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Review: Red Velvet Debuts with Happiness
Apart from the scandals that keep piling up surrounding this group, SM Entertainment has released a promising group in the midst of the Sulli scandals entitled Red Velvet. Singing about Happiness, though, ironically, these girls can't be happy with the fact they're already in conflicts, you can check out the music video below.
First off, I'm going to say that the accusations of these girls looking extremely similar are true however, I can clearly make out small differences between the girls (other than their hair color) to distinguish each and every member--Joy, Seulgi, Irene and Wendy (I said their names without having to Google it. Thumbs up for me?)--such as a more sloped eye shape without even trying to therefore, I'm more convinced that people just aren't well, paying that much attention. I mean, without paying attention, though could look like the same one girl to certain people, they have their own individual colors--Irene (red) being the more sexy one, Wendy (blue) probably being more of the girl next door type, Joy (green) being the more cutesy one and last but not least, Seulgi (yellow), being the more fierce type... or maybe that's just my distinction when classifying their faces and how they acted in the music video.
The person who stood out to me the most was none other than the red haired girl, Irene, (had to Google that one. Yikes!). Not only was she the one with the most screen time... in what I acquired, at least, but she seemed to be the one with the most... flair. She had the biggest hold on me regardless of how bad she was at rapping. She seemed to be the most promising one hence why she stood out the most during the music video. Definitely her as well as Joy are probably ones I will be paying more attention to as the time goes on.
Now let's get on with the actual review. SM Entertainment promised to deliver a group that was the mix of f(x) and Girls' Generation in subtle consideration that these girls don't have much time left with them. Yes, I said it. Fans of both groups can hang me and burn me at the stake if they like but it's true. And this group was really what they said--a mix of both f(x) and Girls' Generation. I mean, it was more towards the f(x) side--a fiercey song--however, there were cutesy elements that were incorporated and made me remember the days when Girls' Generation were still well, girls. However, though they wanted to deliver a mix of both successful concepts which would later be known as original, this girl group has nothing to leave me caring about them other than the fact that their apart of a huge company. This debut was good but it didn't stand out to me like I wish it did. These four girls have no elements that draw me to them, really. This song has no elements that draw me to the girls. And this music video has no elements that draw me to the song.
Which leads me to explain why.
The music video, to SM Entertainment's standards, was pretty well made. I mean, I'm not saying it was perfect or going to give it the extreme credit of all credits because there were other SM Entertainment music videos that stood out to me more than this such as EXO's Overdose even though it was mostly dancing, however, is this necessarily bad? No. It's just not that... stand-outy. Sure, there was a bunch of tropical shit with plants and exotic animals but am I really impressed and dying to know more about the girls? No, again. This was ordinary. This was bland. This was, meh.
They should have given as much originality and draw to the girls as they tried with EXO.
The song? It was pretty well made, as well. It's not perfect, again, but it's audible. Can I listen to it sometimes? Do I see myself listening to it for years and years to come like I do with f(x) and Girls' Generation songs? No. It's not memorable. It's not drawing. It's just... there. Wendy's (blue) random solo part where she sang Shine on Me was probably the most memorable because it was the most out of place thing yet. Other than that, the song isn't much of a hold for these girls.
Lastly, this debut was fine. The song was fine, the music video was fine... but it wasn't outstanding or great especially comparing to other groups out there at this present day with their songs coming out. Of course, because it's an SM Entertainment group, these girls are going to prosper eventually. However, I'm not going to be the one to jump on the Red Velvet boat until I actually do see their originality... shine.
What did you think about Red Velvet's Happiness? Loved it? Hated it? Comment below!
My Thoughts on Hyomin's Nice Body
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Better late than never, Hyomin came out with a solo music video some time ago, shaking her barely-existent ass without shame and giving off a Marina and the Diamonds' Primadonna vibe (I recommend clicking that link if you disliked Nice Body) but without the satire. Since I'm late, if you haven't watched it, shame on you. If you have, here's the video below again to refresh your memory.
Hyomin. She's my bias in T-ara. She's secretly the girl I yearn to scissor with. She's undeniably amongst the most attractive, if not, the most attractive female in the group. And she's the one who blew this debut up in flames.
Regardless of the plagiarism controversy which I honestly could give less fucks about, Hyomin had this chance with Nice Body to create a satirical masterpiece displaying the hardships of women, especially in a country as image-centric as South Korea, as they constantly strive to be the beautiful through horrible acts like anorexia, bulimia and weight loss treatments/pills. I mean, the lyrics were aiming towards it, saying:
You’re so hungry you look like a login what seemed like irony. However, she did not use this opportunity to be angry at societal standards like f(x) did, which I appreciate them for, with Red Light. She used this opportunity toliterally boast about having a nice body, not even adding irony or just a small bitter sweet chuckle at the end because apparently, this concept will not only sell more but recover T-ara's tainted image more.
Anyone can realize it with her facial expressions which clearly show how much more sexual prowess one has if they were 40 kilograms rather than a whopping 51.4 kilograms (I just gave my weight for the whole world to see. #teamfatass) which clearly is worth it to impress men who care only for appearance and not inward beauty.
I just wish Hyomin, instead of shaking what her mother gave her, used this opportunity for the good. I wish she made fun of societal standards and presented a call-to-action (or at least lead us to one) since she was on the right track with this song. It would have been more pleasurable and possibly give the girls more street cred. Also, I'm usually a feminist but she plays as if all guys are idiotic buffoons, really. I've met plenty of sapiophiles in my lifetime (THAT'S THE ONLY WAY I GET MY LERV) as well as guys who don't want women to be size -2 so please.
Likewise, this track did not make me lose respect for her, so don't get me wrong. It's just disappointment since she really could've... stood out amongst the crowd of overly provocative concepts.
I give this comeback a 2 out of 5. I didn't discuss the music video or song directly but for people who might shit themselves saying this is not a review: the song was average. The tune was not memorable but it was audible for the time being. The music video for the 15 version (the only one I saw) was worse than I anticipated. I thought there'd be more of a story other than 5 seconds of a fat Hyomin at the beginning and ending, but no. Hyomin lost quite a bit of weight, too.
What do you think of Nice Body? Great solo debut or could've been better? Place your comments below and remember to starve yourselves to meet the needs of men!
Review: f(x) - Red Light
When you first start the song, the beat they drop is undeniably inviting. I mean, I actually was starting to put off all the comments regarding how sucky this song was until around when Victoria was done rapping/singing/basically talking her part at around 0:50. Of course, it could have been a little cleaner, but for the most part, it was something I could get into with a few listens just like their other songs, especially their last comeback, Rum Pum Pum Pum. The hook came in, a slower tempo, but sounding like it was going to build up to an amazing, indescribable chrous, highlighting and explaining all that is life to the listeners, making us find another reason to love f(x), making us find another reason to know that our anticipation for this comeback was not wasted.
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| Fuck sense. |
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| When I time out of my day to even make a gif, you know I'm serious. |
Likewise, did no one else catch the recycling of 1984's Apple Macintosh Commercial's concept at approximately 1:53 of the video (approximately 0:34 of the Apple Macintosh video if you're watching it?). WELL, I DID!!1 If that's from a different commercial/video, I'm still in confusion about the implementation of so.
Anyway, after giving this song a go, I'm completely confused. However, I do realize that some parts of the song actually do sound...audible by themselves? I mean, it's not horrific. The beginning is tolerable, harmonizing part of the chorus actually isn't bad, the hook is good but the bridge is probably the largest saving grace of the song.
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| Elle Goulding... is that you? |
Anyway, after giving this song a go, I'm completely set to actually like this song a little bit. Just the opposite of what I did with PSY's Gentleman, I'm giving the song a go without the crazy video just to see if it eases the confusion. Aside from the Illuminati-like (fuck, I said it, beat me with a stick, you fucks) concept, it really did seem to add more to the confusion for me therefore, I wanted to give it a chance without it.
Without the video, and listening to it five times (the amount of replays it usually takes me to get to like f(x) songs) the song is more tolerable, but honestly, not the best. It's not something, for me, anyway, that's adjustable like Rum Pum Pum was. It's okay but still a bit... weird? I don't know, maybe because I actually don't like fifty songs in one but the worst part is undeniably the anticlimatic chorus after the building up hook. It's like a... lie, to me. I'm not going to shit myself about my feelings about this song just to get more likes and people not arguing about how completely right I am. I like f(x) but I just don't like this friggin' song. Some parts are insanely good and I wish they built on those individual parts (the hook and the bridge, especially) more than they did so this convulted jungle. I mean, it worked for their other songs but now, they met their quota.
A plus? Luna got much prettier. I don't know but she really did. She's really killing the mysterious, blue-haired elf look. Victoria on the other hand? The Russian con-artist bob cut isn't really working.
All-in-all, not that great of a comeback. The video was good on SM Entertainment video standards, at most, and the song was tolerable at most yet forgettable. If you want, you can watch the live version placed above but... not the best work done by f(x) or on SM's behalf.
Update: However, I just found a really great analysis of the video on Twitter. Long story short, it's about how society's standards are so screwed up and everyone is naturally okay in their own way but we keep striving to meet society's standards. We shouldn't really, though.
I'd put a score below but I really don't know what to put. Out of five stars for this comeback, what would you rate it? Put your comments on the section below!
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| This gif tho |
Review: PSY ft. Snoop Dogg - Hangover
After Gentleman, I gave PSY the benefit of the doubt to deliver one more awesome song that is comparable to Gangnam Style. I mean, Gentleman wasn't that bad but was obviously worse than Gangnam Style therefore, ol' PSY oppar still has some juice left to concoct a memorable, amazing, fucktastic song that promotes Korean culture and makes me less ashamed to admit that I am a Korean Pop fan to my narrow-minded peers, right?
Wrong.
Wasting the second chance (I'm giving him three, his new single entitled 'Daddy' said to come out within the next few months), PSY featuring ol' Snoop Lion (more like Snoop Lion featuring ol' PSY, to be honest) released a boring, mundane, mainstream and less entertaining song than the previous two, PSY falling to rock bottom while he's trying to meet the expectations reached with Gangnam Style and no longer deserving my defensive pleas against said 'haters'. If you want to watch the trainwreck of a song, go ahead, it's right below. However, I don't advise anyone who wants to keep their ears intact to listen to this... mess.
Realistically, I'd give the unfunny music video some slack if it was accompanied by a fun song and vice-versa, however, I can't even slide in some pity slack. This was a waste of time.
I thought it was PSY's comeback. Not Snoop Doop's. Regardless, no one took interest in whoever's song it was being that Snoop sang/rapped/basically talked the lines of the verse and PSY only basically took over the chorus, the exact opposite of the smashing American hit that is my guilty pleasure entitled Fancy, with Iggy Azalea featuring Charli XCX however, Charli XCX rightfully being the featuring artist therefore only getting the chorus while Iggy took over the verses.
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| Wet PSY is becoming a bit dry in comedy |
The music video rightfully portrayed Korean drinking culture however, and that's the only applaud I can give to this shameful piece of shame even though it did anger some Korean citizens, blinded by the pure facts that they're reckless when it comes to the consumption of alcohol. However, it added a bit of a more American hint to it, the video, somewhat reminding me of Trey Songz's Bottoms Up in meaning and going into the large pile of mainstream songs.
The only memorable part of this? 'Hangover, hangover, hangover, hangover-over-over~'. I'm not even going to mention the bend over they tack on to the end of the only good part of this song (kind of like Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines, the memorable parts outweighing the disgusting parts) because that's a whole other rant that I can go on for days about, including the new trend for American pop/rap artists to include the phrases relating to 'If yo girl don't swallow kids, man, that ho basic' (that's Juicy J and his basic ass for you) in which girls are simply objects.
Nonetheless, ol' Psyduck tried. But he failed. I mean, I'm not exactly against PSY because I mean, he is spreading culture around for eevryone but I wish that he didn't try so hard. Try a different concept for once, dammit! I suggest something a bit more slow because these dance pop songs just aren't working for you anymore, ol' buddy. Likewise, to sum, I believe that this has got to be one of PSY's worse songs and the viralness of this video is... undetermined.
What did you think of Hangover? Loved it? Hated it? Comment below and tell the reasons why you loved/hated it! Also, vote on the poll below.
EXO Overdose is Actually My Style
As you all may or may not know, I have recently been getting into EXO since their song, Growl, in which the boys showed their inner animal. Now, EXO has released another music video, Overdose, in which the boys release their inner... bad boy (gosh, I hate saying 'bag boy', to be honest). If you haven't noticed by the title (only cool people get the reference), this comeback is definitely something that I enjoy, only adding on to my EXO fanship... even though I kind of don't want to be a fan of EXO. If you haven't watched the video, watch it below.
The song is intriguing. I mean, it is probably their best EXO song however, it's not that mind-blowing or life-changing that I simply will listen to it everyday for the rest of my life... Iggy Azalea's Fancy already stealing that position. Nevertheless, it's obvious that SM is giving their newest cash crop, EXO, the time of day with this track. What I was really impressed with was their English. It wasn't SM's usual, shitty English in which Super Junior has experienced to much of. Not only were the phrases not entirely irrelevant or incomprehensible, but also, the pronunciation was actually... pretty damn good. Not to mention, the rap actually was not half bad nor was the constant 'too much'.
Score: ✮✮✮✮☆
The music video however...? Let me get this straight. The dance was fantastic. In fact, after the let-down Mr. Mr was in which the girls didn't even show their full potential in dance and just posed a bunch (save the dance break), I actually felt a extremely satisfied with this dance. Regardless, the camera was getting on my nerves. Sometimes the rampant changes in angles and zooming was appropriate then other times it was just kind of... annoying? redundant? stupid? It was cool and need to emphasize some of the dance moves and add extra effect but to be honest, some of the times, there was nothing to really emphasize. They just wanted to raise the viewers chances of getting a seizure even more, which I really did not enjoy.
Score: ✮✮✮☆☆
To sum pretty decent comeback, if I say so myself. I recommend you watch and listen to both the music video and the song (take caution with the music video, though) because it definitely won't be a waste of time. SM Entertainment finally did a great job with this one and I applaud the EXO boys for being so life-genic... especially Kai's hair.
Score: ✮✮✮☆☆
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| This witchcraft voodoo shit I like |
To sum pretty decent comeback, if I say so myself. I recommend you watch and listen to both the music video and the song (take caution with the music video, though) because it definitely won't be a waste of time. SM Entertainment finally did a great job with this one and I applaud the EXO boys for being so life-genic... especially Kai's hair.
2-4-1 Review: 2NE1 Happy & 2NE1 Come Back Home
March 2nd was such a glorious day for me. Not only did my favorite pop girl group, Little Mix, release their sporty single, Word Up, but one of my favorite Korean pop girl groups, 2NE1, released their music videos (yes, I italicized the s. There are more than one!) for their long-awaited comeback. You hate 2NE1? Fine. But you can't deny that after watching these videos, Come Back Home and Happy, your life wasn't significantly changed in some way. And because we all realize that that sentence is true, I felt like putting out a better late than never Two For One music video review, analyzing both 2NE1's most publicized video, Come Back Home, as well as their surprise music video, Happy, just because I feel like it.
Tell me honestly right now: I am not the only one who watched this music video more than once. Not only does it kind of remind me of Final Fantasy or some shit (I love FF; don't get me started), but I was kind of trying to decode what the hell all this virtual shit was supposed to mean without an explanation from YG Entertainment to aid me. Still clueless, I'm nonchalant about it since genuinely, I don't care that much cause this music video is the fucking shit. Am I the only one who shat myself when CL came in rapping or talking or whatever-ing from 1:51 to 2:16? She was beautiful. Don't even tell me that this girl is ugly after watching that part because I almost turned lesbian.
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| You're probably not into scat, but I bet you'd enjoy me shitting on your chest just cause I'm flawless. |
In fact, all the girls looked beautiful in this music video and I can tell YG Entertainment spent a crap load of time on this, mother fucking masterpiece. Although, I'm not exactly used to Minzy's new nose, she looked sexy as hell. And that part Dara was all like "CUM, BABY BABY, CUM BABY BABY" and they went into all that Illuminati shit I was like bouncing in my seat! I've never had so much feels for a single music video maybe because 2NE1 music videos barely ever appear in the first place.
Final Rating: 4.5/5
Final Rating: 4.5/5
I recommend you watch this video since if I give anything higher than a 4, you know that shit good. I suggest listening to the Unplugged Version, too if you don't like the big beat.
For starters, this was the video that nosy cameramen and paparazzi found Bom shooting for around a year ago. For seconds, Dara's hair looks like shit. And for thirds, this music video made me feel more uncomfortable than Happy at the first watch. Their outfits were a joke, they tried to act sexy, fierce and cute in one whole video which was supposed to mostly be cute and well, I just wasn't used to seeing 2NE1 doing shit like that.
Was the video bad? No. It reminded me of one of my favorite 2NE1 videos, Do You Love Me, because it was just so meaningless (I'm saying this in the nicest way possible) and fun. Was the song bad? No. It was really good, in my honest opinion and is definitely a song I could probably listen to when I'm sad similar to Girls' Generation's Be Happy. But I can't put my finger on it. Something is just off about this music video.
Final Rating: 3/5
Review: Gain, Fxxk U
It's been almost a year since Gain's release of Romantic Spring and she's back again with her most daring comeback song yet by the name of Fxxk U featuring Bumkey. If you haven't seen the video yet, check it out below!
I feel as though there is a trigger warning necessary for the video since there are depictions of sexual assault
The Video
Theme/Story: Honestly, the first time I watched this video, I felt very uncomfortable and that's exactly what the video aims for. It depicts sexual violence in a way that is not pretty whatsoever and doesn't glorify it by any means. The video is pretty explicit about the meaning it's trying to illustrate, making it easy to comprehend for the most part. Near the end, though, I'm not sure I quite understand what the scene with the cake has to do with anything. If anyone was able to decipher it, please let me know or it will forever remain a mystery to me.
Visuals: Unlike a lot of videos, the point of this video is not to show off Gain's vast amounts of beauty. Of course, Gain has to have her trademark thick, dark eyeshadow which has always looked great on her. The darker concept fits her well and looks just plain amazing. She has a way of making dark and grimy faces look surprisingly attractive despite the focus not being on beauty whatsoever. So even though she's angry and bitter throughout most of the video, she still manages to keep it believable while magically staying behind the line that crosses into ugly anger.
The Song
The song has this sort of dizzying effect to it because of the conflicting nature of the lyrics. It goes in a full circle from the beginning where Gain bitterly sings about her partner's wandering hands then slowly escalating to a point where her and Bumkey are defending their so called love then the song finishes off with the same first two lines the song began with.
Unlike what I said with the visuals, the song doesn't aim to sound smooth and beautiful like most songs that attempt to remotely touch upon this kind of subject. At first it sounds that way because of the way the guitar instrumentals start off real calm and gentle. It has this feeling like it's spinning around but the cycle breaks for a second when they exclaim "fuck you" and the cycle repeats. I like how passionate and gritty it sounds the way they strain the "fuck you" but there are a couple of times throughout the song where it sounds more mystified and strange which doesn't really fit in well with the song.
Overall I do really like the song itself. It has an unique theme and I like the occasional harsh tones of Gain's vocals. I give props to gain Gain for covering something with a theme that not many singers and idols would dare even considering.
So what do you think? Are the lyrics and video too controversial for your tastes? Tell me in the comment section below!
Review: Rainbow Blaxx, Cha Cha
It has barely been a year since Rainbow's release of their music video Sunshine and they're already back in action having created a sub unit under the name of Rainbow Blaxx. The 4 member sub unit consisting of SeungA, Hyunyoung, Jaekyung, and Woori made their sexy debut with the song Cha Cha. If you haven't seen the video yet, check it out below.
Music Video
Theme/Story: This music video surely breaks the trend of uninteresting overtly sexual music videos but that doesn't necessarily make it any good. I had to watch the video quite a few times before I could figure out what exactly was going on here but even now I don't think I've quite got it right. However, this is the best I can make of it. The old lady in the music video must be pulling some kind of weird Hansel and Gretel stunt by making the four girls eat everything and anything until they... spit up jewels? All this is happening while the girls are trying to be awkwardly sexy by laying on tables of food or sucking on cream on their fingers. This video is just all over the place. I'd recommend watching it at least once just for shits and giggles.
Visuals: I'm liking the make up and hair. It's nice and subtle instead of the crazy haircuts and weird bedazzled eyebrows I've seen in recent times *coughDalShabetcough*. The outfits aren't spectacular, though it is a bit refreshing to see something that isn't too wild and ridiculous but isn't an entire yawn-fest either. With the exception of some of the outfits that look like they border on lingerie, the clothing choice looks like something you'd actually see them wear in public.
Dance: Since Rainbow Blaxx chose to go with a sexy theme, their dance of course has to be pretty sexual as well, right? I'm actually surprised that the overtly sexual themes didn't come from the dance but the girls posing with their legs spread throughout the video looking very awkward and rather unsexy doing so. The video should have probably focused more on the dance instead to detract from how hard the girls were trying to be sexual.
Song
I'm torn on the song in many ways. I like the chorus and most of the vocals but the instrumentals can get a bit obnoxious after a while (but who's actually going to listen to this song on repeat till they decide on how they feel about it like I did?). The lyrics are way too over the top, talking about how badly (and I mean badly) they want the D. I'm not really a fan of this year's current trend of songs with lyrics about how much they want to be boned. I do like the way Woori's rap isn't too abrupt and sudden and I also really like the sound of the rap itself. I don't know what it is about her rapping but I've always liked the sound of it. Anyway, I think I actually do like (but definitely not love) the song as a whole if I don't consider the lyrics and focus on the melody alone.
Top 10 - Songs of 2013
2013 was a great or changing year for almost every single group. Crayon Pop burst their way to fame, Girls' Generation won a bunch of awards, 2NE1 finally came back, there were Big Bang solo comebacks, Girls' Day rose to fame and well, Wonder Girls and KARA got fucked. Either way, we all have to admit, though the year is done, it was one of the most flamboyant years of K-Pop. But because it finished, I have to go into detail of my favorite songs of 2013 simply because, that's what I do. So without further ado, here's the top songs of 2013.
1. GLAM - In Front of The Mirror
Tiffany: I still can't get rid of how fucktasticly fucktastic this song is. Like, how is that even possible? It placed almost the top of the first 6 months of 2013 and now it's the top of this half. Not only does it have so much meaning but it's also a great listen. This also kind of makes me realize how smaller, less popular groups tend to have the better quality songs than larger groups who just release songs with hopes of raking up the dough. This also makes me realize how much I wish GLAM was more popular than all the other groups who simply act like they could give less fucks about whether or not we're happy and only care about our money (I mean, it's true for every group but don't make it so obvious with your shitty songs!)
2. Bangtan Boys - Born Singer
Tiffany: Did I mention I'm a huge fan of Bangtan Boys? I love about all of their tracks but the track that really got to me was Born Singer. Sure, all of their tracks tend to speak the truth but this one is a song that I could play in the car, look out the window and pretend I'm in a sad movie with... which are the kind of tracks that always gets my thumbs up. Although there is an original and they kind of just redid this song, I could care less. Still good.
3. Taeyang - Ringa Linga
Tiffany: I'm a fan of Taeyang. I'm a fan of Big Bang. I'm a fan of this song. I would have learned the dance if I wasn't so uncoordinated. I can't help but shit my pants when the 'Ringa Linga Ling Ringa Linga Ling' part comes and even though his hair was crazy, I could barely tell. Sorry guys, I just have to be biased on this one. This song was da shet. (what if he fell of that bridge?)
4. Girls' Day - Female President
Tiffany: I'm not usually a fan of females sticking out their asses but when I am, it's Yura's ass. Regardless of the music video, Female President is definitely one of the best songs of the year. Fuck what everyone thinks. My mind is more superior than yours. #narcissismatitsfinest
5. Brown Eyed Girls - Kill Bill
Tiffany: Sure, the whistles was a rip off from the real movie and so was basically everything else. Get your panties out of a bunch. It's weird how people act like K-Pop is so damn original, anyway. Kill Bill was the shiet.
6. f(x) - Rum Pum Pum Pum
7. f(x) - Airplane
8. EXO - Growl (fuck what everyone else says. I have bad taste in music)
9. Miss A - Hush
10. 2NE1 - Do You Love Me?/Hyori - Miss Korea/Everything IU Released
Album Review: Miracles of December
Merry Christmas to everyone! Here’s a late album review of EXO’s Miracles in December.
EXO has had an extremely busy year with first Wolf, then repackaged Growl and now a christmas gift for their fans Miracles in December. (Though I’d like to think it as SM-making-us-think-its-a-christmas-present-but-its-just-more-money-for-them).
Miracles of December is a mini album, with 6 tracks including the orchestral version of the title track, Miracles in December. It is a pretty solid mini album, mostly ballads, showing off the vocal talents in EXO. All of my EXO bias aside, this album basically proved that under all that choreography and howling and growling, EXO is also able to deliver soulful performances as well.
Miracles in December
The title track in this album is sang by the vocal line, (Baekhyun, Chen, D.O for Korean and Baekhyun, Chen, Luhan for Chinese). This song is definitely my favourite in the entire album, and it deserves all the hype it is getting. The song builds up and explodes into a gorgeous mess of beautiful instrumental and flawless vocals. The harmonization is beautiful and goosebumps inducing, and these 4 vocalists do deliver the perfect sad song in Christmas. Stunning masterpiece from EXO.
Christmas Day
Christmas Day follows after Miracles in December and it is a sweet track that describes the girl as Christmas Day, telling her that "you're just like Christmas Day". The song starts off with a slow, slick beat and towards the chorus, the song takes a turn and becomes a soft, gentle love song. I personally think this is the most christmasy track on this album, with the choir-like background vocals in the chorus and the actual mention of Christmas. A stellar track as well, and EXO does life performances of this song, making it a lot better than it already is. Check the performance out!
The Star
The album picks up pace from the previous two tracks with The Star, which features a little more of EXO's rappers.This is a pleasant change from the slow moving ballads. Though not very christmasy, it does fit in nicely with the album and according to EXO themselves, the star in the song is actually a girl and she's described to be the star on top of the Christmas tree, so I guess it makes sense. And props to SM, for finally having a rap sequence in English that actually makes sense. Well done.
My Turn To Cry
My Turn To Cry brings the album back to the smooth ballad side with melancholic lyrics and soft vocals. I do think this is a continuation from EXO's previous song, Baby Don't Cry. The twinkling throughout the song adds a nice touch to the song and the soft echo-y vocals gives it a nice holiday feel. The slight pauses between verses is also nice and allows the vocals to set in beautifully.
First Snow
The last track on this album is First Snow, which is a sad song disguised under the merry tune to it. The song starts off slowly, leading up to a more upbeat chorus. One of my favourites as well, First Snow is addicting and the distinctive chimes of bells make this a very suitable song for Christmas, if you overlook the lyrics. Great example of a pop-ballad done right.
Miracles in December is probably one of the most well-produced album EXO has had so far, with the songs all fitting in nicely with each other and centered around the Christmas concept. I can tell you for sure this entire album is a hit in Korea, as it was played on loop everywhere during my trip to Korea this month. I don't know about you, but for me, this album is going to be on replay for the rest holiday season.
Review: BH - All I Want for Christmas is You
This is a going to be a quick review for a quick cover of All I Want for Christmas Is You.
The song:
First of all, Lee Hi rocked this whole thing. I don't understand why YG Entertainment didn't just make this a Lee Hi song and be done with it. It was perfectly fine all the time whenever she sang and not to mention, her punctuation was almost always on point... as usual. Park Bom, I love you, but damn.
You were just not made for this song.
Whenever she sang, it sounded like half of her mouth was open. I'm not sure if it was because her punctuation was decent for a Korean but wasn't outstanding or maybe all of it, her mouth being half open and her punctuation being meh was because of her face but either way, I really did wish Bom wasn't in the song. She more or less ruined it.
Her singing wasn't all bad as people are making it out to be, though. It was mostly the shitty punctuation and stroke-sounding singing. And also her sounding kind of nasally. And her voice not matching the song as much as Hi's.
The music video looked basic. Why the hell were their heads stuck in bushes? Why were their sitting it seats looking as if they were statues? Why wasn't it as creepy looking and cool as the initial video teaser? Why was this so outrageously boring?
I still can't answer any of these questions and will continue to resent this sub-unit 'debut' until these are answered with logical responses. And I'm sorry, this has to be one of the worst things YG Entertainment has released in all time.
To sum it all up in five words or less:
This sucked. Don't watch it.
What did you think of the sub-unit debut? Comment below!
Dear Diary: Review of Hyorin's One Way Love & Lonely
Dear Diary,
I wanted to shake it up a bit, rather than making a lengthy, hard to follow and simply full of words that really aren't needed type of review, I thought it'd be much better to just write a small entry in my neglected diary to say my sentiments of Hyorin's solo music video, One Way Love.
No offense diary, I was expecting something a little more... classy cause damn, this sure wasn't it. Don't get me wrong, she's a phenomenal singer and I'm not against her showing off her body. In fact, I thought SISTAR as a whole's most recent comeback video, Give It to Me, with Hyorin showing skin and doing her thing was great.
But this.
This dance was just...
atrocious.
There was no need in hell to squat with her dried-up period blood colored hair which, I might say, didn't match her skin tone at all in hopes to get another view. Hyorin, you are much better than that and whoever thought of this (let me just blame it on Starship as a whole) obviously is as crazy as Ahreum and should seek help.
I'm going to say it straight out, I didn't like this concept. I liked the song--the song wasn't bad at all except the rap which could've been substituted with something less mainstream to fit Hyorin herself and not trying to fit into the other guys' standards--I just wish they did something a little bit more... 2NE1's Missing You or her first song that I'll talk about later, Lonely... sad, ballady and better for Hyorin's voice kind of thing than this shit.
Likewise, this video reminded me a lot of HyunA's debut solo, Change, the colors, the scene and everything being similar (don't get at me STAR1s, 4nias or Aunt Jemima. DejaVu is nothing to be condemned for).
I was overall disappointed with this music video because well, it wasn't that great.
It wasn't Hyorin. It was like an actress I was watching the whole time and well, really doesn't do justice to the actually tasteful song.
Different from One Way Love, I actually somewhat liked this video. Somewhat, though.
One minute it was cute, fun, lovable Hyorin, next minute she's in a room looking like she hasn't shat for about 4 months. And it wasn't like the lyrics matched much with it... if at all. I'd rather have just one, set feeling of an either sad video cause she's lonely or a happy video cause she doesn't care she's lonely or she's trying to hide her sadness and not both, contrasting emotions.
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| This is freakin' cute, though |
The song was great and was the ballad I was looking for which really made up for the train-wreck that One Way Love gave.
Overall, I have to admit, her debut was disappointing at first since I watched One Way Love first, but then Lonely really raised the bar. Hyorin's an adorable person to me, not sexy and shouldn't have been given the choreography laid out in One Way Love and rather, a more natural side to her that was showcased in Lonely. Nevertheless, I'm actually pretty happy Hyorin is slaying the charts with her solo debut but just think One Way Love was... bad.
Sincerely
-T
Review: 2NE1 - Missing You
After failed promises and false tales from YG Entertainment this whole year, they've actually managed to follow through with something--2NE1's comeback songs. And with Falling in Love and Do You Love Me being the two previous songs which seemed to get negative reviews despite them being... not that bad, 2NE1 has released their third and seemingly final song of the year entitled Missing You and changing the sentiments towards their whole year's efforts. As routine, watch the video below if you haven't watched it and be engrossed with this better late than never review since I spent some good ass time on it.
The beginning 'oo~ oo~ ah-ah-ah~ ah-ah-ah' already set the mood for me that this was going to be eery and have a somewhat repentant feel through out, getting me ready for something new from 2NE1 after their year of upbeat releases. I was immediately reminded of It Hurts, rather than the general public's quick comparison to their song, Lonely, mostly because the layout and the overall effects I would say (can't put my finger on the correct word) are more similar to that song, however, all three videos having their own distinctive qualities. Minzy shined immensely with her vocals as usual, her looks noticeably altered but giving her a more feminine and appealing charm therefore, not stirring up negative emotions in me like it normally would, and my plastic Bommy looking definitely better than she did in Falling in Love and more like she did in the past... like I Love You days in this video, making me happy, as well.
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| Admit it, my face nor my singing were that bad in this video. shut up n00bs. |
What I can't get away from though are the colors and symbolism in this piece, the whole thing being perfectly coordinated rather than previous failures.
That suited man, whoever he is, seems to me not like the most common beliefs of the past boyfriend/lover and instead, seems like the personified form of their feelings (deep shit right hurr). The movements like falling on the ground, sprawling around aimlessly, twisting in pain, looking at Minzy at around 00:27 as if not a real person and instead, a spirit, all represent the feelings of a regular human being when they're missing someone special and shouldn't be ignored.
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| I CAME IN LIKE A WRECKING BALL |
The nakedness of CL, as YG highlighted, was the embracement of a woman's beauty when bare, and through my interpretation, shows the truth behind feelings which shouldn't be covered up and emphasizes the naturalness of her expression of sadness (i been smokin' couple o' malis to get dis one, guise). Either way, this nude scene really added the extra umph to the music video as this hasn't been done before in a non-raunchy, nonsexual way before in K-Pop (or at least through my knowledge) and I really want to praise whoever thought of adding this because it really convinced me that this was on the top of 2NE1's music videos of this year or even of their whole discography.
Lastly, the repeated theme of falling, floating/flying or going backwards/downwards. Yes, I caught it, kids. I watched this video so many times and saw that about mostly everything that was inanimate (not including the masked man or any of the 2NE1 members walking backwards) was doing at least one of these three actions and while it's small, I can see that it symbolizes regret, wanting to go back in time or straight-up sadness. Things like the snow placed added the cold feel to the already eery and sad video as well as the subtle wind.
I still hate the guy who left me, my heart the burned out coldly is still missing you, missing you, missing you~
Sorry, Teddy, but you have been bad with all of the above this year, but to make it up to you, I have to say, you did a damn good job writing this song and I hope you remember that ballads are the way to go. Also, to whoever is the makeup artist, you did a damn good job with Dara. A damn good job.
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| Ang ang, mother fuckers. |
In the end, damn good song, damn good music video and damn good 2NE1. With this song, they've really raised my overall... feels for 2NE1 this year and I'm pretty sure everyone else's, and I'm more than thankful that the four girls are getting the positive feedback they've been deprived of for... ever.
What do you think of Missing You? Terribly tacky or fucktasticly fucktastic? Comment in the comment section below.
