Tag: NCT

[Review] Fire Truck – NCT 127

Posted in KPOP, ReviewsTagged , Leave a comment

NCT has returned to the stage with the debut of another subunit. NCT’s first subunit made their debut in April as NCT U. The lineup between the NCT U and NCT 127 are quite similar, however there were some changes. So the lineup for NCT 127 includes Taeil, Taeyong, Yuta, Jaehyun, WinWin, Mark and Haechan. Yuta, WinWin and Mark were not part of NCT U.

I was surprised when I first heard of Fire Truck. It was completely different to anything anyone in the industry has put out.  There is a very strong American EDM vibe in Fire Truck. I am one of those people who do not really enjoy the EDM genre (however, give me a good one and I will be heads over heels for it), but this song sounds amazing. It just took two words (Fire Truck) to win me over with the song. Those two words sound amazing in the song. Talking about those two words, they seem pretty random, don’t you think? To just have a song titled as Fire Truck sounds a little “out there”. But then again, it is KPOP we are talking about. Moving along, I was very unimpressed by the rap. The vocals were a little better. Emphasis on “a little better”. It just felt whiney and annoying (to an extent). I guess it is heavily influenced by the EDM and editing of the song. The vocals in the bridge are much clearer and Though, what we have already fits in well with the instrumental. It just doesn’t sit well with my ears. But give me the instrumental (though, I would like the bass to be turned up just a bit more) and just the words “Fire Truck” and I will be extremely happy.

Moving along to the video, I am quite confused. The guys go around with fire hoses and start spraying water around at people. Not that I have a problem with that, it fits in with the lyrics of the song, but it seems quite random (if you watch the video only). There are “supposedly” sexual themes in the video, from what I am researching off. It does make sense with the guys standing around females with water spraying into their faces and letting it go everywhere in other scenes.  Watching the video the first few times around, I just thought they go around spraying water at people for fun. Moving to SM’s explanation of the video. Essentially, the guys are the young girl’s guardian angels and these angels use fire hoses to “flush out” the troubles for the girl. It sounds really childish and very desperate. It sounds a lot more like a  back-up plan, than an intended story. I don’t know what to believe. While the sexual theory makes sense visually (hmmm.. that does not sound right at all), it doesn’t make sense with that final scene where the band “moves on” to the little boy, which fits more of SM Entertainment’s explanation. But I don’t think SM explanation fits in with majority of the video as well. Was there a need to do close shots of those moments? Might as well make the guys do the cutesy concept if that is your explanation. Are there any other theories that you guys know of? I only know of the two, but if there are any others, comment below! Besides the confusing plot, I really liked the choregraphy scenes in the video. Fits the feel and vibe of the song.

The dancing was pretty good. Overall, they do bring out more of a hip hop vibe to the dance. However, some moves look like they lacked imagination and lazy. I am talking about 1:02 minutes into the music video. But beside that, I liked it. Also, poofy hair dude. He is wearing a shirt that cyclists would usually wear. It looks completely out of place and terrible on him. And that is coming from a guy who has little to no fashion sense.

Final Rating – 5.5/10

[Rewind] April 2016 & May 2016

Posted in KPOP, RewindTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Yeah… I know May hasn’t ended yet, but to avoid posting another late ‘Rewind” post 3 weeks after the month finished, I have decided to April and May together. This one is going to be a little informal in terms of format for a few reasons that will appear apparent. And before we move on, just a little reminder that I will try to write and release reviews every Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Okay, moving along:

Leaving the Group?

We became shocked with the disbandment (or what we dubbed at the disbandment) of Kara at the start of the year. However, it seems like certain groups are facing member line up changes after one of their members had decided to not resign with their company and have since departed ways with their respective groups. Former member of 2NE1, Minzy, and former member of Miss A, Jia, have both decided to leave their successful group and go onto their own paths.  Minzy will (hopefully) make her solo debut in the near future after confirmation came from her new company in which she signed. Jia was announced today that she would be leaving the band after her contract finished. Miss A and 2NE1 faced disbandment rumours from these two events, but both their companies have stated that is not the case. Not only girl groups are facing these changes, but A-Jax (if we all remember who they were) recently lost 3 members (Sungmin, Jaehyung and Jihu). But the list does not end there. Hyunseung departed from Beast, leaving the group with 5 members. It was kind of expected after the numerous articles and petitions asking for his removal. Hyunseung is expected to return as a solo artist in the near future and is still signed with Cube Entertainment. It is always disappointing to hear these news and it has obviously shocked the industry a lot. These members have been with their band since the beginning, so it is always hard for fans. Hopefully, there won’t be any more of this and I wish the former members luck in their future endeavours (because that is something we all should do and not call them selfish).

Descendant of the Sun

Now this is something we all have heard about. The drama has taken Asia by storm and has been proven to be highly successsful. It stars Song Joong Ki and Song Hye Ko, as the main characters. Before you all die from shock, I have yet to watch this drama. So, no spoilers. But I don’t actually have any plans to watch the drama. Because I am not one to enjoy romance and all this lovey dovey sh*t. I just don’t watch the genre (or any mainstream and popular dramas). I prefer the cringeworthy daily dramas. Now, why am I talking about this drama? Well, the OSTs for this drama has literally taken over the charts each time they were released. Not complaining here, but the songs were really good. Like, I really enjoy listening to them and this is probably the first time I have been impressed with the OST for a drama. Anyway, the OST contains songs from Davichi, Gummy, K.Will, Yoon Mi Rae, Chen, Punch, Mad Clown, Kim Na Young, Xiah, MC The Max, Lyn and SG Wannabe. In OST terms, this is pretty much the star studded red carpet. Each song released topped the charts instantaneously and I can see these artists winning the Best OST awards at the award ceremonies already. That is all I am reporting on… Hahaha…

Comebacks and Debuts

For the past two months, many artists have made their comeback and they include ): Block B, Seventeen, History, April, Twice, AOA, Akdong Musician, VIXX, Lovelyz, Up10Tion and so many more.

For debuts, NCT is the big debut for April.  I.O.I is probably the major debut for May. However, we have seen new soloists emerge in KPOP in the past two months. Notably, Jung Eunji from APINK, Woohyun from Infinite and Tiffany from SNSD had their respective solo debuts in the last two months.

Top 5 songs of April

As per normal, these are my top 5 songs of April:

  1. Pretty U – Seventeen
  2. Journey to Atlantis – Laboum
  3. Dynamite – VIXX
  4. Queen – History
  5. Toy – Block B

Top 5 songs of May

May hasn’t ended yet, but it is about to. I will add other May songs to the June list (when I get around to it).

0. Pretty U – Seventeen (I have to. I have been trialling charts and Seventeen has been popping up every single week as the top song for the week).
1. Good Luck – AOA
2. Save Me – BTS
3. Nodding Nodding – Woohyun (Infinite)
4. I Just Wanna Dance – Tiffany (SNSD)
5. Fire – BTS

This one was a long one and I tried to keep it short. I am really behind in reviews and will get them out slowly. It will take me some time to catch up. Bad news is that I have exams coming up and I am going to be slower. I will review every major release eventually, so give me some time. Enjoy the rest of May and see you tomorrow!!!

 

[DOUBLE REVIEW] The 7th Sense + Without You – NCT U

Posted in KPOP, ReviewsTagged , 1 Comment

SM Entertainment has unleashed their latest group. The newly debuted group is NCT, and NCT U is the first subunit of the group to debut. Now the concept of the band is ridiculously confusing.  Apparently, they are this large group consisting of an unspecified amount of members. The members are rotated around constantly, so I guess we will be able to see new faces every time they come back. I read somewhere that this is the way the company wants to avoid another EXO dilemma, giving members ample time to rest until it is their next turn. Really confusing and I think there is a lot more to the group that what I have specified. Anyway, NCT U is the first subunit of the group and consists of Taeyong, Ten, Jaehyun, Mark, Taeil and Doyoung.

The 7th Sense, to me, is a terrible song. I avoid listening to this song every time it pops up in the playlist when I am listening on YouTube or iTunes. The song gives me a headache essentially. It is electronic, but then it is really slow and that doesn’t really sit well with me. It does have an exotic feel to it, which is interesting, but it has no appeal to me. The song feels dragged out. Their vocals in this song aren’t that great as well. The song isn’t catchy and I am greatly disappointed by it. Maybe it might because I am not used to the song and isn’t something you find constantly in KPOP, but sadly, it is not a song I am fond of.

Without You is the complete opposite. I love everything about this song. There is nothing that I would look down upon because this the type of song I enjoyed listening to when growing up. It sounds like American bands that were popular back in the 00’s. When I listen to this song, I find myself rocking along and singing along as well. That is the whole point of KPOP right? To make it so catchy that the listeners start listening along.  Their vocals were superb. Yeah, it does feel dragged out, but the tone and tune of the song are just so good, it makes me overlook that tiny detail. And don’t get me started on the chorus.

Music video wise, I actually have not watched any of them. Odd hey? Anyway, the music video for the 7th Sense makes sense. The song is already unique for the listeners, so it is obvious the music video is also unique. It gives off that exotic feel that I mentioned above. Sure the lighting could have been a little better, but hey, that is the charm of the video. The solid colour filters (or did they film the video with red lights?) looked pretty cool. It seems I actually like the video more than the song. Just going to prove how hypocritical I am, but the end where they have a clear colour light or filters, made it look boring I actually preferred the coloured scenes, but maybe they could have gone with one shade of red lighter. Without You is an abstract video. Probably the right word to use to sum up the video. And like everything that is abstract, it is really confusing. The plot seems to show the guys in two realities. One with their girlfriend, the other without her. And somehow they are mashed into one reality. The one thing I would have removed from the video were all the scenes involving the members lip-syncing to the song. It is just really awkward and didn’t fit in with the abstract nature of the video.  Out of the two videos, I do actually prefer 7th Sense. But if someone can clear up the confusion (you can probably crack the Da Vinci code as well) for the second video, then I would be grateful.

Not one to spend too long on the dance part. Only 7th Sense had a dance. Someone really needs to overhaul the fashion for these stages. It seems like there is a complete mash-up of the clothing over different eras. Dance matched the tempo of the song. The dance just doesn’t memorable to me. Without You is simply a band performance.

Overall, I am quite torn about the two debut songs. One of the songs I liked more, but the other’s video more. Dance doesn’t help pick a winner for me. But which was your favourite song/debut package? Vote below!!!

The 7th Sense – 4.5/10

Without You – 7.5/10