Category: Reviews

Q&A – Seventeen (S.Coups, Woozi & Vernon) & Ailee

Posted in KPOP, ReviewsTagged , 2 Comments

First of the last four reviews of the year. Q&A is a collaboration between Ailee, the vocal queen of KPOP and Seventeen, the rising KPOP rookie group. And honestly, it is a really nice song to listen to. It’s bright and vibrant to listen to. There is a strong American influence throughout the whole song, I think. Every time I listen to the song, I know that there is some sort of foreign influence to the song. The song flows quite well and is extremely pleasant to listen to. I love the pairing of vocals. Both Ailee’s and Woozi’s voice go really well together, and top of that, the member’s deep sounding raps really bring the song together. Some of you may be wondering about the title. Essentially, the song’s lyrics are like two people sharing their feelings, but through asking questions and seeking answers, hence Q&A. They are not asking literal questions, just the lyrics (when translated) seem like they’re having a conversation (asking questions and seeking answers). Very interesting concept and equally unique. The instrumental is a little bland, but overall, the song is great to listen to and chill.

As for the music video, the concept is a little clearer. Essentially the girl is making the boys sit through a test to probably determine who would be the most suitable to be her next boyfriend. The boys are studying extremely hard (or too busy posing for the camera). And then we see the boys take the test (but I don’t think they got that far). They even had to result to cheating (with very obvious means). Honestly, the concept of the video weaves into the song a lot more better than the song and I like that about it. Apparently, you get blood noses when you study in South Korea. Seen it in the video and also in many dramas. Funny, cause the only time I get blood noses is when I get I hit in the face with a ball. There also the guys represents different students. Woozi is the one that actually studies, Vernon is the one that looks like they are studying and S.Coups is the one that gives no crap about what he is doing (I am personally a mixture of Woozi and S.Coups. Who are you?). Disappointed Ailee was not in the video.

Overall, great collaboration. 9/10 

Crazy Dog – Yezi (Fiestar) ft. San E

Posted in KPOP, ReviewsTagged , , 4 Comments

Time to finally review something that is directly hip hop related. Hahaha… And another song without a freaking music video… WHY?? But, we must go on. We probably all know who San E is, but who is Yezi? Well, Yezi is the rapper of the female group Fiestar. She recently participated in Unpretty Rapstar, which is a show for female rappers. Now Yezi has received a lot of support and gained a lot of popularity with her appearance on the show, which leads to her very first solo, Crazy Dog, featuring San E.

If you don’t know, I don’t really like listening to K-Hip Hop songs, but this one is an exception. I have always been a fan of Yezi’s raps in her song and while I do not follow Unpretty Rapstar, I saw small snippets of her on the show and she sounded really cool and tough. She is definitely a top notch rapper that should be looked out for in 2016.  This particular song is pretty catchy and has really addictive yet repetitive beat to this. I love how she repeats “Crazy Dog” in both Korean and English. It is hella tough and quite sexy to hear. A bit torn with San E’s part. He sounds great and fit in with the track, but I felt like maybe Yezi had a little more toughness and sounded much more powerful in her delivery. The trumpet sounds in the instrumental gave an unique sound to the song, one that I would not have associated with a hip hop track. I just don’t associate that instrument with the genre, but hey, it worked really well. It had me head bopping all the way through, so I guess it is a pretty good track.

Overall, a solid track. I really want to see her perform this one stage one day and show the world who is boss. 7/10

I can confirm to you that this is the final review without a music video. 2015 is slowly wrapping up and I will be writing up 4 more reviews before the end of the year (Final review will be released on the 24th). The the BOBs will be released starting on the 29th, and the year ends with the End Of Year Chart for 2015 on the 31st. ANY major group/solo comebacks (i.e. iKON, ChoA (AOA) etc.) that is released from now on to the end of the year will be reviewed next year (and included in next year’s charts).

It’s Christmas Time – B1A4

Posted in KPOP, ReviewsTagged Leave a comment

Jingle Bells Jingle Bells…. Christmas is really taking a toll on me. Too many sleigh bells ringing and Ho Ho Ho’s heheheh… I am only joking, but it seems like B1A4 has jumped on the Christmas song bandwagon with their very first Christmas Single. And it is a pretty good song. Just there were some things that I was kind of iffy on. For example, B1A4’s English isn’t that great. I mistook “I just want to be your good friend” as “I just want to be your girl friend”. Their voices were very husky in this song and I liked it. Honestly, it is the only Christmas song so far that is quite upbeat and it really brings the “cheer” and joy to the table. I, for some reason, have this big smile on my face when I listen to the song. Some of the vocals in the verses could have been a little louder, but beside it is a pretty much solid track. The rapping by Baro is also pretty good. I know he isn’t an underground rapper and whatnot, but sometimes he has pretty good raps. Upbeat Christmas track that I would be playing for the next week? This is it.

And then I realized that there is no music video to this song. Nor is there any performance. Song wise, since it the only thing I can review it on, 7/10. 

Sing For You – EXO

Posted in KPOP, ReviewsTagged 2 Comments

EXO has returned to the stage with a special Winter album, with the title track Sing For You. This time around they featured all the members, plus made their comeback with a ballad, which is quite different. Their last promoted ballad was Miracles in December, sung by D.O, Baekhyun, Chen and Luhan. Anyway, on to this ballad. The vocals just blow me away in this song. I know EXO is highly capable of singing ballads as there are amazing vocalists. But even the rappers (Chanyeol, Sehun, Kai) all singing a part of the song. And everyone sounds as if they were blessed with amazing vocals from the very start of time. This ballad is quite slow, and while I am not a big fan of those extremely slow ballads, this one is pretty good. It is just a free flowing song that really gets to you. The guitar instrumental that played throughout the song was blissful. There is one thing that would take the ballad to a whole new level and that is harmony. I feel like if the boys harmonise a little more the song would become 100% perfect. There is a little harmonising going on, but it definitely not enough and feels quite limited.

And let’s go onto a brand new corner of some reviews: The Question. For this review, the question is: What in the freaking effing world is a massive whale doing in space? While it probably does symbolise something that many people just don’t get (including me), it just seems a little too far fetched. But this is one beautiful music video. We see all the members hang out, but in reality they are just memories of some members, and some are just lonely. Sehun in space, Kai reflecting in space while he could be out drinking with the other members, Suho and Chanyeol fighting, D.O driving the car by himself. Some people say this is a way to represent the whole members leaving the band news, and I am going to agree with some band, I don’t think that is it. Yeah, some people do manage to point out a lot of evidence from the video, but I feel like the video is much more than former members, but the friends, family and lovers that we all truly miss. Or maybe I am missing the whole point, but I feel like the acting in this was really good. Kai’s dancing was solid and very interpretive. Honestly, beautiful video. But do share what your thoughts on the video are? Or any “confirmed” story lines. But what I have put is my interpretation. Oh and the video matches the song, but I think you all got that from the above.

10/10. Yeah, something could have been added to the song to make it much better, but what we have here is pretty much perfection.

 

Feels So Good – HALO

Posted in KPOP, ReviewsTagged 4 Comments

[NOTE: As there is no music video to the following song, I decided to use their last comeback as the featured image]

Not exactly a normal review today. I know I don’t review many songs without a music video, but I am going to make a few exceptions for a few more reviews to finish up 2015. The first of which is Halo’s new song. Halo is a new band that made their debut last year with Fever. They made numerous comebacks since with Come On Now, Surprise and While You’re Sleeping. The group is made up of 6 members: Dino, In Haeng, Ooon, Jae Yong, Hee Cheon and Yoon Dong. I was planning on reviewing their debut song, but cancelled the review because of time constraints.

This song is surprisingly good. Their debut song was really good, but their comebacks lately had been lacking quite a bit. This was something that the band needed, but it did sound quite ordinary. While their songs are dance centred and have a more modern electronic feel, this one has more of a retro feel to it (like While You’re Sleeping) and involves a strong disco feel to the video. Some of the vocals had been auto-tuned to fit the song, and I guess I like it. The rapping did not match the song at all and really felt like it was just placed over the instrument. I wouldn’t call the song catchy but the chorus manages to work its magic. As I said in a review recently, any song with the “du du du” sound manage to become catchy and I think that was the hook in my point of the view in the song. Beside all of that, it is a solid song that really caught my attention. It felt so ordinary that it was screaming at me to look at a band that I had planned on paying attention to.

Yeah, their previous dances were much better than this. Their last few had been more suited for more dance centred songs, but this suited the ordinary feel of the song and is that side of KPOP boy bands that somehow must go through. And I referring to the fact that this comeback once again is a boy group doing a cute concept.

This is an example of a good song in my point of view. I like it, but yeah, I see it as a pretty standard song. 6.5/10

For You – Lovelyz

Posted in KPOP, ReviewsTagged 1 Comment

Within a little over a month, Lovelyz has returned with a brand new song. They made their comeback with Ah Choo at the end of October, and surprisingly made their comeback at the start of December. This song just throws me back to the early SNSD days and Kara days. This is a song that honestly feels like it came out during the Golden Ages of KPOP. They went for a more upbeat song this time around. I say that, because it is a lot more upbeat than Ah Choo (which was already upbeat itself). The vocals in this song are pretty nice and fit into that realm of cute concept. As for the instrumental, it is pretty typical, but like the bass sounds in the song. It gave the song more depth and allowed the girls to sound more like from the 2008-2010 era. I think this is a better song that Ah Choo. It has that really addictive beat and the “du du du” sounds. It is a hidden fact that the “du du du” sounds make all songs sound really nice and catchy. But really, it seems like the girls did a really nice job with the song.

As for the video, kind of thankful they are not in a place that is fake. All their music videos have been (sadly) in a box, so to see them embrace the real world makes it oddly satisfying. Maybe I should not have worded it in that way. Not exactly sure what is happening in the video, but it seems like they are all friends and are all meeting up once again. Or that the girl in the snow is holding a box full of memories. While I am not too sure about the plot of the video, I have to admit it was beautifully shot. The scenes were all very bright and matched the tone of the song. The close-up shots of them were spectacular and it highlights each of them individual beauties. Also, what is with this upbeat trend during the season that is commonly associated with slow and snow? Loving it, though so no complaints.

I have yet to see a live performance for this song, so yeah. No dance. [UPDATE: Just saw the dance, but there really wasn’t anything impressive. But the score stays as normal]

Overall, liking the song and the video. 8/10

Dear Santa – SNSD-TTS

Posted in KPOP, ReviewsTagged , , 1 Comment

SNSD-TTS has returned with their very first Christmas album. Oh sigh… More songs to remind me that the year is about to end. But anyway, this song is okay. It seems to be a mess to my ears. I was perfectly okay with the track being the ballad. Yeah, would have been a slow song and that does not seem to be TTS’s style, but the start was amazing. However, it just suddenly changed and I am still trying to get used to it. But I can’t even say the song “dropped the beat” or whatever. The rest of the song was just blah to me. I still listen to it, just hoping it will catch on, but at the moment, I cringe when I listen to the song. And then the song attempts to end with a 3 second ballad part at the end, which has me confused. Why would you start off with an amazing ballad sound, change it into a Christmas pop song instantaneously, and the end it as a ballad. I don’t think that formula works that way, and who on earth thought it would work? The vocals are amazing (per usual), but honestly minus their vocals, everything else was a major let down. It just sounds like a complete mismatch. If the two were split up into two different songs, I think that would have been many times better than just the one. And Tiffany’s “Come On” parts. Wow.

The lion returns. He is still rejected by the girls after what happened in Lion Heart, so it was unexpected that he would make a return in this video. But beside the lion, it was an okay video to watch. Loving the start where the girls are in those beautiful red dresses. It matched the ballad feel the song had at the start. Then the girls get transported through a portal (in the form of an invitation) into a more playful world. Hmmm… I don’t know but that just screams desperate to me. Desperate to find some kind of way to put the girls into a fast and upbeat feel. And everything in between was okay. But honestly, them acting cute. I don’t see it in them anymore and they just looked so awkward acting surprised in a cute way. And then the ending where they all share a laugh. It looks so forced. It looked unnatural and looked cringe-worthy.

As for the performance, I have no bad comments. Removing the song, the mime was an excellent way to make the stage more unique and suits the time of the year that they were singing. Somewhat disappointed that they are promoting for such a short amount of time though (1 week. They already finished)

Overall, highly disappointed. If only they decided to cut the song into two, I would have been happy. 2/10

Run Away – Royal Pirates

Posted in KPOP, ReviewsTagged 3 Comments

Royal Pirates have finally returned after over a year’s break. And boy did they make this return a hella smashing one. This song is super duper amazing. Can I just say, that the instrumental break for this song is my favourite part of the song. The song was quite upbeat and fast already, but that instrumental break just took it to a whole new level. It is a mix of a rock genre and the electronic genre, and this mix goes hand in hand. The vocals are amazing but I do have one small complaint. Royal Pirates put out really nice song that are catchy (the word to describe the chorus) and appeal to me right away. The English in this song fits in with the Korean with the song. I just feel that the vocals could be a little louder. The instrumental is overpowering and I can’t make the vocals for some part for most of it. The other complaint is I personally feel the song is a little too quick. It sounds like the song was sung mostly in the first minute and 30 seconds. The guitar and drums in the sound brings the song back to the rock ages, but the electronic sound makes the song a lot more modern and I personally like that about the song. Great song.

As for the music video, I am totally fine with the seeing the band just rock out to the song. The bright scenes where the members in the sun, seem to show that they are currently running away or something. But they only made up like 20% of the video and could have been taken out. I see no one talking about those scenes, because everyone is in awe with the the dark band scenes. James hitting the metal shield with the guitar seemed a little funny to me. I blame it on the slo-mo. Beside making it look like he was hitting the shield super hard, it seemed like he only allowed the guitar and shield bump each other. And blindfold drummer boy. He is just showing off. Not exactly sure why there was a snow storm towards the end of the video, but it gave the song that fast element, as if they were running. I love the small screen they had to cover their mouths. That looked pretty cool. Honestly, beside the small snippets of light, I think the video was quite nice to watch. The darkness complimented the song’s emotions. And the rock theme travelled through the music video, with the head banging and seriousness the guys had on their faces (from what we could see).

Overall, totally digging this comeback. 9/10

Daddy – Psy ft. CL (2NE1)

Posted in KPOP, ReviewsTagged , , 3 Comments

This is the second part of Psy’s comeback, with Daddy. This song, I think, is meant to embrace the international audience that fell in love with Gangnam Style and Gentlemen. Why I think that, well the song is a better mixture of English and Korean, compared to Napal Baji. CL also features in this track, and while her part is very limited, I actually liked her vocals in this song. More than Psy’s vocals in this song. Yeah, Daddy really did not appeal to me. It had that American feel, but overall the song fell quite short in comparison to Napal Baji. Call me hypocritical, but I feel like this song has a little too much electronic components and Psy’s vocals (in some parts) had excessive autotune. The very simple chorus, is once again the hook of the song, and it really did reel me in. Maybe because the sound of the song has been Americanized quite a bit, I am not feeling the song overall. However it is still a nice song to listen to.  Quite catchy as well.

The music video was interesting and I personally think I enjoyed it to a certain level. It is not that I am disappointed in it, but it felt too complex for Psy. If that makes sense. Yeah, it had that wild element and also the crazies, but it just felt that too much detail was placed into the video. Maybe I am going crazy with these reviews. Hahaha.. But seriously, baby Psy is ummm… creepy. I don’t want a baby winking at me. I absolutely love the school scenes where he is like the ultimate flower boy or hot school jock that everyone is blown away by. The girls acting in this make me laugh so hard. I also love the scenes where he attempts to woo the teacher. I don’t know why by Spanish dance teacher Psy suits his image a lot. The other scene I totally love was the tornado scene. Beside, the grandfather version of Psy was not that great, kind of looked creepy. The one thing I feel like this music video can do without though is CL’s appearance. I personally don’t understand the point of putting someone in the video or on the stage for around 5 seconds, and have them walk off right after.

I feel like the dance for this song suits it 100% and suits Psy 100%. It is simple and easy to follow and it matches the beat of the song. Per usual, Psy looks ridiculous dancing, but he genuinely looks happy about it. If I were to review the dance only, I personally give it a 10/10.

Daddy falls short a tiny bit. Napal Baji was my favourite this time around. 8/10

Which Psy song did you like this time around? Pick below!!!

Napal Baji (Bell Bottoms) – Psy

Posted in KPOP, ReviewsTagged 3 Comments

Psy has returned and this is a comeback that I am willing to review. Hangover was a total mess in my opinion (and I don’t consider it as KPOP). This song, Napal Baji, is an amazing song. This channel the same feel as Gangnam Style, but probably will never reach the same standard as the latter song. Anyway, regarding the song. I like everything in this song. It is super catchy and quite addictive. It is also quite a fun song that I really enjoyed. It has me singing along, even though I don’t understand a single word he was singing about. I really like the intro. While his past songs have been all electronic based, this song had a really nice instrumental and the guitar at the beginning was pretty cool. The chorus, even though it was like “Woah, Napal Baji, eh heeeeeeeeeyy …”, it was pretty much the hook of the song and damn did it hook me.

Psy, bring back the bell bottoms since 2015. Honestly, everyone that wore the pants in the video managed to rock something that is quite outdated. The rest of the video looks like a day in Psy’s life. For example, when he wakes up, he goes to the salon and gets shaved (I wonder how much the nose cost as well), he then goes onto different late night shows and also award ceremonies, with awkward golden dancing statues. And then he comes home with a few girls, who ends up leaving because he is too busy dancing. And he goes back to sleep, on his stand up bed. Hahaha… Honestly, the video made me chuckle and I would say it made me laugh. Psy’s music video had a nice clean feel to it and it felt so fresh. My favourite part of the video would have to be when they transition from the verses into the chorus. Yeah, those scenes where the walls fall down and bring out dancing Psy. I really love that idea.

As for the dance, did Psy say he used T-Ara’s Roly Poly as an inspiration, like how he used Brown Eyed Girl’s dance for Gentlemen? I thought it was a really nice dance and there is something regarding Psy’s facial expression that makes the dance so much better. I actually think one part of what makes him so popular is that of his facial expressions. His funny dances really mismatch his serious expression, but hey, at least we can tell he put his heart and soul into the performance. As for the dance overall, loving it.

This particular song dives back into his Korean roots, but at the same time, deserves to be a hit single everywhere. In my point of view, Psy, you have done it again. 9/10

My review for Psy’s Daddy will come out tomorrrow or the day after, but I put forward this highly important question:

Run – BTS

Posted in KPOP, ReviewsTagged 2 Comments

Run is the title track to the second half of BTS’s new album. They have a returned with another of their dance themed tracks. An ongoing trend I see this year is that the songs that have been released in Autumn (Fall) have been quite upbeat and sound much more for the Summer season. Not complaining though, because I see it as an interesting change (and I much prefer songs for the Summer season than the Winter season). This song is pretty cool. Honestly, I feel like the rappers only got a small part of the song, which may sound absurd to some people. I really do enjoy the chorus and it actually matches the title of the song, fast paced and intense. Is it the best BTS song out there, I am going to say no. There were some things in the track that had me a little iffy. The rapping wasn’t their best. Compared to I Need U, the rapping wasn’t up to par and felt disjointed. It was powerful and all, but it just did not sound right. The instrumental sounded ordinary. Its the type of instrumental feels completely empty without the vocals (hmmm… isn’t that the definition of an instrumental?). But nonetheless, it is still a great song and I enjoyed listening to it a lot. I love how the vocals by Jin and Taehyung were soft (just before the chorus), but the chorus gives it that punch.

For the love of whoever, why the hell are BTS music videos so hard to understand. I think I can conclude one thing: I Need U, Butterfly and Run are one complete packaged. However they each tell a different story from the one story. I Need U tells of the story before everything in Butterfly and Run clashes into each other, where they hang out and escape from their troubles. Butterfly shows that somehow Jin lived on and everyone else has either died or gone their separate ways. Run shows a completely different side and makes us doubt. What if Jin was the one who died and everyone else survived? My theory is that Jin was the first one to die (As Jimin burns a picture in I Need U, and Run reveals it was a picture of the group without Jin), and everyone ended up dying one way or another. V suicides in Butterfly, Jimin drowns himself in the bathtub in I Need U, Suga burns himself alive etc. But, it is probably not right. I think I am so deep into 3 particular scenes from the set (1 scene from each video), I am overlooking the other connections between them. Nonetheless, I think this was a beautifully shot video, and there was a lot of running to reflect that fast paced. I also love it when they open doors, there is some sort of party going on. And they managed to block an entire tunnel. #TeamGoals

The dance either focused on the shoulders, or the butts. Hahaha… Their clothing on stage was so tight at the MAMA awards that for some reason, my eyes drifted towards their butts…. Why am I telling you this? But I thought the dance was really cool (as well). The shoulder rolls and the “running” on stage fitted the intensity of the song.

Overall, it is an amazing comeback. 8/10

Hero – Monsta X

Posted in KPOP, ReviewsTagged Leave a comment

While this is not a song that I would normally review, as there is no music video, I am still going to do it today. Monsta X has returned with a repackaged version of their second mini album. I am reviewing the broadcast version of the song Hero. This , by far, is their best song to date. It’s catchy hip hop vibe and dance sound really gives the song that appeal that I tend to talk about. While each song has a different form of appeal to it, this one ticks all the right boxes. The start of the song sounds like some kind of Vixx themed introduction (I hope I did not start anything), and while I associate the sound with Vixx, I think Monsta X did a pretty good job. The song is addictive and catchy. The dubstep “whoops” gave the song that really tough and powerful sound, but the random Mario  sounds really felt mismatched when I first heard the song. Now, the sound somewhat feels like it belongs to the song.  The vocals and rapping is pretty much on point. The chorus highlighted the group’s unique sound and talents. Their first two songs were not that great, but this was a song that showed a more powerful and talented side of the guys to me.

The music video that is only available is actually them dancing on a rooftop. And that video, isn’t the correct video for the broadcast version. So I am skipping the music video part of the review and going straight onto the dance. It is a pretty cool dance that brings out a more masculine side. They were in sync and their movements were pretty sharp. Not exactly keen on the dance for the chorus, but it matches the style the guys were going for.

Short review today. Was meant to come out yesterday, but was extremely busy to finish it off. 8.5/10

Sour Grapes – San E & Mad Clown

Posted in KPOP, ReviewsTagged , Leave a comment

San E probably has one of his biggest years this year. Sure, he has been a very big icon in the hip hop industry in South Korea for some time and each song of his continues to be big hits. But this has to be one of his best songs ever. This time around he collaborated with Mad Clown to make one of the catchiest K-Hip Hop songs ever. The rhythm and melody of the song just gives you the head bopping feels and just makes you want to sway around. The lyrics are quite funny. While some of them are the cringe worthy kind, I feel like how they incorporated the words (both English and Korean) into the rap, but gave them different meaning is really cool. Of course the rapping is amazing (per usual). Not exactly sure of the originals of the “Sour Grape” title, but I assume it is like a saying in South Korea. Honestly, for the first time ever, I think I can say that I am legit into a K-Hip Hop song.

The music video was good. And only good. Watching it the first time was fun, but the second and thrid time had me yawning. There is one part in the video which I liked the most and it was the Drake dance parody. Was made into a meme and has now reached the KPOP shores. Hahaha… The video took the lyrics and showed them literally, which was pretty nice. Honestly did not think Mad Clown had this fun side to him. His own songs were always so serious and never fun or playful. It puts him into a new light for me. I personally don’t get why it is rated 19+ but then again, South Korean innuendo is completely different to the innuendo that I am used to in Australia. The video alone is pretty bright and colourful. Which surprises me, since there are so many different bright and colourful centred colours during the season of Fall over there. Did South Korea suddenly move down to the Southern Hemisphere? For some reason, I like the circle (aka when the girl looks into the telescope) and how it focuses on a certain part of the video. Yeah, I am that simple. But honestly, it gives off that pervy feel and actually compliments the video’s rating. Which then means that the title has something sexual going on. Hahaha…

Yeah, the language barrier was probably the biggest turn off for this collaboration. But nonetheless, for what I can hear, I think it is great. For what I see, I think it is all right. 7/10

 

Muah – APRIL

Posted in KPOP, ReviewsTagged 3 Comments

APRIL has returned with a song that pleases me and sounds 100% better then their debut song. This song is much more lively and energetic than Dream Candy, which they released a few months back. And I personally like that aspect of the track. You can tell just from the sound of the track of how fun and colourful the track is. While the highlight of the song was “Muah, Muah, Muah”, I think over words could have been used in place of muah. I honestly heard “Wah” when I first listen to the song. The vocal work for this song and the rapping were amazing. Not 100% sure what they sound like on stage, but this song gives me high hopes. The instrumental sounds pretty ordinary, but I don’t think it effects my perspective on the song that much. It is quite catchy and pretty addictive at the moment. Overall, I like it a lot.

As for the music video, that colour that we find in the song is evidently here in the music video. The video itself is a lot more interesting than Dream Candy. So the whole video is about them falling in love with one particular guy. Like all five girls, falling in love with only one guy. The same guy. Hmmm… Honestly, KPOP needs to invest in more people to act in these videos. Almost every KPOP video is about 1 guy or girl and the whole band falling in love with them. Kind of ridiculous. Every time I watch a music video that has this kind of plot, I kind of throw the video to the side. But the weirdest bit is that the girls become angry at each other, but make up with kisses. And fake kisses at that. Ummm… For some reason this sounds like something coming out of a high school. And really, these girls (in their girl scout uniform) look like their barely at the age to even be loved by a dude who looks way too legal.

The dance is really not that impressive. There really is nothing that grand about the dance. It’s cute and all, but with competition in the industry at the moment, this dance is going to get them no where. But I have to say the “muah, muah, muah” dance seems very bouncy and seems to be the cutest moment of the dance.

Overall, great song, interesting video and ordinary dance. I think you guys need to just read this line, and it summarises the review in just a few words. Hahahah… 6/10

Sleepless Night – Nine Muses

Posted in KPOP, ReviewsTagged , , 1 Comment

The song is quite underwhelming. To me, it suits the feel of Autumn but the song is really monotone. Listening to it from start to end, I really could not decipher which part was the verse and chorus. After a few listens, it started to become clear, but that monotone feel remained. To me, I can imagine a straight line running throughout the song, and the vocals really did not deviate from that straight line. The entire song was sung at a high pitch and honestly listening to the recorded version and the live version shows a very big difference. This song is basically suited for only a recorded version, which sounds really good (minus the monotone complaint).  But the girls struggled a lot with the song when singing live. Only the main vocalists nailed the song, the rest kind of didn’t sound up to par as they did in the recorded version. Now I understand that they are dancing and all, but there have been other songs that suit each members vocal style really well, so it was a disappointment. The rapping was another part that was disappointing. It sounds heavily edited and just so whiny. It did not fit in well with the rest of the song. If it was manipulated in a way to sound more sensual and softened, then it wouldn’t needed to sound forced and “over the top”, if you understand what I mean.

The music video looked interesting. So we have Mina which appeared in the video at the very start. It seems that every other member plays a part of Mina (such as her memories). Now, clearly from the tone of the song and the music video, you can tell that Mina is facing some sort of break up and each member (her memories) seem to cause her this pain. The ending, seems to show another member, and probably symbolises that Mina has moved on from her memories. Yeah that last part isn’t that clear. But damn, this video was beautifully shot. The nice rustic feel of the video gives that Autumn look. Honestly, great video.

The dance to this is very sexy and sensual. However, it is not over the top and is quite classy in my point of view. I really love the end where they are all squatting (This by far is the worst word to describe such a sexy dance move) around the chair. It added that extra class I was just speaking above. Once again, the live vocals aren’t that great. Props to them for singing live, but this might not be the right song for that.

Nice song, but not exactly sure it was the right choice for stage performances. 5.5/10

Confession Song – GOT7

Posted in KPOP, ReviewsTagged 1 Comment

You know is going to be Christmas very soon when stores blare Christmas songs (Did someone just say Mariah Carey?) or Christmas carols as soon as you enter them, turkey and whole chicken takes up a single aisle in your supermarket, the only thing that seems to be on sale are Christmas decorations and soft bells sounds, such as the sound we assume Santa makes when he is riding his sleigh across the world, start to take over the instrumental in songs. Yeah, GOT7’s song came out a month early. It is a nice song, that is really cute and has a nice message. Though, the title is very ummm.. creative. I really can’t say much about the song. It is refreshing and fits in with the certain time of the year (and here I am sweating down here in Australia). Vocals were okay and so was the rapping. Overall, nice song for the holiday season.

The video was cute. It reminds me of Lee Seung Chul’s My Love video. It fits in with the cute sound of the song. I just be a little concerned if two reindeers came in and decided to kidnap a few students. I also want to point out two different scenes in the video, which involves the members. The collision between JB and Jackson at 3:08 in the video looks hella painful. And Jackson’s not so cute facial expression at 4:30 in the video. Yeah, beside that, really cannot mention much about the video. Hopefully those couples stay as couples.

I am literally questioning why I decided to review this song. Song is a great start to the Holiday Season (preparing for the army of Christmas songs that will be released by KPOP and non KPOP singers in the next few weeks) and the video is cute as well. 7/10