Category: KPOP

Goodbye, 2NE1

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I take this moment to drop my other reviews for the time being and honour this girl group. This will not be a review, however. But rather an ode to one of the most important groups (yes, I said that!) in KPOP ever.

For those who haven’t heard, 2NE1 has officially disbanded. Minzy left the band in May 2016 and it was announced that 2NE1 had disbanded on 25th of November 2016, with Park Bom leaving the company. Both CL and Dara resigned solo contracts. 2NE1 was one of the biggest bands of South Korea during their time.

It is no doubt that their songs have been influential in the industry. Songs like Fire, I Am The Best, I Love You, Lonely (just to name a few) have shaped KPOP greatly. They became a group that had a massive following and had hoobae (junior) groups look up to them. Their success has taken them extremely far. Even as soloists, the girls have conquered and fought on alongside each other with their own activities.

But what makes the group so different to others? They pushed for a tougher image. When they debuted, girl groups went for more cutesy and girly concepts. Not 2NE1 though. They were the first (if I remember correctly) to take on the hip-hop concept successfully. They were the ones that wore crazy clothes and had the craziest hairstyle (referring to I Am The Best video).

Goodbye  was released today, as the group’s final song (which features CL, Park Bom and Dara only). While YG has marketed this as their final song, the girls have mentioned that a possible reunion (with Minzy) and comeback in the future is still possible. Given the ongoing trend of first generation groups returning with their full line-up, this is highly possible and I do look forward to that day.

That being said, I do like to see what the four members have in store for us in the future. I know Dara has restarted acting, CL has her solo career (even though I am not much of a fan of her songs, I do like to see what else she can do. If 2NE1 has anything to prove, these girls have endless potential as solo artists), Minzy has her upcoming solo debut and Park Bom has a solo career that she can continue (if she chooses to). Thank you 2NE1 for the past 7 years. And if you are looking for the music video for Goodbye, it is linked below!

[Review] I Wait – DAY6

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DAY6 has started off 2017 with a brand new song. But it isn’t the only thing they are starting off with a new song. They announced that they will be releasing a new song at the start of each month (approximately the 6th of each month) and will prepare concerts for each month. They previously made their comeback back in May 2016 with Letting Go.

If you want your fix of rock in the Korean music industry, you just happened to click on the right review. Let me introduce you to I Wait by DAY6. The song starts off slow, but builds up until it reaches the chorus. Now if you want to start head banging, then the chorus is perfect for that. I am a person who don’t generally listen to rock music. But this song has been one that I have been going back to every single day. The vocals in this song are perfect and shown off really nicely. There is no rap and I am glad that is the case. There is a rock song full of emotion and mellowness. A rap would not have fitted the song. The song overall isn’t that complex, in terms of sound. Easy to rock to and for some reason, it is quite easy to mouth along with the lyrics. The English just rolls off the end of each line effortlessly (I guess that is what you get when you have members who speak English every day). Listening to the song, I could not hear any flaws. Everything was perfect and hopefully, it is a sign of great things for DAY6 and their monthly releases (and everything beyond).

The music video seemed a little cheesy to me. It isn’t a terrible video and I guess that since they will be doing releases per month, the company doesn’t want to go over budget and make everything fancy. But the video could have done with a little more impact. The cloud background was cheesy and didn’t match the video. I believe they tried to match the tempo at each part of the song (other members who sung during more faster pace parts had city scenes and fast-forwarded backgrounds, while Jae was stuck with the slow moving clouds). The faster backgrounds suited the song more, in my opinion, and gave more energy to the song. But what made it cheesy was the way they stood and lip-sync to the song. There was an air of awkwardness during Jae’s part, in particular, which gave me those thoughts of cheesy. The band scenes were amazing, though. They looked cool, hip and trendy, which gave the video a more modern feel (Otherwise, the colour of the video would have given the video a more vintage look).

Rating – 8.5/10

 

[Review] April Story – April

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April has also returned with a slight adjustment to their lineup. They last promoted as a 5 member girl group back in April 2016 with Tinkerbell. Hyunjoo was put on hiatus due to health issues and later in 2016, she ended up leaving the group. In her stead, Chaekyung and Rachel were added to the group, transforming the group into a 6 member girl group. They released their 3rd mini album Prelude and title track April Story on the 4th of January this year.

Another great song. This time April has gone with a very nice orchestra instrumental (with the addition of guitar riffs throughout the song) and something that has a grander sound than anything they have released. The group also adopted a more mature sound with this comeback. Vocally, this song gives the girls a little boost in recognition. While there aren’t any high notes, like in their past songs, each member sounded amazing. Well, for the 3 members or so who sung. I watched those line distribution videos once again. And this song probably was the worst line distribution of all time. 1 member got 2 seconds worth of lines and another member got no lines whatsoever. Instead, the majority of the song was dominated by 2 vocalists, who took a combined 73% of the song (Line distribution as my source here). Now I am reading that some of the members may not be vocally equipped or fluent in the language. So why make them debut? It doesn’t make sense. But I guess that can be talk for another day. The song just felt a little underwhelming, if I was to say anything else. Minus the line distribution, I enjoyed the song a lot.

The music video was quite underwhelming as well. Let me start off by getting something off my chest: that hair needs to go. Now that has been recorded and published for the word to see, I can focus back on the review. The video shows the girls as dolls, who seem to be eying the guy. It seems like the girls like the guy and dream that one day they can walk into the door of the store for him to see (i.e. the ending). The plot was okay and quite innocent. Just the video felt dull and unappealing to watch. Maybe given their past videos, I expected something with a little more colour. But then again it is Winter, so the dull filter is in style. And here I am rambling.

The choreography was quite good for the song. It was quite elegant and very classy to watch these girls dance. The ending in the video seemed messy, so the expectation was the stage was going to have a messy ending. But on the stage, it was perfected and they all look in sync.

Rating – 6/10

[Review] Mysterious – Hello Venus

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Hello Venus has finally returned to the stage. From memory, they did not promote the songs that they released last year. The tracks they released last year (Glow and Paradise) are also included in the recently released mini album, which title track is Mysterious. Last time they were on stage (which was 2015), the group promoted I’m Ill.

I know it is only the start of the year. But this has to be one of the best songs of 2017. I am in love with it. It has been replaying for a number of days already. It is really catchy and addictive to listen to it. What caught my attention was the whistling in the introduction. It is bright and very interesting. I know that there are a few songs that use the whistle intro, but this one does it perfectly and leads very nicely into the song. The verses were a little bland for my taste. The chorus really picks up the song and gives it an extra breath of life into it. Overall, vocals were okay, but there weren’t any stand-out moments. The instrumental provided a great backing for the vocals with the brass instruments taking the instrumental to another level. There is also a nice swing sound in the song. The rapping was very short and that is also another disappointment. There should have been a longer rap portion because: a) the song needs it (what we heard in the chorus was perfect and fitting. It just needed to be extended to give it more impact) and b) the rapper sounds amazing. But while I did find a few flaws in the track, I am still playing this song and will definitely continue with it.

The music video stars Cha Eun Woo from Astro and Seo Kang Joon. Both are label mates of Hello Venus, who are under Fantagio. I guess the plot of the video was that the girls were investigating a very mysterious man, who in this case is Seo Kang Joon. Not sure about Cha Eun Woo’s character, though. I know he plays the conductor or a staff member on the train. But is he helping the mysterious guy or the girls? I am assuming he is helping the guy. The ending could have been many times better. Given the rest of the video, the ending was horrible. I would have expected a plot twist or at least an answer to who the guy is. But instead… ‘Hello Venus?? ‘. Overall, the video was fun to watch (minus the ending of the video). This has to be one of the best videos released by Hello Venus. The sets were bright and vibrant, fitting that nature of the song. Their acting is okay. Seo Kang Joon and Cha Eun Woo did a pretty good job (despite me not knowing what side Eun Woo was on – his facial expressions were pretty good).

The choreography for Mysterious was pretty good. It is fitting for the song and doesn’t necessary go over the top this time. The more mature and feminine concept which they were going for really works well with the group.

Rating – 7.5/10

[Review] Wonderland – Jessica Jung

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Jessica made her return with her second mini-album, Wonderland. The mini-album was released as a special Christmas album (and like every other year, I am extremely delayed with these Christmas related reviews). For those who don’t know who Jessica Jung is, she was formerly a part of Girl’s Generation or SNSD, up until 2014. She made her solo debut and return to music in 2016 with Fly and Love Me The Same.

Wonderland is an okay track. The only part which I am most satisfied with is the instrumental of the song. The song sounds somewhat exotic or tropical with the EDM influences. It drew my attention straight away for its unique sound. Overall, it made the song feel a little more laidback and chill. The rest of the song did fall short. Her vocals are okay, but not her best. The verses felt empty and detached from the rest of the song. The chorus was undeveloped and not that catchy. The only reason why I would listen to the song is for the instrumental. Her vocals don’t seem to get in the way though. Rather, they almost felt like the instrumental of the song (and the instrumental was the vocals). Odd way to describe it, but that is how I feel about the song.

It seems like Jessica has finally upgraded from her house in the middle of the desert to a nice countryside town. Yet, she is still searching for that snow. But the difference is, she finds the snow in this video. And she looks quite happy after finding her “Wonderland”. But like the song, the video fails to attract you. Minus that connection between this video and her debut video, there really is nothing else to touch on. The scenery was quite beautiful, but it wasn’t enough to make the video more appealing.

I actually enjoyed the dance. It was simple but, to me, was quite fitting for the song. The chill feeling that I mentioned earlier was definitely portrayed in the song, as the dance was not too complex. The last thing we need is for the song to be chill and be watching choreography that would have been more suitable for a hardcore dance track!

Rating – 3.5/10 (Sorry)

 

[Double Review] Dreamer + Watch Me More – Uhm Jung Hwa

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The Queen of KPOP has returned. It has been years since we last heard from Uhm Jung Hwa on the stage. To be precise, 2008 was the last time she promoted on stage as an artist with her hit D.I.S.C.O, which features T.O.P from Big Bang. For those who don’t know, Uhm Jung Hwa made her debut, on the stage, in 1993 and is currently one of the most senior artists in the industry. Her hits include D.I.S.C.O, Poison, Invitation etc.

Dreamer is a dance track that has this sensual sound that you can definitely hear throughout the song. It is almost a sound that you would associate with Madonna. Come to the think of it, since both ladies are ‘Queens’ in their respective industries, it is a sound that royalties of their magnitude would do.  While Dreamer (and Watch Me Move) are new songs, she maintains that singing style that is known for. The song is quite catchy. I also noticed a really even balance within the song. Her vocals do not overpower the song, but the instrumental doesn’t overpower her voice. The only thing I would have to say about the song is that it really doesn’t scream. It stays the same from start to end and it just doesn’t seem to have a peak moment. Watch Me Move is a song of a different style, but can also be described the same way. This song is more dance track, more Madonna sounding and more pop-ish (if I had to add). Like the other track, Watch Me Move is quite catchy and addictive. It also stays true to her style. However, this song does peak and I do think Watch Me Move is a much better track than Dreamer. The start of Watch Me Move reminds me of the songs that would be used in the soundtrack of How To Get Away With Murder (Yes, I am a big fan of the show. Come join the club!!!). Actually, I thought the song would have fitted the soundtrack while I was listening to the song.

Love both videos. They are something on another level that I don’t think many artists will ever reach. Once again, I am referring back to Madonna. There is that vogue concept running throughout it as well. The video also screams out Kylie Minogue during the early 00’s. Both had a mysterious theme flowing throughout it. Dreamer was a lot darker, while Watch Me Move had a little splash of colour. They both do not necessary have plots and that make the video less appealing to watch because, at a certain point in time in the future, I will consider the video boring. But at the moment, I am just taking it all in as it is. Not a big fan of her make-up in Watch Me Move. It does creep me a little bit when I look at her. I love the scene where she (along with the backup dancers) start dancing in the hallway while facing the windows. That looked cool.

The dances are quite good. For a person who is nearing her 50s, she still manages to pull off the looks and the moves for both songs. From the vogue moves in Watch Me Move to the confident choreography in Dreamer, everything looked perfect and amazing.

Dreamer – 8.5/10

Watch Me Move – 9/10

[Review] For Life – EXO

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EXO made their return with a special Winter album and the title track, For Life. This is not their first time releasing a Winter album, with Miracles of December and Sing For You preceding the track. The release also serves as their 5th mini album, to date.

EXO returned to their ballad songs with the release of For Life, which makes the most sense as ballads give you warmth and suit the colder season in South Korea. And what they are doing is amazing. Not saying that they should just go to ballads now on (I don’t think many people would react well to that), but what they do every Winter with their ballads is amazing. For Life consists of a very nice balance of strings and piano in its instrumental. It doesn’t sound grand, but rather simple, which I think is a charm of the song. The guys sang the song beautifully, even the rappers participating in the vocal work this time around. The verses sounded a little dry and boring. But the chorus was what blew my mind. It caught my attention from the very start and it sounded amazing. It is a little hard to explain in words here, but if I were you and you wanted that ballad fix of yours, this is the song to go to at the moment.

I like the plot of the video. One-half of the video was made to look like the guy was looking for the girl, with the bracelet as motivation to finding her. The second half consisted of her looking for the guy, to give the bracelet to so he can find her in the future. The video stars an actress to whom I don’t know the name of and the following EXO members: Chanyeol, Kai and Suho. Each of the members and the actress did an amazing job in the video. While the song is quite slow (and the video is quite fitting in terms of tempo), the video was surprisingly interesting to watch. I thought the video would be boring, but in the end, the video was a stand-out for ballads overall.

Rating – 9.5/10

[Review] Limitless – NCT127

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NCT127 have been busy sweeping the awards ceremonies for the new artist of the year awards. But they have also been busy with their recent release, Limitless. The group made their long awaited comeback with their second mini album on the 5th of January of this year. They previously made their debut with Fire Truck last year and is the first subunit of NCT to officially make their comeback.

While I was not a big fan of their debut track, Limitless is only mildly better than the other. Maybe it is because NCT 127 does not appeal to my taste in music or they just haven’t released a song that I think suits them. What I did like about this song is that is showed off their vocals and rap a lot more, with minimal processing and autotune. The one thing that I did not like was that croaking sound that formed part of the rap. Compare Mark’s short rapping with Taeyeong’s rapping in the song for example. Mark’s has a very clean drag at the end of each line (second verse), while Taeyeong’s consisted of that really annoying croaking sound at the end of each line. The vocals were much better, with no criticisms there. You can already tell who I am going to say did a better job. To me, the song wasn’t memorable or catchy. There were not enough hooks in the song to get me to go back. The instrumental sounded refreshing but at the same time, it was quite ordinary and really doesn’t stand out. While the song is titled at Limitless, I thought it was limited in quite a few departments and that truly left me disappointed.

Two videos were released side by side for Limitless. One of them is labelled the Performance Version, which I won’t be looking into that much here. The other version is titled as the Rough Version. The majority of the video was shot with an old camera (or a modern camera slapped with that grainy filter that we should all remember from the 90s). The only reason why I think they opted for the graininess is for artsy purposes.The rest of the video was shot with you everyday modern camera, which provided a better quality.  Let’s just say I much prefer the HD shots, rather than that home video look. Besides that, the video was boring to watch. There wasn’t much else going in the video. The guys don’t do much besides stand around and act mysterious while staring at the camera. There were a few choreography shots, but nothing worth commenting on here.

The dance was rather disappointing. There wasn’t anything impressive. Fire Truck had a good dance because it was fitting for the song. But the dance we have here was mediocre at best. Their performance video was pretty good, though, better than their Rough version, in terms of quality.

Rating – 4.5/10

[Review] A Lie – B1A4

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B1A4 made their comeback with their 3rd full album on the 28th of November (2016). The title track for the album is A Lie. This is the group’s first comeback since their Sweet Girl comeback in 2015. The group has focused predominately on solo work in 2016. Sandeul made his solo debut with Stay As You Are. Jinyoung and Baro focused on acting, with Jinyoung also producing on the side. CNU has performed on stage in musicals and Gongchan has filmed variety shows (Wikipedia, 2017).

A Lie is a pretty good song to listen to. It is a unique song and I can’t really describe it in words. Think of a pop song with very strong ballad influence. The song isn’t upbeat or anything, but much slower and melodic. The acoustics in the song is also something that shines very brightly. The vocal work in this song is also amazing. All of the members shone in the song. Even the rapping was made to fit the song quite nicely as well. While the song’s verses were quite slow at the start, each verse ended up having a really great buildup to the chorus. However, the song should have had more of a hook to it, to make it even better. The song was good while it was promoted because the song was there being played. But honestly, the song is not that memorable. I did forget about the song after the promotions ended and haven’t been listening to it lately (A good song is one that makes you go back to it – at least that is what I think). While all the other elements were pretty good, the impact the song made was quite minimal, unfortunately.

The music video was a little on the boring side, but the ending was really good. The video was very fitting for the lyrics of the song. A couple shares happy memories together, but when it comes to arguments, the guys said harsh things to the girl. Which lead to her packing her bags and the guys feeling regret for telling her to leave during those moments. The video depicts just that, however, without the moments where they scream or form that “crack in the relationship”. I personally think it would have been a lot clearer if those moments were shown. Because one moment she is having fun and other moments have her feeling sad and packing her bags. That transition would have made more sense (unless I skimmed the video too quickly and missed those parts). The ending was probably the best when Jinyoung had to come to terms with his partner leaving him. The effects of the paintings disappearing (since she was the one that painted) looked really cool and that one scene added a lot of meaning to the video.

The dance is okay. Not impressive but still very fitting for the slower tempo song. I did like those small sections of build up, particularly CNU’s part in the second verse. Where each group did the same movements at separate times (you probably have to see it to understand what I am getting at). It looked really cool!

Rating – 6.5/10

[Double Review] Remember + Paradise – S.E.S

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S.E.S have finally regrouped after 13 years for their 20th anniversary. They officially made their comeback on the 1st day of 2017, however, had previously performed on a few stages in 2016. For those who don’t know, S.E.S joins the ongoing trend of first generation groups regroup and making comebacks. S.E.S made their debut in 1997 but later disbanded in 2003. The group lineup remains the same as their early stages, which includes Bada, Eugene and Shoo. Their comeback compromises 2 title tracks, Remember and Paradise.

The group returned with two very different songs. Remember is a ballad that will remind you of the good memories. Listening to it brought a smile to my face and I am sure that it will for you as well. The melodies are really brought out nicely by their sweet and spectacular vocals. Like a few other songs I have reviewed so far, the song has a really soft sound to it, but it makes the song even better in this case. Paradise is a more upbeat song that we tend to link to S.E.S. It takes you back to those days with their retro sounds. Their vocals are also quite nice in this song and their rap is pretty good as well. I absolutely fell for this song while listening to it for the first time. I particularly thought the second half of the chorus (떳떳떳떳떳떳떳떳하게). Quite addictive. The one thing I did notice that while the group do make you remember the retro sounds, they do have elements that fit in with the modern sounds of today. And that actually goes with many of the first generation artists who are fitting in perfectly with the new sounds of generations after theirs.

Remember’s music video is a little boring to watch. It mainly consists of closeups of them singing and walking around. There are a few scenes with extras and a little boy. But those scenes carry no significance to the video besides adding another warm feel to it. That being said, that warm feeling compliments the ballad nature and the overall song. Paradise’s video is more up my alley. The ladies, in this video, shows off a more feminine and mature side. The video is made to look artsy with the different filming effects that they used. However, I feel like that took away from that mature feel that I first got. Though I am quite sure it was meant to be artsy in the first place. It is also quite stunning how they look like they haven’t aged at all. Some parts of the Paradise video reminded me of EXO’s Monster’s video, particularly those security cameras. I actually do enjoy the Paradise video quite a bit and have returned to it a number of times already.

I have yet to see a live performance for Paradise yet. Please link if there is one. But from what I could see in the video, I guess age is just a number. Because these ladies are still dancing as if they just debuted.

Remember – 7/10

Paradise – 8/10

 

[Review] I Wish – WJSN (Cosmic Girls)

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Cosmic Girls, otherwise known as WJSN, have made their return to the stage with I Wish. They made their debut in 2016 with MoMoMo. A few months later, the girls made their first comeback with Secret.

I Wish, to me, is a combination of both their debut song and Secret. It had the seriousness of Secret but also the cutesy and brightness of MoMoMo. It is also a perfect song to lead from Secret. Honestly, it is a song, that as you listen, it gets better and better. Let’s look at my criticisms of the song. The sounds in the song aren’t hard. Nothing is overpowering, even the vocal work is performed at a higher pitch than their past songs. But that is a problem. It makes the song forgettable. It just made the song fluffy and too light on the ears. The rapping was okay. It’s just everything was sung at a high pitch and then Exy’s deep rapping voice comes in. Can’t really blame her for that, though. I also watched those line distribution videos for the song and it seems like Yeonjung is more favoured. I like her voice and all, but I feel like she is overshadowing some of the group’s other vocalists (slowly remembering names). I know for a fact, through this song, that the other members have great vocals. Let’s look at the highlights of the song. A moderately catchy chorus, a very upbeat (and interesting) instrumental for this season and nice use of autotune during the chorus.

The music video is a mixture of weird and Secret. My assumption with the video is that it is about dreams or our imagination. Only dreams would appear that wacky. And since the song is called I Wish, it makes senses. Kind of. It would make more sense if it was titled as I Dream. Anyway….. There is one thing I noticed about this video and Secret. It’s just they zoom out a lot during the choreography scenes. There are some closeups, but when I watched this video, it was the only thing I could remember from it. For this video, when they zoomed back in, they went quite close to the girls, which made it feel somewhat uncomfortable. Maybe I am just being a little harsh and naive there. Moving along, I do hope Cosmic Girls continue with these videos. They make you think about what is going on here and I always return to try to figure out what is going on.

The dance is okay. Not that impressive, but matching with the cutesy and bright vibes I mentioned earlier.

Rating – 7/10 (This review was meant to be released a few days back. But it has been so hot where I live, I could not function properly).

 

[Review] Boom Boom – Seventeen

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Seventeen made their comeback at the start of December with their title track Boom Boom and 3rd mini album, Make A Wish. They previously made their comebacks in 2016 with Pretty U and Very Nice, which earned them more fans and allowed the group to become more well known.

The song is pretty good. There are parts of the song which I thought were pretty cool. I love S.Coups’ rap in the song and thought DK’s adlibs at the end were quite cool. The song had that catchy vibe with the continuous “Boom Boom” repetition. It seems like the song was designed for the Hip-Hop Unit. Their vocals fit the song more than anyone else in the song. I just felt the song didn’t string together as well. The slowdowns didn’t match with the rest of the song and Dino’s rock part caught me off guard (that also didn’t match with the slowdown, but fitted with the rest of the song). It was another example of songs where there are a lot jammed into one. Also, the song lacked impact. The song just didn’t live up to the “Boom Boom” title. More “Boom Boom” please! I know the group is big, but something needs to be done about the line distribution. The same members keep on getting overshadowed, which is quite unfortunate. But besides those thoughts, I still enjoyed listening to the song.

The video raised one question for me. But what was in that box that led them to do the expedition? Like anything could have been inside that box. And I don’t know if that mission board (on the wall) could help that much either. Tells them what they will need to expect to get to it. I love it how everything is all thought out and going perfectly, until Mingyu steps on a hidden trap and screws everything up. But then they run from the explosions, with smiles on their faces. It looks like they are having fun, rather than worrying about getting blown to bits. But nonetheless, the video was very cool and fun to watch.

The dance is where I will be praising the guys the most today. The dance is quite awesome and looks cool. I love the final chorus with DK showing a little Michael Jackson influence and everyone else circling him. The start looks like a lot of practice for the level of precision. One person too late could make it look like a failure. S.Coup’s rap part fits perfectly with the song. (That final sentence was meant to be joined with another sentence. I just don’t know how to integrate it in anymore).

Rating – 8/10

[Review] Excuse Me – AOA

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AOA has made their return to the stage with their first album, Angel’s Knock. Their first album includes two title tracks: Bing Bing (released earlier) and Excuse Me (currently being reviewed). This is their first Korean comeback since Good Luck, released back in May last year.  Since then, Youkyung (drummer) left the group and the girls released a Japanese album as well.

While Bing Bing failed to live up to my expectations, Excuse Me does just what Bing Bing did not do. The song itself is amazing, catchy and very addictive to listen to. The chorus was the highlight of the entire song. The song brings you back the days where the disco and retro vibes were the strongest. Mix in a hint of electronic influences to give that retro a more modern, rather than outdated feel and the song really hits a home run. The vocals here, along with the instrumental are blaring perfectly. None of those two let you down when you listen to the song. However, Jimin’s rap sequence did ruin the song for me. For once it wasn’t Jimin’s rapping but rather the unfortunate mash-up attempt of EDM in the song. The producer should have kept with that disco and retro vibe for her rapping. But besides that, the song is amazing and it is a song that makes you wanting more.

The girls go for the detective concept with the Excuse Me music video. All of them share the mission of finding a mysterious guy whose hat is always tipped at an angle. If that doesn’t shout shady to everyone else, I don’t what would. I know you probably think I hate Jimin because I always have something to say about her. But, the way she walks out with the cup of water splashing all over the place gave made me nervous of the cup of water. Hahahaha.. What am I talking about? My other problem with the video is that Seolhyun’s dress doesn’t look like it comes from that era. Rather, it looks too modern. But besides that, the video has a unique concept and it looks quite cool.

While I did like the Bing Bing dance, I am not much of a fan. The small twirling around and prancing-like steps really don’t look mature or sensual. Instead, it looks cutesy and doesn’t go well with the concept. However, it is quite memorable, to be honest.

Rating – 7/10

[Review] Bing Bing – AOA

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AOA has made their return to the stage with their first album, Angel’s Knock. Their first album includes two title tracks: Bing Bing (the one being reviewed) and Excuse Me (will be released later). This is their first Korean comeback since Good Luck, released back in May last year.  Since then, Youkyung (drummer) left the group and the girls released a Japanese album as well.

Bing Bing is like an upgraded version of Like A Cat, released back in 2013. The chorus gave me those feels and sound similar enough to make their previous song pop into my head. There is that sensual feeling to it. Bing Bing is, however, more retro sounding and attempts to appeal to that genre of pop music. But it doesn’t hit the right targets. Instead, I think the has a messy element to it. The first part of Chanmi’s rap was pretty good, then they repeated it. Then they chopped her part up and made it choppy and jagged. Jimin’s vocals throughout were okay. That whininess that I used to complain about is back. I don’t know about her long note in the bridge. A part of me thinks it is interesting, while the other part thinks just doesn’t work at all. It sounds like those long sounding monotone “beeps” you would imitate when you are younger to act as if you are swearing or cursing. There isn’t anything in the song that makes it appealing or makes me want to return to replay the song. The vocals are okay and there isn’t anything else worth talking about.

The video is okay. I like the magical element and how everything seemed to shot on the one or two sets that appeared in the video. Like magic in general, I question the validity of the magic tricks. But then again, thanks to the power of editing and CGI nowadays, we have the Bing Bing music video. The video is quite simple and the girls went for a very sensual but classy look at the same time. Everything looks retro, fitting the song quite nicely. But like the song, it just lacks the appeal and isn’t memorable as you would expect it to be. But if you are a fan of the girls of AOA and their sexier side, do check out both Bing Bing and Excuse Me.

The dance makes sense. “It’s dizzy. Bing Bing. In My Head. Bing Bing“. And then they do motions around the head as if they had a headache or dizzy because of a guy. The dance itself looked quite cool overall. I know it is only the start of the year, but it sets the standard high. The girls themselves looked spectacular performing this song.

Rating – 5.5/10

 

 

[Review] FxxK It – Big Bang

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Big Bang has made their long awaited comeback with their latest album, M.A.D.E. The album consists of all the song released in 2015, such as Loser and Bae Bae (just to name a few), along with 3 new tracks. This is their final release as a 5-member group as T.O.P will be enlisting in the near future. This is the review for just FxxK It. A review for Last Dance was released earlier, which you can access by clicking here.

Compared to Last Dance, I don’t fancy this song as much. However, I still like it. There were a few things that did leave me a little bored with this song. The song fits the party setting quite nicely and has certain parts have a nice kick to it, giving the song a pumping feel. While the rest of the world continues to praise G-Dragon’s rap, I think of the opposite. I don’t have a problem with his rapping. It is just his part feel a little empty. I am a guy who enjoys listening to vocals more than rapping. But we all know how epic GD’s rapping can be (you would have to be in denial if that is the case). So I was a little disappointed. T.O.P’s fitted perfectly with the song.  However, Taeyang’s and Daesung’s part built up quite nicely to the chorus (and in my opinion, did the song a huge favour). The chorus was quite simple but still catchy, like all Big Bang’s choruses. Singing along to it every time it plays. Seungri was left with the bridge and he did an amazing job. My other disappointment with the song (as a whole) felt a little repetitive. It was more prominent here than other songs because I felt it most at my two favourite parts (Daesung and Taeyang’s). But besides all of that it is still a solid party song when you just want to go and have a good time.

Many people are comparing the music video to We Like 2 Party and I do agree with this. Just everything looks more planned out and staged. This music video gives a nice contrast to Last Dance and shows the more typical side to Big Bang that we are used to. Which is the crazy and fun side, like they made a disco into a club within seconds. Just moments before, they were peddling down a market on a 5 seater bike, with a bunch of shop keepers (mainly old folks) standing around awkwardly. Besides that, there really isn’t much to say. I am not disappointed with the video in any way. Everything matched the song and lyrics of the song.

Rating – 7.5/10

[Review] Last Dance – Big Bang

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Big Bang has made their long awaited comeback with their latest album, M.A.D.E. The album consists of all the song released in 2015, such as Loser and Bae Bae (just to name a few), along with 3 new tracks. This is their final release as a 5-member group as T.O.P will be enlisting in the near future. This is the review for just Last Dance. A review for FxxK It will be released very soon.

Despite being released in December, this song leaves a long last impression on you. First time listening to the song, I was blown away. And now it is a song that I am wanting to listen to every time I plug my headphones in. Big Bang has a few excellent ballads up their sleeve, but there is something a little extra with this one that makes it one of their best. I think it might be the circumstance (impending military enlistments) that the band finds themselves in, which gives the song a more emotional and powerful feel. The vocals in this song are superb. Every member takes part in the song vocally, ending with a small yet deep sounding rap sequence by T.O.P. I personally think this would have to be one of their best songs (vocally) ever. The song has a very nice, soft piano instrumental as well. It added to that emotional side that I mentioned earlier and also gave the song a nice swaying effect, which I love. To me, there are no flaws in the song. Nothing is missing, overdone or underwhelming. Everything feels just right with this track.

The music video is visually stunning. Per usual, YG Entertainment did their thing when it comes to music videos. The video fits the song perfectly. You will be surprised how smashing everything and giving the sets a post-apocalyptic feel goes hand in hand with most ballads from a YG point of view (Check out Love Song by Big Bang for reference). I love the cinematography in this video. Everything is shot on an angle and I think it gives a nice effect to the video. G-Dragon’s reunion with his girlfriend for that one last dance at the ending during T.O.P’s rap sequence is quite haunting. But still really something that adds to the video. Someone should just change Taeyang’s hair for crying out loud. I am not a big fan of dreadlocks (refer to any review with someone who has dreadlocks).

Rating – 10/10