Year: 2017

[Review] Me & You – Jung Joon Young ft. Jang Hye Jin

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Jung Joon Young has made his comeback with his first album, The First Person. The title track, Me & You, features Jang Hye Jin, who is a famous South Korean singer who debuted back in 1991. This is Jung Joon Young’s first comeback since a scandal involving the singer became headlines in the KPOP industry. This is also my first review for the soloist.

Jung Joon Young delves mostly into rock music. From time to time, he does sing ballads, however, the ballad is always infused with the rock music he is known for. This song is strictly ballad (for the most part). His husky vocals are in the spotlight, with it being emphasised using the very soft instrumental. Jang Hye Jin’s vocals suit the song quite well. When the two join forces and sing together, you can barely tell a difference of age. The vocals go hand in hand. It isn’t until the end that the song starts to pick up, where it is launched unexpectedly into a soft rock ballad. Yeah, you don’t really think that the song will go in that direction, but it does. And it works. It makes the song quite memorable, giving it the “cherry on top” as some people might put it (well for me at least). I have pointed out how slow some ballads can be.While this can easily be inserted to the “very slow” ballad category, I like it a lot. It helps lighten Jung’s vocals and make the song sound very emotional and meaningful at the same time.

Like the song, the music video is very slow-paced. From what I could tell in the video, the couple shared happy memories but their relationship deteriorated over time. While the song moves from just ballad to a rock ballad sound, the couple breaks up and you see scenes of the now former couple coming to grip with their break up throughout the video. Putting it into words make the video seem boring. I know it suits the lyrics and there is no other way to present a ballad in video format normally, but they do become a little repetitive and cliché over time. The video doesn’t really keep my interested. I have played it a few times, but have gone off to do something else rather sit and watch it. That is its only flaw, to be honest.

Song – 10/10
Music Video – 8/10
Overall Rating – 9/10

Farewell Wonder Girls

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Towards the end of last month, it was officially announced by JYP Entertainment, that the Wonder Girls would be disbanding. Another major girl group a few years back would be leaving us. The girls had decided to go their separate ways, despite reports of the girls searching for a new company. Ye-Eun and Sunmi both left JYP Entertainment, while Yubin and Hyelim decided to go on with the company.

This is another farewell post for another amazing girl group. We said goodbye to 2NE1 just last month. We said goodbye to 4Minute last year and now we have to say goodbye to Wonder Girls. It is no doubt that their presence within the industry is large and that they will not be forgotten.

Wonder Girls made their debut on the 13th of February 2007 with Irony. The lineup then included: YeEun, Sunye, Sohee, Hyuna (now former 4Minute member) and Sunmi. After their debut, Hyuna was withdrawn from the group and their company added Yubin to the lineup. The group went on to release Tell Me and So Hot (alongside some other songs).

It wasn’t until Nobody in 2008 that the group rose to the top and became the hottest thing in Korea. In 2009, the group embarked on a world tour and it was decided that JYP would debut the girls in the U.S.A. The girl returned in 2010 after Sunmi left the group and Hyelim was added as a new member. The girls released 2 Different Tears. The girls returned overseas and spent more time releasing English songs and starring in their own TV show. 2011 came and the group returned at the end of the year with my favourite Wonder Girls song, Be My Baby. The girls returned to South Korea in 2012 to promote Like This.

Sadly, the group went on hiatus after 2012. Sunye withdrew from the group to get married and now she is a mother of two children. Sohee also withdrew from the group to focus on her acting career. The group reimaged themselves into a girl band and went on to release I Feel You in 2015.  Sunmi returned to the group and the final lineup now includes: YeEun, Sunmi, Yubin and Hyelim). They later returned in 2016 with Why So Lonely. The girls (with the support on Sunye and Sohee) made the announcement in Jan 2017 of the disbandment and have gone on to release their final song today (10th of February), Draw Me, for their 10th anniversary.

Wonder Girls have a long history and to me, they have released some of the most iconic songs in KPOP to date. Their influence (along with 2NE1 from YG Entertainment and SNSD for SM Entertainment) has shaped and grown KPOP to what it is today. I will also remember the catchy tune of Nobody and will always remember the super addictive dance that accompanied it. I will remember how big of a fanboy I came when it Be My Baby or Like This came on. And I will always feel awestruck watching the girls form themselves into a band.

Like 2NE1’s final song, I choose not to review it. Instead, I choose to look back at their time in the industry. Writing both posts made me sad, as I now know how far they have come, how far KPOP has gone and how much they will be missed. The majority of this post looks at their history as a group, with a few personal comments, but hopefully, it is enough to say goodbye.

Maybe this goodbye is not forever. But nonetheless, I wish all members of the group success and luck for all future endeavours. Given some of their solo careers, I think we can expect great things.

If you have not yet heard Wonder Girls’ final song (which was released today), you can listen to it below.

[Review] Yesterday – Block B

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Block B has dropped a surprise release, in the form of a single, titled as Yesterday. I have no idea if this is going to be a pre-release for a future album or is just a single. I have been trying to find out but I have come up with no answer. This is the first Block B release since Toy last year. Since their last comeback, the members have each embarked on solo and subunit promotions.

Listening to Yesterday for the first time, I thought it had a Winner feel to it, more specifically Winner’s more pop centred songs such as Don’t Flirt. That thought still sticks with me but I have noticed that the song still has that Block B feel. I thought it sounded similar to Jackpot as well, just a lot lighter. Maybe it is the rock-based instrumental that gets me thinking like that. This time around, the group seemed to have inserted a bit of pop influence into the song. Overall, I thought the vocals were good. P.O’s raspy vocals and raps shined the best in this song. I like the way Zico raps, but I feel like he needs to show more variety, as like in his solo, when he is with the group. I felt like this was too similar to many of his past raps within Block B songs. While as simple as it sounds and as cliché as it sounds, I really like the “la, la, la” part of the song. To me, the song isn’t necessarily repeat-worthy, but it still nice to listen to once in a while.

With a more cheerful song, the music video is expectantly more colourful and vibrant. The group also went with a sitcom-like theme but that concept seemed lost just before the 1st chorus, which then returned to a normal non-themed KPOP video. To make it seem more like a sitcom, they should have added the member’s name during the start because the start of the video seemed like a sitcom introduction. Moving along, the guys couldn’t contact their lover (who happened to be the same girl). They do their best to figure out where she was and what she was doing “yesterday”. But instead, they find out they are all following the same girl. They join hands in trying to figure out what she did “yesterday”. But they ended up failing at the end. The video was fun to watch, matching the song very nicely. You could probably not imagine another way to present the video or another concept to go with the song.

We only see a few brief seconds of the choreography in the video. Not too entirely sure if there is even a full choreography for this song. So I am not going to even try to rate this part.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 8/10
Overall Rating – 8/10

[Review] You Were Beautiful – DAY6

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If you have not yet heard, DAY6 will be making monthly releases this year. They released I Wait as their main track for their January release. You Were Beautiful is now their latest track, released exactly one month after I Wait.

Once again, DAY6 does not disappoint with their song. I think the first thing every noticed was the past tense in the title. It does make a funny joke, but I rather not insult anyone. They went with a rock-ballad song, keeping true to themselves with the rock element, but showing off with a new side to the group with the ballad sounds. The track is much slower this time and you can feel more emotions in their vocals and lyrics in this song. Each member sings wonderfully in this song. I personally like the song a lot. The main issue is that some parts did feel like it was dragged out a bit. While I can overlook it, as everything else was sounded perfect for me, the thought does hang in the back of my head. But still, you all should check out the song. Given this track and I Wait, I am eagerly waiting for next month to come around to see what else the band has up their sleeve.

The video is quite simple. A female office worker finds (or is sent) videos of her past relationship with this guy. While all the memories are happy and she spends the majority of the video smiling, she ends up crying after remembering her break-up with him. The video is very clear cut. The band members are thrown into the video, scattered amongst the memories. Their presence in this video was underwhelming and honestly, not needed at all. The video would have been fine with just the memories and the female crying. Their presence through the song is more than enough here. An interesting theory seems to be that this is the continuation from their Congratulation video. In this video, the girl reflects on the past relationship she had with the guy, while in Congratulations, they meet unexpectedly in the future. While the actor does look familiar, the actress doesn’t. Nonetheless, it would still make for an amazing plotline and an awesome connection between the videos.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 8/10
Overall Rating – 8.5/10

[Review] Tina – MASC

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MASC has finally returned with their first ever comeback. If you have forgotten about them, they made their debut last year with Strange.

I am not entirely sure of my thoughts in regards to this song, but I think it is a pretty good song at the moment. The song has a nice rock sound, fitting with their debut single. This song, however, is more upbeat and vibrant. There is a lot more elements in this song that make it interesting, such as the trumpets blaring after the chorus. Even though what I described doesn’t necessarily sound classy, the song overall felt very classy but tough at the same time. The vocals were good. But like the previous review for SF9’s Roar, I thought the rap segments were the highlights of the song. But nonetheless, everyone stands out in the song. There is a part of me that feels that the song is borderline “typical” in South Korea though. Beside my compliments and highlights that I have pointed out, I felt the song just didn’t stand out that much when it is compared to with other songs. Sure, the song had class and a tough vibe, but they need something to set them apart and be different. To me, they have moved into the spotlight with this song, but they just need a push (aka. a unique song that suits them) to be the main star of the show.

The video is very boring. Reading the comments, apparently, the video has been uploaded 3 different times due to sound issues. At least it sounds like their company is committed to bringing the highest quality for their group and fans. I really like the classy and edgy concept the video was going for. It was very fitting for the song. The only problem is that there isn’t much going on in the video. There are scenes where the members act alongside the female lead, but you can’t really tell what is going on in those scenes. That made the video boring and uninteresting to watch.

The choreography was pretty good. Probably the most memorable part of the whole choreography was the rap segments after the choruses. They looked cool and with the song, it packed a punch, giving the stage something worth looking forward to.

Song – 7/10
Music Video – 5/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 6.5/10

[Review] Roar – SF9

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SF9 has returned with their first mini album, Burning Sensation, and their newest title track, Roar. The group made their official debut last October with Fanfare.

Fanfare, til this day, has not left an impression on me and thus became a forgettable track. Roar takes one step in the opposite direction, as I do remember this song for a number of reasons. The instrumental was interesting. That boing-boing sound (how do you explain the sound???) really catches your attention from the very start. They don’t overuse it because it could easily annoy the crap out of everyone and ruin the song. The verses needed some sort of foundation or backing to give the song more of an impact, in my opinion. The vocals are okay. The adlibs at the end don’t really seem to fit the song that well. The clear standout goes to the rapping. Each the rappers sounded amazing in this song. The buildup that the rappers contribute to the choruses sounded rough yet very fitting to the song. Though, their part in the bridge could have gone for something else rather than cowbells. I don’t know why, but I thought it was a little odd. While I did think the buildup to the choruses was pretty good, the immediate launch into the chorus is done perfectly. It packs a punch and leaves an impression in your mind.

Like the song, the video is quite fast-paced. You blink and you may have missed 30 seconds of the video. The sets and the solo shots don’t look as impressive as you think they will be. Honestly, the sets for the solo shots looked like they have been used elsewhere in the KPOP realm. Maybe it is the camera shots that make the sets seemed overused. The video also lacks colour. That one colour lighting seems to be trendy in South Korea, but I think it makes videos look dull and boring. The editing for the video is quite good as well, especially during the choreography shots.

The choreography is pretty good. I would have liked more moves that packed a punch and felt more strong. There were parts that did feel quite slow (even though they were made to fit with the speed of the song at that part) and they did weaken the overall look and feel of the choreography. The one thing I did like was how they broke themselves into smaller groups at the start and smoothly combined the two to make one group.

Song – 6/10
Music Video – 6/10
Performance – 7/10
Overall Rating – 6/10

[Review] You Seem Busy – MelodyDay ft. Jung Ilhoon (BTOB)

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MelodyDay has returned with a brand new single. The last time we saw them on stage was through the promotions of Colour, last year. Unfortunately, I didn’t get time to review their comeback last year. As you can tell from the title of this review, their newest track is titled as You Seem Busy and it features Ilhoon from BTOB.

The girls came back with a much slower song, compared to that last few releases. I love the ballad instrumental in the song. To me, it sounds very calming and soothing. Throw in their vocals, along with Ilhoon’s rap, and the song pretty much makes you sway along with it. Not technically fond of the first verse, as it felt quite dry. But those final moments leading up to the first chorus really builds the song up from out of nothing, launching straight into the chorus quite well. The rest of the song doesn’t really repeat that same sort of impact and that does leave the song hanging a bit. The only other flaw with the song is that it can fall into the more “generic ballad” catergory.  It did take a few listens to shake that feeling off. It wasn’t until I unexpectedly listened to the song (through YouTube automatic recommedantions) did I actually notice the impact and the song itself.

The music video tells the story of a waiter who seems to just be pushing through with work to just pass the day (or make a living). The same thing happens every single day, which makes his life dull and boring. On this paritcular day, the customers (the two comedians) give him a hard time. One of them notices him and starts a conversation, while the other one becomes jealous and tells the waiter to essentially get lost. He takes some time out and notices the girls on stage, who are in fact MelodyDay themselves. They perform their song, which also lifts his spirits, which leaves a smile on his face. It isn’t a flashy video, but very fitting for the song, as both goes hand-in-hand with each other (just check the English lyrics in the video below). A nice video to watch.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 10/10
Overall Rating – 9/10

[Weekly Chart] 1st Week of February 2017

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Welcome back to the charts for the 1st week of February 2017. I hope you all have had a fantastic week. My one was uneventful, until today, but I will save myself from immediate embarrassment and tell you that story another day.

Comebacks that made it onto this week’s charts are from Red Velvet and Zion.T. Soloist I is a late entry to the charts, as it has been 3 weeks since her debut with “If You Wish Hard, It Will Come True“. Per usual, her song will stay for the 9 weeks FROM her release date.

This week, Seohyun topped the charts with her solo debut single. CLC was almost there but missed out on the top spot. Another singer that needs to be mention is AOA. They have been going up and down constantly each week. You could possibly account for this often change due to is rise on the South Korean charts (and YouTube recommendations for me).

Next week is going to be one busy week with the Lunar New Year celebrations drawing to an end. That means more comebacks and debuts in the next week. Cross Gene, MASC, DAY6, SF9, Block B, Jung Joon Young, NCT Dream are just some of the major bands tipped to make a return.

A reminder of the what the colours in the status column mean.
Green (↑)  – Song has gone up in ranking
Red (↓) – Song has gone down in ranking
Blue (=) – Song has remained in the same position as the previous week
Orange  (new) – Song debuts on the chart
Grey (Final Week) – Song appears on the chart for its final week.

29th Jan – 4th Feb 2017
Title Artist Status
1 Don’t Say No Seohyun (SNSD) (↑ 6)
2 Hobglobin CLC (↓ 1)
3 Rookie Red Velvet (new)
4 Love Affair Niel (Teen Top) (↑ 18)
5 Chase Me Dream Catcher (↓ 3)
6 Exucse Me AOA (↓ 3)
7 Yes No Maybe Suzy (Miss A) (↑ 7)
8 I Wait DAY6 (↑ 7)
9 Limitless NCT127 (↑ 11)
10 Bing Bing AOA (↓ 4)
11 Honey Bee Luna (F(x)) & Solar (Mamamoo) & Hani (EXID) (↓ 6)
12 Highlight Seventeen (↓ 3)
13 Mysterious Hello Venus (↓ 2)
14

 If You Wish Hard, It Will Come True

 I (new)
15 April Story April (↑ 2)
16 The Song Zion.T (new)
17 Boom Boom Seventeen (↑ 2) (Final Week)
18 I Wish WJSN (Cosmic Girls) (↓ 14)
19 Downpour I.O.I (↑ 6)
20 Pretend Suzy (Miss A) (↑ 1)
21 Oh Na Na K.A.R.D (↓ 8)
22 The Best Present Rain (↑ 7)
23 Pretty Pretty Pentagon (↑ 8)
24 I Think I Love U Sonamoo (↓ 16)
25 Touch Shinhwa (↓ 13)
26 Remember S.E.S (↑ 2)
27 Last Goodbye AKMU (↓ 1)
28 She TopSecret (↑ 4)
29 U R The Only One Varsity (↑ 4)
30 FxxK It Big Bang (↓ 6)

So that is all for this week. Hope you all have an amazing and joyful week!

[Review] The Song – Zion.T

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Zion.T is a RnB/hip-hop artist who has a very extensive resume when it comes to the South Korean industry. Many of his songs go on to top the South Korean charts. For example, his album is beating out the OST of the trendiest dramas at the moment. That is quite an incredible feat, considering how the OST have such a big influence on the industry. Zion.T recently left Amoeba Culture and is now officially a part of the YG Family.

Not exactly my cup of tea, but it is a good track to listen to. I don’t really listen to Zion.T that much when he sings in songs by himself but I do like listening to his collaborations with other artists. While you can hear the RnB roots in this song, there is a  definite pop influence. The instrumental for this song is quite simple (from what I can hear – I am no expert in composing) and I think this suits the lyrics of the song, which involves him singing about how he wrote this song for his girl (but releases it for everyone to hear – which I guess indirectly references composers who put their life-story into songs). His vocals are very sweet in the song and quite smooth as well. His rapping was quite limited in the song. I would have liked to hear more of his rapping in the song because it compliments the song quite nicely. Honestly, the song felt quite short and while it was three minutes, it felt like it was 2 minutes. Not exactly sure if that is a good or bad thing yet. Overall, do listen to it if you like your RnB. Just expect a little more happiness to the song, especially if you are used to a more emotional sounding Zion.T song (like me).

The video is a little unconventional if I were to put “crazy” into a formal way of writing. Some parts make sense. Others don’t really make that much sense to me. I get the slide scene at the start, where he slides to what seems to be his really long, ball-filled bathtub. Mainly because it was a part of the lyrics. But not too sure about the submarine or the “under-the-sea” scenes. I don’t I was meant to get too in depth with the scenes though as the video goes for a more fun concept, which goes hand in hand with the happiness I pointed out. Some of the sets had that typical YG feel, but overall, the video doesn’t feel like it came from YG Entertainment. Many of their artists who don’t really follow the KPOP route (such as Akdong Musician and now Zion.T) seem to have videos that fit their songs and image more. While that it is expected, it is fresh coming from YG Entertainment. Overall, it is a nice video to watch.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 8.5/10 
Overall Review – 9/10

End of 2016 Music Festivals – Favourite Performances

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I am only a month delayed. What’s going on? It has been a month since 2016 ended and I think we can all say that 2016 ended in style with these music festivals. Hosted by the 3 major South Korean broadcasting companies, these festivals celebrate the year that has gone past by inviting some of the biggest acts in 2016. The stages are usually different from the ones that we see throughout the year and new collaborations are formed for these stages. For example, at the KBS music festival, we saw Twice, Red Velvet, GFriend and I.O.I come together and cover Into The New World by SNSD (as shown in the image above). While this post doesn’t cover every single stage for each of the three festivals, it will cover my favourite ones.

SBS Gayo Daejun – 26th December 2016

  • The Korean Girl Group and Boy Group Spectacular Dance Performances were my most favourite stages of the night. For the girl groups stage: Cosmic Girls, CLC, Laboum, Gugudan, Momoland and DIA featured. For the boy groups stage: Pentagon, SF9, KNK, Snuper, Halo and Astro performed. While each group got a few seconds, they all did a great job and with everyone else dancing along in the background, it looked really cool. (Watch the Girl Groups Perform Here)
  • Seventeen was praised for their cover of famous songs sung by female artists. And I too thought they did a pretty good job. It would have been nice to see a longer performance of Boom Boom and have the covers as a separate stage, but it a long show and some groups will have to face cuts. (Watch Seventeen’s Performance Here)
  • Mamamoo performed You’re The Best and Decalcomanie and I love the launch into Decalcomanie. What made it even better were their ad-libs, by sliding in big boy group’s names into their song. Sure it did sound odd at firs, but it is cute and it brought smiles to fan’s faces. (Watch Mamamoo’s Performance Here)
  • Uhm Jung Hwa made her return to the stage at the SBS Gayo this year, performing a few of her songs. The highlight was most likely D.I.S.C.O, which had T.O.P return to collaborate with her. While I liked D.I.S.C.O’s stage, it was unnecessary for T.O.P to do a model walk out onto the stage. (Watch Uhm Jung Hwa and T.O.P’s performance here)
  • Infinite (and Sistar) did get the short end of the stick for the lengths of their performance. But what Infinite delivered looked, as always, beyond infinity.
  • Big Bang‘s mini concert. I don’t think we need to say much here! Amazing as always. (Watch Big Bang’s Performance Here)

KBS Gayo Daechukje – 29th December 2016

  • Red Velvet, Twice, GFriend and I.O.I’s collaboration with their individual songs, along with their cover of Into The New World was amazing. Loved the Irene memes, though. (Watch the collaboration here)
  • Mamamoo’s sexy twist for You’re The Best and rock twist for Decalcomanie were jaw-dropping. (Watch Mamamoo’s Performance Here)
  • The girl’s version of Infinite’s Be Mine and the boy’s version of Good Girl Bad Girl by Miss A was a great collaboration. I did laugh when I saw the guys perform and the girls looked really cool. Both stages were amazing. (Watch the girl’s performance and the boy’s performance here)
  • I personally loved the slower remix of L.I.E by EXID. It did lack the powerhouse vocals since Solji is on hiatus, but Hyerin did a good job covering for her here and on the other stages (particularly the MBC Gayo stage) (Watch EXID’s Performance Here)
  • Ken’s performance with his mother made me cry. Nayeon’s performance with her mother just didn’t leave that same impression on me. (Watch Ken’s Performance and Nayeon’s Performance here)
  • NCT Dream, Cosmic Girls, Astro, Laboum, UP10TION and Oh My Girl’s stage was pretty good as well. I think they could have picked a better collaboration song. Something to get the blood pumping and the party started, you know what I mean? (Watch this collaboration performance here)
  • Han Dong Geun’s stage sounded amazing. I loved the ballad when it started peaking on the charts and still love its swaying rhythms to this day. (Watch Han Dong Guen Here)
  • BTS’s Fire stage. They know what is up. Always amazing when they invite their thousands of backup dancers to join the party. Fits the song perfectly. (Watch BTS’s Performance here)

MBC Gayo Daejejun – 31st December 2016

  • MBC Gayo Daejejun brought back some of the first generation KPOP groups such as Shinhwa, S.E.S, Turbo and Ha Hyun Woo. They performed some of their past hits but also more recent songs. (Watch Shinhwa’s Performance here)
  • Not only that but some of the big name groups in the industry at the moment performed their past hits and also their 2016 songs. And of course, some groups did special stages, performing very popular and famous Korean songs.
  • Once again, Mamamoo made it onto this list as well. Their stage is always exceptional and I love the mini orchestra intro for Decalcomanie. (Watch Mamamoo’s Performance Here)
  • Sistar’s I Like That stage here was amazing as well. I loved the dance break. It got rid of that awkward “I’m So Fine” bridge and they look sexy. (Watch Sistar’s Performance here)
  • APINK’s short medley of their hits tracks and Only One was spectacular to listen to. The medley led into Only One perfectly. (Watch APINK’s Performance Here)
  • Monsta X’s All In + Fighter stage was another really good stage. It looked cool and very tough. They just needed a few more seconds as I felt the stage ended a little too soon. (Watch Monsta X’s Performance here)
  • BTOB’s change up for I’ll Be Your Man was really cool. They kept the song whole but added a few extra ad-libs and harmony parts to make it feel fresh. (Watch BTOB’s performance here)
  • B.A.P’s performance had an amazing remix for Young Wild and Free. Skydive was shortened but had a cool dance break inserted into it. Daehyun’s adlib was extraordinary. (Watch B.A.P’s performance here)

 

Recap of 31st Golden Disk Awards + Thoughts

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The 31st Golden Disk Awards was held on the 13th and 14th of January 2017, for the artists who the best and most successful acts of 2016. The award ceremony is split into two nights. The 13th of January was dedicated to the digital charts and the 14th of January focused on the album charts.

The first night was hosted by Hwang Chi Yeol, Seohyun and Jung Yong Hwa, while the second night was hosted by Kang Sora and Sung Si Kyung. Mostly everyone who won an award on those nights performed on stage with the exception of Lim Chang Jung, Bang Shi Hyuk and Jaejoong (JYJ). Uhm Jung Hwa, Gain (Brown Eyed Girls) and Rain was invited to perform as special guests.

Here is a recap of the awards:
Disk Daesang (Album Of The Year) – EX’ACT (EXO)
Digital Daesang (Song Of The Year) – Cheer Up (Twice)
Disk Bonsang (Best Artist) – Monsta X, Seventeen, GOT7, Infinite, VIXX, BTS, EXO, Taemin (SHINee), SHINee.
Digital Bonsang (Best Artist) – Twice, Mamamoo, GFriend, Urban Kakapa, Suzy & Baekhyun, Lee Hi, Zico (Block B), Taeyeon (SNSD), Lim Chang Jung.
Best New Artist – BlackPink, Bolbbalgan4, NCT 127, I.O.I
Popularity Award – SHINee
Best R&B / Soul – Crush
Best Band – CN Blue
Best OST – Gummy (You Are My Everything)
Asian Choice Award – Jaejoong (JYJ)
Ceci Asian Icon Award – Red Velvet, EXO
Global KPOP Artist Award – BTS
Best Performance Male Group – Sechs Kies
Best Performance Female Group – Sistar
Best Producer Award – Bang Shi Hyuk

The awards were fair. The artists for both digital and physical album awards did make a lot of sense. I am amazed at how little girl groups were present for the physical album night (second night). The only group there was Red Velvet and I am equally surprised that they didn’t win a bonsang for last year’s releases.

With regards to the performances, I was quite disappointed with the first night. Everything felt plain and very typical. The only standout was Zico’s medley performance. Not a major hip-hop or RnB fan when it comes to Korean music, but his performance was the only one I grooved along that night. I feel like Taeyeon’s performance would have been amazing (as it is an awesome song) but it was unfortunately riddled with audio and microphone issues.

The second night was much more promising. I guess the first night failed to do it for me because there were different genres, so of which I don’t really listen to. The second night was more KPOP centred. Seventeen’s performance was good, but why did they do their 2015 songs as well? They should have done rearrangements of Very Nice and Boom Boom as well. The hypocrite within is resurfacing because while I say that about Seventeen’s performance, I thought BTS’s medley of songs (from their debut to Fire) was amazing. Even if the Blood Sweat and Tears part was for transition, I need a full remix because it sounded amazing as well.  Infinite had a freaking bomb-ass stage with their dance breaks in the song. Finally, I really liked the For Life song (it grew even more on me) and when I heard they were going to perform, I was quite overjoyed. It was the one performance I waited for and they performed the track perfectly (luckily, no audio problems).

I think that will be it for this segment. I intended for this one to be up the weekend after the two nights, but I kept pushing it back. WordPress kept reminding me about it and at one point, I actually trashed it. But I ended reviving it and here it is. So just to notify you, I will not be doing for SMA 2017 and the Gaon Chart Awards.

 

[Album Review] Rookie (4th Mini Album) – Red Velvet

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Welcome to the first ever album review. I asked many of you to complete a survey at the end of 2016. Guess what was most voted for! Album Reviews! Honestly, I wanted to do the first album review for another group, who releases their newest album later this month. But after listening to Red Velvet’s latest album, I couldn’t pass the chance of reviewing it!

 

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Rookie’s Album Cover

 

Rookie (title track) – check out the review published for the song yesterday. (6/10)

Little Little – The track is a really nice and slow RnB track. The track shows off the group’s vocals quite nicely, with that being the main point of the whole song. From the member’s individual parts to their amazing harmony during the chorus, the girls do stand out with this song. The entire song has a nice rhythm that is easy to the ears and is a nice track to listen to when you want to relax. (10/10)

Happily Ever After – I think this track could have been the title track. It has that fun and vibrant sound that I liked with Red Velvet’s past title tracks. It suits the group a lot. I love the wacky sounds here, from the use of xylophones to the “beep beep” sound that your car makes when you lock it. Once again, their vocals are great here. I just feel the chorus could have been a little catchier and less traditional. It would have made the track wackier, suiting the girls even more. (8/10)

Talk To Me – While I don’t think this track would have been successful if it was the title track, I would love to see a performance of this song. The instrumental sounds very interesting and promising for a good choreography routine. While Little Little was slow and Rookie/Happily Ever After was more colourful in terms of sound, Talk To Me is a mixture of both. It is a lot slower, but there are sounds that make it colourful, as well. (9/10)

Body Talk – Hands down everyone because this has to be the best track on the whole mini album. It blew me away when I first heard the song. It may be slow, but it packs a punch, especially when you reach the chorus (especially the last one). The song has a more serious tone than any other track on the album. While it is a lot different, this track does remind me a lot of Heartbreak Hotel by Tiffany from SNSD (ft. SanE). (10/10)

Last Love – This track is actually not by Red Velvet but Wendy’s solo. It’s a ballad and it is honestly a nice way to finish off the album. It sounds very nice, with some people agreeing that this could possibly be in a Disney movie. And I agree with that comment. She has a very nice voice. The song makes you sway along with it. What more do you want from a ballad? (9/10)

Overall Rating of Album – 8.5/10

 

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Red Velvet’s Teaser Image

 

So how do you like Red Velvet’s latest album? Any favourite tracks? Comment below!!

 

 

 

 

[Review] Rookie – Red Velvet

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Red Velvet has returned with a new mini album, which shares the same title as the title track, Rookie. 2016 was another big year for the girl group with countless solo work and two successful comebacks. This review will a part of my first album review for their mini album – Rookie.

From what I am reading, some people think this is their worst track to date. I personally wouldn’t go to that extent. I wouldn’t say it is their worst track, but rather it is not their best. I liked the instrumental. It fits Red Velvet’s sound really nicely. It has a vibrant sound that matches with Red Velvet’s past hits like Dumb Dumb and Russian Roulette. It sounds similar to Hey Mikey by Toni Basil (just with modern processing and more upbeat). Some of the vocals I liked, especially when they are singing. Joy and Irene’s part in the first verse was, by far, big no-no’s. Would you consider it rapping? Because I would and if it is actually them rapping, maybe they should stay away from it for a while (or start practising a little more). Just by listening to the song only a few times, I can already hear the annoying ring with the chorus. The constant repetition of the word Rookie just sounds annoying here. It isn’t flashy or appealing. There isn’t any tone to it, expect for that one tone. Dumb Dumb had repetition in it, but the repetition was sung. This just sounds like more like shouting. To be honest, it does turn me away from the track a bit. They mispronounce the world Rookie all throughout the chorus. And while that is frustrating for an English speaker (like myself), we can’t really blame them for that (Note: Asians tend to mix up their R and L’s). Honestly, I think if they redid the chorus to something like in Russian Roulette, I think the song would have been better. The song isn’t terrible, but as I said, not their best.

Once again, Red Velvet has gone with a vibrant and colourful video, which does fit the song quite nicely. I have no idea what is going on in the video. It’s wacky and crazy, something that Red Velvet has been doing for some time. It seems like whatever they were smelling at the start, got them into Narnia, which leads them to an alternative universe, with a flower man running about. Besides that, the rest doesn’t make any sense. Watching the video over and over again doesn’t help to decipher the video, but it adds to the confusion. For a while, it seems like SM threw together some colourful sets and just hoped that the video would solve itself. Some of the sets were stunning, some of them were very plain and boring. That scene where Seulgi walks out of the closet and then joins into the choreography straight away was meant to look cool. But instead, it just looks really staged. Like the song, I would watch the video, but I wouldn’t say this is their best.

Only saw small snippets of the choreography, but what I saw looked good. I have a feeling (and this is from what I saw) but the dance could be a lot simpler. I hope that isn’t the case. I have grown to love Red Velvet’s dances for its complexity and its own flare. Let’s hope they continue with it. I will add more once the stages start.

Song – 5.5/10
Music Video – 6/10
Dance – 7/10 (may change)
Overall Rating – 6/10

 

[Review] Love Affair – Niel (Teen Top)

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Niel from Teen Top has returned with his first comeback and second solo mini album, which is also titled as Love Affair… It has been a while since I last heard from Teen Top. Though, they have been in the news lately, as their contract with their current company is to be renewed this year. From what I could tell, it seems a renewal is most likely and a March comeback is also on the books.

Once again, I am not really falling into Niel’s solo title track as I want to. His solo debut was good, but it didn’t really leave much of an impression on me after a while. It’s not because I dislike the artist, but rather, his solos don’t captivate me, as other artists do. This time around, Niel has gone for an acoustic prominent song, which the guitar being the primary instrument in the song. You can also hear hints of synths throughout the song. As the song progresses, it starts to become faster and more upbeat, but still keeping that mellow sound as heard in the slower parts of the song. His vocals seem more polished and emotional to me, in this song. That is one of the strong points in this song. While he does draw out some notes in the song, it doesn’t really sound that way. The song doesn’t sound like extra seconds are added to it because of the drawn out notes. The rapper, Giant Pink, whom I have never heard of before, does a really splendid job in the song. The rap segment flowed very nicely and complimented both the song and Niel as well.

The video can be split into two segments. The first is all the choreography scenes. The second are the interactions with the female lead. His acting in this video is pretty good. Watching the video, you can feel the emotions. You can tell how desperate he is to be with the girl, especially at the end. You could also feel the emotions in the choreography. I will touch on them later on. But they really compliment the emotions in the acting. The sets for the choreography is wonderful, especially the one with all the mirrors. That looked amazing. I don’t understand why they had to slo-mo some of the dance moves (such as the crotch rubbing one). Maybe to appeal to a particular fan base, but I thought it looked really stupid, given the emotions that I keep on mentioning in this part of the review.

His dancing is really impressive and it definitely left an impression on me. As I mentioned above, emotions could be felt in this dance when it is paired with the music video. On stage, it looks really cool and majestic. I personally don’t think the backup dancers add much to the performance, besides something else to look at. But my eyes are already preoccupied with following Niel across the stage. Hahaha…

Song – 6/10
Music Video – 7.5/10
Performance – 8.5/10
Overall Rating – 6.5/10

2016 End Of Year Charts

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Better late than never, I guess. Welcome to the End Of Year Charts for the year of 2016. This took a little longer to do than what I had anticipated. I do this annually to rank the songs released in the year and see which songs top the year.

As usual, I utilised the original review score, but also re-reviewed the song, videos and performance (where applicable). An increment was given to songs released in the last four months of the year. However, this year’s way of ranking is a little different to previous years. This is because this year I took time out to try to record the number of times I listened to the song (as accurately as I can). Also included is the weekly charts that I did since May (while they weren’t launched until July 2016).

The final addition to this year’s chart (i.e. the weekly charts) also meant that the songs released after May would have been ranked higher than songs released prior to May. One of the few things I observed with the charts. I have also coloured and bolded the songs that I put forward in the KPOPreviewed awards (Part 1 here and Part 2 here) as Best Song of the years to see how they ranked on the charts.

Here are some other facts/rules for the songs to be on the charts:

  • 215 songs were included in the chart (but only the top 100 is published this year).
  • The first song to be included in this year’s chart is iKON’s Dumb and Dumber. The last song eligible to be on the charts is EXO’s For Life.
  • To appear on the charts, the song must have been replayed for over 10 times. Some songs were removed as they failed to make that requirement.
  • EXO had the most songs (6 songs) on the charts this year (Lotto, Lucky One, Monster, Hey Mama, For Life and Dancing King (ft. Yoo Jae Suk)). Mamamoo, Seventeen, BTS, Oh My Girl and VIXX followed behind with 3 songs on the charts each.

So without further ado, I present to you the final chart of 2016.

No. Title Artist
1 Very Nice Seventeen
2 Decalcomanie Mamamoo
3 TT Twice
4 Hard Carry GOT7
5 The Rain Ladies Code
6 Blood, Sweat & Tears BTS
7 Very Very Very I.O.I
8 The Closer VIXX
9 Hey Mama EXO-CBX
10 Sky Dive B.A.P
11 Pretty U Seventeen
12 Secret Cosmic Girls
13 Russian Roulette Red Velvet
14 The Eye Infinite
15 Windy Day Oh My Girl
16 Find Me Hyosung (Secret)
17 I’ll Be Your Man BTOB
18 Confession Astro
19 Playing With Fire BLACKPINK
20 Fantasy VIXX
21 Fighter Monsta X
22 Tell Me What To Do SHINee
23 You’re The Best Mamamoo
24 I Like That Sistar
25 Last Dance Big Bang
26 Why So Lonely Wonder Girls
27 Ti Amo T-Ara
28 Beside Me Davichi
29 Navierilla GFriend
30 Toy Block B
31 Chewing Gum NCT Dream
32 Carnival Gain (Brown Eyed Girls)
33 For Life EXO
34 Boom Boom Seventeen
35 Rough Gfriend
36 Dynamite VIXX
37 Fri.Sat.Sun Dal Shabet
38 Secret Time Spica
39 L.I.E EXID
40 White Night UP10TION
41 Fire BTS
42 FxxK It Big Bang
43 Listen To My Word (Aing~) Oh My Girl
44 Don’t Believe Berry Good
45 Paradise Hyorin (Sistar)
46 Fly GOT7
47 Give It To Me Seven
48 Stuck Monsta X
49 Save Me BTS
50 Oh NaNa K.A.R.D
51 Feel So Good B.A.P
52 Destiny Lovelyz
53 Lollipop IMFACT
54 Can’t Help Myself Eric Nam
55 Stalker UKISS
56 One More Day Sistar
57 Hit Me MOBB ft. Kush
58 Lucky One EXO
59 Doo Doom Chit Crayon Pop
60 Queen History
61 On The Way Home Sunny Hill
62 Shooting Love Laboum
63 Bobby Doll Song Ji Eun (Secret)
64 Love Is Davichi
65 Ribbon Beast
66 How People Move AKMU
67 Whatta Man I.O.I
68 Monster EXO
69 1 of 1 SHINee
70 Free Somebody Luna (f(x))
71 Take Me Now FT Island
72 It’s Raining Snuper
73 Lotto EXO
74 Journey to Atlantis Laboum
75 Angel Berry Good
76 Knock KNK
77 Nodding Woohyun (Infinite)
78 Liar Liar Oh My Girl
79 U KNK
80 Aphrodite B.I.G
81 Letting Go Day6
82 Home Run GOT7
83 I’m Fine VICTION
84 Here I Am Yesung (Super Junior)
85 Borders Amber (f(x))
86 Lip 2 Lip Nine Muses A
87 Only One APINK
88 Bingo 24K
89 Dancing King EXO x Yoo Jae Suk
90 Body Mino (Winner)
91 Cheer Up Twice
92 Heartbreak Hotel Tiffany (SNSD) ft. Simon D
93 Better Day 100%
94 She Vromance
95 Gorilla Pentagon
96 11:11 Taeyeon (SNSD)
97 Dream Suzy (Miss A) & Baekhyun (EXO)
98 Good Luck AOA
99 New York Mamamoo
100 Somebody Like U Dal Shabet

[Review] Don’t Say No – Seohyun (SNSD)

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After much anticipation and requests, Seohyun from SNSD or Girl’s Generation has finally made her solo debut. She joins Tiffany, Taeyeon, Yoona and Hyoyeon, who each have made their solo debut in the past. She makes her debut with a mini album, which also shares the same title as the title track, Don’t Say No. And her solo debut has proven to be a success with her song topping charts and winning awards!

I was expecting a ballad from Seohyun, not a dance song. So this song caught me off guard. But it is an amazing song to listen to. As soon as you hear the song, you notice her vocals. They sound spectacular and really suit the song. Her adlibs, at the end, really pack a punch. The instrumental is your typical pop, but with a nice touch of retro to it. This may sound like I am looking down on the song, but I would also describe as the sound as snappy and almost sassy. I mean all of that in a good way. There might be a better way to put it, but that is what I got from the song and lyrics. The chorus did an amazing job at giving the song a lift. The bridge changed the song up, giving it an edgier vibe, but still keeping to the sound of the song.Saying all of that, the verses felt a little empty and needed more of a punch to make it perfect. But even though I have written that the song still sounds amazing. That punch in the chorus and at the end does make up for it (but the differences between the parts were apparent).

The music video is okay. SM is going back to their box days with this comeback, not something I was expecting since SM have been bringing out a few good videos in the past year. While the box set wasn’t as apparent (they used an open plan for this video), it did still feel restricting. In the video, Seohyun is cooking up a storm for her partner. Just she is serving chains and bolts, not spaghetti and mushrooms. She ends up killing him (I can see why. I don’t think that meal was edible. My guess for the cause of death was lead poisoning – a lot of it). We then see his body in a coffin, by a fridge, in a graveyard. I guess she stored the body for disposal later on? Talking about the graveyard, Seohyun managed to pull off one of the wackiest outfits I have seen in KPOP in a long time (talking about her massive, floppy hat). While I debate the point of a floppy hat, I think the use of it was intentional, to give her that dark and mysterious look, telling you what she is capable of.

Thank God her clothing on the stage is tamer and less wild. Imagine dancing in that hat! She did an amazing job with the choreography. While it doesn’t technically wow you, I always felt that she was overshadowed when she performed with SNSD. It shows her off and gives you a look into her style and moves.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 6/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 8/10