things that don't fit - ah, here. So I'd guess that not everyone is equally as gung ho about the new direction, though they sure are selling it.

Also, about the Chuli and Mirae sample on I Like That - I just realized that Chuli and Mirae were actually on one of the year-end shows, performing their song with the sample that GLAM also sample: here. So I suppose this is a really popular and well-known song.

At 2h 0m and 53s, since my timestamped Ytube link did not survive the conversion from HTML to BBcode.

And now I'm retiring for the night.

Oh yes, and also in GDragon's Crayon (at 0:51): "Today's DJ, I'm Chuli and you're Mirae".

OK yes good night.

Sunny was just talking about indidividually trying different things in response to the others wanting to do acting, hosting, etc.

We were talking a little about Korean country in the last thread, so I thought I'd link the little bit I've written about Korean country. A place to start is Han Myeong Suk's excellent "The Boy In The Yellow Shirt" (1961), which uses a self-consciously old-timey string band arrangement, though with a more aggressive '60s rhythm. Don't know if it signified as "country" to its Asian audience, however.

The Jiyoon "country-pop" single isn't very country, and is just too weak for my taste, which is disappointing given that she's my first or second favorite singer in 4minute, one of my favorite groups.

I definitely need to hear more "hitman" Bang. I'd consigned him to the status of One Great T-ara Track ("Like The First Time") Plus A Lot Of Ballad Sap I Don't Like. But with GLAM's "I Like That," and with the astonishingly good demo track "I=Fantasy" that he did* in 2011 for the Vocaloid SeeU, I'm now thinking the guy may be major. Any recommendations?

*He's the producer but seems to be only one among four writers. As subdee and David Fraser have been telling me, the sampled voice used for SeeU is that of Dahee, of GLAM.

2yoon teaser 1, teaser 2. I really am excited, it looks like they're gonna go the full-on surreal and hilarious appropriation of country tropes route.

Fair enough about Sunny, I was reading into her personality but that's a dangerous route to go down.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY72v6YmAms

Composed by the artist, ALi, whom wikipedia says was previously a professor in applied musical arts at Seoul Technical Arts College. Pop!gasa has the lyrics; supposedly the song criticizes people who don't commit. Critics are also adding "in our modern world of shallow relationships" - I assume because this is a kind of throwback rock song and the lyrics mention "texts, SNS, Internet" - but I kind of think that's a red herring.

The way I see it, ALi getting older is the main issue and the modern world of shallow relationships benefits her as well, as she's free to leave this guy who won't commit and find someone else who will.

new (or old?) CNBLUE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p3cKsDCA0Y

Yeah, that's from their new album. I like the "sorry"s on the chorus but otherwise I'm not really sold. There's another one on the album ("Coffee Shop") that sounds a bit like B2ST Beautiful Night XD.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwELJVZwM_A#!

wasn't too hot on the B.A.P. single :\

Yeah, and we were promised the return of "tough" BAP too ;_; RIP

The sad thing is that if "Rain Sound" had been an album track, I probably would have liked it okay. The song and especially the chorus are too lightweight to support the emotion they are supposed to be carrying, though. BYG is talking mostly in cliches and the basic chorus is a waste of Daehyun aka their greatest asset. OTOH, Zelo and Himchan are surprisingly good in this.

Speaking of things you don't quite feel, this started out so well... and then...

I am all aboard the first great k-pop single of 2013

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Btct7ITEXY

(actually that wonder girls came out in 2013 didn't i? poo)

Girls Generation you mean?

I will say that the great releases this year are I Got A Boy,
GLAM-Like That,
Kim Sori - Dual Life (grown a lot on me, but no closer to giving her the first hit. That she doesn't make use of her dancing skills on stage doesn't help)
Infinite H - Special Girl

and Yoari going rock works pretty well http://youtu.be/vChxog7WZFY

yeah :(

I agree with abcfsk, though I'm still kinda disappointed by Infinite H.

2yoon so-called country dance pop is a mess, sigh.

On the other hand:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUUiYF1kzWw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_06KQ1y0zc

Okay, so the VIXX song is not that amazing and borrows a lot from other current songs, but I'm predisposed to like them because I remember their debut single fondly and liked the concept of their follow-up single, even if the song itself was missing something melodic.

Here's the b-side to On and On. After all the MVs and variety show talks about the surreal and hermetically-sealed world of Kpop idols, finally someone has written a song about it.

Okay, forget the VIXX track, and pretend I put up another Phantom track instead:

Phantom - Nail (ft. HJ)

The sample at the beginning is from Fellini's La Dolce Vita

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-MXLmNnarQ

Still holding Tiny-G's swaggerjacking and racist debut video against them, but I honestly really like this. Kpop is going pop-punk - see also - but this feels more unique and exciting, with Kpopish sparse verses, sparse drums, little cutesy sound effects, and group shout-raps making up the frame on which the sledgehammer pop-punk harmonies are hung.

/practice music criticism

Rain Sound (BAP) is growing on me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D20bTiJNQpQ

Speaking of bonkers mashups

haha I love that tiny-G song

Chinese K-pop fans love it too! It's 4th on the Chinese K-pop charts (behind two Super Junior songs and ahead of I Got a Boy. Kim Jaejoong "Mine" is in first place).

horns on the new 9MUSES really fantastic but dunno if the actual song/chorus is strong enough to support it

resolved: for this year's ILM tracks ballot, we'll all choose one k-pop single to place in the top 5 of our ballots to propel it to ILM fame

should be easy, just have to agree which one first

Well at least to some degree. I'm not sure 'Crayon' would've been the one people would go for if told they got one Big Bang chance at the top 77. Disappointed Lovey Dovey was just one vote away from the 77, though.

I had to put strategy aside and vote BoA as my #1 and didn't expect it to chart, 3 votes isn't bad.

9Muses song is not as amazing an exploration of melodic maximalist pop as their three previous ones - but like Infinite it seems like sticking with a sound, quality and Sweetune is veeery slowly paying off - they used to be nowhere on the chart, now top 10 on Melon and 13 on Instiz realtime.

I'm going to BoA's concert tomorrow here in Seoul. In 13 years it's her first solo concert in Korea - completely baffling, but kinda explained away by a bigger focus on Japan - she's done yearly shows and several tours there.

Anyway it's a historic concert and I can't believe my luck while I'm here. She'll debut her new single as well.

I've been listening quite extensively to all her albums lately and was planning to write some sort of summary on her discography, but I guess that will have to wait until after the show. I'll probably find some more to talk about hearing her what she's picked out from such a long career.

looking forward!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzXJ0tuRuNY

digging this

enjoyed that

+ persepolis!

haha yeah that was a nice touch

digging this (fan made?) remix of lonely

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjTKggiIgi0

haha all the remixes are pretty nice, lounge-y but gorgeous http://www.youtube.com/user/LoveSupremeMusic?feature=watch

some of these are hilarious, I wonder how big the underground k-pop fan remix scene is

Lol dayo have you not been introduced to the warped genius of tzechar yet? http://www.youtube.com/user/tzechar

I can't watch Infinite videos any more because of remixes like these:

http://youtu.be/AGSAJETf8BU
http://youtu.be/TuzPcUBMhVY

And this is way prettier than it has any right to be: http://youtu.be/xGoCiYfOE4k

very nice!

digging GD and TOP on loop, lol. yeah that's like ... idk a m83 remix of BIGBANG

think my fav love supreme remix so far is of 'can't nobody' but that's because I love love love the sound of clean synths (c.f. my adoration for 'shampoo')

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNF6pWb3W24

oh god, fan-made remix comps http://thinhe1.wordpress.com/2012/10/24/2ne1-big-bang-yg-in-da-mix-part-8/

That BESTie song is like the unholy lovechild of 4minute's What's Your Name and Heo Young Saeng's Art Of Seduction, LOL Brave Brothers.

But it's better than Art of Seduction.

I hear some Sistar in there, too!

Youtube comments say BESTie's U-Jin and SISTAR's Hyorin had the same vocal trainer and that's why they sound similar. I predict more songs that might have gone to SISTAR going to BESTie instead if they manage to get popular and/or if Brave Brothers likes them enough.

Speaking of South Korea's most famous freelance songwriter, the description of the guy BESTie reject at the beginning of Love Options (He’s too short and his face is too big/He’s too nice, he probably has a lot of girls/He brags about himself constantly) kind of resembles him.

THE FIRST SONG I'M REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO IN 2014:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZbMgQ0huak

And it must be said that B1A4 were MVPs at all of the Gayos, nearly single-handedly saving KBS Gayo.

Oh wait, there's also this:

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

Minah sounding really great less the aegyo.

hahaha, oh boy, I hadn't heard "The Art Of Seduction" and thought the song was a bit new. Should've known there would be another piece to the puzzle we call Brave Brothers.

The thing for January appears to be the mature, sexy and/or sad sort of concept from formerly cute girl groups. Besides Girl's Day (really like the song btw), Dal Shabet and Rainbow are in on it too. Shinsadong Tiger is producing both. I like the idea of Rainbow BLAXX; am also looking forward to Sunmi's comeback.

Then there's a new TVXQ song, in tune with the other trend of swing band arrangements:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9HBT6sRSZ8

I'm dying for Nine Muses to try this. Though not a 4real musician, I was messing around trying to compose a Nine Muses-y song with similar instrumentation before it really caught on in k-pop; still think they would be the group best suited to it. (Mine even had the same chord progression, kinda, but sadly not that bassline.)

The Seeya finally got a song; not sure what to make of it yet. Probably need to hear a version that isn't all all carved up for the MV, but it doesn't seem to be as good as "Painkiller" or a lot of the stuff on Love U.

(and did I call it when I said "hope with the winter looming it'll be time for CCM to roll out The Seeya for some heartbreak and lost-love-longing again." It's pretty funny; literally every song they've done, album tracks included, has been about a tragic love. I like how blatantly they go for it but they're bound to run out of variations eventually.)

Before we move on to 2014, here's one more from Soompi's 2013 girl group debut montage, called Pungdeng-E:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLk3AROEvUo

They're hilarious, OMG.

Oh and here are the Soompi videos:

boys
girls

And one more that sounds like it could play on a year-end countdown:

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

Rainbow teasers look good, look forward to 'em! That TVXQ song is great too.

More on Pungdeng-e

"They sing and rap in different dialects of Korean depending on where they are from. Red hails from the Gyeongsang-do province while Blue is from the Jeolla-do province and Yellow, the lead vocalist, is from Seoul. And the producers of Pung Deng-E decided to keep each member's regional dialect intact - a rather unique approach not too common among the mainstream K-pop artists who perform strictly in standard Korean."

Pungdeng is great fun.

AMRT's latest, mmmmhmmm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2MvLbt4F-s

I added a couple of the missing nominations; 2Yoon, Delight, Rania, the CCM "Painkiller" collaboration and Hyolyn.

Pungdeng-e are adorable! Someone said they will be releasing an album this month.

I hope so!

Speaking of end of year nominations, I can't find the voting thread? Anyone got a link?

~~~ ILM METAL POLL 2013 - ALBUMS & TRACKS VOTING & CAMPAIGN THREAD~~~ (VOTING ENDS FRIDAY JANUARY 10th 11.59pm UK time/6.59pm EST) )

Haha whoops that's the wrong poll

I don't think the voting thread has been made yet

I saw it, though! Or I thought I saw it...

Oh wait I think this is it ILM 2013 | End of Year Albums & Tracks Poll | VOTING THREAD (Voting closes MIDNIGHT EST on Friday, January 17th, 2014)

That's the one! Thanks!

I dig the new Dal Shabet:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGKeA3xUzxU

It's another of the K-pop puzzle songs where you can entertain yourself by picking out all the things it rips off (from 80s disco/synthpop, in this case). Really good though.

Wow that's great!

Besides the synthpop I also hear bits of T-ara Sexy Love.

I made a Youtube playlist of all the K-pop songs nominated for the EOY poll since most of them aren't on Spotify: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP-ajiMFDEG5PV5xhpKwMTVLhGKhQ_mb1

Let me know if I missed anything.

I just realised i should have nominated Evol's "Get Up", really regretting not doing so. :/

oh no, I was going to nominate it too but I was certain someone did already.

Frank did nominate it, guess it was omitted by accident from the poll. ILM 2013 | End of Year Albums & Tracks Poll | NOMINATIONS THREAD

yeah that's what i thought too! i'll let the poll runners know.

Thanks Roz!

Dal Shabet killing it live. There's also this: http://youtu.be/mMYDxR26970

So who's gonna start the 2014 Kpop thread?

Thanks Roz!

sweet cheers for the youtube playlist

smoky girl smoky girlllll

:D

Maybe I'm just in a good mood tonight, but I'm listening to B1A4's Lonely and it's soooooooo good.

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

Summing up 2013 we got Wolf, Growl, Hush, Missing You, Now, Blurred Lines... am I missing any?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjRt4bncqQ4

Oh yeah, Sunmi's 24 hours!

Except for TroubleMarker I think the groups parodied in this video are all on the older side (for idols) - 25 and up.

As much as I don't want to give Cho PD any credit after what happened with Block B... the new Topp Dogg mini is really good. Like really for real.

It's the mini I've been wishing BTS would make.

And the single doesn't really do the mini credit, but here it is, complete with way too many names to memorize:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7Ti9NRAQoo

I started a new thread, not noticing you'd been updating here. The Topp Dogg mini was ace!

Awesome! Will report ASAP to other thread.

On the subject of 2013 though, is anyone else filling out their end-of-year poll at the laat minute? How are you guys voting?

Kpop on my (unweighted) tracks draft ballot:

AlphaBAT - ABCity
EXO - Baby Don't Cry
F(x) - Rum Pum Pum
Gaeko - Rhythm is Life
Girl's Generation - I Got a Boy
Girl's Generation - Love & Girls
Jay Park - Joah
Junsu ft Quincy - Incredible
JYP - Had Enough Parties
MBLAQ - Smoky Girl
MFBTY - Sweet Dream
MIB - Nod Along*
MYNAME - Just that little thing
Sistar - Bad Boy
Sistar - Up and Down
Tara - Do I Know You? <-- What the song should have been called
TOP - Doom Dada
UKISS - Party All the Time
Ylvis - The Fox

Still debating, so if there's anyhting you guys want to me to help get into the top 70 let me know.

*Not that it matters, but I wish I'd nominated a different MIB song - Dash or Worry About Yourself First. Also, VIXX - On and On.

K-Pop anthem "The Fox" :)

Did you forget Delight again?
I think Glam, 2Yoon and the CCM "Painkiller" were very good, but if you don't have to include them if you don't wanna.

(It's not k-pop, but I'm so kicking myself for not nominating Momoiro Clover Z's 5th Dimension/"Neo Stargate".)

hey, 5th Dimension actually is on the albums list! Pls vote for that if you have the space!

um, if you've heard it.

I'm still debating... I should vote for them since you went through the trouble of nominating them, shouldn't I.

And obv The Fox is a Kpop anthem.

whoa, might have to vote just so I can vote for 5th dimension