Category: Reviews

[Review] TIAMO – T-ara

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T-ara has finally returned with a brand new mini-album. Their latest mini album titled as Remember, which features the title track, TIAMO. It is said that this song will be a ‘mid-tempo, warm and sensual’ track.

Like what was promised, the song is a lot different from their past releases. It has a softer sound, suiting the upcoming cold season in the Northern Hemisphere. I actually like the song a lot. It is something a little different than what we normally get. But T-ara has proven themselves to be a girl group that is versatile with the various music that they release. They sure know how to bring the catchiness out of their songs, even when you don’t think it will be a great song or a song that won’t be catchy. There isn’t anything about the song that disappointed me. Everything within the song was pretty good. The vocals from all the members were superb and flawless. The line distribution is usually off when it comes to T-ara but I guess the line distribution this time around can be described as fair. As I said the song fits the upcoming Winter season and this can be credited to their soft vocals and a very warm feeling from the instrumental.

The music video is pretty boring to watch. Jiyeon standing in a field with a mirror floating about. She basically looks into her reflection clutching her mobile phone, which shows her love is ringing her. We cut into a scene where she is on the other side of the mirror and I assume is looking for a way out. There are keys on the trees around her and a lock on the door. I assume she is trying to a find a way out but realises she can’t. Now, Ti Amo is Spanish for ‘I love you’, so my guess is that this video is talking about holding on. I not entirely sure if that is right, but that is my guess. It just is very dull and boring to watch. Besides that, the girls all look very pretty in this video. The sets did a pretty good job at emphasising and highlighting their prettiness. Oh and the sets look pretty good as well.

The dance was also fitting, but at the same time, bland and boring. I think I am watching their promotions this time around for their vocals and song, rather than dance.

Rating – 7.5/10

[Review] Skydive – B.A.P

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B.A.P has finally made their return with their second album to date, Noir. They came back this year with Feel So Good and That’s My Jam. Unfortunately, Bang Yong Guk, the leader of B.A.P was unable to participate in the promotions for Skydive due to health concerns. You could feel that his presence was missing during the comeback stages and I hope  that Yong Guk will get better soon to return to the stage.

Skydive is a very powerful song. There is no doubt about it. It’s instrumental is quite fierce and aggressive, especially during the chorus, when the song reaches its peaks.  I also quite like it, but I am a little disappointed at times. Let’s start off with what I like about the song. The line distribution is quite equal this time around. Daehyun, who usually gets the majority of the lines in B.A.P songs, has fewer lines than Youngjae. This is definitely a great opportunity for Youngjae to use his vocals, which he did pretty well. Jongup and Himchan also saw an increase in the amount of lines that they usually get.  The vocals are also quite amazing as well, fitting the fierceness of the song. Jongup, once again, shows a great improvement in vocals. His raspy and hoarse vocals were just one of the highlights of the song. The instrumental is really cool as well. A bit of rock, EDM and hip-hop can be heard in the instrumental. I also liked the small dance break instrumental at the bridge. Let’s move onto things that I felt was disappointing. The rapping sounds tame for me. It felt underwhelming. Also, the ending of the song sounds a little too messy for my liking. Listening to the song off the album, that isn’t the case, but every time I watch a live performance, it feels like everyone, at the end, is clashing together and that doesn’t sound good. Maybe they aren’t hitting the right notes, but it is something that stands out to me.

Another mini movie in the music videos. So many these days, I spend a lot of my time trying to decipher the story nowadays. Anyway, the cinematography  in this video is top-notch. The acting was a little awkward at times, but it wasn’t bad that is ruined the video. Let’s move onto the plot line. Hahaha.. The plot line is far too long to write here, so you can click the link at the end of the paragraph to access my interpretation or shocking retell of the video. This gives you guys a chance to watch the video and see for yourself. Of course, there are spoilers, so be sure to watch the video first. It is an excellent storyline. The entire video is awesome. The movement between the plot line and close up shots of the guys dancing and singing wasn’t that distracting and I thought they added more depth. Usually, I don’t enjoy them, but this time around, it kind of heightened the suspense for me. I do have one thing that would have improved the plot of the story into a stronger story, and you can see that at the end of the synopsis/interpretation, by clicking below.

To read about the plotline and some pointers that I point out regarding the video, CLICK HERE!!!

The dance is very strong and fits the song perfectly. I am a little confused about the start, which Himchan is furiously looking into the camera. But besides that, I think everything looked cool. From the chorus to Jongup’s solo dance break, this is a performance that everyone should see.

Rating – 9/10

[Review] I’ll Be Your Man – BTOB

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BTOB has returned with their brand new 9th mini-album. They last returned with a ballad, Remember That, at the start of the year. This is also their first comeback in 2 years with a dance track. The group become popular for their romantic ballads which they have been releasing for the past two years.

The song is pretty good. You can really tell that they took what they became known for (their vocals) and did an amazing job with combining it with the dance track. That high note where all four of the vocalists join together sounds amazing. It also allowed their rapping to shine a bit more. Their rapping in the past in the ballad songs have been pretty good as well, but this song allows them to become a lot fiercer and more powerful. That part of the bridge where the vocalists are all belting out their high note and the rappers are rapping quite furiously sounded really amazing and probably gave the song that peak it needed. The actual song was a wonderful mashup between a ballad and a dance track. Gave the song a more grand and darker feel. I loved the classical mash-up with the electronic sounds in the song. The song just did not seem to be catchy enough. There wasn’t much of a hook to it, unfortunately. That being said I will (and have) continuously relayed the song because I want to listen to that fierceness and powerfulness that the song has since I missed it so much. I did think Peniel’s rapping after the first chorus was a little weird but listening to the song a few more times made that part fit in perfectly into the song.

The music video tells an interesting story. The video matches that grand feel and epicness that the song oozes with. It seems like the guys are trying to escape some sort of regime. Within the confines of a church, the group assumes they are safe, but become under attack. Also within the church, they meet a girl, who is played by Elkie from CLC. It seems like Minhyuk falls for her. You think everything is okay until the plot twist is revealed. The girl turns out to be part of the regime that the guys are running away from and in the end, Minhyuk is caught, stripped and hanged upside down in the snow. I assume they are all killed in the end. I actually like these types of plots. They should be made into movies. They sound pretty cool and perfect for the big screen sometimes. I really thought the way they shot the video was pretty cool. Some of the camera effects occurred at the right time with the beat of the song.

While I do rave on how powerful and grand the song was, the dance felt short of that. It was quite underwhelming and looked a little off. Sure, they were tried to show off their masculine charms, because this is a song about being a woman’s man, but it seemed quite weak. I am not actualy referring to the part of the choreogrpahy where they are praying, but rather the parts where they actually directly show that they can be a man, such as the chorus. It seemed like they were trying to hard.

Rating – 8/10

[Review] Décalcomanie – Mamamoo

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Mamamoo have finally returned to the stage with their brand new mini-album, Memory. Their latest title track is Décalcomanie, which refers to a decorating technique used by the French (for engraving or transferring designs from one material to another). Their last comeback was with You’re The Best (back in March) and the group has since released singles, which are included in the tracklist of this mini album.

I love the song. The song is amazing. If you want another Mamamoo song that showcases their vocals, this is the one for you. The only difference is that there are not many harmonising or backup vocals in this one as their previous songs. To me, it is like the upgraded version of Piano Man, which they released in 2014. Quite classy and more mature sounding. The song starts off somewhat slow. And honestly, if the song remained that way, I would have been disappointed. But this is Mamamoo we are talking about and they don’t mess around. As soon as the chorus drops, the beat drops and everything sounds amazing. I would describe the verses in the song quite bland and sounded “copied and pasted”. The song itself relies heavily on two things: there (expected) amazing vocals and the chorus (which if you have not gotten the message to yet, sounds amazing). Without those two, the song would have fallen short and have not attention paid to it. Moonbyul’s raps were pretty good, but if they had more of a punch or a little more fierceness, it would have made it even better. One more thing the song lacks. Some sort of high/long note to add to that final chorus. the song itself sounded perfect, but that would have taken the song to a whole new level. But overall, amazing song.

The music video was quite a disappointment. The video became a hot topic in South Korea due to a certain scene involving Solar and the male actor, who aggressively made move on the Mamamoo member. It was taken the wrong way in South Korea (and could have been taken the wrong way by anyone in the world), hence why the video was re-edited and re-released within a few hours of initial release. I did not understand the need for the scenes where the girls meet and end up sharing a kiss with the male lead. Yes, I may be jealous there (confession much?), but they ruined the mood of the video and the flow of the song. The song choruses were fast-paced and then the video cut to the slow piano pieces. I do understand that they did add meaning to the video, but putting them in like that just didn’t work out. What did I like? I enjoyed watching the choreography scenes. I thought they looked cool.

I like the dance. It isn’t the best dance out there but what they gave us really fit the song. I really enjoyed watching the chorus. Their live performances are something on another level as well. Not once did I hear their vocals falter at the microphone whilst performing the dance at the same time.

Rating – 8/10

[Review] Don’t Believe – Berry Good

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Berry Good has returned to the stage with a new mini album, Glory, and a new member! Johyun was added to the lineup of Berry Good just prior to the comeback. They previously released Angel earlier this year, which I thought was an amazing song.

I only started listening to Berry Good this year and they wowed me with Angel. Now, they managed to ‘slay’ me with this song. Don’t Believe is not your typical KPOP or Berry Good songs. Berry Good played to their strengths with all their past releases. This time, an element of dance was more dominant than ever, with the song consisting of EDM and dance music incorporated. But that didn’t mean that the group had to forgo their amazing vocals.  The song starts off as if it was their previous songs, like a ballad. But the song progressed into EDM and dance within a few seconds, which caught me by surprise at first. The bridge of the song was spectacular to listen to. The really catchy “Mercy Mercy” really caught my attention when I heard the song (Though I thought they were saying thank you in French for a few days). I was already blown away with the change and just hearing them sing the bridge made everything sound so much better. Loved the instrumental for the dance breaks as well.

The music video was boring to watch. Once again, that bathtub really annoys me. Who thinks of these places to put bathtubs? This time, they just left a bed on the rooftop as well. Because apparently, why not? The video attempted to be anaesthetic but missed the point. Like previous reviews, the shots look random and unstructured. I assume they are trying to tell a story, but they just don’t relevant. My guess is the girls “don’t believe” their lovers anymore and it seems like they are devastated. Kind of what the lyrics are saying, but some of the shots don’t make much sense, particularly some of the scenes with a pair of girls, such as the bathtub scenes. The music video was quite the let down with the song being so good. I have no words to describe what they wore in their choreography scenes. It was like a football jersey, but the backs were cut out and the wore something underneath that I am not sure of.

The dance was okay. It was their first time actually having a routine such as this. Their previous dances have all been simple or been designed for more ballad/slower songs. It was quite weak but they made it appropriate for the EDM track (just barely). However, you can tell that they aren’t suited for this type of dancing.

Rating – 6.5/10

 

[Review] Playing With Fire – BLACKPINK

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BLACKPINK has finally returned with their very first comeback ever! They made their debut in September with Whistle and Boom Bah Yah, which per everyone’s expectations, did incredibly well for a newly debut girl group. And they are expected to continuation with their success through their double title track comeback: Playing With Fire and Stay. This review will only focus on Playing With Fire. I may review Stay at a later date (not too sure yet).

Playing With Fire is one hell of a track. It is a lot different to their debut songs. It focuses more on delivering the energy and vocals. I personally like this track more than their debut tracks. I love the EDM sounds that ran throughout the chorus and the later parts of the song. YG artists tend to be quite versatile with their song types and this just further proves it. I love the EDM, but also loved the slow hip-hop and RnB in the song. The untuned piano at the start made the introduction a whole heap interesting. I do agree with a lot of people when they say it sounds like a 2NE1 song. There are 2NE1 vibes throughout While I said the song focuses more on the vocal side for the group, I was not much of a big fan of their vocals. They should have just let loose but instead, they sounded like they held everything back. I do love the bass that the song had going. Another song of just a few with the bass up to the right level.

The music video was incredibly dull and boring. It just normally consisted of normal pace choreography scenes and slow motioned close up shots. Their facial expressions in the video looked too forced and whoever is getting them to lip sync to the music should get fired. For a song that is moderately paced, I don’t understand the need for the slow motion. It just dragged the video on for longer. To be honest, the video looks like it was slapped together within just minutes. I expected something more speedy after listening to the song. Not slow. The sets look empty and needed something to make it more eye-catching. And finally, the use of fire or “Playing With Fire” was quite limited. Okay, half of me expected something decent and the other half wanted the whole set to be on fire. Just what they released didn’t live up to those standards or expectations.

The performance was meh. The dance isn’t amazing and it didn’t impress me.

Rating – 6/10

[Review] The Closer – VIXX

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VIXX has made their return with the third part of their “Conception’ trilogy. Previously, the group released Dynamite, which was based on the Greek God of Zelos (God of Jealousy and Rivalry). Then they recently returned with Fantasy, based on the Greek God of Hades (God of the Underworld). Now, they are back with the final part, The Closer, based on the Greek God of Kratos (God of strength, might, sovereign rule, and authority in all its forms – Wikipedia, 2016).

Another amazing song from VIXX. Another fine year for the group. Dynamite was an explosion. Fantasy was unimaginable. And The Closer acts as a final chapter to VIXX’s 2016. The song infuses dance, pop and RnB. In the end, we get a very smooth song that sounds quite classy as well. Vocally, every member shined in this song. You can hear  improvements in Hyuk’s and Hongbin’s vocals. But none of the members shined throughout the song like Ken did. The focus was shifted to him in the song  (vocally) and his vocals fit the song perfectly. I also loved Ravi’s rap. It weren’t as fierce this time and had a more defined rhythm to it. That “Oh Whoa Whoa, That’s no no boy” captured my attention as soon as I heard it. I do love the individual sounds in the instrumental. The church bells, for example,  at the start gave a very eerie and mysterious feel, adding that VIXX flavour that we know quite well of. I don’t know why, but I am drawn to the sound of cymbals in the song. The lyrics are quite sensual as well, which does fit in with the overall sound of the song. The only thing that I don’t seem to like about the track is a lack of energy. Sure, it is pretty much passive but I guess I am more used to the stronger and masculine sound from VIXX.

The music video is amazing. Cinematography for this video is amazing. The effects are incredible. I saw the making of this music video and it surprised me with how they shot the video. You can simply google the making of the video, but let’s just say minimal computer effects were required from the looks of the making video. In the video every member (besides Ken) are frozen. N falling off a ledge, Hyuk’s car crashed into the wall. Everyone, regardless, is frozen. Just Ken isn’t and he moves about. I guess it ties with the lyrics of the song. Everyone is after this girl, but Ken is Kratos, so he stops everyone, just to get to the girl himself. Even lyrics in the song backs this up: “Pushing away everyone else and having you“. When no one is frozen (aka the chorus of the song) the video immediately snaps to the choreography scenes. It defines the intensity of the chorus pretty well. The editing and transitions in this video are amazing, not just the content of the video.

I thought the dance had a lot of class and matched the song quite well. At times, it looked like it was hastily put together and I think some fine tuning could have done to make it even more polished. But nonetheless, this performance is pretty grand already. Just look at N’s spin!

Rating – 9/10

 

[Review] Make It Rain – Bastarz (Block B)

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Block B launched their first subunit back in 2015 with Conduct Zero. U-Kwon, B-Bomb and P.O make up the subunit. Now, the subunit has returned with a brand new mini-album. While the subunit did release three music videos for Selfish & Beautiful Girl, Make It Rain and That’s Right, I will only be reviewing their main title track, Make It Rain due to time constraints.

Make It Rain serves as a great continuation from Conduct Zero. The songs seem to go well with each other and Make It Rain is like a nice sequel. I do find it a better than song than the predecessor. This song has a cleaner sound and quite tame compared to their previous song. I wasn’t much of a fan of their previous track, so this sounds a lot better. Like what other people are saying, the song focuses more on the vocal side. The song doesn’t pack a punch until you reach the chorus, thanks to a really nice buildup prior to the chorus. Never a big fan of rappers singing. Some of them have been great, others have been disappointing. P.O falls in between this time around. However, it was the only part which I liked about the whole song. The chorus overshadowed the verses and kind of shoved U-Kwon and B-Bomb away from the spotlight. They had good parts (i.e. their vocals were highlighted) but it failed to capture my attention. There was no hook in the song to me. The only hook in the entire song was the in the chorus and that hook was repeated over and over again. Overall, it was an alright song. Can’t really give them any more than an ‘alright’, to be honest.

I have little to no clue on what’s going on in the video. I have watched it a few times. Besides agreeing that the entire video carries elements that match the song, there really isn’t much else to the video. I have to say the way the video was shot looked really nice and amazing. It’s choppiness and roughness (can I describe it as that?) went really well with the choppy sound in the video. Gave a nice chaotic feel to it. The special effects also added to it as well. Don’t even ask me about the content of the video. I watch with wide eyes and then just go to another tab, leaving the song to play. To me, it seems like they are mobsters of some kind and enjoy gambling. I assume drugs are mixed up somewhere (I assume the stuff they see and their wobbly visions are like hallucinations). Minus the content, the outer layer of the video looked pretty good and (as I mention for the third time) matched the song a lot.

Like the music video, the performance was made to look a little chaotic. A lot of flailing arms and hands. I think the performance looks pretty good. They showed a performance with more precision and allowed the main dancer of the group U-Kwon to show more style and talent on the stage.

Rating – 6/10

[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

[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

[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