Category: KPOP

[Review] Rainy Days – Topp Dogg

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[This review was written and scheduled a few months back in preparation for my absence in December. The standard posts for the end of the year (comebacks I have missed in November & December, the end of year charts + KPOPreviewed awards) will be written and posted after my return. No weekly charts will be uploaded for the last week of November and all of December.]

It has been a while since Topp Dogg has returned to the stage. This is also the first time I am reviewing Topp Dogg, as time constraints in the past have prevented me from doing so. So who is Topp Dogg, you may ask? Topp Dogg is currently a 9 member boy group under Hunus Entertainment. The current lineup includes P-Goon, Hojoon, Sangdo, Nakta, Hansol, B-Joo, Zero, A-Tom and Yano. They originally were a 13 member boy group, who debuted under Stardom Entertainment back in 2013.

I have not been a fan of their releases thus far, but I am going to let you know. This song is different. Their past releases have been heavily mixed with hip hop influences. This one is more RnB with a hint of hip hop present.  It almost sounds like something that Block B would release and reminded me of Block B’s Toy (which I totally loved). It definietly reminds me of rain days and it sounds amazing. I think the vocals and rapping are nice. However, I am not into the rapping that repeated what was sung (such as during the chorus). It kind of distracted me from the overall sound of the song and on top of that sounded a little forced. The song also ended adruptly. Not as adruptly as Astro’s latest song as you could tell the song was drawing to a close. The song should have eased off at the end like zoning out on the sound of rain on a Rainy Day.

It only makes senses for the video to be shot on a Rainy Day, which they did here. But beside there isn’t anything else to comment on in the video. There were some close-up shots, but majority were choreography scenes or shots of them singing. Though, the video matches the sound of the song quite nicely.

The dance looked pretty good. It, too, matched the sound of the song quite nicely. Not too intense but not too simple that it looks cheesy. I don’t have much else to say, but it is a performance that I reccomend you watch.

Rating – 8/10

[Review] Think About You – Jun.K (2PM)

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[This review was written and scheduled a few months back in preparation for my absence in December. The standard posts for the end of the year (comebacks I have missed in November & December, the end of year charts + KPOPreviewed awards) will be written and posted after my return. No weekly charts will be uploaded for the last week of November and all of December.]

Jun.K (formerly known as Junsu) is the main vocalist from 2PM, under JYP Entertainment. He previously made his solo debut a few years back. He has actively promoted as a solo artist in Japan when he is not promoting with 2PM. Thinking About U marks his solo return to South Korea, in August of this year.

Thinking About You is a song that has the RnB sound, but is mixed with an EDM instrumental.  It is an odd mix but it works really with each other. Vocally, he sounds outstanding. His singing style doesn’t typically match the genres of music that the instrumental has us expecting. But somehow he makes it work. Those ad-libs at the end really do end the song quite nicely, boasting his talents even further. The lyrics of the song talk about the regrets that the guy has, who previously cheated or left his previous lover behind. Overall, I think it is a really good track. It is interesting that it combines genres that don’t usually go well together and still it manages to work.

The video was extremely boring to watch. There wasn’t much going on in it. Though, for someone who never took his shirt off, he has his fair of shirtlessness in this video. There just wasn’t anything captivating in the video. There were many close up shots in different sets and a few choreography scenes. But nothing that worth talking about.

During the live performances, Jun.K doesn’t participate in the dance (he focuses on the singing only, only dancing during the dance break). The dance is okay. His performance overall is a little boring to watch as well. I would have preferred just him singing into a microphone with this song, though.

Rating – 6.5/10

[Review] Alright – INX

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[This review was written and scheduled a few months back in preparation for my absence in December. The standard posts for the end of the year (comebacks I have missed in November & December, the end of year charts + KPOPreviewed awards) will be written and posted after my return. No weekly charts will be uploaded for the last week of November and all of December.]

INX is a new band in KPOP, who made their debut at the end of July. They are a 5 member boy group, consisting of Sangho, Junyoung, Bonkuk, Jinam and Win. They are currently under NA Entertainment.

For a debut song, it is pretty good. It does show potential in the band (and that is obviously what the company/group wanted to do). The song does throw you back to the early days, when I started to get into it. This fits in with 2009 and 2010 era perfectly. However, the song is very boring and bland. They used quite an overused sound. They attempted to keep it interesting with that rough sounding “alright, alright, alright” (which is what I find the catchiest in the song), but it does fall short at its intention. The vocal work is pretty good and the rapping is okay. I just don’t have any connection with the song. The odd slow and fast parts, along with the soft and then hard sounding parts don’t really go well each other. It is like “oh let’s take a few genres that other people like, throw them together and hope to kill 1 bird with 4 stones (I do no endorse animal cruelty in any way, it is just a figure of speech)”. I’ll keep them on my radar to see what they can do, but they need something to highlight their talents/skills further.

When I watch the video, I think the song sounds a lot better. Not sure why… I can’t shake it off. When I want to go back and change what I said above (after watching the video), I can’t make any changes because that is what I agreed on (and still do). Does that happen to you? Or am I just being weird?  I can watch the video, but I don’t really like the filter they have on it. It conflicts with the flashing lights in the video and makes it confusing to watch (like my feelings about the song now). Hahahaha… I don’t like that glow they have around themselves when they are blindfolded. That is really odd looking or just bad CG effects. While they do use overused sets, their stage presence in them gives off a new feeling to the sets and I think that really gives fans to chat about. Close up shots of the members and the choreograph scenes aren’t that clear and that’s quite disappointing.

Dance wise, it should be better. They have a song that I am quite sure, meant to give off a mature and strong vibe. It kind feels weak and the complete opposite of the song, sadly. Though their dance at the chorus already fits the beat quite well, I feel like if their moves were a lot sharper and more defined, the dance would look 100 times better. Just putting it out there.

Final Rating – 5/10

 

[Review] Home Run – GOT7

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[This review was written and scheduled a few months back in preparation for my absence in December. The standard posts for the end of the year (comebacks I have missed in November & December, the end of year charts + KPOPreviewed awards will be written and posted after my return. No weekly charts will be uploaded for the last week of November and all of December.]

GOT7 previously made their comeback with Fly, back in March (earlier this year). They returned shortly after to promote Home Run, which was the second title track off their mini album, Flight Log: Departure. Home Run was released later on and there is no music video to accompany it (hence the short review).

Home Run is a solid song. I personally like it. Fly was very heavy in terms of the sound and the song was a lot serious. Home Run has this more cheerful tone and is more casual. From the raps to the vocals in this song, the song managed to give us a chance to listen to each member. The line distribution in the song is much more fair and even across, which is not that common in the industry, as you may think. I would like the raps to be a little better. They aren’t awful or anything, but they could have been enhanced somehow to give it more of a hook or ring. Maybe the song didn’t need to be rap dense (though I know GOT7 wants to focus more on that). What we have already is quite balanced. Just a suggestion floating by. The instrumental kind of mimics the sound of a baseball bat hitting the ball. I find it amazing how lyricists manage to make analogies between the concept of the song and the topic in question (the majority of the time, it is love). Moving back to the instrumental, the instrumental for the song changes up here and there in the song, which works really well. When I say “change up”, it isn’t anything major. The instrumental is consistent and flows nicely. Just there is some slow parts and some faster parts. Overall, I think the song is quite nice and all aspects of the song were great.

There is no music video for Home Run. However, like everyone else is saying, it deserves one.

The dance was pretty cool as well. Toned down and more casual compared to the dance that accompanied Fly. It fits nicely into the baseball concept of the song. The timing with the sounds of the ball hitting in the bats and the dance was quite enjoyable to watch. I did like the “Home Run, Home Run” part after every chorus. Great hook for the song and dance.

Final Rating – 8/10

[Review] Hotel Heartbreak – Tiffany (SNSD) ft. Simon D

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[This review was written and scheduled a few months back in preparation for my absence in December. The standard posts for the end of the year (comebacks I have missed in November & December, the end of year charts + KPOPreviewed awards will be written and posted after my return. No weekly charts will be uploaded for the last week of November and all of December.]

Tiffany made her solo debut with I Just Wanna Dance in May of this year. She later came back in the month of June with a single, which features Simon D. This single was release as a part of SM Station, which I don’t think I will be reviewing all of them (my promise was a little too ambitious).

An amazing song. It has its roots in the rnb genre, while still maintaining a subtle dance beat. Her vocals are brought out and put on display in this song. Any complaints made against her voice seems to be void for this song. The echoes in the song seem to make the song more impressive, and the chorus has defined quite nicely by the echo and backing vocals. The echoes behind the words “Heartbreak Hotel” gives off an eerie feeling, but at the same time leaves a great impression on you. The bridge of the song is quite good as well. It is different from the rest of the song (in regards to the lack of instrumental) but it builds momentum to put you through to the final chorus.  Simon D always puts out impressive raps and they somehow tweaked his voice to fit perfectly in the song. Overall, the song is excellent from what I hear and I like it a lot.

The music video opens up with Tiffany looking quite bored (or is she heartbroken already?). I am a little torn with this part. Not that it is bad. But with regards to it being prior to the events of the video or after the events of the video. It’s not even a big detail to worry about anyway. Moving back to the video, Tiffany enters a bar and wanders around, accidentally causing a glass to break on the ground. My question is how quiet is the music there? It looks like a bumping crowd, but as soon as glass breaks, the whole club is turning around. This incident, however, attracts the attention of the male lead. Instead of cleaning up the mess (as Tiffany was doing) he drags her away and they start sharing drinks and laughs. They start dating and Tiffany falls for the guy pretty hard. But in the end, he leaves her (Tiffany catches him with another girl after going back to the club). I guess that is what you get for staying at the ‘Heartbreak Hotel’. The rest of the video seems to be just her finding ways of getting rid of her memories of the guy (packing up, going out back to the club). But I guess the scene at the end where she sees the same guy again at the club, while there being other guys around her, kind of shows that she can’t seem to forget at all. Okay, I have talked about the plot of the video. Loved the way the video was shot and their chemistry on-screen was quite powerful. Also loved her shots of her singing while admist the crowd at the club. Really gives off a nice contrast between finding love at the club and then remembering heartbreak at the club.

Rating – 10/10

[Review] Strange – MASC

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[This review was written and scheduled a few months back in preparation for my absence in December. The standard posts for the end of the year (comebacks I have missed in November & December, the end of year charts + KPOPreviewed awards) will be written and posted after my return. No weekly charts will be uploaded for the last week of November and all of December.]

Another debut that I missed this year. But better late, then never! MASC is a 4 member boy group currently under JJ Holic Media. They made their debut back in August this year. The four members includes Woosoo, 26, A.C.E and Hee Jae. They debuted with the song, Strange, which was part of their first mini album.

Unlike the title, the song is not “strange”. In fact, it is a classy track that has a very smooth instrumental. The song has a very nice electrical guitar sound and also having a nice hip-hop / RnB vibe. The style does remind me of Beast’s songs back in the day. The vocals and rapping of this band are quite nice. I love how the song slows down at the bridge and then it just goes back to being upbeat and smooth with a simple curse word that is bleeped out. In KPOP alone, this is probably one of the few tracks that do contain a bleeped out curse. Would I say they are geniuses or are cool for doing that? Probably not. But because the bleeping out of a word is quite rare in KPOP, it does capture your attention.  The song is quite catchy and it becomes addictive for a while. The song just became overshadowed by other songs released then. Overall, I think the song is quite up my alley.

The video is a little confusing. I pieced together the lyrics and what I saw to get a story. The guys have all fell for this girl, who ends up cheating with someone else. Everyone is pissed or heartbroken when they found out what she was doing. In the video, we see another member fall for her and he gets furiously angry. Besides the plot of the video (which isn’t any more interesting), I found it very boring. They went with a tough guy concept, but their facial expressions look frozen the whole time, especially when it came to the choreography scenes. The acting is a little weird as well. It just was not interesting enough to watch.

Along with their facial expressions, the rest of the choreography look a bit bland as well. I think the song makes it a little hard to show off more of the dancing side to the band. Maybe if they have a song that shows off the dancer side in the group, I think they would look more awesome on stage.

Rating – 7/10

 

[Review] New York – Mamamoo

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[This review was written and scheduled a few months back in preparation for my absence in December. The standard posts for the end of the year (comebacks I have missed in November & December, the end of year charts + KPOPreviewed awards will be written and posted after my return. No weekly charts will be uploaded for the last week of November and all of December.]

Mamamoo returned with a pre-release single, New York back in September. It has definitely taken me a while to get around to reviewing it, but here I am. Mamamoo went on to include this track as part of their latest mini album, Memory, which contains the title track, Décalcomanie.

New York sounds pretty good. Don’t you love it when I start reviews off like that? No, but seriously, the song is quite catchy and the words “New York” do echo in your mind when you finish listening to the song. There was a very nice balance between all the elements in the song. Their vocals didn’t drown out the instrumental, nor did the instrumental overpower the vocals. There is a clash between multiple genres in this song. I can hear disco, funk, Jazz and a little pop… well… to make it pop. No, this doesn’t make the song bad, but rather interesting (but the first time listening to the song, it was confusing) to listen to. The vocals are quite nice (as I mentioned before – well balanced) and the rapping by Moonbyul was solid as well. The song overall, quite nicely. My only concern is that the song didn’t have that strong Mamamoo feel. Harmonising and loud (as some would say). It was something that I mentioned in the Décalcomanie review, but that song was still managed to sound quite strong. It is a track released prior to their main come back, so I can’t really bang on about who it feels distant from the artist’s usual style and you could even say that Mamamoo is trying to shine through a different style. I just miss that harmonising and backup vocals that sound amazing live.

The music video tells a story, but nothing that I would stick around to watch. But I forced myself to watch it in the end. Wheein has a crush on this guy, but the girls seem to persuade her to have some fun without him. So the girls set up this elaborate plan to pretend Wheein is in New York and the girls go out to have fun. In the end, the guy finds out that the girls were still in South Korea, eating at a food stand. The acting is quite off here. I have to admit it. It looks exaggerated and quite cringy at times. I am also glad that Solar’s hair is fake and that is it simply a wig. I had to give myself a moment when I first saw it. What I liked about the video: the connection between their live performance and the music video. It felt unique and different. It also added to the level of fun in the video, which was something that I also enjoyed as well.

The dance was a little weird, but watching it a few times, I felt like it was just perfect for the song. They promoted the song once or twice, which I don’t really understand why. The dance does look like it was slapped together within minutes (yes, I think dances are slapped together hahaha…), but it still ended up okay (I guess).

Rating – 6.5/10

[Review] Fanfare – SF9

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Another male rookie that I missed out this year. SF9 made their debut in October of this year. They are the first dance group to debut under FNC Entertainment, which also houses CN Blue, FT Island, N.Flying and AOA. The group consist of 9 members and the lineup includes: Youngbin, Inseong, Jaeyoon, Dawon, Rowoon, Zuho, Taeyang, Hwiyoung, Chani.

Fanfare is the title track of their debut release. The song is okay. Overall, it doesn’t really stand out from other debuts. It just doesn’t make me go wow or make me feel interested in the band (I say this but I will continue looking out for them for reviews). Closely inspecting the track for this review, I noticed that for the first time in a very long, I think the rapping in the song sounds a lot better than the vocal work.  The vocals just seemed a little flat. That being said, the song does have its moments. The “Lalalala Fare Fare FanFare~” is quite catchy and the instrumental stands out in the crowd. It is a nice mix between dance and hip-hop. To me, it is quite an intense instrumental, which makes the song is quite strong. I personally think it is a song that did show off particular sides to their band. If only the vocals were a little more defined and shown off a little more, I think the song would have been better.

Honestly, the video is a little bland for my taste. But from what I see, the video matches the song quite nicely. The combination of those scenes with not much going on (surprisingly), the choreography scenes and camera work makes the video seem quite intense, matching the same intensity I mentioned above, in the song. I hope there isn’t a plot to the video. Because from what I see, it is just them gathering each up to tag a wall. It also looks like they took the piece of the wall back to a warehouse. Yeah, not going to ask questions over there.

The choreography shares that level of intensity and actually, I think it looks really cool. It is quite impressive as well.

Rating – 6/10

 

[Review] If You – Ailee

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[This review was written and scheduled a few months back in preparation for my absence in December. The standard posts for the end of the year (comebacks I have missed in November & December, the end of year charts + KPOPreviewed awards) will be written and posted after my return. No weekly charts will be uploaded for the last week of November and all of December.]

Ailee released If You as a pre-release single off her latest mini-album, A New Empire. This release occurred on the 23rd of August this year. This ended up being her first release since her comeback in 2015.

This ballad is. by far, one of the best ballads of the year. The song fits the Summer season (when it was initially released) perfectly. When it comes to the words Ballad and Summer are in the same sentence, this song’s instrumental is what you expect. Throw in Ailee’s vocal work and you have a pretty good song. It just lacks impact. All of Ailee’s songs (and even Ailee’s Home, which I deemed lacking as well) are hard-hitting. This just doesn’t reach that peak. But still, it is a pretty nice song to listen to. Actually, the combination of vocals and instrumental sounds like a happy tune from a gospel choir or like one of those beautiful sounding soulful songs. The way she opens each chorus was “If You~” sounds effortlessly amazing and it stays in my head every single time I hear the song. Her ad-libs towards the end were amazing as well.

The video features Nayoung from I.O.I. She plays the female in the video. Not sure who the male is. The video is a little confusing to understand, but you do get it in the end. Essentially, everything she sees is flashbacks of her past relationships. She has to leave them behind (i.e. enter a new door) to get over them. So the video is like her journey. In the end, she reaches her goal of getting past her old relationships (because clearly, she doesn’t want those memories to be repeated with her current boyfriend) and embraces her current boyfriend. The plot ties in nicely with the lyrics. Not really liking the acting in the video. Her face seems a little frozen. If her facial expressions were more expressive, I think I would have liked the video a little bit more. But overall, the video is nice to watch.

Rating – 9/10 

[Review] Gorilla – Pentagon

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[This review was written and scheduled a few months back in preparation for my absence in December. The standard posts for the end of the year (comebacks I have missed in November & December, the end of year charts + KPOPreviewed awards will be written and posted after my return. No weekly charts will be uploaded for the last week of November and all of December.]

Pentagon is a 10 member boy group who debuted back in October with the track Gorilla. The group is currently under Cube Entertainment. The members were chosen via the show Pentagon Maker. All of the members selected on the program and a few eliminated contestants went on to form Pentagon. In the end, the group comprises of Jinho, Hui, Hongseok, E’Dawn, Shinwon, Yeo One, Yan An, Yuto, Kino & Wooseok.  Jinho was originally a part of SM The Ballad and Hongseok participated in the survival program for iKON (but was eliminated).

Can’t say I like the song, but I don’t hate it. It is a song that I am on the fence about. Considering just the title, it makes me laugh. It is a title that is very out there and doesn’t allude to your typical track. It kind acted as the deal breaker for me. The song (removed from the title in my head) actually sounds pretty good. They have a solid beat that formed the basis of their song. And the song progressed quite smoothly. I would have enjoyed the song a little more if the chanting “Gorilla Gorilla” was completely omitted. (Once again, I just can’t take the title properly). Not many Gorilla references in the lyrics, but some of the lines were questionable: “Everyone wants to pick you like a strawberry“. Hmmm.. But besides, I liked the instrumental. It has a nice pop/hip-hop vibe and I mentioned the cool beat before. Their vocals and rapping was pretty good.

As a concept, Gorilla sounds pretty ordinary. This is KPOP we are talking about. A genre where the concepts that artists go for when it comes to videos and performances aren’t that ‘normal’ in Western culture. While some people seem to be able to piece out a story with the various different scenes, to me, it just seems like a bunch of shots made to string together. They look like they have no relevance and don’t flow from each other. Some relevance to gorillas. while some relevance was directed to the group’s name, Pentagon. The group choreography was well shot but not that focused. I assume to match the craziness of the dance and the music, those shots were out of focus and shaky. Overall thoughts on the video: it is a mess. That or I am really confused.

However, the choreography for this debut is smashing. From what I can see, the group has a lot of potential in this department. The dance at the chorus has to be one of the few dances of the year. It matches the Gorilla concept pretty well and the song. Looks funny but after a while you overlook it and see a great dance.

Rating – 5.5/10

 

[Double Review] Still 24K + Bingo – 24K

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[This review was written and scheduled a few months back in preparation for my absence in December. The standard posts for the end of the year (comebacks I have missed in November & December, the end of year charts + KPOPreviewed awards will be written and posted after my return. No weekly charts will be uploaded for the last week of November and all of December.]

This is my first time reviewing 24K , so let me give you a rundown of the band. 24K is a boy band under Choeun Entertainment, who debuted in 2012. The group has had lineup changes since debut and currently, the seven members of the band are: Cory, Kisu, Jeonguk, Hui, Changsun, Jihong and Hongseob. The band debuted with Hurry Up and went on to release songs such as Secret Love, SuperFly & Hey You.

Still 24K is a pretty cool EDM track. The instrumental is hard-hitting, upbeat and given you are listening to the song with surround sounds, it would  sound amazing. I like the vocals of the song. The rapping sounds rough, suiting the song, but sounds very staged and manipulated. The chorus is quite simple: ‘Still 24K, Still 24K”, but the instrumentals here are definitely the peak of the song. Bingo is another EDM track that has a much deeper and serious tone to it. It sounds like a little bit of rock is also infused into the song. The vocals and rap in this song are okay. Like Still 24K, Bingo doesn’t have much of a chorus but this time around the instrumental where the chorus should be isn’t that good. It is quite underwhelming and doesn’t sound smooth as the instrumental chorus in Still 24K. I like the ending of Bingo, because it is quite like an adrenaline rush. But that feeling should have been much earlier to make it even better. Just by reading this part of the review, I think you can tell which track I like better (Still 24K).

The two music videos join together to form one large story arc. 24K is a gang that, in the video, conducts heist to steal money and jewlery. Previously, they had visited one of these places to check it out and they find out that it is the jackpot. They start planning for the heist. It seems like the girl, who is in a relationship with the guy with greyhair, doesn’t agree that he should be doing this and they get into an argument. He kisses her, but she doesn’t seem too pleased. As they leave, she makes eye contact with brown hair guy and he nods towards her. They successfully pull of the heist, however the two guys I mentioned get into a fight. As they are celebrating the success, grey hair guy gets a message that says his girlfriend has been kidnapped and that the mysterious kidnappers demand more money. Hence the guys go back. However, the police gets tipped off and a massive gun battle proceeds. The gang barely makes it out. However, they end up facing the kidnappers. The gang end up trading the stuff they stole in exchange for the girl. However, plot twist. She starts laughing, which confuses the gang. It turns out that the brown hair guy from earlier is also in love with her and they both decide to trick the others to get more money. That shocks the gang (like really eye bulging shock). The two opposing sides get into a gun battle and the gang is severely killed. The girl and the brown hair guy leaves and live on. Overall, it is a pretty good story to watch. Another one that is almost movie quality. My main complaint falls onto the second video, Bingo. I don’t mind the flashbacks, but since the first music video  focused on the almost unsuccessful heist already, most of the scenes in the second music video were not needed. Maybe one scene for a refresher. I felt the music video became a little too repetitive because the events were later revisited. But that’s just my small complaint.

Both dances are really cool. I just felt Still 24K’s dance was a little weak for the song (i.e. it was performed quite strongly, but the dance moves themselves didn’t seem strong). Bingo’s dance was perfect for the song and revisited the whip a few times.

Still 24K – 8.5/10

Bingo – 7.5/10

[Review] One More Day -Sistar & Giorgio Moroder

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Sistar has made an unexpected return with a collaboration with the legendary Giorgio Moroder, who (for those who don’t know) is a DJ and artist, who started Italo disco and electronic dance music. Yeah… I have heard of him in the past, but I didn’t know who he is exactly. What a Google Search can do nowadays… On with the review because there is a lot to talk about.

One More Day is one amazing track. The instrumental is smashing. And goes very well with the vocals of the group. The verses sound deep and low, but still amazing. In contrast, the chorus stands out for being more brighter and catchy. Bora’s rap segment is quite short (which is a disappointment) but extremely fitting with the song. Everything strings together quite well. The most important thing of all, you can hear the influences of Europe and Giorgio Moroder in the song, mainly because the instrumental isn’t like any other song from my memory. But despite that, you can hear those international influences, the song still manages to fit in with KPOP and Korea. Just I do have another comment to make. Sistar’s line distribution does it again. Bora’s segment was too short and I felt like Soyu would have added a nice touch to the chorus. The vocals just feel like a simple copy and paste.

The music video is one of those videos that is on a whole new level. So what happens? (I will refer to the short hair girl as A and long hair girl as B). The girls, I assume, are just friends at the start. But as the video progresses along, the girls start to develop feelings for each other. However, while this is all happening, A  is in a relationship of her own (with her boyfriend). This makes the B extremely jealous, which A becomes aware of. From what I also see, A seems to be abused by her boyfriend, which angers B. Especially when the three are together and A’s boyfriend acts all lovey with A. After a night out with B, the girls run into the boyfriend and they get into a scuffle. The boyfriend gets angry at A and slaps her across the face. B gets angry and tries to protect her lover. B grabs a brick, while A grabs wine bottles and the two end up killing the boyfriend (or rendering him unconscious). Knowing it is for the best, somehow they pack his body into a suitcase and wheel to it an empty field. They blow up a car with the suitcase inside and walk away.

The acting here is amazing. The chemistry is quite strong. Throw in the fact that the video contains tabooed topics in Korea,  you can see what level the music video is on. It takes on the social issues that videos in South Korea don’t really refer to, in fear the video and artists are criticised for it. Maybe killing people is not the way to go, but hopefully, this video draws attention to these issues (homosexuality and domestic abuse) in Korea and the world.

Rating – 9/10

 

[Review] Milky Way – VIXX

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VIXX has released a brand new song to end their Conception trilogy. The album compromises all the title tracks for the trilogy (Dynamite, Fantasy and The Closer), along with any tracks that were released with the title tracks and the addition of Milky Way.

The song is pretty good. I like it how VIXX does end up releasing a song that more bright and happier than their any of their latest releases. It is a song for the fans, who have supported them. A way to say thanks to their Starlights (VIXX’s fanclub) and other fans. There is a classy and elegant feel that you get when you listen to the song. It is a song that, at least for me, gets my feet tapping along. Everything in the track has this very smooth or sleek feeling. The vocals and even Ravi’s rapping are not hard-hitting, rough or powerful. But each members vocals / Ravi’s rap are shown off and you can definitely hear their talent in this song. The song needs more of a hook, in my opinion. Honestly, it is something that I would forget about it now, but rediscover in a months time and then complain to myself how forgot about this song. But nonetheless, the song is still pretty calming and nice to listen to now.

Since this is a music video for the fans, I don’t think it would be fair for me to be critical about it. After all the track and video itself are presents from VIXX to the fans. The video was shot with 600 fans. It also shows the guys being themselves on stage, with an ocean of fans around them. I assumed the video also uses some of the shots taken by fans. To be honest, given the stories about fans recently, they look very well behaved here.

Rating – 8/10

[Review] White Night – UP10TION

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UP10TION is also another band which had a busy year. They previously made their comeback with Attention and Tonight this year. Now they are back with their 5th mini-album, titled as Burst. Their latest title track is White Night.

It’s one of those tracks, where you won’t get into it by listening to it once. Rather, it will take a few listens to actually start liking it. At first, I thought the song was boring and forgettable. But listening to it a few more times have tempted me on putting this track on replay. The EDM-infused instrumental is amazing. It sounds edgy, tough and strong. It sounds rough (not in a bad way). I liked the “Burning Out” start. That really caught my attention. Started the song on a high for me. The beat seemed to be diminished after that intro. But as you progressed with the rest of the song, everything builds up. I think the first verse felt a little too empty without the added layers in the instrumental present in the later parts. The vocals and rapping were pretty good. The instrumental for the dance break was superb as well. Also, everything seemed a little too fast. Maybe small breaks in the song (particularly after the first chorus where everything seemed to be placed side by side and almost sounded like a blur). But besides that, I really enjoyed listening to the track. Already replayed multiple times.

The video is a little confusing. But using fan theories (from the comments section of the video) and my observations, this is my take on the video. 3 friends (Hwanhee, Kogyeol and Wooshin) used to be best of friends. Kogyeol died in an accident caused by Hwanhee on the ice hockey, thus breaking the friendship up (Wooshin blamed Hwanhee for Kogyeol’s death). Back when Kogyeol was alive, he had a girlfriend played by Somi from I.O.I. After his death, the video kind of alludes to the other two friends competing with each other. However, towards the end, it turns out that Hwanhee blamed himself for Kogyeol’s death, and gave a puck with Kogyeol and Somi’s name on it and his dead friend’s helmet. I guess this is his way to trying to make himself feel better and supporting Somi through the loss. Wooshin, on the other hand, somehow jumps to the conclusion that his former friend caused the accident on purpose, so Hwanhee could be with Somi. Wooshin confronts Hwanhee and they get into a fight. In the end, I think Wooshin realizes the truth on what Hwanhee was actually doing. That’s my take on the story. They showed the beginning at the end and the end at the start and I guess that threw me (and some other people) off. It was a very intense video that seemed like a mini-movie. I think it is a really good video to watch.

The dance is amazing. They have returned with a dance that is fitting for the song. Movements looked cool and very sharp. The dance break was pretty good.

Rating – 8.5/10

[Review] U – KNK

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KNK made their debut at the end of February of this year with Knock. They made their first comeback in May with Back Again. Now, they are back with a new single, U.

U is a very popping and strong track. The son reminds me of their title track. The song tried to feel as intense as their debut track but fell short of that goal. The vocal work and the rapping in the song were okay. The song did feel a little bland and monotone. They didn’t deviate from that straight line analogy and it did become boring. It was as if the later parts of the song were copied and pasted over and over again. There wasn’t anything that seemed different from the first chorus and the last chorus, which is commonly using different lyrics or ad-libs are added to give the song that final peak or impact. [Relistening to the song one more time, there are ad-libs. They were just completely drowned out]. Also the instrumental sounds good but it is as if the producers could not decide on it and decided to join multiple instrumentals. Some parts were fast tempo, others were slow. It just did not flow well together. It was almost sounded as if it was jagged. I do still think the song is still worth listening to as it does share that common ground with Knock and Back Again (i.e. all their songs do remind you of KPOP a few backs and do aim / are intense to listen to).

No music video was released for this track due to poor editing and quality. That is a pretty dangerous move for a rookie group from a small company. I understand that they might not need a budget, but a music video goes a long way.

However, they did release a Performance Version, which I have included below. But that just shows the choreography. And yes, KNK was shown themselves off again with they sharp dance moves and fast footwork. Did you see the “U, U, U” part of the dance?  While I have seen it in the industry before, it still looks amazing each time.

Rating – 7/10

[Review] 11:11 – Taeyeon (SNSD)

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Taeyeon has had a busy year with the release of Rain and  Why. However, she has added another single to the list with the release of 11:11 a few weeks back. It seems like SM Entertainment is making the most of Taeyeon’s successful solos with these constant releases.

Taeyeon’s ballads have always been standouts for me. I, Rain and now 11:11 all sound spectacular. They are all different songs in their own right. In my past reviews, I have said I and Rain are both vocally charged songs. There is also a hint of emotion in Rain. In 11:11, the emotions are heard more readily and strongly. Some people may think it is a weak song due to its soft nature, but from how I hear it, the emotions are oozing out of this song. The very simple yet bold acoustics in the instrumental and her dreamy vocals make this a song enjoyable to listen to (despite her singing about a breakup). It’s slow, but not too slow. The “na na na” leaves a long lasting impression in my mind and it makes me go back for more. It is a perfect song for the Autumn/Fall months. Give Taeyeon’s ballads a try because out of the three she has released as a solo artist, there is bound to be one for everyone.

The music video shows a couple breaking up. It threw in some flashbacks when the couple used to be more happy and loving. The transitions between different settings and between flashbacks looked nice. But besides that, the video was quite boring. It didn’t captivate me like how the song captivated me. There wasn’t much appeal to it. I’ve mentioned slow-motion recently in many of the past reviews. It matches the tempo and beat of the song. But it slowed everything down here and it dragged the video out for me.

Rating – 8.5/10