[April 24, 2011] SBS Inkigayo Highlights + Commentary

Inki was in Jeju today! Yay! However, when I found out that little bit of information yesterday, I was less than pleased - more like fearful for my ears. Why? Because one, you have a gazillion rookie groups on today Two, this is Inkigayo - the sound ALWAYS sucks. And three, this is Inkigayo somewhere other than the SBS studio - the sound people aren't used to the venue. Add the fact that they can't even get good results at the SBS studio week in and week out and you have a sonic disaster.


Well it looks like my predictions were right. Someone please fire the Inki sound guy before I go there myself and make sure he dies a slow, and painful death. I don't care if it's easter, he needs to go. NOW.

Video credits go to CrazyCarrot370. The best thing that ever happened to kpop hahah.

A Pink - "Don't Know"
You know what they remind me of? That group of girls in elementary school with budding stage parents who force them to perform during school events. Maybe some of them can sing, but the main goal of the entire performance, as dictated by their parents, is to be "discovered" and become the next Mariah or Whitney. Which you can only do by attracting attention to yourself more than the others. The vocals today were painful and the over-all performance like some kind of cute-off. Meh.

Rania -"Dr. Feel Good"
That part where the girl's miming the part another girl sings reminds me of Chun and Yunho on "The Way You Are". Anyway. Oh wow. Apart from that stupidity at the first line of the song and the 2 or 3 solo lines mimed, for rookies Rania overcame crap Inki sound pretty well. And in k-pop, doing well in Inki means you're pretty damn good. They have presence, they have vocals, they have a pretty decent song - I'm impressed, and I want more.

Dal Shabet -"Pink Rocket"
I don't even want to talk about them. Just watch the video.

Infinite - "Nothing's Over"
As much as I'd like to say Infinite did good today, like on MuBank, and as much as they've really improved, for SOME STUPID REASON like I don't know, crap sound, they sounded off today. And the verses hurt my ears. That last set of high notes wasn't half bad though, even if the guy doing it was cracking all over the place. Very tight performance, except of course for the blegh vocals.

Orange Caramel -"Bangkok City"
I don't want to talk about the song, but I will say something. I AM SO GLAD AFTER SCHOOL IS COMING BACK THIS WEEK SO I CAN BE SPARED OF THIS BLASPHEMY. Preferably by a JungAh/Gahee tag-team.

Rainbow - "To Me"
It's now a contest between the long-haired blonde girl and the girl I liked yesterday for my favorite voice in Rainbow. The fact that there's a contest means we're making progress, Rainbow! But the inki handsfree mics are doing nothing for their vocals, and you really have to listen to hear them actually singing - most of the time it's just a bunch of random sounds and the backing track laced with breaths. We're not making that much progress, Rainbow - work harder. LOL.

ZE:A - "Here I Am"
I understand that the song is floaty and whatnot, but their live vocals do not sound floaty - they sound strained, like in reality that can't sing the song. Their energy on stage is really strong, and they finally worked on that whole "being a group" thing, but their vocals are the exact opposite - some of them are lifeless, majority are strained. And as a whole just sad, I'm sorry to say. My ears hurt. It's a shame though, I kinda like the recorded version.

CN Blue -"Intuition"
JONGHYUN. SHADES. YES. Yonghwa slurring his words because he doesn't have shades but still wants to be all "gangster". NO. Just no. Yonghwa you're a very competent, consistent live singer - slurring your words only makes you sound like you don't know what you're doing. ANd if we can move the drummer a biiiiiiiit closer that would be great, SBS, thank you. We can work on plugging in their guitars later.

f(x) - "Danger"
What did I say about NOT TURNING THE BACKING TRACK UP TOO LOUD, inki sound guy? I thought we worked this out last year - you have to make their voices AUDIBLE, not drown them in pre-recorded crap. You can hardly hear ANY of them, and Krystal's vocals were like, non-existent. We're talking about Krystal here, the popular one. And you can't hear her? Are you nuts? Now because the stupid sound guy was being stupid, the performance lacked punch - obviously, I COULDN'T EVEN HEAR THEM SING. The attitude was there though, which is always good.

4Minute - "Mirror Mirror"
They're all getting used to singing the song, that's for sure - OK maybe everyone except Hyun A. Can she just stick with rapping and mock-singing please? However Jiyoon sounds epic as always. And Gayoon is consistent, but the problem is just I really just don't like her voice. The performance was fine, with the standard 4Minute attitude, and the vocals were ever so slightly better than the last time. I still prefer HuH over this though.

U-Kiss - "0330"
Oh wow. Their vocals sound a lot less strained today, and a lot richer. Of course the hand mics are a big help, but it's like they all got rest because there's no panting. And the high note was done pretty well, even if the line right after was sloppy. Strong performance - I've been waiting to say that for a U-kiss song!

SNSD - "Hoot"
Before I personally thought SNSD's live vocals were way below the standard for a band of their stature and pedigree. I mean outside of their singles a good half of them can really sing, but they could never quite pull off their singles the way a band like them should be able to. The only reason why I didn't like SNSD was because I wasn't sold on the live performances of their singles, and it annoyed me that they could sing other people's songs better than their own, but as they get older they're forced to grow - more so now that they're in Japan. Surprise of all surprises, guess what the solution to that problem was - Japan. Of course. It turned DBSK from extraordinary talents into legends - it's slowly turning SNSD from a girl group that hit the big time to a girl group with pedigree to their name, and this performance is proof of that. The good singers are getting competent, consistent, and the slightly better ones are getting stronger.

Big Bang -"Love Song"
If you want TOP to sing, and want to make it look like he isn't TOP trying desperately sing, please don't put his line before Daesung, who is undeniably the best singer in Big Bang. (if you want to argue with me I don't care - Taeyang's voice annoys me) Then if you want to make GD sound good, don't put him between Daesung and Taeyang, who have obviously been singing more lines than GD these past few years. What's more, GD couldn't even pull off singing a few "I hate this love song"'s without panting. And Seungri's first solo was weak. I know he's sick, but if he can stand on stage and dance, the vocals should be slightly stronger. Daesung sounds tired too, and his lower range sounds weak. Did someone forget to make these guys warm up or something? Do they even need to be told to warm up at this point? The only one who sounds like usual is Taeyang. I'm being tough on them because they're Big Bang, undeniably 5 of the best performers of their generation - for heaven's sake they just gave an epic performance yesterday, what the crap happened? Apart from Seungri being sick, of course.

DBSK/HoMin - "Before You Go" & "Keep Your Head Down"
Before we start, Inki, is it really necessary for the flame to be heard through HoMin's mics? It's annoying. But anyway. If you want strong Inki handsfree mic vocals - you get them with HoMin. Of course they're not as good as they are on MuBank, but of all the performers who used handsfree mics today, obviously HoMin's vocals were the strongest. And Inki sound guy only slightly messed up! Yay! The performance today was spot-on for Inki standards - if you're a good performer, you're a good performer wherever you go, and technicalities cannot, and will not change that. HoMin are seasoned, trained and outstanding performers - you see how their vocals are brilliant whether it's on major music shows like this or small TV shows with almost no equipment to accommodate vocals. Now, this is the official end of all HoMin activities for "Keep Your Head Down". I'm sad. Really sad. But like the crazy OT5 cassie I am, there's that little sliver of hope that the next time they come back, it's at 5. I know it's ridiculous, but it keeps me, and a lot of other fans, sane. The demands of the industry say otherwise, heck even my brain says otherwise, but there's a part of me that HAS to see that magic again - and hoping keeps me from going nuts, so yeah - have mercy on me just this once?

>

SNSD/Girls' Generation - Mr. Taxi

I've always had doubts and/or not positive thoughts (not necessarily negative either) about SNSD advancing to Japan. Partially because I hate that they're getting everything so easy in Japan compared to BoA and DBSK and everyone before their generation. I'm not saying they're not working hard, but all they have to worry about now is succeeding - the generation that opened the door for them had to worry about a lot more.


But anyway. In my opinion they should've signed with an agency with much bigger clout in the industry, because for heaven's sake they very well could have signed with something like Avex or EMI. Nayutawave? Who the hell knows Nayutawave? I mean OK, it's a sub-label of Universal and Universal is THE label to be in internationally (they're kinda overpowered in Japan though), but couldn't they have picked a bigger label? I'm sure the bigger labels were more than excited at the prospect of signing one of Asia's most popular girl groups since forever.

The reason why they should've signed to a bigger label is so SME can't boss the label around and prance around like they know how the Japanese industry works, even if by now they should, because they don't. I've said this time and time again and I'll say it again. You cannot approach the Japanese industry like you do the Korean industry and expect to get the same respect as other Japanese acts - the two industries work differently. This is not a matter of which industry is bigger (even if the Japanese industry is much, much bigger) or better - you think Japanese acts will be able to get the same respect Korean acts do if they ever decide to break into Korea?

This is no longer the "you won't sell" argument - because they, and KARA, are sure as hell selling - this is about musical respect. In Japan they're STILL known as a group from Korea, they're still known as an act just dabbling here and there (even if SME probably has a long-term plan for them), and they're still known as part of the Hallyu wave.

Why? Because before "Mr. Taxi", all they've been releasing are Japanese versions of their Korean hits. To be honest with you I think respect, and success, would've come even faster had they released original Japanese material from the very beginning - like make "Genie" a double a-side with an original track or something to that effect.

So back to my first point. Since the past stays in the past, and I can whine all I want but nothing will change, let's focus on now. And "Mr. Taxi" is now. And I like now. A lot. I've been waiting for this - the moment when SNSD start realizing that cute and shallow only work for a short period of time, but a good song will last forever. And this is sure as hell a good song.

Cheesy, much?

"Mr. Taxi" is Japanese through and through aaaaaaaand through. The production, albeit edgy and dark, is still very rich - it's very packed. Cue my forever relevant cheesecake analogy. The dynamics gave the song not only punch but variety - there are parts that go on and on, but they're immediately balanced by little tweaks to the dynamics, additions to the instrumental, gimmicks here and there (the motorcycle-ish sounds remind me of all the bits and pieces on "8Bit Heart") that give the song character.

But one of the best parts of this song is the fact that the vocals are the exact opposite - and for once majority of SNSD's flimsy-sounding vocals (bar Taeyeon, Tiffany and Seohyun) are put to good use.

I would like to shake hands with whoever did the A&R for this.

I heard some complaints about the vocals being autotuned on the song, and personally I think it's pretty useless arguing about it, because this is what the song calls for - the contrast of the rich instrumental and their fluid vocals is what makes the song brilliant. If they hadn't smoothened and fluid-ized the parts that they did, the song would've been one-dimensional and kinda boring, to be honest with you.

I'm against autotune if it's tasteless, not called for (whether to ruin talent or hide the lack of), and just plain stupid, but the use of it on this song is none of the above - it was actually tasteful and well-done, verging on artistic. And they didn't even autotune the whole damn song. Is playing around (while doing things right) a crime? I don't think so.

But I haven't gotten to the best part yet. I haven't been in touch with my love for amazing middle-8s lately, mainly because a lot of the k-pop that's coming out now usually substitutes the middle 8 for a dance break or a rap verse, which frustrates me - but "Mr. Taxi" has reminded me of the value of a brilliant, epic, jaw-dropping middle 8.

You have these very edgy, strong, punchy verses (Taeyeon sounds amazing, if I may add), this very robotic and catchy chorus, and then right smack in the middle of it is an almost ethereal middle 8 in comparison to the rest of the song. It still has character though, albeit it being floaty and all. I like how a spunky dance break leads to this light, floaty, and rather lengthy middle 8/bridge (OK fine I'll call it a bridge because it's a hell of a lot longer than 8 beats) that's literally just waiting, begging, yearning to explode into this riot of an ending.

Even if I didn't really get my riot of an ending, I do adore how the song jumped back to the last chorus, and that it actually still had the guts to jump back and do a damn good job, considering how epic the "bridge" was.

After writing this all up, I now realize that this song is probably almost everything I ever complained about SNSD's music and lead singles, done right. Even so, at the end of the day I can still say that this sounds very much like an SNSD song.

This is what I mean when I say that Korean acts need to experience Japanese production. I don't intend to insult the Korean industry when I say this, but the Japanese pop industry is more experienced, and more sophisticated in terms of technology and thinking, for the simple reason that it's been around for much much longer - there are good and bad acts anywhere you go, but K-pop can benefit a lot from simply experiencing the variety and the rigors, of J-pop. This song is living proof of that.

Who knew the day I'd praise SNSD beyond belief would come so soon?

5/5

#19: Girls' Generation/SNSD - Run Devil Run

I have a very well-documented love-hate relationship with SNSD both on this blog and on Twitter - one day I hate them, one day I adore them, for a number of reasons. What I cannot deny though is the fact that they get top quality SME songs, and that fact is enough to put them on the list this year, and rather high up for that matter.


I kinda hate SNSD because there are vocally-useless members and a lot of them at that, and because I personally think that SME should've spent the money they did on SNSD on CSJH. If they had, the world would've been a much better place and I would've considered forgiving them for a few more things. Oh well.

On the other hand, like I said a while ago, these girls are getting top-quality SME songs - SM is known in my books for having outstanding production, and getting the best out of that is almost unimaginable. When SM gets it right with SNSD, aka when they're not acting cute-sy, they really get it right. And I'd like to say that they got it right with Run Devil Run.

It's definitely not as good as Genie for me, but it's pretty damn close. And considering what came before this (the mistake that was Oh!), it's also pretty damn good. I've complained enough about their lack of a solid identity, so I'll let it go for today and just focus on the song.

They most definitely can't perform this live without some of them screwing it up, but it is a good song - it's grown on me. Took a lot longer than Genie, but it has grown on me. The melody is pretty, but it has enough kick to do the "concept" justice - their recorded vocals are fine, and I'll end it at that. Production-wise this is epic in all ways possible, arrangement-wise it can get a little boring because the song's basically going nowhere, but that's the point of the song, I believe.

So why place it this high? Because this is, in my opinion, representative of k-pop girl groups this year. Lupin was a slightly better song, but the execution faltered - I can and will say that SNSD as a whole are much better singers than KARA, albeit still not good enough for my standards. Run Devil Run is the perfect balance of OK vocals, fantastic production, and that "dark concept" a lot of girl groups went for this year. In short, this is where kpop was this year, and it's not half-bad, actually.

SNSD - Run Devil Run

SNSD are back and following the current girl group trend, they're donning a supposedly 'dark' image. Hmm.


A little background on the song - the 'concept'/makeover was hinted as early as the release of the Oh! music video that featured the nine girls in black outfits at the end of the video. Once the song finally surfaced earlier this week, it was brought to knowledge that Ke$ha recorded a demo a while back but the license/copyright was sold to SME Korea and the song went to SNSD.

The song is definitely a departure from their cutesy image during Oh! promotions, but before I start actually reviewing the song itself, I have something to say. As a non-biased SNSD listener (meaning I listen to SNSD material but only choose what I like), I'm sick and tired of all these 'image changes'. I don't like the fact that their pattern ever since they came out with Gee early last year is cute-not cute-cute-not cute. I don't like it because it's confusing me - who the effin' crap are SNSD as a band? What are they, cute or not cute? Yes, there should be change, but like I always say, it should be a growth rather than a complete 180.

SNSD constantly changing in gargantuan proportions only means one thing to me - they're one of the most capitalist-controlled bands I've ever seen because only someone who doesn't know anything about music can do something like that to 9 pretty decent performers.

But that aside.

The song isn't very original in my opinion - it sounds like a cross between their earlier promo single Chocolate Love (for the LG Chocolate phone) and Kara's Lupin. It's a midtempo verging on uptempo and I'd have to admit, after listening to it once, the hook was stuck in my head. It wasn't as annoying as Gee and Oh!, but I believe that it'll never match Genie in terms of production. Although the production on this single is pretty OK too, considering the oftentimes crap production all these other Kpop acts get.

In short, it's catchy in the non-annoying way. It's not that annoying mainly because their vocals weren't cute-i-fied but the treatment of their vocals is similar (NOT identical) to the treatment they got on Chocolate Love, which I hated - it's like a toned down version.

Surprisingly, the right girls get the right solos/airtime on this song - Taeyeon, Seohyun and Tiffany. The three take most of the melodic parts and they do it pretty well, thankfully. Yuri gets like a line or something, which is good, but I wish Sooyoung got a solid singing part - she would've matched the song nicely although I highly doubt if she'd be able to deliver it live. Jessica got a ton of exposure on this as well, but I find her vocals annoying. Yeah sure she matches the cute side, but I do not like their cute side.

I don't like the pseudo-rapping/talking/pseudo-singing throughout the song, but I think I'll learn to live with it the more I listen to it.

One of the reasons why I held off reviewing the song was 'coz I wanted to see if it was like Genie that took some time to sink in. (that and I literally didn't have any time whatsoever during the week) The conclusion? I don't really ADORE it, nor do I hate it, but the good thing is that after a few days of listening to this almost non-stop, I haven't gotten sick of it. Usually if I listen to a kpop single as much as I did this, I would've thrown up if I ever heard it again. That's a good sign, but I'm not that keen on the song.

One thing's for sure, it's better than Oh!. I know I gave that song a pretty high rating and responded pretty positively to it when it was new but the cuteness makes me want to hurl. Oh well.

4.5/5

Friday Night Post. Yes, another one.

Expect this every week from now on, as well as the resumption of MY WEEKLY TOP 20. Yes, after a lull last December that lasted until January, my top 20 will resume next week, February 1. HAHAH. But let's get to business now.

The second part of the soundtrack for the Korean soap opera/drama God Of Study was recently released (gah, I sound like I'm writing news) and with the line up of idol groups like Secret, f(x), B2ST, 4Minute and FT Triple (who're headed here sometime in the first quarter of the year) I could resist giving it a try. Apart from the stereotypical OST ballads that I either hate of have had way too much off, there were two songs in particular that REALLY got stuck in my head. They're not the most musically proficient things since anything and they're not anything new but they have enough power to get me listening to them non-stop for days. They're happy, upbeat and though at times they sound really cheap, they're worth the listen. Both songs are by sibling groups B2ST and 4Minute under Cube Entertainment (aka the 'we don't think you'll be extremely successful as a JYP artist so we're dumping you here' company). The 4Minute song is a cover of Canon in D. Although not obvious, the chords are the same. It's not plagiarism, if any of you crazy anti fans start crawling out of nowhere.

(click the read more function for the rest of the post. Yes, there's more.)


I think I should formally write about this on the blog before it actually comes. I GOT AN INTERVIEW WITH SHONTELLE. Yes, SHONTELLE. Her new single Impossible is actually pretty good - it's epic and the melody's gorgeous. Love the piano loop and I love how you'd think it'd build up by the second verse but it doesn't as much as I expected it. Hahah.

I'm headed to the 4Minute promo tour next month - they're hitting Manila! Hahah. So expect pictures and a review of the event. And just to let you know, 4Muzik is being promoted like crazy over here - in one record store alone it's in THREE DIFFERENT PLACES. Make that 4. But Mel will be pleased to know that Muzik is growing on me. Hot Issue is a little too out for me but Muzik is pretty catchy now that I'm not hearing it all over the kpop sites.

To be honest with you I was expecting a lot from the new SNSD album before Oh! was released and although my expectations were lowered when I actually heard Oh!, I don't think the album is as good as I hoped it would be. It's confused - one minute they're cutesy and the next they're trying to be French or wannabe Bossa Nova (*throws up*) with the vibe. Of course they're not copying French pop (I know a thing or two about that courtesy of Priscilla) but the 'vibe' is like stereotypical French. Gah. But anyway, there are however 2 songs worth listening to for me - the gorgeous, gorgeous ballad Forever, one of the few songs that actually show off whatever semblance of voices most of them have, and Boys and Girls, their 'duet' with SHINee's Key which is attitude in the right way without losing whatever 'signature style' they've come to have.

Now Adam Tyler recently caught my ear. I haven't delved too much into his music but I got a megamix a few days back and mini-raided his YT channel, he's pretty good. Processing like there's no tomorrow but I dunno, it sounds tasteful. That's what this guy is - catchy, tasteful autotune. Will get more in-depth when I interview him. Watch out for it.

Now for the rest of the stuff. Just very quickly.

There's a relatively new remix of After School's hit Because of You and although the song is brilliant in every way, some of the epic-ness got lost in the re-arrangement. Produced by the same team, The Brave Brothers, U-Kiss have a new digital single out - Without You. It's like a less epic, more generic Brave Brothers version of Because of You, for people who can sing. But there's no doubt that Because of You is the big hit and it sounds like one.

I got my copy of DBSK's Mirotic Version C today *dances around room* and in line with sales and all that, Break Out! sold over 180,000 copies in it's first day last Wednesday, according to Oricon. First day sales surpassed their highest total single sales, Jaejoong and Yoochun's Colors, which only managed to sell around 100,000+ copies.

There are rumors that JLS are planning a US career. Once again, you guys over need a boyband. It would be nice if it was American but as long as it's a boyband, I'm fine with that.

SNSD - Oh!

SNSD are back, all 9 of them, and it is once again new single season. Has the song passed or failed my standards? Gah.

When I first heard Oh! I thought it was a fail, but then again the first time I heard it the song was in LQ. When I heard it in HQ it was only a straight pass (pasang-awa in Filipino) but then it grew on me the more I listened to it. There are quite a number of issues (good and possibly bad) that accompany the sound of this song.

Is the autotune generation FINALLY moving on?

And by 'autotune generation' I mean both the bands who've excessively used processing in their material AND SNSD/Girls' Generation. This applies only in Korea.

Yeah sure some of the first releases of 2010 have been laden with processing and autotune and bells and whistles all around BUT, you do realize that change anywhere comes from the top. One of the first big, established bands to release new material this year is SNSD - apart from them all the new releases have been by new, rookie bands who either don't have enough label/talent company backing to actually make a decent, original song or are just following the trends, hoping to cash in on the success of bigger bands who've successfully marketed the specific sound.

SNSD, I believe, are at the stage in their career where they can choose to do anything they want and their millions/thousands of fans would stand by them. They've had their 'adhering to trends to get famous' singles and SM has made a sufficient amount of money out of their image to be able to now set new trends.

Gee was cutesy, Genie was well-produced and slightly cutesy - what's Oh!? That may take some time to explain.

Oh! does NOT use the type of processing that was so so very popular in 2009 - THANK HEAVENS FOR THAT. The verses seriously sound like something deliberately aimed at the CHINESE MARKET (ala SuJu M's Confession or Only U) but then the chorus/hook sounds like something straight out of a Swedish production house like Maratone or one of Steve Mac's masterpieces if it was the late 90's. By that I mean the vocals during the chorus aren't mixed like they are today where it's monotonous and there is one distinct voice on top - the vocals on this track are mixed in such a way that they actually sound like 9 girls singing at the same time. OK maybe less but you get the point.

Oh! I think will set the standard for girl groups this year for a few reasons. SNSD are superstars in their own right - two massive hits last year are enough to immortalize them in Kpop so whatever they do this year will set the standard. The second reason is slightly more musical - they'll set the standard because now that they have the power to influence, either they themselves or SM and his slave songwriter Yoo Young Jin are planning to cause a slow but sure shift in the over-all sound of Kpop.

It only took a short time to get everyone hooked on autotune and processing, it'll probably take a similar amount of time to get everyone out of it. Personally I like where they're moving towards - the circa Play/Swedish bubblegum pop-type production. I like it because the well-done part of Swedish music is my taste but it's a bit bad for the industry because they're moving backwards not forward.

However I do think that anywhere is fine, as long as it's away from processing.

EDIT: There are now claims going around that Oh! is a rip-off of Rihanna's Shut Up and Drive. Look. Unless the song has the exact same chords and melody as Shut Up and Drive, you can't call that plagiarism anymore. Why? Because pop music today sounds so similar that if something sounds like something else and that's what constitutes plagiarism, then I could say that Chris Brown is an Usher rip-off or Jada's American Cowboy is a Poker Face copy. There is very little originality in pop today so UNLESS the melody and the chords of the song are the exactly same, that isn't plagiarism - anymore. I'm not biased towards SNSD, I'm just stating something that I think is right. If this was any other act I would've done the same because people fail to realize that these days, every single song sounds the same.

4.3/5

Best of 2009: June #6 - #1

June was the month of kpop for me - the top 2 songs are from Korean artists. Just guess who. LOL.

#6: Mitchel Musso - Hey

Although the rest of his debut album was a bit boring for me, I still think that Hey is brilliant. It's pop, it's rock and it's fun. You can't comfortably headbang to it or anything but it makes you happy and that's something to work on. He's not the best singer in the world and this isn't the most musically brilliant piece but it's got it's good moments, namely that gorgeous middle 8. LOVE the video as well.

#5: Kim Hyun Joong - Please Be Nice To Me

Hyun Joong, aside from being known as an actor and DBSK Jaejoong's best friend, actually made a pretty decent solo single this year. These are the types of songs I just like whether or not they're musically good or whatever - I just damn like the piano part and the melody.

#4: The Saturdays - Unofficial

There are a ton of other songs from them that I could've included on the list this year but I chose this because one, I adore it and two, it's the longest-running entry on my top 20. Yes, it stuck around for over 15 weeks before I 'forced' it off the chart. It stayed for good reasons though - it's such a gorgeous, gorgeous song.

#3: Ju-Taun - Let Me In

I had the honor of interviewing these guys earlier this year and I know for a fact that they should be bigger than they are at the moment. This song shows off their skill as a group and as individual singers as well as how musical they are. I love the attention on the real drums, the stunning melody and how the entire song just slides by - those 7 minutes won't seem like 7 minutes.

#2: SNSD- Genie

For all the criticism I and many others have about these 9 girls talent-wise, there's no denying that SME knows how to give them a damn good song. The production on this is outstanding - my dad agrees (and he never says that about the stuff I listen to) and the song itself has become a phenomenon. It wasn't the song that brought them to prominence (that was Gee, but now I refuse to listen to it's horrid-ness) but it was miles better. To be completely honest with you, I wasn't loving this song when I first heard it - it took a lot of time before I became addicted to it but I think that's the reason why I'm not sick of it yet. I can listen to this for a month straight and it wouldn't be a problem.

#1: Super Junior - It's You

2009 wasn't only SNSD's year, it was Super Junior's. Sorry Sorry took over the world (figuratively) but the second single off the hit album made me literally fall at my feet. It's You is a song that sounds the most brilliant, stunning and whatever other praise you can give it when played at extremely high volumes and in CD quality on extremely good speakers - I've tried and confirmed that fact. The gorgeous, gorgeous melody mixed with an epic instrumental that sounds stunning at high volumes made me start worshiping the ground these guys walk on. The vocals were also pretty good on this track, surprisingly.

What's been happening?

Has anyone noticed that these past few months I haven't been doing any bulleted posts - they've all been paragraphs and paragraphs of me ranting on and on about trivial things. I thought for a while that I could pull off the all full review thing but I can't right now - there's too much I wanna talk about.

SO, here's a quick run-through of everything that's been going on in the world of pop I'm interested in. If there's something I didn't mention here but you think I should know of, SPEAK UP. I've been so behind on stuff lately it's pathetic.

• The Saturdays' Workshaker has been out for a while but I haven't been able to listen to it 10 or 20 times straight - there's too much new stuff coming out! However I do have my favorite songs and Mel was right in saying that I just needed to digest it a little more. When I first heard the whole thing the excitement made me fall in love with it but then immediately after I felt that the album would go right through me when I heard it. After not listening to it for some time, it's quite good! A review to come SOON, I promise. School has just been the biggest pain EVER.
• Cheryl Cole's Three Words (the song) has ALSO been out for quite a while. I don't like it - end of story.
• Amy Pearson's Butterfingers is BRILLIANT. Apart from the talking/pseudo-rapping/chanting, the song is so damn brilliant I could fall apart. I swear, you wouldn't believe this was Amy until you actually watch it 'till the end - it's so hard to believe she's the same girl who sang Don't Miss You.

• From the world of K-pop, f(x) and SNSD are both endorsing a cellphone via 2 different arrangements of the song Chocolate Love. What do I think of it? The girls sound crap. No really, Tiffany and Taeyeon SNSD and Luna f(x) who're the strongest voices of all 14 girls sound like the crap voices (won't name them anymore but you can probably guess who) - there's no difference because EVERYTHING WAS AUTO-TUNED SO MUCH. And the song really isn't that good. Yeah sure it's catchy but really, once you think about it that's all the song will ever be - catchy.

• Now SHINee, my beloved SHINee. I heard Ring Ding Dong and I personally thought it was a little too confused with the instrumental and the auto-tuning but the more I think about it, this is the logical direction for them. SHINee need a song like DBSK's Rising Sun and Super Junior's U to take them away from being the SM newbies who everyone loved and make them an established boyband - they have to mature. Ring Ding Dong reminds me a LOT of SuJu's early 2009 hit Sorry Sorry with all the repetition and the auto-tuning but surprisingly, the rest of the elements are a lot more SHINee than I first thought they were. The full video isn't out yet but we've got a pretty damn good teaser and the MP3 to hold us up 'till then.

• New boyband B2ST, now called BEAST (what the crap?), actually has debut single that's a bit better than MBLAQ's Oh Yeah recorded. Still, it's heavily auto-tuned and a bit generic. However, it's not that bad.

• Speaking of MBLAQ, my theory was right - these guys are performers. No really, they're a heck of a lot better live. The song sounds more convincing, they're pushing the not miming thing and it really sounds like the song was made for a stage. Kudos to the guys! Hahah.

SNSD's Vocal Prowess: The Good, the Bad and the Ones Who Lack Something.

12/18/2011: I am temporarily disabling comments on this post until I put up a re-written, version 2 of this vocal commentary. You may share your thoughts once I post Version 2, hopefully by January 2012. Thank you.

After the intro I gave yesterday, here're my actual comments on the girls! Read on:

The bad:

Hyoyeon

Whatever this girl tries to do, she will forever be the worse voice in the band. Like Yunho is in DBSK, Hyoyeon is SNSD's resident dancer - she gets all the dance breaks and is sent to all these dance battle extravaganzas. She's also a bad singer. If all you hear is Hyoyeon and not the better voices in the band I wouldn't be surprised if you said they sucked because frankly, I think the only reason why this girl is in the band is because they need someone to send to the dance battles. That's it. Actually, the more I think about it the more Hyoyeon's voice is like a female, crappy-er version of U-Know Yunho (see the DBSK commentary for what I think of his voice). The only difference is that there's nothing wrong with her throat and Yunho sounds pretty OK when he hits the certain notes in higher octaves he can actually hit.

Jessica

I know a lot of people will kill me for this but it's my opinion so live with it. I don't like Jessica's voice, I'm sorry. It's annoying as hell - whine-y and tries desperately to hit high notes she clearly can't do, she needs Taeyeon as backup. Actually, she does sound like an annoying version of Taeyeon.

BUT, she sounds the same recorded and live so you gotta hand it to her.

Yoona

Yoona isn't a BAD singer, but she's not as good as the 'nothing special' people. She was actually pretty good during their early days but I don't know what in the world happened because now she doesn't sound like she was before. At the moment it's like she's singing like she's talking, in the bad way.

Nothing Special/Good but lack something:

Sunny

Sunny has a nice voice recorded and at certain octaves but never, ever, EVER let her sing a ballad with high notes - her voice gets annoying and shrill and she can't do it. Even when she does uptempos live it doesn't sound like the recorded version - the girl can't sing live either. BUT, her recorded voice is nice so all you need are a few studio tricks and you're good to go. Below is a performance she did with (brilliant) Jaejoong DBSK and while Jaejoong was doing great as usual, Sunny was kinda hurting my eardrums.

Yuri

Yuri's voice actually has a nice timbre and it's smooth but it tends to get a little too thin and airy at times. If you use Girls' Generation (the single) as a basis she wasn't very good but over the years she's gotten better!

Sooyoung

Sooyoung's also got a very nice timbre to her voice but she needs more power live - and she has to learn how to breath properly. Excessive breathing annoys the heck out of me and really, it shows you don't know how to sing. That's pretty much it with her - she's got the potential.

Pretty darn good:

Seohyun

Seohyun has a nice voice, she really does but she hardly got any solid singing parts in Genie and Etude is too cutesy to be judged. Her voice is nothing like Tiffany of Taeyeon's but it's competent and it's better than the rest of them. Below is her duet with Tiffany and although her English isn't THAT good and the sound system really sucks, her vocals aren't bad.

Taeyeon

Taeyeon deserves to be the leader based on vocal abilities alone - this girl can sing her head off. She's like Jessica if she wasn't so damn annoying but Taeyeon can hit high notes nicely with little effort, really. OK there are times when the girls' a bit off but really, who can contest her vocals in THIS performance? I never knew she had that in her when she sang "left behind.."

Tiffany

Although Taeyeon has a gorgeous voice, my personal favorite in SNSD would have to be Tiffany. Beautiful timbre and she hits those high notes like they're nothing - she's pretty much a package deal. Not much to say anymore, really. Watch:

Phew, that was LONG. Don't forget to vote on the poll on who YOU think has the best voice in the band!

SNSD's Vocal Prowess: The Intro + Reference Tracks

SNSD's vocals are constantly under fire for being not good enough or some form of the word 'bad' and though I agree to a certain extent, there are times when those statements are not true for me based on what I'm hearing from the girls.I wouldn't particularly say that SNSD's over-all vocals are outstanding and brilliant but I can say that these girls try pretty hard to prove their vocal ability - it rare that I see a mimed performance (I think the only ones I saw were of their debut single..) and to be really honest there are SOME good voices in the band. Not everyone but there are girls who are better than the rest.

ALTHOUGH, if the first SNSD song you heard was Gee, the girls really do sound horrible on that. They're auto-tuned, processed, cute-i-fied and at first I thought the only one who could sing was Taeyeon and that Tiffany sucked! So I conclude, Gee is not the right song to gauge the girls' vocals on - it's not.

There are girls in this band who can sing, there are some who have good points to their vocals and there are some who are either sub-par or are really bad to start with so I split them that way. Since they're a big group, I've split them into three - the good, the bad and the ones who have good points but lack certain qualities. That OK with you guys? Also, note that since the group is bigger the members get less vocal time and so my comments will be shorter - they sing less, I write less.

If you're a fan and I don't like your favorite member or disagree with what I'm saying it's fine with me - we have different opinions but remember that this is MY blog. You're entitled to your own opinions and you can say them in the comments section all you want but in a civilized manner. I don't wanna see any "Jessica rocks - what the crap were you thinking" or "You suck, how can you say that?". You can say that YOU like one of the voices I said I didn't and you can say that you disagree with me but the minute you tell me I'm wrong that's out of line - I CANNOT STAND that.

Here are some of the tracks I used to gauge the girls' vocals as a group and individually for the ones who I don't have special cases with - one live performance of a ballad, another live performance of an uptempo, one recorded ballad, one recorded uptempo before and one recorded uptempo now. I used a few other tracks but these were the ones that I mainly used. Also note that these are also just snapshots of their vocals for people who aren't familiar with each of the girls' voices - my commentaries are based on everything I've heard from the girls so far.

Live Ballad

(Complete - Performed in 2009)

Live Uptempo

(Way To Go! - Performed in 2009)

Recorded Uptempo Before

(Girls' Generation - Released 2007)

Recorded Ballad

(the recorded version of Complete, the live ballad - Released 2007)

Recorded Uptempo Recently

(Genie - Released 2009)

Have you read over my intro, taken everything into consideration and soaked in all their vocals on the examples above? You have all day today to do that because the actual commentary is up tomorrow morning! If you're already familiar with the girls and their vocals, why not vote on the poll in the sidebar? The winning singer goes on the 'special master list' as your favorite voice.

SNSD - Genie + Natalie Bassingthwaighte - Not For You (video)

The song is slowly gaining momentum as a single and is poised to be a gigantic hit over the next few weeks. When I first heard the song I wasn't impressed - it didn't make me tick but after a few more listens it suddenly seemed like the most brilliant thing since anything(which it's obviously not but close enough!).

A few days ago I said a few more listens and I'd get sick of it - that's partially true. The only reason why I bothered to even listen to the song again was because of alleged plagiarism. Everyone started freaking out when they found out that Genie sounds exactly the same as a Uzbekistani popstar's single a few months ago. Everything was cleared when SM Entertainment(the girls' talent company) said that they bought the exclusive rights to use the song however they wanted to and somehow the demo leaked and the popstar got it. So everything's fine in K-pop land. Here's the SNSD song and below that is the 'rip-off'.

4.7/5

So I got informed via Twitter that Natalie Bassingthwaighte - Australian pop queen (am I right to call her that?) has a new video out. For a song I absolutely adored the first time I heard it. Here's what I said back in February when I first reviewed the album:

Not For You sounds like something Everlife or Superchic[k] would sing for a Disney live-action movie soundtrack. I love every part of the song, these kinds of songs are usually the ones that I'll listen to a lot when I first get them, get sick of them and I'll forget about it for two months then when I'm so bored, I'll remember the song, listen to it and just smile at brilliance.

Did it happen? Hell yeah.

I came back from a miserable and painful doctor's appointment(Which is probably too graphic to describe.) to find what? THE EFFIN' VIDEO PREMIERE. I'm like - FREAKING OUTTTTT! I honestly predicted both of the girls' post-album singles. YAY.

A crash course in Korean Pop.

Here's a snapshot of what you can expect from the rest of the current special so it's best you get familiar with these names while I haven't bombarded you with reviews! hahah. These are the acts that have left an impression on me - whether good or bad(mostly good but you get what I mean..) and are moderately to extremely famous to legendary in Korea.

The Gauge:

(my assessment based on some research, YT-hopping and reading some k pop blogs.. from highest to lowest)

LEGENDARY

EXTREMELY famous

REALLY famous

MODERATELY famous

This was what I was talking about when I said that if you take a song from the Wonder Girls and put English lyrics in, it would fit perfectly. I don't like Korean pop that way, it kind of defeats the purpose - I'd rather listen to the real thing..

That guy singing at the start is the 'legendary' JYP. He discovered Rain and turned him into Rain(redundant? hahah.) I acknowledge his greatness a bit for making Rain into a superstar but never when it comes to the Wonder Girls.(EXTREMELY famous)

Speaking of Rain...

Probably the most hardworking and brilliant Korean pop stars around. This guy owns his own talent company, has a clothing line and does all kinds of movies and TV shows on the side - how can you not think he's hardworking at the very least! hahah. The guy can sing and dance at the same time live(that has been proven on many occasions, mind you.) so what else do you need in a Korean pop star?(LEGENDARY)

Next.

So Lee Hyori is known as the Korean equivalent of Britney Spears(only Lee Hyori's a lot older than Britney, I think she's 30..). When I heard that I was put off a bit but when I heard that she was being linked to Rain for quite some time, I got a little curious. The song is OK but this is one of her older videos - I did quite enjoy her latest album(I wrote about one of the songs in a new music post a few weeks ago..). hmm.(Not so sure, but she may be somewhere between EXTREMELY famous and LEGENDARY)

Jewelry is a girl group about one generation older than the Brown Eyed Girls, Girls' Generation, Wonder Girls and everyone else in that circle. I think they split up a few years ago but then had a reunion last year(was it last year? not sure.)

When I first heard this song I wasn't so convinced and I'm still not that into the song but something makes me want to listen to it. I don't know what the crap it is but it's certainly leaving a good impression on me as time passes. They also hold the record for second-longest run of a single at number one on one of the music shows and were beaten by Girls' Generation's Gee.(REALLY famous)

How many times have I stressed the fact that Girls' Generation is probably the fun-est and cutest thing since anything?

See what I mean? They're adorable, they've got the most brilliantly fun pop songs and they can actually sing in tune - those are really hard to find in a girl group and yet they're so important. Oh, and the middle 8 of this song in particular is fantastic. Kudos to the girls and to SM entertainment - these girls always find new ways to amaze me.(EXTREMELY FAMOUS)

A lot of people will know BoA as one of the few Koreans who've released an English album and have had more than moderate success in Japan but we forget that there was a time when she was just like all the other Kpop stars.

To be honest with you, Atlantis Princess(the album where this song came from) was probably my first shot at Korean pop(I think it was in sixth grade, my best friend was a huge fan back then..) - I adored it, still do.(LEGENDARY)

There are also quite a few active and veteran boybands running around Korea, thank God. They even have the biggest boyband in the world(I'm not kidding) - Super Junior(13 members. Enough said.)

That was Big Bang, one of the many boybands floating around. What I don't understand though is why they're all so serious. I know a few girl groups are really, really fun and all but does that mean the guys have to beat people up or have this really serious music video? I not kidding, even the SS501 videos are serious! hahah. This song has something appealing about it, that's for sure.(REALLY famous)

This girl doesn't sound like this anymore but I thought I'd put her in anyway.

Son Dambi was dubbed as a female version of Rain and judging by the video I see where they were coming from but I don't know what happened to her after she took a year off and came back with this strange music video and an even stranger song - not my cup of tea. This video was pretty good and she can definitely dance if you were to ask me although she sounds a bit like Lee Hyori at certain points of the song.(MODERATELY FAMOUS)

Another girl group. See what I mean when I said there were tons of them?

Uh, the main reason why I put 2NE1 here is because one of the girls actually tried to make it big here(she joined a 'start search'-type contest and came in second then they paired her up with the guy who won and they were everywhere for a few months) but then at the height of her popularity she went back to Korea. Hmph. Well now she's in the female version of Big Bang(was it Big Bang? I think I got my research right.) and they're poised to be huge. Good for her. The band is a little more serious than the others(even Wonder Girls..) and the song isn't my cup of tea but something attracts me to them. Will wait for more material. Oh, and this video has two versions - the other version is here.(MODERATELY FAMOUS, gaining momentum)

I can't help myself - I have to put this in.

It can get hilarious at points, especially when you find out that the guy's name is Wheesung but if you listen to it without any outside factors it's a pretty good try at a pretty good Craig David song. I'd love to say that it's a complete sanitation of a perfectly good Craig David song and yes, a lot of a groove that the original one had is gone but it's not THAT bad. Believe me, we've all heard worse - namely the Eoghan Quigg album and I honestly think this is a lot better than that. He tried, let's give that much credit to the guy.(MODERATELY FAMOUS)

Phew. Well that was about three hours' worth of YT-hopping and sifting out all the stuff I liked and didn't. More detailed reviews and stuff in the coming days! yay.

Girls' Generation - Gee EP/Mini Album

A little note on a terminology - apparently in Korea and Japan(not so sure about Japan..), EPs are called 'mini albums' and they're not attached to a full-length album or anything, they're released like full-length albums. Usually(well from what I've seen..) there's one carrier single with a music video that they go around promoting and all, like an actual album.
So it's been a day since I first heard a song from these girls and I'm already hooked - I cannot believe this. I think they have a right to be worshipped and adored(wait, did that come from a song?) for making such brilliantly pop-y songs. If yesterday's rambling about the carrier single from this EP wasn't enough, I'll ramble on about the other tracks. 

NOTE: You HAVE to hear these songs, they're absolutely stunning.

There's this other Korean girl group called the Wonder Girls but the main reason why I don't like them is because they're not fun, they're not pop and they haven't made a single that has blown me away yet. No great melodies, no above-par voices, nothing to make me shut up and listen. Girls' Generation has done that so my main point of comparison are the Wonder Girls.

So obviously Gee is extremely fun, techno-ish pop but what I noticed after listening to it and watching the video a hundred million times more last night(I'm not kidding!) is that if you slap on English lyrics, it'll still sound Asian. There's something about the way the melody and instrumentations were made that'll always sound Asian and I find that really, really good in a song like this. Oh, and that's one thing the Wonder Girls lack - all their songs sound like they can be American or European, there's nothing that makes them themselves.

Way To Go has got this rock-y thing going on but that 'fun' that Gee has is still there. It still makes you want to jump off your seat and start jumping and banging your head to the song. It's also got a gorgeous, gorgeous melody - I'm dead serious. It's like something straight out of an early Lindsay Lohan Disney movie and it's got that 'you can do it' feel to it(although if translated, the lyrics are kinda 'we made it this far'..).

It's widely known that the real test if an artist can sing or not are the ballads. Dear Mom(corny title and I presume the lyrics are corny as well..) is the obligatory ballad on the album. When I first heard the vocals on this track I was a little surprised by how much these girls voices can morph from cutesy to serious - I can honestly say I'm impressed. It's all-in-all a beautiful song.

Destiny is something like a Liberty X single - it sounds serious and boring but then the melody comes in and you're spellbound. A lot of processing with the vocals but I think it goes with the whole feel of the song. It's kinda like that Brown Eyed Girls song I talked about a few weeks ago, serious but brilliant. The last track, Let's Talk About Love is more like Gee - fun and springy. It sounds like something that could be on a Korean TV show soundtrack - it's that light and brilliant.

5/5!!!(My first perfect review in a while, mind you.)

NOTE: If anyone wants to hear the whole thing, tell me and I'll give you the link to where I got the EP. hahah.