Category: KPOP

[Review] Hey Mama – EXO-CBX

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EXO has made a comeback with the reduced form of 3 members. Chen, Baekhyun and Xiumin had joined forces to form a new subunit and perform as a trio on stage.  It has been previously rumoured that EXO would launch a subunit.This is not their first release as a trio. The three has released an OST for the drama – Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo. As per any EXO release, the song and album have topped charts as soon as the release was dropped.

The song is freaking amazing. I liked everything about it. I had my doubts about some aspects, but those doubts were crushed as soon as I started listening to the song for the first time. The song has a very dominate retro vibe (very funky and reminds me a lot of the disco era), which I like a lot. I loved the very dominate guitar sounds in the instrumental. It made the instrumental interesting and added an extra layer of depth to the song. Even the vocals of the song were really good. Baekhyun and Chen are known to be the powerhouse vocals in EXO. This song does justice to that fact very nicely. Chen even got the spotlight on him for his amazing high note at the end of the song, which does show to the world the hidden gem in EXO. Xiumin sounds amazing here and it is a pity that the line distribution for EXO songs isn’t in his favour sometimes. Even his rapping caught me off guard (but for good reasons). Baekhyun rapping is something that I am on the fence with. Works in this song, but sounded weird. An excellent song, in my books. And extremely catchy. Definitely, a song that will be replayed constantly.

The video shows a more playful side of the trio. EXO music videos are quite dark or masculine. This video moves away from that and gives the members a more colourful side to them. Have little to no clue on what is going on in the video. It seems like Chen and Xiumin are hard at work, but with a little persuasion from Baekhyun, they join Baekhyun in some sort of rebellion against society. The red papers seem to be important, but the pages are ultimately trashed. Even the rest of society are too busy banging their drinks on the tables. But with the trio stepping up onto television, everyone breaks free from the really boring drinking-banging ritual and join on in with the fun. Because life is only great, when you have fun. They even threw in a side romance for Chen in there. There is also a nice refreshing feel from the video. I feel like this is a music video that is easily relatable to and it isn’t over the top or complex to read. It’s simple and straight to the point (provided my interpretation is right).

The choreography is pretty cool as well. It looks cool and fits nicely with the song as well. The love their hand movements during the “Ooh, Ooh” that appears at the end of each chorus.

Rating – 9.5/10

 

 

 

[Review] TT – Twice

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One of the trendiest girl groups of the year has finally returned. Twice is currently killing the charts as we speak with their latest song, TT. They previously came back with Cheer Up. Any records set by Cheer Up was broken with TT, proving the force and impact Twice has in the game.

Another song that was recently released that I just shoved into my playlist because it is so great. Cheer Up was a disappointment for me, but I recently started warming up to it. TT just reels me in straight away and hooks me with the really catchy rhythm. First of all, “ba-ba-baby” is really catchy. I don’t understand what was so good with the “shy shy shy” phenomenon, but “ba-ba-baby” is a very simple and addictive part of the song. Secondly, the house genre instrumental was quite nice. It added colour, cuteness (kind of) and a vibrant feel to the song. It backed the vocals quite nicely, giving support and structure to the song. The vocals were okay, not the best, but okay. The ending felt quite messy with the ad-libs.  Minus the underwhelming vocals, I do like this song a lot and have been listening to it non-stop. It’s so damn catchy.

The music video is perfect of the Halloween season. Following a similar style as Cheer Up, the girls dress up as different characters. The one that caught my attention and made me smile as soon as I saw it was the cute as Dahyun bunny. Highlight of the video was probably the shuffling bunny. Moving along, I didn’t like the massive Jack-O-Lantern,in which they were dancing in. It looked cringeworthy. Also didn’t like their dull clothing which they wore while doing all the choreography scenes together. They look boring and unfitting for video. But besides that, everything else looked amazing. The ending has a “Coming Soon” label on it. I honestly didn’t know that there was going to be a second part. I am intrigued to see what they have in store with the next part. I also wonder how they plan on continuing the Halloween theme, since Halloween is basically over until October next year.

I love how they included the TT emoji in the choreography. Also liked the “ba-ba-baby” part. But besides that, the rest of the dance was quite boring to watch.

Rating – 8/10

[Review] Very Very Very – I.O.I

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I.O.I have officially returned (as a full group) with their final comeback before disbandment. For those who don’t know, I.O.I is only just a project group formed with the top trainees of Produce 101. The top  11 contestants/trainees formed I.O.I and would promote for 1 year before disbandment (they will returning to their respective companies after disbanding).

Very Very Very is a Very Very Very amazing song. But of course, how is it a Very Very Very amazing song? Well, it is Very Very Very catchy and Very Very Very  addictive. (okay, I will stop now). This is probably their best song. I guess people are right when they say that the best was saved for their last. I liked everything about the song. From the vocals to the really strong and vibrant instrumental. It made the song very fun to listen to. The rapping was superb. Pulling that out of the bag made the song amazing and genuinely surprised me because I didn’t know that certain member could rap so well. The chorus was probably the highlight and probably reeled a lot of people in. Sooner or later (I do hope later, though), it will become really annoying and repetitive. But I haven’t got to that stage yet, so its look good.

The music video reminded me of Russian Roulette. I assume because the same production team or director was employed to produce/direct the video. The strong and vibrant vibes that I felt from the song was portrayed strongly in the music video through the colour scheme and overall end product of the video. All the girls look very cute.  I just don’t understand the need of freckles. I don’t think having freckles make you any cuter, so I don’t really understand why. I also think they might have overdone it with the blush for their promotional pictures. Either way, the video takes you back to the aegyo feels and memories. It has been a while since a decent aegyo filled video was released and this one probably does it right. Or the most comfortable.

I love the dance. Simple and easy. Not that hard, even I can do it. Hahaha… But it fits the beat, the concept and looks Very Very Very impressive overall.

Sorry for the short review. It is sad to see the girls go. But they went out with such an amazing song and their best comeback yet!

Rating – 9/10

[Weekly Chart] 4th Week of October 2016

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Welcome back to this week’s chart. How are you all doing? As you can tell from the very bland feature image, it’s Halloween, which is in 1 or 2 days (depending on where you are in the world).  Also found some free images on the app that I used to create those banners (which I plan to change around next year) suitable for the Halloween season.

I will also be posting next week’s chart later than usual for next week. It will be released during next week, I just don’t know when. All I can tell you if I feel like I am on top of my exam preparation, then I should be able to post it earlier during the week. If not, then you shall need to wait until Thursday or Friday night.

This week the top of the chart has been rearranged. Ladies Code, Davichi and I.O.I making the top 3, pushing GOT7 and the other groups who were in the top 3 for the last few weeks down to lower positions. Next week seems to be interesting with VIXX, Bastarz, EXO-CBX, N.CA making their respective comebacks. High hopes for all of them. I also suspect Twice will rise next week. No promises there, but given the exposure that they have and how they turn up on all my playlists, I think the chances of it being quite high.

A lovely 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.

23rd Oct – 29th Oct 2016
Title Artist Status
1 The Rain Ladies Code (↑ 2)  
2 Very Very Very I.O.I (↑ 4)  
3 Beside Me Davichi (↑ 2)  
4 TT Twice (new) 
5 Hard Carry GOT7 (↓ 4) 
6 Blood, Sweat & Tears BTS (↓ 2)
7 Gorilla Pentagon (↑ 9)  
8 Give It To Me Seven (↑ 2)  
9 The Eye Infinite (=) 
10 Fri. Sat. Sun Dal Shabet (↓ 2)
11 Bobby Doll Song Ji Eun (Secret) (↑ 22) 
12 Home Ailee (=)  
13 Love Is Davichi (↑ 2)  
14 Better Day 100% (↑ 11) 
15 Fighter Monsta X (↓ 13)
16 1 of 1 SHINee (↓ 9)
17 Russian Roulette Red Velvet (=) 
18 Only One APINK (↑ 2)  
19 Secret Time Spica (↓ 8) (Final Week)
20 Doo Doom Chit Crayon Pop (↓ 6) 
21 Bingo 24K (new) 
22 Fanfare SF9 (↓ 4)
23 Stand By Me BTOB Blue (↓ 2)
24 Dancing King Yoo Jae Suk X EXO (↓ 1) 
25 Chewing Gum NCT Dream (↑ 2)  (Final Week)
26 Fall Crush (↓ 7) 
27 Carnival Gain (Brown Eyed Girls) (↑ 3)  
28 On The Way Home Sunny Hill (↑ 8)  (Final Week)
29 Promise (I’ll Be) 2PM (↓ 3)
30 Stay As You Are Sanduel (B1A4) (↓ 17) 

Some songs have been on the chart system for 9 weeks now, and starting next week will not be appearing on the charts anymore (and the Top 30). They include:

  • Chewing Gum – NCT Dream (Peak: 3 – appeared on Top 30 for all 9 weeks)
  • Secret Time – Spica (Peak: 1 – appeared on Top 30 for all 9 weeks)
  • Love Paint – NU’EST (Peak: 7 – appeared on Top 30 for 6 weeks)
  • On The Way Home – Sunny Hill (Peak 8 – appeared on Top 30 for 8 weeks)
  • Dilemma – Homme (Peak: 27 – appeared on Top 30 for 2 weeks)

Hope you all enjoy your week and Happy Halloween wherever you are!

[Review] Give It To Me – Se7en

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Seven is finally back. His last promotions were during 2013, prior to his enlistment into the South Korean army. Hence, this officially marks his first release since 2013 and the completion of his military duties. Seven was previously a part of YG Entertainment, but in 2015, Seven parted ways with YG Entertainment and recently established Eleven9 Entertainment.

Being an artist who used to delve a lot into the RnB genre in Korea, this is a lot different to what he normally releases. Under YG, he kind of kept to one or two genres. With his return after two years, he went with a dance/party song with a lot of funk, something that I am quite sure he has not attempted at all yet. A pretty nice song to dance to at a party if you ask me honestly. Especially, the ‘bow-wow’ part at the end of the song. Or those “okay-okay” lines just prior to the chorus. The chorus is by far the peak of the song. The verses were pretty bland and boring to listen to. His vocals were quite lacking in the song. He relied heavily on background vocals to provide support to his song. Without it, the entire song would feel bland just like all his verses. But the way he repeated a lot of the instrumental sounds and lyrics made the song quite addictive and catchy to listen to. Overall, I think it is a good song, but definitely lacking at certain points.

The music video was pretty boring. Much like the song, there was definitely a funk element that went into the video. However, there really ain’t much in the video to talk about. Seven waking up and sliding his way out of his apartment isn’t much to comment on. Nor the transitions in the video, which I am not a fan of. Or the fact that he is sitting in a barber shop with no barber in there. The scenes that I did enjoy included his back-up dancers and those parts where he is dancing at the club. It would have been nice to have more of those scenes, mainly because you song alludes to that environment. He could have kept it a little low with the solo scenes and gone for more of that party vibe to heighten the part vibes, in my opinion.

Dance wise, I think it is pretty good. Powerful in its own way. Quite lively and fitting that party vibe which the music video missed. It also gave him a lot of room to move creatively and I think he did just that with this performance. Once again, I do like it when there are more people on the stage with him (such as the ending). But still, the party vibe is there throughout the performance.

Rating – 6.5/10

[Review] The Rain – Ladies Code

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Ladies Code have returned to the stage with a brand new track, The Rain. They made their previous comeback earlier this year with Galaxy.

This song is freaking amazing. Perfection to my ears. It’s one of the songs out there, where you just listen once and then you just fall in love with it. This song continues on from Galaxy, with such an edgy and dark vibe oozing from the song. But this song is much better than Galaxy. Each element in the song is amazing and quite strong on its own. But when you add them together, it equates to a very strong piece of music. The instrumental has a nice jazzy sound coming out of it. On top of that, a pretty striking piano is heard at the start. The chorus becomes quite funky. The tempo immediately slows down after each chorus, but it works for this song. While the vocals aren’t that impressive in this song (Sojung’s husky/strong vocals seems to be the only one that fits in well, with the other member’s voice a little weak), they seem to work somehow. Again, with many songs nowadays, the build up is amazing. Yes, it fluctuates, but make the song come together quite nicely. I am not a major fan of abrupt endings, but the way this song ended, seem to fit in with the rest of the song quite nicely.

The music video is quite anaesthetic. I love the sets in the video and all the closeups.  There is something about a metal ball dropping onto glass quite interesting. Paired with the launch into each chorus, I think they tie well together in terms of effect. The fishes, not too much. A little cruel, but let’s not get into there. I noticed that a lot of things in the video seem to match the tempo of the song. When it becomes slow, the video shows a member walking or slow rain drops. When the chorus kicks in, particuarly the final chorus, everything is a lot faster, such as the transitions between shots and the overall content in the scene. I love the use of the floral umbrellas used in a few sets. They do look cheesy, but they do add a hint of elegance to the video. The onyl problem I have are those clothing pieces with the yelow flowers on it. I am not one to talk fashion. I have a terrible fashion sense, but they look pretty bad. Something with a more minialistic vibe would have looked better in the video.

I should ban myself from using the word ‘amazing’, but this choreography is amazing. Once again, the dance matches the tempo of the song all throughout. There is also a nice sense of elegance to the dance as well, particularly, the final pose and the dance to the chorus, which kind of goes hand in hand with that jazzy sound.

Rating – 9/10

 

 

[Review] Better Day – 100%

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It has been a while since we all last heard from 100%. They were last on stage as 100% back in 2014 with Beat. Since then, we have not heard anything from them until earlier this year when Changbum announced that he had left the group. That put the group back on the map for me (because I completely forgot about them), who also announced that they will be coming back. And hence why we are here today.

I like the song quite a bit. It is a pretty good song to have them return back to the stage with. The song does have a boring element to it. The only thing that keeps me listening to their song is their solid chorus and their unique instrumental. Their instrumental has a nice classical influence and sounds quite refined (from the violins to the piano, everything here is amazing). That introduction and ending caught my attention (I don’t know what it is called, but that sound was amazing) and the chorus fits the song perfectly. Through the chorus, you can tell that the members are vocally talented. But the vocals were also their downfall in my books. The verses were dry, bland and very boring. If the chorus or the instrumental weren’t there, I would have skipped this song. A little more bass to the chorus would have done wonders to the song as well. The rapping is quite good. The song flowed quite nicely despite my comments on the chorus. Overall, a solid song for a return after a 2-year absence.

The song also had a dark and edgy feel to it. That was portrayed quite nicely in the music video. The majority of the video was just close up of the guys singing. There were a few scenes which had a female lead, but they aren’t much to discuss. Like literally, they are close-ups of the girl staring mysteriously at the camera. And the guys do that or have these faces of sorrow or regret. Love the feeling of the video, but overall it was boring to watch.

Fitting the classical and elegant sound, the group has pulled off a great choreography. While managing to pull out amazing stable vocals and raps, the group still manages to wow me with their dance. I don’t why, but watching them, I felt like they have shown a lot of improvement since their last set of promotions.

Rating – 7/10

[Double Review] Beside Me + Love Is – Davichi

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The Queens of Ballads have finally graced the stage in 2016. Davichi has officially made their comeback with double title tracks. The first track is titled as Beside Me and the other one is Love Is.  It’s been a while since I last reviewed them. The have also changed companies moving from MBK Entertainment to CJ E&M.

I freaking love Davichi ballads. They always have this fresh feel. Both songs managed to have that fresh feel, yet at the same time had a different element that kept the songs unique. Beside Me appeals to me because, while it is a ballad, there is an element of catchiness. Haeri sings one particular section of the song, the chorus, which caught my ears as soon as I listened to it. For a ballad, it is damn catchy. That is my favourite part of the song. That being said, the rest of the song is equally amazing. You could literally feel the emotion poured into this song. The lyrics portray the heartbreak pretty well, but their vocals just add another level of depth to it. While you think the rollercoaster of emotion is over, Love Is just decides to come along and dumping a lot of feelings. This song is much slower, but there is probably 100 times more emotion in this song. The reason why I like this song is that there is a lot of elegance when they sing the song. Especially the chorus where they emphasis that one word (or syllable): mwo (뭐). It sounds amazing. Their vocals have never been a joke and this just proves that even more. I also love how the start has a really soft instrumental and it slowly builds up into a beautiful orchestra piece. The vocals start of loud, but not too loud. As the instrumental builds up, it gave me an impression that the vocals were fading and fitted snuggly into the song. By the end, there was that amazing balance that I seek in song and ballads (especially Davichi’s ballad) portray amazingly.

Beside Me is a very mysterious video and the concept is quite matching to the song. The girls are in this foggy forest, running around, looking for their ‘lost’ love. The girls sing about how he must have forgotten about them and how they will always be there for their lover. Them running around the forest, the hallway, desperately looking for their love in their long dresses made the video quite powerful and meaningful. While not running around, the close up shots were captured the beauty of the girls really nicely. Love Is stars Lee Jong Suk has the main character. This music video is amazing for a number of reason. Lee Jong Suk is an amazing actor and his acting in the video is perfection. We see LJS arrive at this home and he seems to reminisce about the old times. That’s because in the video, he returns to his family home for either’s his father’s funeral or death anniversary. The memories get a little too much and when he faces his dad, he is overcome with emotion, crying while bowing down to his father’s portrait. Amazing video. The emphasis on those everyday sounds like picking up the mail, flipping the picture, the raining coming down etc. gave off a surreal sense of reality and added some more of that level of emotion (mainly because Davichi’s vocals and LJS’s acting isn’t enough). Both are amazing videos.

I cannot differentiate the videos and songs. They are both pieces of perfection to my ears and eyes, just in their own way.

Beside Me – 10/10
Love Is – 10/10

[Review] Stay As You Are – Sandeul (B1A4)

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B1A4’s main vocal has finally made his long-awaited debut with Stay As You Are. Sandeul is known for his amazing vocals, as proven by his appearances on shows like Immortal Song and Duet Song Festival. I particularly like his vocals when he is on Duet Song Festival. They always seem to blow me away. You should check out the performances. I guarantee you will be blown away.

A great ballad that brings out his vocals. The song starts off pretty slow and soft. But as you listen to the song, his vocals start to pick up (in terms of power) and the instrumental starts to become more layered and defined. In other words, the build up is quite spectacular. I am glad that there was a build up, otherwise, the song would have been too boring and easily forgettable. unfortunately, the song itself is quite forgettable. A little disappointed by that. If it was more memorable somehow, the song would have done a lot better on the charts. However, that’s just my subjective look on the song. Moving back to his vocals, you can definitely feel the emotion in the song just by listening to his voice. That is a sign of an excellent vocalist and singer. It is as if it a feather, drifting across the surface of water (just to throw in an analogy). Overall, while it is easily forgettable, the ballad does fulfil one thing. It is an excellent start to Sandeul’s solo career and compliments him quite well.

I have not yet watched the video. I do click on the video to watch it, but then get distracted the very next second before the video starts, so technically, I don’t find the video boring (as of yet). Let me retell the video for you guys. Sandeul wakes up (and like everyone else in the world) gets ready for the day with a blank and zoned out expression. We see him sitting at a cafe and just spending his day there. One day, a girl sits down at his table and starts following him around (without his permission). But as love stories usually go by, he falls for her. At the very end, he wakes up from his dream. From that alone and the lyrics, it seems like he was imagining his future lover and it seems like he was pretty disappointed by the ‘dream’ because it wasn’t real life. I personally think that is a great storyline and it matches perfectly with the lyrics. Sandeul’s acting here was amazing as well. The chemistry and emotions between him and the female lead looks pretty realistic. The overall way the video was shot was quite beautiful as well.

Rating – 9/10

[Review] Blood, Sweat & Tears – BTS

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BTS returned for a very limited amount of time back in April with the release of the third part (and final part) of their trilogy. Now, they have returned with their second album, Wings, and the title track Blood, Sweat and Tears. This latest comeback has managed to break multiple records and it is the first comeback that I have seen where 5 million views (or possibly more – I forgot the actual number) for their music video occurred in 1 day. The power of Army is real and very strong.

This song is very good. Following the roots of their previous songs in the year, Blood Sweat and Tears features a very nice EDM (I think it is a more powerful version of chill-step. It definitely has that chill vibe, but there are other EDM components in it) instrumental. There was that chill vibe and it didn’t go over the top or feel overpowering. There was a nice balance between the instrumental and the vocal/rap. Vocally, the members sound amazing. The husky voice that Jimin had to start off the song became a launch pad into the song. The rapping felt quite limited this time. A little disappointed by that. To me, it was probably the most underwhelming part of the song. Moving along, the lyrics is an element that needs to be talked about. Loved the “wonhae manhi manhi manhi manhi”, probably the catchiest part of the song. The rest of the lyrics was quite sexy. There is probably no other word to describe the rest of the lyrics… “Baby, I don’t care if I get drunk, I’ll drink you in now
Your whiskey, deep into my throat”. Yeah. I just felt the pairing was a little off with the instrumental and lyrics. The sound of the song is a little too upbeat for those sexy (and dark) lyrics. I like the song as it is, but imagine those lyrics with a more seductive instrumental.

Music video is very interesting. I can sit down and try to give my own interpretation of the video. I have tried (I get some bits, like V becoming the Fallen Angel, who fell from the balcony and had his wings cut off), but there are some parts which make no sense whatsoever (Jin kissing the statue is one of them). So instead, I am going to try something different. I have been reading many different theories regarding the video and  I am going to link a few here for you to read/watch, because I am totally lost and confused. These theories are all well written and make a lot more sense than what I would have written (or explain my theory in a much more ‘easier to understand’ way ).

Theory 1 Theory 2 Theory 3 (watch this video with captions on, the video is in Korean) Theory 4 (read the comments to this video, there are a few more interesting theories)

From each of these theories, it seems like this video is connected to the rest of the videos released by BTS (V killing is his father in a previous video, which then turns him into a Fallen Angel). All this confusion. But nonetheless, BTS videos have always been amazing. The confusion grabs my attention and forces me to watch the video multiple times so I can understand what is going on. The acting is amazing here.  The cinematography is also amazing. While I don’t truly understand the plot and reasoning behind the video, what I see and the impression it leaves on me is worthy of a 10/10.

Choreography wise, I think the dance is amazing. I don’t think I have ever been disappointed with a BTS dance.  The knife-like precision and sharp movements always blow me away. They do bring a sexier side to the dance this time, while their past dances have focuses more of fierceness, strength and masculinity.

Rating – 9.5/10

 

[Review] Fighter – Monsta X

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What’s this? I am writing a review a few hours before midnight, not with less than an hour before midnight like for the 5 reviews? I am surprising myself today. Like how Monsta X surprised me with a brand new comeback, especially when it felt just like they were on stage promoting Stuck a few weeks ago… Wait… They were! Man, all these KPOP idols need rest, not comeback after comeback after comeback.

Another amazing song to add to the list. Monsta X is officially killing it this year. I have been impressed with every song they have put out this far in the year. Fighter is a very powerful and strong song that really captures your attention from the very start. The song starts off with the sound you would here from the boxing competitions in movies. Throughout the song, you get that boxing and fighting sound from the song, which kind of exerts its dominance from the very start. I love the impact coming from each of the rapping and for once in my life, I think the rapping overtook the singing. The singing is quite good as well, but it doesn’t seem as powerful as the rapping. I would have liked if the vocals were a little better, so they are on par with the rapping. They honestly do not hold back in the song. Just listening to the song gets your adrenaline pumping.

I just finished watching Stranger Things today and I totally forgot about the start of this video, until I started watching it for the review. Don’t know what is going on with the intro of this video with the title screen quite “similar” to Stranger Things. Moving away from that, I think the video is lost in its sense of direction. This is definitely a continuation of All In, but it also feels quite detached and completely disconnected. You can tell there are parts that go with All In (such as the flower), but others seem completely irrelevant and make the video look more complicated that what it should be (‘running in the hospital’ scenes). While I think the video is interesting, the components don’t really come together. That or I am just really bad at seeing things. I am not going to list everything in the video, there is just too much. Though, if you have a theory on what’s going on, please enlighten me? I like the video due to it being intriguing and I try to guess what is going on each time, but it doesn’t add up in my head. Jooheon in a doctor’s outfit is creepy and the cinematography in this video is amazing.

The dance definitely matches up with their image and the sound of the song. Powerful and very ‘alpha-male’. It also looks very complex. Moving away from the dance, Wonho in a crop top… Hmmm… I am honestly a little weirded out by it. It just doesn’t look good.

Rating – 8/10

[Review] Home – Ailee ft. Yoo Mi Rae

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Ailee has recently made her solo comeback with Home. While Home is the first time we have seen her on stage for a while, she has been busy with a lot of other solo work. She has held concerts, special stages, collaborated on various projects and released a pre-release single a month ahead of her actual release of the mini album. (I have yet to review If You. It may be on my list ‘to review’). (Fun Fact) Home features Yoo Mi Rae, who Ailee had to beg to feature in this song.

Ailee has left me disappointed once again. Last time she was on stage with Mind Your Own Business, I described her song as good. Compared to her previous songs, that is quite disappointing. If You is a solid song and a greater refresher since she hasn’t released ballads of any kind of a while. Home just completely missed the target. The song is quite simple. A nice dubstep instrumental, Ailee’s amazing vocals and Yoo Mae Ri’s powerful rapping. But when I listen to them coming together, it just didn’t cut out for me. I felt the instrumental was overpowering, especially during the chorus. Her vocals didn’t seem to go that far this time around. However, when I pay attention to the instrumental separately, pay attention to her vocals separately, everything sounds fine. Odd review so far isn’t. Let’s move back to some praises to end on a much higher note. I love how she managed to infuse the RnB genre in with her EDM and dubstep. It sounds really cool and pretty refreshing. Her ad-libs in the song were amazing as well. Always can count on Ailee for amazing ad-libs.

Her visuals are stunning. I may have been disappointed with the song, but her looks in the video were spectacular. Her hair style is amazing and while I am a guy, she totally rocked everything she wore in the video. The music video gave off a nice mysterious vibe and I am a major sucker for the dark vibe. Especially when it is tied in with the idea of love. This video does that spot on. Her presence in the video is very strong and it leaves a long lasting impression on you, especially after you finish watching it, causing you to go back even more. Not too sure about the ending the video where she is casually just starts burning her home down and mashing everything. It just doesn’t go well with the lyrics, but amazingly well with the instrumental. I actually think the shaky shots fit in well with the song and the overall concept of the comeback. I personally like the video quite a bit.

The dance suits the song really well. Probably would not have imagined it any other way (besides a stage with no dance, just her singing and wowing us with that stage presence alone). That being said, the dance is quite limited. It seems like she and the backup dancers are confined into a tiny space, rather than ‘taking over the stage’.

Rating – 6/10

[Review] 1 of 1 – SHINee

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SHINee has finally returned with their next release. It has been over a year since they released their repackaged album, Married To The Music. Each member has embarked on their own solo work in the past year and has now regrouped to perform as SHINee once again with their newest mini-album.

I am quite torn about the song. I like it but there is a boring side to it as well. Let’s start off with what make this song pretty good. The retro sound is much more pure in this release than any of their past releases. They stayed retro here and did not include any modern sounds. Their vocal work is superb in this song. Flawless. The rapping was definitely a letdown. Sorry to Minho here, but it lacks energy and sounds more complicated than what it needed to be. The autotune was not needed. The rest of the song flowed quite nicely. The chorus made the song feel like a more emotional N Sync or Back Street Boys (and they are already quite emotional sounds). It almost sounds softer as well, compared to those boy groups. I am probably poking into the wrong era, though, but they were the bands that popped in my mind when I first listened to this song. However, the song lacks the intensity that SHINee has continuously used in all their songs. As I said the song sounds quite soft and it just does not sound right for SHINee. I expected something a little more hard-hitting and powerful. Hence why I felt the song was boring. But props to the guys for releasing a song that is purely retro (pretty hard to come by these days – or at least from what I remember).

I personally have yet to watch the video, so I will be giving my initial thoughts on the video here.

  • The cheesy transitions are making me laugh. But I actually like it. It actually quite funny to see the members glide across the screen.
  • The fashion is questionable for today’s standards. I know that most of what they are wearing were in trend in the past. It just surprises me to see what everyone was wearing back then.
  • Using the white background is quite smart. As soon as you see the members, you are drawn to their flashy colours and the members themselves. Really emphasises what everyone is wearing and is very minimalistic.
  • Quite interesting with the models in the video. I am very intrigued with what they are doing. The video shows a nice pattern and the members are just singing around them. At first, I thought they served no purpose in the video, but towards the end, everything become clearer and their presence was really cool.

Overall, I quite enjoyed the video. Might not the best video, but it still fits in well with the retro sound and concept.

I personally don’t think this is the right dance for the song. It lacks energy. It doesn’t really pick up until the end of the song, which is disappointing. I personally liked the end of the dance (the small bit where the instrumental also picks up after the final chorus) more than any other part of the dance.

Rating – 7/10

[Review] Doo Doom Chit – Crayon Pop

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Crayon Pop has returned with their first album ever. After their number 1 hit, Bar Bar Bar put the spotlight on the girls, they have garnered a lot of attention for their somewhat odd yet cute concepts. Their catchy songs have garnered attention from a lot of people. So it’s about time that they release their first album and with it comes their next title track, Doo Doom Chit.

Another song that South Korea is probably skipping out on. This song has the ability to be the next big hit, but sadly, it hasn’t yet. This ticks off all the key characteristics that made Bar Bar Bar such a hit. It is really catchy and addictive to listen to. The song, while still keeps to the cute sound that the girls have been known for, digs deeper into the roots of EDM. It also has a hint of retro in the song’s instrumental as well. I also love the incorpartion of the saxphone in the chorus. Really gets you into the song. The rapping is surprisingly good in this song and suits it perfectly. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but still give it a try. The only thing I would change with the song is the chorus. Unfortunately, I think the chorus is a stretch for the girls. Not saying that they suck at singing, it just different people shines in different tones and volumes. While it sounds perfected (of course) in the audio version, the live version sounds off.

The music video falls onto the boring side. Essentially, in the music video, whenever the saxaphone playing cat comes around and blows into the saxaphone, the girls start dancing the choregraphy for this comeback. Similar to a snakecharming, but with humans and a cat that plays the saxaphone. I guess the video was made to look like wherever the girls go, the cat goes with them. You could tell they had an low budget compared to their last releases. It is also nice to see the girls in something a little more ‘normal’. While those helmets took South Korea by storm in Bar Bar Bar, dressing up as Christmas trees, tracksuits and like country side folks really makes these school outfits ‘normal’. Hahahaha… Also, the girls look really good. I don’t think I ever noticed their visuals before due to their eye catching outfits in the past, but they are all really quite pretty (sorry if I came off rude here).

Dance is really cool Very easy to follow. Somewhat like what we always thought ancient Egyptians danced like. Hahaha… But seriously, a lot of aspects for this comeback mirrors Bar Bar Bar song, even to the choregraphy.

Rating – 7.5/10

 

[Review] Fri. Sat. Sun. – Dal Shabet

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Dal Shabet has returned with a brand new mini-album. Their last release was in January of this year with Someone Like U.

This song is amazing. Is that too much to the point? Hahaha… I like the song a lot. Sadly, I agree with many people, but South Korea skipped out on Dal Shabet. They have had great catchy songs and this has to be one of their best to date. It would have been nice with a little more bass (not too much, just a touch more) but the song still works wonderfully. The ‘light’ party sounding, club song is quite nice. It is quite easy on the ears and really gets you into the groove for a fantastic weekend. The song starts off slow, but the song does build up and after a few listens, the song’s tempo feels just right. There is also a nice balance between the vocals and instrumental. I do think their vocal work does suit the song, but at the same time, does sound a tad weak. The chorus is amazing but it could use more of a hook. There is some catchiness to it, but it would be nice with a much stronger and defined hook to the song and chorus. Not feeling the bridge of the song, it just slows things down and does letdown the rest of the song. Obviously not the perfect track out there in my opinion, but still pretty good.

The music video was quite boring. The song has a nice club and party vibe, but the party that was featured only had four people. Not that it is wrong, you can have a party with four or even 1 person (my sad life), but I think throwing a few more people into the video would make it more vibrant and more sense. I did like how they presented the idea of Friday, Saturday and Sunday. While all the other days involve working hard, when the weekend rolls forward, the fun and games can begin. I really like the transition between each member. However, besides that, there was a sense of emptiness in the music video and left a certain impression me, that honestly shouldn’t. It was a fun sounding song, but sadly, the music video just did not reflect that.

Dance wise, I thought it was quite good. Not the best, but still fitting. It suited the style and sound of the song quite nicely. It did not go overboard with overly sexual moves. Just an extra hint of bass would have made this dance stand out with the instrumental of the song, in my opinion.

Rating – 7/10

[Review] Only One – APINK

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APINK has finally returned with a brand new album. This is their second album to date, their first being L.U.V released back in 2014. They did promote Remember, last year, as a mini album as well. APINK have been busy with solo promotions, dramas and variety appearances.

I am going straight to the point. I am hugely disappointed with the song. APINK is known for their cutesy songs, which have all been catchy and easy to get into. But this move from that side of the girls to a mature sound doesn’t seem right for the girls. I do like the song to an extent, but I feel that the song wasn’t made for them. The overall vocal work and the sound gave sort of awkward vibe.  The rhythm of the song is quite nice. Instrumental has a nice retro vibe to it, which makes the song soung decent. You can tell that their vocals have improved a lot in the song, but some parts just didn’t seem right (also some of the members do sing in a very monotone way, which I have noticed for the past few comebacks) . There was a great imbalance of volume in the song. The chorus was pretty loud and clear, the verses on the other hand seemed a little low (I think that was because of the higher pitch during those verses). Overall, they were quite weak and made the lead into the song quite boring. There isn’t much colour to the song, which is disappointing. Maybe pour a little more emotion into the song or push the girls a little more deliver something more different, in terms of sound.

Music video was another let down. Though, I can bear this one more than Remember. The girls did deliver with a more mature concept. No more cutesy smiles or cute dance moves. Smoke, grey filters and long dresses (those boots can go) apparently make up for a mature video. Though, throw in a few breathtaking shots of roof tops (yes, I know 2PM used the same rooftop – read somewhere that it is in some university in South Korea) and the video looks quite nice. The rest of the video looks pretty generic. They should throw away those shots where the girls are sitting around and singing in the midst of a rainforest  room full of plants. It just makes it boring and bland.

Another disappointing component (and the final component that I discuss in each review) is the dance. There are hints of cuteness in the dance, but overall, the dance looks boring.

Rating – 4/10