Infinite’s most hottest subunit is back. Infinite H, for those who don’t know, consist of Hoya and Dongwoo and releases songs for the hip hop demographic. They debuted with Special Girl back in 2013. Since then, they have been heavily promoted with the rest of Infinite, with singles such as Man In Love, Destiny, Last Romeo and their latest hit Back. But after a 2 year wait, fans can now get a better look at Infinite’s resident rappers.
This song is claimed to have a “soft hip hop beat” to it. I can hear that it is soft. Just I really can’t see (or hear) much of a hip hop influence. Their last song, Special Girl, had a more hip hop vibe compared to this song. That being said, I feel like this is more of a pop song. But that is just what I hear. I like this song. It really is not that bad. I really don’t know what else to say about the song. The boys can rap? But this song also points out that they can also sing. The song really is not that catchy however and though it does appeal to me, it really does not have me coming back to listen to it again and again. I just feel that it is cause it lacks the hip hop feel according to my ears. But nice song overall.
Music video, even though was meant to be humorous, really did not make it laugh. Actually, it makes me think the boys are quite clumsy. I just like it how they played out various scenarios in which the girl was so beautiful that it got them nervous and caught them out. Beside having just one plot, there are multiple plots in this one video. I like how the background, even though it was fake and seemed fake, really brought out the back ground in the music video. It actually seemed stylish and a really modern idea. Just making hearts while driving, really does not seem that ideal. The girl, to me, is not that great looking. She has a great face and all, but nothing I would go crazy for.
The dance is okay. It was toned down a little from the Infinite dances we know of, mainly because this has a much softer sound for the song. The two seemed to be having fun on stage and enjoys the dance as well.
Overall, nice song. Though, I think it time that Infinite H makes a comeback with another song that actually has a hip hop vibe to it, that all of us are familiar with. 6.8/10
It has been so long since I have written a Japanese song review hasn’t it?Well, that drought hopefully will be over today. I am hoping to increase the amount of JPOP or Japanese songs this year that I will actually review. And least break the drought with Infinite’s newest Japanese song: Dilemma.
The song was a collaboration between the famous producer Tomoyasu Hotei and the famous Korean band Infinite. The song has its really cool rock and roll roots, but also includes dance themes and also a really cool modern feel to the song. The song literally hits you as soon as it starts. It is a very powerful song and really oozes out the energy that the boys have. The chorus is really catches my eye, because it seems different from the rest of the song. That is a good thing though, so don’t be mentioned. I am not really a fan of the rapping in the song. They did a good job, just it slows down the song. That really long instrumental part in the song really sounds cool as well and actually picks up from the rapping pretty well. There is just one little complaint. And this complaint kind of goes with many Korean artists. But if the title of the song is an actual lyric in the song than learn how to say the word properly, especially if it is in a different language. Beside that, the song was really good to listen to.
The music video was pretty dark. I don’t know why but the music video gave off the same feel as Last Romeo did for me. Just there was less colour and a lot more close up shots of the member. There is also a mysterious band playing in the music video. Most of the time we only see their silhouette. The music video also had that violent side to it. Hahaha. Yes, glass breaking was a little repetitive in the music video. I am sure one member would have been fine. I really don’t know what to say about this video now. Okay I guess.
There is a dance in this music video, however we don’t get to see much of the dance in this video. Though from what I have seen, the dance fits Infinite’s style of dancing. Pretty good.
8.7/10 – A really cool release in Japan. Hopefully, they might be able to bring this song to Korea (or at least this style for their future comeback?
Finally, another Japanese reviewed finish. If there are any other Japanese artists that you think I should be reviewing, please comment the name of the artist or group and also a song that they have sang. Will do my life wonders, as I have no idea who is who in Japan (though at the moment I am looking at another artist in AVEX).
Welcome to the end of the 2014 charts. This chart has every single song that was released from the 1st of January 2014 to the 1st of December. I left the nitty gritty stuff out (aka. the numbers I used for the ranking) and made sure that everything was fair. So that means for songs that were released towards the end of the year would have received some extra increment to make sure that they were levelled out with the songs released in January. Other numbers used included whether songs were on the YouTube Playlist of The Month and each song was re-reviewed in categories of “song, music video and dance”. Below are just some interesting facts that you may enjoy in regards to this chart.
The very first song released to be included on the charts are Rain’s 30 Sexy and La Song. The last song released before the cut off date was Infinite F’s Heartbeat.
T-Ara’s Sugar Free (2) was the only song throughout the whole chart to score the maximum of 40 for the song re-review.
VIXX is the first boy group to appear in the charts at 14th place with Eternity.
As touched on above, this year the charts are dominated by the girl groups, with 13 boy groups versus 37 girl groups (repeated groups not excluded).
Heavily promoted songs tend to rank higher than songs that were released as a single and not promoted.
The following artists achieved the next few positions after 50th place: SPEED, Crayon Pop, Z:EA, Zhou Mi (Super Junior), BTOB, Infinite, UKISS, AOA and Gain (Brown Eyed Girls)
1
Something
Girl’s Day
2
Sugar Free
T-Ara
3
Up & Down
EXID
4
Monday Blues
Sunny Hill
5
Piano Man
Mamamoo
6
Darling
Girl’s Day
7
I’m In Love
Secret
8
Mr. Chu
A Pink
9
Yasisi
NS Yoon G
10
Red Light
F(x)
11
One More
Fiestar
12
Good Night Kiss
Hyosung (Secret)
13
Ain’t Nobody
HA:TFELT (Yenny – Wonder Girls)
14
Eternity
VIXX
15
You Don’t Love Me
Spica
16
So Wonderful
Ladies Code
17
This Is Love
Super Junior
18
Luv
APINK
19
Like A Cat
AOA
20
B.B.B (Big Baby Baby)
Dal Shabet
21
Good Luck
Beast
22
Cha Cha
Rainbow BLAXX
23
Full Moon
Sunmi ft. Lena
24
Error
VIXX
25
Catallena
Orange Caramel
26
My Copy Cat
Orange Caramel
27
Don’t Look At Me Like That
Song Ji Eun (Secret)
28
Back
Infinite
29
8Dayz
Megan Lee
30
What About You?
Laboum
31
Dont Touch Me
Ailee
32
I Swear
Sistar
33
Singing Got Better
Ailee
34
1004 (Angel)
B.A.P
35
Danger
BTS
36
12:30
Beast
37
Mr. Ambigious
Mamamoo
38
Lonely
B1A4
39
Beep Beep
BTOB
40
Mamma Mia
Kara
41
I Need You
Bestie
42
Solo Day
B1A4
43
Whatcha Doing Today?
4Minute
44
Pretty Age 25
Song Ji Eun (Secret)
45
1 Minute 1 Second
Jiyeon (T-Ara)
46
Peppermint Chocolate
Mamamoo ft. K.Will & Wheesung
47
FxxK U
Gain (Brown Eyed Girls)
48
Touch My Body
Sistar
49
Evanesce
Super Junior
50
Not Spring, Love, or Cherry Blossoms
HIGH4 ft. IU
THAT’S IT!!! 2014 IS OVER AND 2015 IS APPROACHING. WISHING YOU ALL (IN YOUR RESPECTIVE TIME ZONES) A HAPPY NEW YEAR. I only have 6 hours to go and I am excited. Party hard (but not too hard) and I will see you next year!! aka. in the next few days ^^
Code: RED FONT – WINNERS BLUE FONT – HONOURABLE MENTION
BEST ROOKIE GROUP
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
2014, like the past few years, have seen so many new KPOP bands debut. So many new bands, so much that I have a really difficult job to select certain artists and also keep up with the old styles. 2014 saw the big 3 companies debut their own groups, but I have to be honest, the stand outs came mostly from the smaller companies. One group in particular stood out from the rest: Mamamoo. Harmony and totally different style from what we are used to. Honourable mentions go to GOT7.
BEST INSTRUMENTAL
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
The one song that is overlooked by everyone on the album is the instrumental. I freaking love instrumentals, and this year, KPOP decided to tease me with so many new instrumentals. That being said, this year the winner of Best Instrumental is Ain’t Nobody by Ye-Eun (Ha:tFelt). Honourable mentions go to Sugar Free by T-Ara.
BEST VOCALS
WINNER
KPOP = Singing. There for it is only right for this year to have an award for Best Vocals, right? Well, the winner goes to Ha:tfelt – Ye Eun (Wonder Girls). I was so amazed by here singing this year that it blew my mind, particularly her title track Ain’t Nobody. Honourable mentions go to IU (yes, I think most of us agree).
BEST RAPPER
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
Many KPOP songs have many rapping parts. At the same time, rappers need some recognition. Though, I feel my choice this year could be a little odd, only one person (in my opinion) did a really amazing job. Junhyung from Beast did a wonderful job in Good Luck, 12:30 and the many songs he featured in. Zico from Block B takes Honourable Mentions.
BEST SUBUNIT
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
Since 2013, many subunits have been on trend. Even though subunits have been losing trend, many bands this year debuted their own subunits. However, I think we should move away from the new subunits. Cause this year an old subunit wins. Orange Caramel steals Best Subunit with release of three different songs. Honourable mentions goes to Rainbow Blaxx.
BEST COLLABORATION
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
The new trend for 2014. Collaborations between artists have been on the rise. This year though, if you were a KPOP fan for a while, you would know already who the winner is. Soyu & JungGiGo’s Some steals the show, topping the end of year charts conducted in South Korea and winning Best Song as well on the SBS Music Festival. Well of course they would win, considering that they SLAYED the charts. Honourable Mentions go to Sane and Raina’s collaboration, Midsummer Night’s Sweetness.
RISING STAR OF THE YEAR
WINNER
WINNER
This year there has been so many stars that have started to become more popular. The nominees tend to be bands that have debuted in the previous year, and with help of comebacks, started to become well known in the industry. I think for the first time ever, I am going to be honest and put forward two winners to this category. First of all, BTS say a boost in popularity and have become a band that I look forward to listening to. Second of all AOA saw new popularity with release of Miniskirt, Short Air and Like A Cat. Both bands, obviously, rose a lot this year and I found it hard to differentiate them.
BEST JAPANESE SONG
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
If you don’t know (I won’t be surprised) I also review some Japanese song. 2015 will be the year where I start to review more Japanese songs for you all. However, 2014 also had a lot of catchy and cool Japanese songs. The winner for this year is Korean boy band MYNAME’s F.F.Y. Such a catchy song. As for honourable mentions, it goes to AAA’s Showtime.
BEST DANCE
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
KPOP is also known for its dancing. 2014 saw some interesting dances, catchy dances, and some dances that have no words to describe it. And that can be a good thing or a bad thing. This year, T-ara took the position as best dance. It was probably the most addictive dance and it was pretty easy as well. It matched the song and most importantly, I loved it. Honourable mentions to Infinite’s Back.
BEST ALBUM
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
A brand new category for 2014. Every award show or some kind of award giving platform has the “best album” award. And yes, this year, there are so many freaking great albums (like any other year). In my opinion, the best album of the year goes to F(x)’s Red Light. All, if not most, of the songs were amazing to listen to and were so great. Every freaking song was different, and though that maybe risky, F(x) pulled it off as a flowing album. Honourable Mentions goes to AKMU’s Play.
BEST MALE SOLOIST
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
Solos don’t tend to be the trend this year. Some bands saw new members branch into a solo career, however it seems like more and more KPOP idols (whether male or female) are branching out to acting or variety shows. However, the winner to this category is a person who started offically his own solo career with a lot of experience in the music industry. Crush is the winner. Damn, this dude’s songs are so good. You should check them out. Honourable mentions: JungGiGo.
BEST FEMALE SOLOIST
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
It seems like more and more females are branching out onto the stage. We saw many KPOP divas making their solo debuts on the stage with new and fresh songs from bands like T-Ara or Secret. We already have divas who have accomplished a start to their solo career and saw comebacks of very big names. This year, one solo stood out and that is Secret’s Song Ji Eun. Releasing her first solo mini album, she did quite well considering the competition she was going through. Honourable Mentions goes to Sunmi.
BEST FEMALE GROUP
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
Sexy concept by girl groups have been on the rise. If you know me well, then you probably already know my pick. However, so many girls groups made their comeback this year. Some picked up a lot of popularity and saw massive wins for the first time. Girl’s Day hitted big with their amazing single Something. They later went on to release Darling and I Miss You. Being one of the biggest girl groups of the year, they were sure to pick some prize up. APINK steals honourable mentions this year with their massive single Mr Chu and their latest hit Luv, which blew up and swept all the December trophies for 2014.
BEST MALE GROUP
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
There have always been a large influx of boy groups and this year it is no different. I was so impressed I was just going to choose all 10 nominees as winners. However, there can only be one winner (well, technically), so I guess I have to choose one. I am going to put down VIXX. They released Eternity and Error this year and both songs were hits for the band. Not only that, they displayed great dance moves and skills. Beast takes out honourable mentions with Good Luck and 12:30, both being very great songs that also delivered like what VIXX had to show. (Just VIXX nudged a head a little bit).
BEST MUSIC VIDEO
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
This year, most of my Best Music Video Nominees saw the depressing side of KPOP. 8 music videos had this sad or dark storyline to tell. 2 music videos were made in a soft hearted and were really cheerful. G.o.D’s music video for The Story Of Our Lives, told the amazing bond between family and that the outside will never be able to define the inside. Megan Lee features in the song and both band and soloist did an amazing job singing and pouring out their emotions. By the way, SM made a video outside of the box. F(x)’s Red Light, takes honourable mention.
BEST SONG
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
25 songs were nominated for Best Song for 2014. All were to an excellent standard. There were clear stands out. Something by Girl’s Day, EXID’s Up and Down and Beast’s Good Luck are this year’s honourable mentions. However, which song took Best Song category for 2014? Check the song and music video down below.
Popular boy band, Infinite, has finally unveiled their new subunit in South Korea, Infinite F. Composed of members Sungyeol, L and Sungjong, the subunit made their debut recently with Heart Beat.
This is an okay song. They put together the youngest members of Infinite (and coincidently, the ones that are not vocally talented but are visuals of the band). Not that I am complaining, because it is these members that usually get less lines in an actual song sung by the entire group. However Sungyeol, only got 2 lines in the whole song. I am pretty disappointed. This song really does not showcase his vocals and I have heard many songs where his voice was much better than compared to this song. The start sounded like the start of the OST for the drama that Woohyun and Sungyeol are currently in (Yes, I have been watching a little bit of dramas recently. I finished school and refuse to go out). It is a catchy song, but it really does not have me coming back for more. Overall, song is okay. Just it could have been enhanced or a little more better.
A video about a bunch of guys being cute. Yay!! (Heavy sarcasm). But a video about a magic pen… Now that is interesting. It magically rolls out of nowhere and can draw anything that the members need. An old radio, a piano, a fridge fully loaded with food and a hot air balloon. Actually, the hot air balloon was not actually drawn with the magic pen, but magic paper and crayon. Another thing. When Sungjong was cooking and sprinkling sprinkles on top of the cupcakes, I loved how no sprinkles were on the other trays, however when he went to sprinkle that certain cupcake, he completely missed. That was just my observation. Oh lastly, what freaking dark filter was used? This video I am sure when meant to be bright, but it seems like they took the dark filter from some of their previous videos. Okay video overall.
Not that impressive. I did not know what I was expecting. Maybe something I am used to, like a normal Infinite dance rather than dancing around.
Have no idea why I expected a hardcore Infinite style comeback. But overall, it was an okay comeback. 4.7/10
Infinite is finally back a brand new song. It seems like just yesterday that they were performing. Oh wait, didn’t they just finish promoting Last Romeo just like early last month? That might explain it. Hahahaha…. The group is back with a repackaged album of Last Romeo, which had been retitled as “Be Back”, which contains all their other songs from the Last Romeo album and also 2 brand new songs, Diamond and Back. The latter is being reviewed today. Probably one of the most violent videos ever. If some of you guys remember, last time they promoted Woohyun was injured. This time around, Hoya is injured. So many injuries. And so little time to review this. Sorry, I was drowning in homework when I started this review. Whoops.
This song is freaking amazing. I have no words to describe. I was speechless, but my jaw did not drop a mile. It is a really nice song that is a wonderful mash-up of different genres, just I don’t think it is that memorable overall. However, the song is quite up there as one of my favourites. As soon as the song starts, we get some kind of ballad of some sort, but little over a minute and the beat drops. Basically the thing that really stands out for me is that Infinite is quite known for their dance songs, with all of that heavy choreography. On top of that, myself and probably the rest of the fans really enjoy their ballads as well, so this song combines both of them. Pretty decent. I liked how the song goes from slow to fast and back to slow, and then back to fast. It sounds really amazing. Another thing to note, is that there are no raps. Members Hoya and Dongwo who are known for rapping all end up singing vocally in this song which goes to tell how strong their voices are. All the other members get decent line distributions here in this song. just I think Sunggyu ends up dominating. I also found the “Back Back Back” part really catchy and the instrumental equally as appealing.
Probably a video done right. It has a 19+ rating, but hey there is none of that sexual nonsense here. Just a very young girl is being kidnapped and a fight ensues between the kidnappers and the band, which turns ugly in just about 1 second after the “Back” and Infinite sign took over the video. Just the one thing that is troubling me is that the girl looks like she is still in elementary school. Probably young enough to be the youngest sister of one of the members, not their lover [CORRECTION: The girl actually is the sister. My bad]. Anyway, the boys go into this abandoned warehouse to save the girl. As soon as they walk in they start fighting. Some are throwing punches, some are doing really weird flying kicks. Just Sungyeol is very angry, and pulling the minions hair and Sungjong, are you holding an umbrella? “Hey you got the guns? No. Well what do you have?” An umbrella. Wow. But hey, don’t look down on him because that umbrella is probably the world’s deadliest. However in the end they get overpowered. However, it seems at the end, they start going back into combat when we all first thought they had lost. Amazing what love can do to you. Beside the violent nature of the video, I thought the video was quite nice to watch. The solo shots look awesome and those scenes where the members, one by one, are sitting behind the fence, in the middle of the fight, looked pretty cool to watch.
The dance is pretty good. I really think the start was probably the best out there. It matched the slow start and then when the song started to get quicker and there was more of an electro sound to it, the dance picked up as well and started to be more fitting for a dance song.
By far, probably one of the best Infinite comebacks. Too bad they are currently overshadowed by big name bands in the industry this time around. Congrats on your win today though. 10/10
Infinite has recently made their comeback with a new album. After solo promotions and solo activities such as acting, the group has finally hit the stage as romantic men again. However, this is not the first album from the group this year. In March 2014, the group released “The Origin” which is an instrumental album which consisted of all of their hit songs and other popular non-title track songs. The album itself was split into three version, each with their own category. An amazing album, that you all should check out. But this is there first release of the year that contained their voices and it seems they are getting a lot of love with four awards already and we are still counting the endless number of the awards that are yet to come.
I guess this song takes rock and roll, brings down the level of power of the song and mushes it into a love song. Okay, if I put it that way its sound like a horrible type of song doesn’t it? But I think it is a cool Infinite style song. It was quite upbeat, powerful like their past songs. I really liked the drums throughout the whole thing. Though to me, the song was not as memorable as their past songs, but it sounded pretty good. Dongwoo and Hoya sound like they are really good professional rappers and to me, they improved greatly. I find the vocals of this song pretty good as well. The rock feel of the song makes it a stand out compared to the rest of the songs that have been released recently. The whole song to me seemed to be written around Romeo’s point of view of Romeo and Juliet. Overall a pretty cool song, however it could have been better.
The music video is pretty cool I loved the short intro they had at the start. The music video is back to the dark ages which I really enjoy from the band. The music video tells the story of a couple who seems to be lost in time (I assume that is what the start was) and somehow they conjure themselves up at a library. At the library, Woohyun find clues to find the missing girl. They meet but unable to reach other, so Woohyun goes running after her, to which the girl just walks off, as if she is teasing him. The she disappears and he reaches the middle of the libaray, where he is so angry that he unleashes the 1000 years of fury and blows everything up, to which he is transported back to wherever he first was (or he died). Not sure. The plot seems to fit in partly to the song, but really some things could have been much better. I like their dance scenes, with the fake White House like structure and those pillars. Without the reasoning with the song, I think the music video was much better than expected, but with the song, not so great.
The dance is pretty cool. It is such a pity that Woohyun got injured and now he looks really awkward dancing the whole thing with his hands gripping his belt, but that can’t be helped. But overall, I liked the dance.
7.5/10. A pretty cool comeback this time around, it just needed that something more to add to it to make it sound and look better.
Eric Nam is back with a brand new song. It has been over a year since we last saw the man himself on stage promoting a song, the last being his debut single: Heaven’s Door. Since then, he has picked up on being a host for a show called After School Club and I believe have sung many OSTs. Now that he is back, we see what seems to be a more fun side to him. If you don’t remember him, he is that contestant on one of those variety music competitions in Korea which got him well-known. Eric Nam also collaborated with labelmate Spica’s BoA for a cover of Say Something, which was amazing and that you can watch it HERE. I also believe it is my first review for a Monday where I have school the next day. I still have school tomorrow, I just cannot be a whole day in the rain for athletics. Oh the joy.
This song is pretty good. I really enjoyed and it sounds really, really well done. Giving off that 70-80 vibe in the song, the song is pretty cool. The song itself also features Hoya who does a pretty amazing job with the rapping in the song, while at the same time, not ruining the “vocal” line of the song. The start of the song is a really good start to an amazing song, which leads to a really soft vocal part from Eric, but then bam, the chorus. It makes you want to dance along. Another thing I want to mention, is that throughout the whole song, the instrumental remained constant. There were no major fluctuations between the speed of the instrumental or the loudness which makes it a pleasant song. Well, expect for the bridge, but that lasted for like 15 seconds until it picked up again, which was pretty good. The song talks about how this guy finds the perfect girl whom he (or she) does not even know, but everything about her is perfect. I have no complaints what so ever.
The music video. Oh boy. I think you know what I am talking about. Those socks have to go. LOL. Just joking. That stereo with the click of a finger needs to be in my house NOW. Wait, I can’t click my fingers together. Wait, not that. Anyway. The music video is pretty cool (not for that reason, I am not perverted). But that first scene was mildly hilarious for me, mainly because I am trying to see if he had buttoned up any extra buttons, cause it looked like it either fell out or he completely failed. And also, I really like how Kevin, BoA and Brian from Busker Busker was used in this video. Well I shouldn’t say it in that way. But their appearance gives off a good vibe for the video. The set is amazing (though I think one was a little too dark for me, but the flashing lights lightened up the place). But beside that, not really tough complaints.
The dance is pretty catchy. A lot of clicking, and I think it only consisted of the hand movements. Also the dude filling in for Hoya is pretty good.
Anyway, the school managed to cancel the athletics think I was talking to about (at the worst hour possible), so I am in a somewhat happy mood. 9/10
As we all know, SM Entertainment recently took Woolim Entertainment under its wing to make themselves bigger. Hence a collaboration between the two companies was formed. Still don’t understand why they both had to join. But oh well. SHINee’s Key and Infinite’s Woohyun have come together as friends to form band mates in this special project group, named as Toheart. Still also don’t get the name. But joining two of the big groups in KPOP seems to be a good idea. Look at that profit flowing in. Hehehehehe… Well, at least they are not forced upon each other. They are best of friends who enjoy the company of each other (apparently they have never argued with each other before).
This song is okay. It is not a bad song nor is it a good song. It is just an okay song. There is nothing that special about it and honestly, it is once of those songs you listen to again and again, but will never get into it. First time I heard I was like “Chart topper right here”, but a few more times and I thought “this is really boring”. Yeah I said it. The song is really cheesy and the vocals were really meh in this song. I thought it was would be a really good collaboration, but it seems not to be. Iw as really excited when I heard the teasers, but this is a super let down. “Love is nutritious, love is delicious”. Hell, we are in no cooking class. Yeah, I also find this song really Key bias. It neglects Woohyun a lot. Well, I hear mostly Key and then a few Woohyun random spots, which to me is really disappointing, because last time I checked, Key was not “vocal” member of the group. But before I turn this into a criticising member session, I shall stop myself.
The music video was equally as boring. There is literally nothing captivating in this video. Usually, SM and Woolim have a music video that I would rave on and enjoy or disapprove, but I really cannot say anything about it, The boring-ness just made me speechless. I have watched the video. Well to precise, I forced myself to sit in front of a computer and watch the 6 minute video. Like who on earth, besides CCM, makes music videos longer than 5 minutes? I already have trouble sitting in a front of a computer for around 12 minutes. So why go for 6 minutes? And since it is a boring video the time I am viewing it is gonna decrease. Usually the sets would be cool, but seriously, a white back drop with fancy writing on it really does not cut out for it. Though, I did like that outdoor American style cafe dinner place, which looked awfully cool and also the parts where they are spinning those fire things. But beside all of that, no. Music video sucked.
The dance is okay. Not the best as well. But hey, together they looked pretty good. The use of the flowers and the proposing style seemed really cheesy to watch though. But anyway…
Yeah, well there is my ramble on how boring this comeback/debut is. Out of all seriousness, Tell Me Why was a much better song. 1/10.
Woah, 2013 is over (Soz, a tad late) and each year KPOP fans always end up looking forward to the end of year music festivals. These “festivals” are held on the final days of the year by the 3 major boradcasting companies of South Korea (ie. KBS, SBS, MBC). It is a stage where the artists who are active during the year can come together and celebrate by putting on some music and performing different stages from the ones that they had promoted during the year. So this means there are many different collaborations between artists or remix stages which would have fans screaming for. Because there happens to be little songs to review at this time of the year (end of Jan, don’t ask why), I thought I do this and release it in time for the Vietnamese (Or Chinese) New Year!!!!!
KBS Gayo Daechukje
Honestly, I was not satisfied with any of the collabs. They seem to be a last minute thing which made the show rather messy. They had good songs, but Iw as not satisfied with the way they were presented.
Crayon Pop’s Bar Bar Bar was a good stage. The start got everyone hyped up and when the song actually started, boy was the screams loud! It was rather fresh and different stage that everyone must’ve had enjoyed.
EXO’sIntro + Growl sounded amazing. Now if only they were not replayed 563495630295634092560 times this year and everyone talking about them, I would not think poorly of them. However the intro and the performance was really good.
APINK was one of the few bands to throw in a new instrumental for their “sexy version” of No No No. I enjoyed the dance and I liked the new mix.
Beast had a pretty cool stage as well. They kept their normal instrumental but made something interested out of it.
Sistar’s “femme fatale” Give It To Me looked really good. Minus the not so good looks of the dancers, I really liked their dance break and Dasom has my heart beating even faster.
Miss A’s remixes were amazing this year. I like them much better than the actual song. Amazing right?Well, honestly it is just a new instrumental over some parts and then the actual song itself. And Min, walking away like a boss and carrying on singing after getting hit in the face.
SBS Gayo Daejeon
First stage which I enjoyed was VIXX’sOn & On and VooDoo Doll. I honestly thought that Hyde and On & On would have been a better match, but they still seemed to pull it off pretty well. I think I am turning into a fan. Damn.
Z:EA and Nine Muses collaboration stage with Ghost Of The Wind, Glue and finally hit song Bounce was another stage that literally got me into it. It is such a good stage with the two bands together, where it was Nine Muses first time and Z:EA’s second time since debut.
Another collaboration stage goes to Girl’s Day and APINK’sExpectation and No No No. Honestly, it seemed APINK had less airtime than Girl’s Day. Not sure about the detail, but it kind seems unfair. But both suited the stage every well singing each other’s song.
Crayon Pop’sBar Bar Bar was pretty good. But the camera work destroyed the good stage.
T-Ara had a lot of hate, but I seemed to enjoy this stage. Number 9 but vampire version. Not much change to the song, except for really creepy dance breaks. And BOOOOBSSS!!!!!
2NE1 had an alight stage. Though they just sang Missing You and Do You Love Me?, this still had remarkable stage preference.
Taeyang and G-Dragon seemed to had some fun on stage. I liked the lineup of songs they had coming. They sung 1AM, Crooked, Ringa Linga and Bad Boy. Considering that the whole group as not there, they did a good job filling up 3 other parts as well.
MBC Gayo Daejejeon
Miss A’s classy club mix for Hush sounded the best and probably has to be my most favourite stage out of all the stages listed here. It sounded to sexy and cool all at the same time.
T-Ara’sNumber 9 and What Should I Do was a great stage. They combined the two songs into a club beat kind of song which flowed pretty well, considering the two extreme opposites for each song.
Ailee’s rapping before her performance , U&I, was da bomb.
F(x)’sRum Pum Pum Pum was pretty good as well. Was not as impressed with the original version though.But the instrumental and ending of this stage was awesome!!! And finally F(x) gets a stage remix for an end of year festival.
B1A4’s rock remix for What’s Happening? was also a pretty cool performance. Literally got me going with the beat.
Infinite brought a new thing to the stage with Destiny remixed with the instrumental of Deception. Something that was quite unexpected but sounded pretty good despite the two songs sounding completely different.
Give It To Me by Sistar was pretty cool as well if the little bit of dubstep (I think) mixed in the song as well. Hyorin’s intro with Sweet Dream was pretty cool.
Kara’s medley of songs was pretty good. And considering the departure of two members, it fitted the occasion. They performed Lupin, Step, Damaged Lady, Mister and Honey (not sure about the last one though.
If you watched the performances, which one did you like? Honestly, when I was watching the performances on YouTube, all I thought was that it seemed too much like a normal music show rather than something to be called a “End Of Year Festival”. I think these stages are losing their purpose. But anyway, still a fantastic line-up and amazing stages!!! What were your favourite stages of the three nights?
Hi all, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Wow, 2013 is finally over. Can you believe it. With days to go, I will be unable to update this over my “break”. Beside that I have scheduled a whole heap of reviews. I promised you guys an End Of Year Charts, and with that very day 3-4 days away, I think it is time unleash the beast. Party hard! Welcome the new year in style! I will wish to see you all back on the 2nd of Jan 2013 (subject to change). At the very bottom of this post, there will be two links. One is a playlist for the winners of the BOB’s and the other is the top 20 songs of the year, as selected by this chart. Yay!!!!
Infinite recently made one of the biggest comebacks of the month since March, with Destiny. Man In Love was released back in March, giving the guys an extra boost in popularity, earning them major awards in their promotion period. One of which was winning a whole week on all 4 music award programs at the time (MBC Show Champion, Mnet MCountDown, KBS Music Bank and SBS Inkigayo). They also won the first award, in 2005, to be presented at MBC Music Core. Very big achievements. Let’s all hope this song will do well as well. Why I am saying that: Brown Eyed Girls, Kim Hyun Joong, Beast, 2NE1, F(x) will all be making (or have made) their respective comebacks in the past week or in the upcoming week.
Destiny is one of the best Infinite songs that I have ever heard of. Though some would agree, this song was much better than Man In Love and is also a return to that Infinite style that we all have been dying to hear from the band. Many say it does not have the Infinite style which we hear of when we hear songs like Paradise, Be Mine, The Chaser etc, however I think it does. Just me? Anyway, this song is really addictive. A song that background instrumental does not get in the way of the vocals in this song. It too has that classical feel that Infinite tend to go for when releasing songs. That little instrumental of the electro vibrating sound is really cool. I find the song has an even spread of the artist. Woohyun and Sunggyu are not dominating the vocals part the song, and it seems like the other members (especially L) has more lines. The song starts upbeat and really high but for the first time (I think) I heard a song slow down at the chorus. You think I would complain, but I really like it in this song. Dongwoo and Hoya’s rap were extra strong from what I hear. The song itself is much more stable than their other songs and am I the only one who is addicted to Woohyun’s “No Way” at the end? Cause damn, that was some good stuff.
The music video (version B) is really confusing. Hence, will I return to reviewing the music video when version A comes out? Maybe, since I gather from Version B music video is that the Infinite boys start having weird super powers or some kind of ability because we don’t see them using them, when they a) step outside or b) when they breathe. It seems like the whole thing is a play off of Hulk, like when they get angry and they go crazy about stuff. The music video that was released definitely is lacking in some parts. I personally cannot make a review with just an empty review of the music video. Also, some of their powers are lame. “I can turn my imaginary twin into dust” and “I can disappear into a pile of dust” is not that impressive. Oh, also, “I can drive” is not really a super power, Dongwoo. If it was, declare me a superhero. The music video is filmed in a proper American studio which lives up to the hype about it, because damn, that is some professional stuff that they are doing.
The dance has “some attitude in it”. Like woah. The dance is not as impressive as I had expected it to be, but that hands to the side and head bobbing dance looks really unfitting for the song. Overall, not great as a dance because there is nothing to comment about. Not great or that bad that would do terribly in the world.
So I guess I have to wait for the next music video. Let’s hope they are not like SMent, who released the music video after the promotions. So far though 7.5/10.
Infinite has finally made their comeback with Man In Love which is a much different approach to their strong, powerful chorography image that they usually have. It has been nearly a year, since their last release of The Chaser and Sunggyu’s solo, 60 Seconds and Infinite H at the start of the year with Special Girl. Woah, that is a lot of songs, from just one band in a one year period. Oh wait, I forgot B.A.P. Sorry *derp face*
The song was not expected at all. I was expecting something along the lines of The Chaser, Paradise or Be Mine. Instead we got some kind of cute aegyo style song from the boys, somewhat similar to their debut song. They brought us back tot he original pop era, like the 2000’s and that is pretty cool, as they always do. It took me a few listens to get used to the song. I don’t like the start that much. If it was a live band, the intro would’ve been amazing. But the intro sounds really modern and computer-like feel to it. The verses were okay, but did not stand out too well. The chorus too seemed that well. The raps are pretty cool, and stands out the most in the song for me. Okay, I will just say this: the song, overall is okay. It is definitely not the best, but okay.
The music video is quite interesting? I don’t know if the right word was used. We see a bunch of guys in love with a girl and want to please or surprise the girl. Let’s go in order, the first guy (sorry, i don’t his name) is madly in love with hat cat, not a girl. Woohyun, is kind of in love with someone (that bear at the end?) and plays the piano horribly (Guess the music industry is not for you, mate). Myungsoo, seems to be madly with the idea of love or his cell phone In a casual class all he thinks about is love. Kind of freak hey? That guy who cooks can’t actually cook. Yeah, last time I checked, there are no apples whatsoever in a recipe for fortune cookies. Dongwoo, creates a library out of the hall way, don’t know how that symbolises love, but hey, I just hope no one lives above that library of his. Sunggyu, seems to be the most convincing. Hoya, on the other is the most awkward one. He goes into a store, embarrasses himself by trying out clothing and ends up buying a necklace, which for some reason does not try on. But beside being comical, I liked this video.
The dance was okay. Nothing major, expect for that part where Hoya and Dongwoo has towards the end. It looked cool. The dance was not overly complicated and shall not be known as a difficult dance, like what the guys have done before.
7/10. Okay, I guess, but could’ve been loads better.
Kim Sung Gyu started his follow-up promotions right after promoting 60 Seconds with I Need You. This takes Sung Gyu’s passion for rock even further with a slow, rock ballad. Though this is not the best song for him to sing to follow up (in my point of view, he just should’ve stop. None of his other songs on the mini album was that great compared to 60 Seconds), he still made the song sound good.
This is a song that is much slower than 60 Seconds. It is alright in my point of view, and is something that came out of the rock era back in the day. His vocals are pretty good, however it does not bring his talent out as 60 Seconds did. I think 60 Seconds is more of a rock song, while this is more of a ballad. I liked the drums in this song, and that piano is pretty good as well. However, this is not my cup of tea unfortunately.
The music video is pretty epic. The black and white filter placed on the video is pretty good. The slo-motion of the video is pretty good and it fits the whole feel of the song. I am not sure about the musicians though, they look like they are really sick. I love the transition to the colour screen which makes the video much more epic. The transition itself fits the pace of the song as well. For the musicians, they seem like stalkers, because every time he turns the corner, they are right there. The smoke creates a hazy image at the end and actually blends in quite well. So a pretty good music video.
The live is just a band performance. Nothing much to complain about here.
7/10. Pretty good overall, but the song is just not for me.
Infinite H has been teasing their fans since the end of 2011, if I am not mistaken, after announcing this subunit. And me being delayed, as I live under a rock, only just relaized who Hoya and Dongwoo were. Let’s just say, I thought Dongwoo was Hoya and Hoya was Dongwoo. Yeah, great.
Special Girl has its roots in hip hop, which these guys specialise in. This is a really good song, which I actually like. It may not be anyone’s cup of tea, but I enjoy this song. It sounds sweet and at the same time sounds quite manly. Also, a full album on hip-hop is quite rare in KPOP, so this is pretty good. To me, the song has a really catchy chorus. It sounds pretty good, and their rapping is also pretty good. However, I am not sure, but listening to the song, I keep on picking up the word “sex”. I understand that “sexy” is in the song, but at the start, during Hoya’s solo, I heard the word “sex”. Does anyone else here it? But beside that, this is a pretty good song.
The music video is pretty good. It was boring, but at other times pretty nice. Hoya is extremely awkward with girls, and a scene where he was meant to film ended up being ruined because of his awkwardness, making the director yell at him. Dongwoo on the other hand, like this girl. Just his problem is, what he does, does not match what others do. You see, he is giving flowers to the girl he likes, but when he turns up, there is a long line of other guys waiting to give flowers AND presents. Dongwoo, realized he has no chance pushes in the line, and end up running away because h was so shy. Pretty good story. Just the music video seems to lack something. I don’t know what, but it is lacking something. Also, is that really Primary? He took off the cardboard box, so is that guy really him?
The performance of this song is pretty good. The dance matches the feel of the song and to speed of the song which is pretty good.
8/10. Really good debut album, which is different from what Infinite usually gives us.
A song which goes for more than what the title says. Kim Sung Gyu, aka. Leader of the boy band Infinite has finally made his well anticipated debut as a rock singer. This is quite remarkable as I was expecting some track like a dance song or similar to the bands past top songs. I was blown away from the unexpected songs this guy threw at us!
Anyway, the song is a mash-up between a ballad and rock song, with the song pretty well done. The song is quite interesting. I really like the use of the instruments in this song. Though this is not the best song out there, I still really like this song. I focuses on drawing out our past relationships and make us remember the horrible times we had. I like his voice in this song. Not really keen on the songs he sings with his band, but this genre definitely fits his voice really well. I really like the way he sings the chorus and says the word “story”. Very interesting.
The music video is quite confusing. This guy is walking in the sunshine and notices this pretty girl. The world stops for “60 Seconds” so he can admire her, but she does not catch him and continues her job at the cafe. He realizes she is his long lost girlfriend or something. He then proceeds to get her attention by following her into the cafe and not paying for the coffee he ordered. He leaves the ring behind and walks away. The girl however notices the ring, and runs to return it, however soon notices that eh is her long lost boyfriend, who broke up ages ago. All during this time, they have flashbacks of their happy past. Yeah, confusing. I was not sure if he was her boyfriend or not or ex, or just some random stranger, as the music video does not properly give this detail to us straight forwardly.
The performance is really good actually. It seems like he has his moments with the microphone, as if it is his long lost girlfriend.
KPOPREVIEWED 
