[#45] U-Kiss - "One Of You"

From: "One Of You"
Format: Single
Released: September
Territory: Japan
Previous Best of Appearances: "Ok!" (2009) / #28 - "Baby Don't Cry" (2011)

One of this year's biggest surprises for me was the way U-Kiss' Japanese repertoire turned out -- pretty good. Re-released songs aside, the new tracks on "A Shared Dream" were really good, but still managed to keep a very U-Kiss sound throughout. That's also why I had a hard time deciding which song to feature this year, until I heard "One Of You".

"One Of You" is a very vulnerable song because so much can go wrong with it -- one wrong move and it can very well turn into an incredibly cheap song. And to a certain extent it is cheap if you're looking at the individual elements, or just the melody or just the arrangement, and not the bigger picture.

The production on this song is outstanding, really. It's also very Japanese -- it sounds very rich as a whole, very packed, but when you take the song apart the individual elements are very thin and sanitized, even.

Despite the production, "One Of You" turns out to be a very light, cheery song, of which there aren't that many anymore, so I've noticed. That's not to say that everything is bad because they're not cheery, but variety's always welcome. And in this case, it's more than welcome.

This is the type of song you'd bop your head to unconsciously, mainly because of the sharp, snappy instrumental. You'd think that the synths, the bass line and the percussion would crowd the song, but they don't, and they actually make it really light. The melody, which is gorgeous in all the right places puts some weight on the instrumental, but that's watered down by the fact that U-Kiss' vocals have always been on the thinner/lighter side.

And if there's one thing this song succeeds in, it's putting me in a good mood, because it's just so happy.

Weekly Rundown: Surprises all around courtesy of SPICA, U-Kiss, Rania, and THE GODS

So if you guys have noticed, my "experiments" have been making things shorter and shorter, and that's mainly because I want to keep blogging, but there's only so much I can do without self-destructing. So, this weekly rundown will be on trial hopefully for the next three or four weeks. Basically what I'm gonna be doing is briefly talking about three or four of my favorite releases. Yup. It's not meant to be a complete replacement for proper single, or album, reviews, but an addition. If ever I do manage to write a full review in the near future.

What that said, shall we?

SPICA - "I'll Be There"

I remember SPICA as that group with lots of potential to do well, brought down by the fact that "Pain Killer" was a snooze-fest. I saw the talent when it was in front of me, but their song made them forgettable. Which is why "I'll Be There" was like the pleasant surprise of all pleasant surprises -- for a number of reasons.

First of all, it's far from a snooze-fest, bringing back those 90's Swedish-penned pop feelings in the bucketfuls, but not compromising quality. Off the top of my head, this sounds like Christina Aguilera's "Come On Over" (which I adored, by the way), laced with the girl group elements of Atomic Kitten's "The Tide Is High". And from what I've observed, majority of K-Pop fans are around my age, which means this is the music they, we, grew up with, whether it was liked or not. That alone gives this song bonus points. "I"ll Be There" captured the essence of 90's pop -- from all the standard 90's instruments and chord progressions, the emphasis on belting, all the way down to that short 90's dance break loop under the rap part. Sorry, A Pink, "MY MY" was great and all, but SPICA's execution slays you any day.

And taking off from that, the one thing I really, really love about the 90's sound they're going for is the fact that they really focused on their vocals. This is probably one of the notable few songs where neither the vocals nor the instrumental overpower each other, but you're still given that chance to really hear every dimension of the vocals. Of the harmonies. The harmonies! They're so Destiny's Child-esque, if Destiny's Child ever switched to Swedish pop.

SPICA, you've shot up to my "rookies to keep watching" list.

U-Kiss - "Stop Girl"

So what's surprising about the U-Kiss single? Well, not just this single in particular, but I've been liking their releases this year significantly more than years ago. "Stop Girl" isn't amazing from head to toe, because that hook is horrible, but it has it's moments, moments I'd gladly listen to again.

I like the over-all sound they're pushing, it's slightly more epic and slightly less cheap, but still U-Kiss at the core. I like the verses, because they make the epic but thin instrumental more rounded and give it more body, but I hate the chorus because the melody is way too sharp to the ears. The one part of the chorus that I do like though, is the last "Stop girl, in the name of love", because it was a lot more straightforward and the harmonies were a lot clearer, giving it the body I was looking for on the rest of the song.

This could be the type that gets better with time, who knows maybe come December I'll be worshipping this in it's entirety, but for now it just sounds off. I still adore those verses though.

Rania - "Style"

I must've missed something, because I see this new Rania single and there are only five girls left? Weren't there more of them? I'm kind of sad over the way Rania turned out, because while I wasn't the biggest fan of "Dr. Feel Good", the talent was there. "POP POP POP" was an okay song, but everything else about that promotional cycle was really sad. They're back this year with a YG-penned song, which is another surprise.

It's an okay song, with no big "but"'s, except for the fact that it's just okay. I like the melody, the synths are deliberately cheap and the vocals match the song well, but there's really no big wow factor. The reason why groups like 2NE1 (mainly 2NE1) can pull these songs off well is because they have the presence to carry the song. Sometimes they do tend to go overboard, but it's that going overboard that makes things interesting. Rania have presence too, I watched the video and it was a little better, but their presence doesn't have enough strength so they end up looking, and sounding, very generic.

And it's back to square one.

DBSK/HoMin - "Catch Me" (Teaser)

So I watched the first teaser after all the hype had died down (I had school okay, and I was sobbing all the way through), and I don't know if that caused it, but I'm not head-over-heels. Surprise, surprise! But then again, I had no idea what to expect because this is my beloved HoMin and I want them to do well. I just don't know what to make of the song -- I'll have to wait for the full song to come out before I freak out over the awesomeness or over the fact that I'm not freaking out.

[May 18, 2012] KBS Music Bank Highlights + Commentary

Guess who's back! *insert sobbing over Junsu's obvious and predictable absence from music shows* But on the bright side, this week's line-up seems to be a fair mix of good and meh acts+singles, so I'm not complaining! The only problem is, it seems like the KBS sound guy either hates everyone on today, or is just too lazy to do his job, because today's show was a backing track fest! Focus, KBS, focus!

I don't own any of the videos, and I got them from everywhere this week.

Hello Venus - "Venus"

I watched one of their debut performances last week, and just like what happened today, I had a hard time figuring out whether or not they were lip-syncing the performance. However, high notes and ad-libs are always a giveaway, and I've come to the conclusion that KBS turned their backing track too high, but they're singing live during the choruses, and most probably drowned out by the backing track during the chorus. You lied to me -- I thought we'd never have this problem, KBS! Individually the girls are pretty confident, fluid and natural on stage, and considering the new groups we've seen so far this year, they're actually pretty high-up the group dynamics chain. There are still portions where they don't look like a group, and the chorus can be a bit uncomfortable to watch if you don't already like the song, but they're not ridiculously bad. Performane-wise, they're right between meh and okay right now.

B.A.P. - "Power"

"Power" is a very idol performance, and reminds me a lot of late 90's/early 2000's boy band "world domination" singles. This song in particular isn't really my taste, but as performers I'm completely drawn in to these guys. Their average singing today is half their fault, half KBS', but since majority of the song is rapping and semi-screams mixed with growls, it's not that obvious that KBS has totally screwed up the sound today. I'm keeping my eye on you guys.

A Pink - "Hush"

Sometimes, I wonder how Cube can ruin it's acts this well. "Hush" isn't a ridiculously bad song for K-Pop standards, but aside from being average and un-singable, they're a year late in terms of sound! This is the problem when you copy another group who also copied something else -- if you do it right after them, you'll be called a copycat, but if you do it much, much later, you'll be called late. And it's not like this is a big re-arrangement or they're outstanding singers or anything. You were going in the right direction with "MY MY" Cube, but you just had to break that streak! The performance was painful vocally, and so boring.

Dalmatian - "ER"

Wow, okay. I've never seen any Dalmatian performances prior to this, and I haven't heard their new EP yet, but this is pretty bad. Apart from the distracting guy who is literally prettier and thinner than me, when sounds actually come out of their mouths, they come out as whispers. Or wails. Apart from the blondish guy who sings the first line of the middle 8. Apart from that, the vocals are pretty much a disaster. Performance-wise they're okay, but nothing out of the ordinary for a band of their stature.

Girls' Day - "Oh! My God"

Whenever I hear this song I suddenly have the urge to strangle something, or someone. Preferably whoever thought it was a good idea to let humans hear something like this. But even after all the pain, they're a bunch of girls in their late teens/early twenties prancing around, sounding like my 4 month-old nephew. Cute, but ridiculously inappropriate, so much so that it just gets annoying. I'm kind of proud to say that I've never wanted to try and like Girls' Day.

Infinite - "Only Tear" + "The Chaser"

"Only Tear" was okay, a few slips here and there, but I most definitely prefer these guys doing an all-out idol singing and dancing extravaganza. I mean okay, some of them can sing, but the rest are very, very unstable live, what more doing a ballad. Boring around the edges, and not something I particularly enjoyed. "The Chaser" is a completely different story though. I love their outfits, because on other groups they would actually look really cheap, what with the red, yellow and black combination, but they carry it well, just like they carry the performance and literally hold the audience in their hands now. I mean listen to the screams in relation to the noisy instrumental -- they don't stop. They've gotten very comfortable with their music, something a lot of groups never get the chance to do, and it shows in their vocals. Sunggyu and Woohyun sound amazing (yes, I've learned their faces already!), and everyone else is comfortably stable. Best performance of the show.

SISTAR - "Alone"

I know those huge slits on their dresses are the main points of the choreography and whatever, but they also contribute to the reason why everything about this performance looks so cheap. Their vocals are gotten surprisingly stable, which is probably the only good thing with this performance. Otherwise, I'm not sold. At all.

4Minute - "Volume Up"

So I see Hyun A still hasn't learned how to sing. Other than that, their performances of this are beginning to bore me, which means that one, promo is almost over, and two, this song is getting stale. Not that it was that amazing a song to begin with (better than "Alone" though), but you get my point.

U-Kiss - "DORADORA"

Before they came on stage, I completely forgot what "DORADORA" sounded like -- it's so bad, it's not even memorable in the annoying way. This entire song lacks kick, and while U-Kiss are pretty competent performers and they do have stable vocals in the band, as shown by today's performance, it's just not enough to save a song as flat as this.

SNSD (Taeyeon, Tiffany, Seohyun) - "Twinkle"(WINNER)

I have come to the conclusion that that's really all Seohyun can push, which is a pity. She has a voice, a really pretty one for K-Pop standards, but it's just not cut out for this song. The technique is all there, complete with vibratos and sliding notes, but her voice just really doesn't have enough power for these songs. However, I'm glad Tiffany no longer sounds like a three year-old, and that Taeyeon hasn't regressed.

[May 4, 2012] KBS Music Bank Highlights + Commentary

As I said yesterday, I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, and I've come to a half-conclusion that I should just keep writing through whatever it is I'm going through right now. And, if I feel like writing, I should. So, here we are! Honestly, today's show had quite a nice line-up, and the right mix of new and old.

(I'll add in the 4Minute video once I find one :D)

EXO-K - "MAMA"
The high notes are still painful, but their vocals are starting to take shape and develop attitudes. The same goes with their performance as a whole -- they're showing the beginnings of a group dynamic, as well as a sense of effortlessness. This is the point where I say I'll keep my eye on them, and hope they get a better second single.

B.A.P. - "POWER"
Apart from that hilarious gif of them with rice bowls for heads, I never really took notice of these guys, but honestly, I get what I was missing. I'm not a big fan of the song, and their over-all direction in general, but I actually enjoyed the performance. The guys who sing, can sing, and most of all, they look like they genuinely enjoy the stage. Even if it's a very rugged song and performance, they move with grace and just the right amount of confidence.

Supernova - "Stupid Love"
Like I said before, I hate the song, and I hate it even more for Supernova, and it doesn't help their cause that they sound horrible singing it. Obviously, I'd take their Japanese material over this, every single time.

U-Kiss - "DORADORA"
Everything about this bores me to death. There's very little dynamics, and the chorus is basically them whispering "DORADORADORADORA", so the song itself is extremely boring, U-Kiss vocals generally need to be carried by the song, so when you have something like this obviously they're going to sound flat, and this performance wasn't exactly jaw-dropping either.

SNSD (Taeyeon, Tiffany, Seohyun) - "Twinkle"
Taeyeon sounds amazing, she really does -- this song, flaws aside, was made for her. Still side-eyeing Tiffany and whoever made the decision for her to sing like a 3 year-old for half the song, and honestly, Seohyun lacks power in her voice, something this song badly needs. Her voice is smooth and she sings the line down to the last note, but her high notes are off at times and incredibly weak -- they lack attitude. Although, today's performance was much better than yesterday's, which is always a good thing.

Shinhwa - "Venus"
I don't know if I just missed it last week or something, but Hyesung's out of his chair and back dancing! A few cracks here and there, which kind of brought the performance down in terms of the Shinhwa side, but the atmosphere was something else. Shinhwa may be next to irrelevant with the international fandom, and new fans who haven't bothered, but watching these music shows and hearing how much louder and wilder their fan chants are, over the likes of SNSD, just goes to show how much they matter. Of course, I got the obligatory goosebumps from the combination of the song, the performance, and the wild, screaming fans. That's one of the main reasons why I don't believe in MR removed videos -- performances were meant to be heard as a whole, and taken as such. *joins the wild screaming fangirls*

SISTAR - "Alone"(WINNER)
Since I assume Hyorin's not sick anymore, she sounds like her normal self, but other than that, there's been little progress since I last did a recap, and Hyorin being sick doesn't really count as a basis either. Everything's still as cheesy and ungraceful as it was, outfits included. Which is why I'm extremely surprised that they're actually winning left and right.

[2011 Gayo Daejun Special] KBS - The Okay, The Boring and The Sleep-Inducing

I think the title alone is a big giveaway of how the KBS Gayo Daejun was. Sometimes sleep-incuding, most of the time boring, and occasionally okay. Yup, that's about right. It was a smaller venue than the SBS and KBS ones, which means that KBS should've had an easier time handling the sound quality and such, but I'm afraid that was not the case, because vocals during the latter parts of the show were horrid. Plus the fact that the people in the audience were practically zombies, and the acts looked bored out of their wits, as if they were forced to appear on the show. Which they probably were.

I wanted the acts jumping through hoops and fire, KBS, HOOPS AND FIRE. I got none of that. At all. Even from my beloved DBSK. How dare you.

Two things before we start. This recap focuses only on idols, so the other acts who appeared on the show, rappers and the like, will not be included in the selection. And also, I wanted to get this out as fast as possible before everyone forgets about the Gayo Daejuns. So due to the fact that today is a school night and I have a mountain of readings to tackle (ALREADY!! *sobs*), plus I'm about to collapse from fatigue and stress and general exhaustion, the videos and other formatting details will have to wait until tomorrow when I'm a bit more alive. Please don't ask me for the videos, because writing this up took a so much effort, and a lot of strong coffee.

Before we get to the three main categories of this recap, there is one performance that deserves a special mention. Not because it's amazingly good, but because it was horribly blasphemous.

Kim Hyun Joong - "Rainism"
If Rain saw this, he'd bawl his eyes out because it's so bad. It's even too bad to be a parody, because parodies are deliberately made bad, so they can be funny (did anyone see that Kim Shin Young parody where the lyrics were about food?), but Kim Hyun Joong was as serious as serious can be. And really now, even if Rain wasn't exactly K-Pop's best singer, at least he could sing his own songs! This performance was LIP-SYNCHED, and it was STILL bad. The dancing wasn't that hot, the vocals were pathetic and painful, especially towards the end when he tried to do those runs, and this was a useless performance. Absolutely useless.

THE BORING

Davichi - "Don't Say Goobye"
It's a gorgeous song, and a gorgeous arrangement, with those epic drums and the stunning and flawless harmonies, but it was soooooooooo boring. The only thing keeping me awake was the thought that their voices were really gorgeous, and the harmonies kinda gave me little slaps on the face to keep me from drifting to sleep. And it didn't help that they were the only ones on stage and they were just standing there. I don't talk about it much, but I've always believed that the visual aspect of a performance is important too. Always second to the music, yes, but without the visuals you get performances like this.

4Minute - "Mirror Mirror"
It was interesting enough until they started singing, with all the back-up dancers behind them and the white coats against the dark backdrop, but it just got boring once they started singing. The dance break was okay, and Gayoon standing alone on stage kinda woke me up a bit, but once the singing started again there were nothing special, even with the remix and all the flashing lights.

U-Kiss - "Neverland"
I understand that they were trying to do the "epic" sound with this re-arrangement, but it completely sucked all the life out of the song. That's not just because their vocals were muffled, but because the instrumental was so one-dimensional. They tried to put some kick in it, but failed miserably. The entire performance sounded like U-Kiss were submerged in a tub of jello, and all you hear are muffled screams.

f(x) - "Danger"
Everything about this performance looked, and sounded, so robotic. Except Luna's line, but everything was so stiff, and Amber looked bored. There's a difference between orchestrated down to the last detail and robotic, and this performance was robotic.

Secret - "Shy Boy"+"Love is MOVE"
I adore the re-arrangement of "Shy Boy", it had spunk to it, but what ultimately bored me to death was the fact that "Shy Boy" was lip-synched. Their vocals were too clean for the performance, too smooth for something that should be really high-energy and lively, because of the nature of the processing. But on the other hand, their live vocals on "Love is MOVE" were weak, and that bored me too, because it sounded just like a regular weekly music show. I'm better off watching an episode of MuBank, the sound might even be better.

SNSD - "The Boys"
This was just like any other performance of "The Boys", and it wasn't even done extraordinarily well, in fact, they sounded even more strangled than they usually do, and that was the only thing that kept me awake, to be honest with you.

2PM - "Electricity"+"Hands Up"
"Electricity" was okay, but when you slow "Hands Up" down, it sounds even worse. It's repetitive, it's monotonous, and the instrument is very one-dimensional, so it literally sounds like you just slowed the song down at home and played it at a New Year's Eve party with your family and friends. It just goes on and on and on and on. If not for their stage presence, this would've put me to sleep from the very beginning.

THE SLEEP INDUCING

f(x), 4Minute, Infinite, IU, Super Junior, - K-Pop Shuffle Dance Special/K-Pop To The World
Oh dear. The lights gave me a headache, and the dubstep overload just put me to sleep. Gee, thanks KBS. You clearly didn't want me to watch the rest of your show. Seriously, even with the hooks under the heavy looping, the thing just went on and on and on and oooooooooooon. And they were essentially just doing a bunch of dance steps over and over and over and overrrrrrr. Although, the one thing that amused me was the fact that "Mr. Simple", without the heavy remixing, fit right in to the medley. That just goes to show how shallow that song is.

BEAST - "Fiction"
You know, when the performers themselves look like they're bored out of their wits and scream half-hearted "let's go!"'s, it affects their entire performance. Everything. And BEAST performed - sang, danced - like zombies. It's not even funny or incredibly bad, it's so pitiful that I just wanted to sleep through it to not see it. And it doesn't help that Hyunseung completely destroyed his high note. Even when they changed the arrangement towards the end, they still looked half-asleep, and the guy singing looked like he was about to cry. There was absolutely no kick to this performance, and it's such a shame because I expect a lot from BEAST.

Kim Hyun Joong - "Lucky Guy"
This is definitely a better choice, over "Break Down", because it's just that much more lively and fits Hyun Joong's vocals, but it STILL put me to sleep. It didn't help that this came over that horrid shuffle dance medley, so I was still half asleep. Even if it's a lively song, Hyun Joong's vocals have absolutely no sense of dynamics, nor do they have any body, and so he effectively made this performance flat. The best part was the end.

IU - "Good Day"+"You and I"
Strong, consistent, vocals, but the remix was so boring and generic that, once again, it sucked out all the life out of the song. And even if IU's vocals are nice, they're pretty thin around the edges, and so she needs kick to her arrangements. This was just flat, so her vocals turned too cute and too weak, albeit okay. And it put me off for the rest of the performance, so when "You and I" came on I was already knocked out and asleep. And no amount of bouncy, IU could've erased the boring arrangement she just did beforehand.

The Okay

Infinite - "Paradise"+"Be Mine"
The lights on the suits, although not exactly original, were a nice touch and an okay way to open the show. Nothing especially spectacular happened on this performance, but their vocals were pretty solid for Infinite standards, the dance intro was well-prepared and practiced (no one forgot anything), and the transitions, from the dance to the remix of "Paradise", to another dance break and finally to "Be Mine", were clean. The fact that this is one of the best performances of the night should not only be a compliment to Infinite, but an insult to KBS.

SISTAR - "SO COOL"
I never thought I'd see the day where I'd put a SISTAR performance among the best, but really, after the boring performances that came before, this was a welcome relief. And it's not like SISTAR are completely talentless, only 3/4 of them! Hyorin's vocals were incredibly strong as usual, and for the first time I didn't notice their lack of grace that much. I see improvement!

Miss A - "Goodbye Baby"
Brilliant re-arrangement. I loved the drums during the intro, even if they were pretty useless for the rest of the song, but I also adore the arrangement of the song itself, with just that hint of rock elements, including real drums (!!), but also enough of the original, familiar, arrangement! And they pulled this off much, much better than the SBS re-arrangement! Strong vocals, good concept, fitting re-arrangement. Best performance of the night? Best performance of the night.

Wonder Girls - "Be My Baby"
The beginning was messy, I don't know if it was on purpose or what, but their choreography was all over the place. Their vocals were strong, and up until the dance break it was actually really boring. All I could think of was that if I wanted to see a performance like this, I could've watched a weekly music show. Even their comeback was more flashy than that. But the end kind of resurrected them, and it was so amusing to hear Ye Eun and Sun Ye actually singing what should've been autotuned. I'd say, as a whole, this is okay verging on boring.

DBSK/HoMin - "Before U Go"+"Why? (Keep Your Head Down)"
This was not their best. It wasn't, and I'm disappointed, but their heavily overdubbed vocals could've been because this was pre-recorded and SME couldn't help but show off their flashy studios. HOWEVER, if you listen well enough (like I know many of you did!), it's rather clear that they're actually singing and not just relying on the overdub because their vocals were actually consistent. And that's something these new acts have to learn. Like what I said about their SBS performance, DBSK are, first and foremost, singers, and so even with the overdub, it's courtesy to the audience to sing live for a live performance. And that's what separates them from their back-up dancers, that's why they're the featured artist on their albums. Not because they look good, go on variety shows, and dance on stage, but because they sing.

[#28] U-Kiss - "Baby Don't Cry"

From: "NEVERLAND" (Album)
Released: September 2011, South Korea
Rating: 3.30

Up to just before I started writing this very review, I was actually debating on which U-Kiss song to put on the list. For the longest time, it was actually "0330" sitting on this very spot, but then I realized that I didn't really LOVE it as much as I did another song from U-Kiss this year. Another two songs actually, this and "Take Me Away". However, there's more to talk about if I put this one in, so "Baby Don't Cry" it is.

Basically, the reason why this is on the list and not the gorgeous ballad that is "Take Me Away", is that U-Kiss have achieved a sort of balance with "Baby Don't Cry", and you guys know that I am ALL about balance. They've managed to take the distinct, although sometimes cheap and too repetitive, U-Kiss sound, and make it more melodic, and epic.

Yes, epic. Yes, U-Kiss doing an epic song. I know, I never thought it was possible either, but here we are, and here it is.

The first line is epic enough, followed by the nice verse that gradually gets bigger and bigger, and eventually explodes into this epic, but ever so slightly controlled chorus. The entire song sounds so dark and whatnot, but this is one of those times when the autotune does a song good, because it gives "Baby Don't Cry" a lighter, slightly flowy, sound, that's a good contrast to everything that's happening in the background.

Balance. That's all I really want from k-pop, to be honest with you. I want all these acts to figure out that too much of anything tends to make a song go haywire, but it's possible to take who you are, and what you like, and turn it into a strong song.

[November 5, 2011] MBC Music Core Highlights + Commentary

YAY! I made it through another recap! I'm pleasantly surprised with the sound and mics on today's show, MuCore is actually ahead of MuBank in terms of sound guy-competency this week! I really have been away for that long.


Video credit goes to CrazyCarrotNew210.

Boyfriend - "Don't Touch My Girl"
Well I guess their vocals are that much better than they were yesterday, but their vocals have no punch, and the song is lazy to start with, so it does nothing to hide that fact. I almost fell asleep while watching this, I'm afraid.

B1A4 - "Beautiful Target"
We'll talk when all of you go back to actually singing, B1A4.

Orange Caramel - "Shanghai Romance"
When the Taekwondo back-up dancers rolled onto the stage, I LOL-ed. When they just disappeared after a while, I LOL-ed again. That was probably the best part of the entire performance.

Infinite - "Paradise" + "Be Mine"
I will say this until your ears bleed, but I was on the Infinite bandwagon before everyone else, and I'm so proud of how far they've come, music-wise! Of course there are still members who can't sing, like their maknae, but the members who *do* sing, have gotten miles better, and really, as performers they really deliver. They have the material, some of them have the voice, and they have that unity on stage. The makings of a great band - it's all a matter of time. And more better material.

Secret - "Love is MOVE"
I admit that I was never the biggest fan of this song, nor was I jumping for joy over the video, so I never really bothered watching their live performances. I was dead wrong through, because this song is made for the stage. Secret's vocals have become increasingly better, and very consistent, which makes it even better to watch live. Even if their material has strayed from what I personally like, they pull it off well, they can sing, and they know what works for them.

U-Kiss - "Someday"
I believe that, once again, I predicted a post-album single. However, I do not have the honor of predicting that their live vocals will be a complete and utter disaster. Gorgeous song, but my God, what kind of vocals are those, U-Kiss, seriously. You've been around as long as SHINee, and they can sing something like this without batting an eyelash (and Jonghyun screaming his way though, but we'll save that for another time). I mean that guy in the glasses is fine, and the guy singing at the chorus (who I assume is the guy who has a throat problem so he can't sing that much) is great, so is the guy who does the middle 8, but everyone else, which is like, more than half of the band? Yeah, NO.

Davichi - "Love Oh Love"
Oh Davichi, you two are brilliant as always. Even if you get double-tracked like hell at the chorus you still push through and fight the stupid idea. YAY. Flawless performance, pretty song, why isn't this winning anymore. Oh right, because this is a popularity contest. I'm sorry, I forgot.

SNSD/Girls' Generation - "The Boys"
Apart from the fact that the entire intro was mimed and Jessica's mic didn't work until much later, I CANNOT BELIEVE MY EARS AM I HALLUCINATING OR SOMETHING. Because SOMEONE has finally gotten the levels on an SNSD performance right. This is how they should sound, and believe me, if they sounded like this all the time I wouldn't hate them as much as I do. I understand that their previous blunders had a lot to do with stupid sound guys behind big, shiny equipment they probably don't know how to use, but nothing is an excuse for bad singing, and if you are talented you will find a way. But the past is the past, and now you can actually hear their voices over the excessive bass! Best music show performance of this song so far.

U-KISS - Neverland

It's been a hectic week for me, that's for sure. I got sick on Tuesday night, but forced myself to go to class on Wednesday and Thursday, weak and all. I've been writing papers and essays for class for the past 3-4 days, and right now my brain is all over the place, but I think writing a review will help sort out my brain, in preparation for the mountainS (yes, multiple mountains) of schoolwork I have to face this weekend. That and I have so much frustration with the way things are going with my writing "career" at the moment, so I really need to vent. ANYWAY.

This U-Kiss album was one of those albums I listened to just for the sake of saying that I heard it, but in all honesty it really exceeded my expectations. It's not amazing or anything, I'll say that flat-out, but it does have quite a few good points, that are enough to win me over.


The recurring theme throughout the entire album is the fact that it really sounds like a U-Kiss album through and through - there's no mistaking the sound. There are many other groups with the same producers, songwriters and whatnot, but they are at the stage where it's either they develop an identity, or fizzle away with all the other ill-fated boybands. In short, it's sink or swim. And they swam. Figuratively speaking, if this was a race they probably wouldn't have come out in first place, but they would most definitely make it to the finish line.

And what I was most surprised with was the presence of quite a number of really gorgeous songs. Not nice songs, not okay songs, the album actually had songs I would gladly listen to even after the initial hype of the album is over.

I tweeted yesterday, when I initially heard the album, that the first half was really good, and I still stand by that. The second half, however, is rather boring and just doesn't have enough impact to leave a lasting impression. Even now, I can hardly remember any of the songs in the second half, apart from that disastrous duet with Paran. I always say, if a song fails to make me stop what I'm doing at that moment, it's not worth listening to when I'm conscious of it, and only the first half really made me stop and listen.

In all honesty, I hardly ever pay attention to intros on kpop albums because most of the time they have nothing to do with the rest of the album and either set the bar too high or put me off listening to the album proper, but by the intro of this album alone, there was no mistaking that this was a U-Kiss album. It has the right attitude but enough melody, and it's familiar, but fresh enough to draw you in. It's an actual cut on the album and not just some random loops thrown together last-minute and put at the beginning of the album.

"Neverland" isn't half bad, I'll give them that. Again, it sounds like a U-Kiss song, everything from the vocal treatment to the structure to the way the chorus was phrased, yet it's fresh and new. My first impression of it was that it was some kind of hybrid of "0330" and "Bingeul Bingeul" because although the autotune was very much in place and there were parts of the song that just went on and on, parts of the song were treated in a way similar to "0330", with a lot less autotune and a lot more melody. You still have the standard syllables repeating, but the melody is more prominent and stronger than your usual "ADD Song", as I like to call it. It's catchy, it's repetitive, it's simple, but a good enough melody exists to carry the song. The video is such a disappointment though, but it's just a video - the song's good enough.

The first of the gorgeous songs I was talking about a while ago is "Baby Don't Cry". It's very k-pop boyband and will have no problem fitting in with the BEAST repertoire, but the vocals shift it right back into the U-Kiss territory. Initially it came off as a very heavy song - if I were to compare it to food it would be something like super creamy and deadly chocolate ice cream. But actually, the melody, the vocals, and the treatment, floats over the really heavy, thick almost, instrumental, so it's a very nice balance, and an absolute pleasure to listen to, if I may say so.

"Some Day" was the first track we heard in full, when it came out a few days before the rest of the album, and I've noticed that all the tracks they release before a formal album comes out, which is this and "Without You" from "Only One", are the really pretty songs on the eventual album. My only problem with "Some Day" is that at times it seems like it's too slow and the vocals end up either chasing the instrumental or sound like they're lagging, which still doesn't take away the fact that it's a pretty song. Still, there's something slightly off about some parts of the song. I like how it ends though, with that strong, slightly high, note and just one chord - it reminds me a lot of choir+piano arrangements of songs.

And we move on to my favorite song on the album - "Take Me Away". Stunning. I never thought I'd say that about a U-Kiss song, but really, it's stunning to the point where you get all warm and fuzzy when you hear the song. I'd class this with the "Angel"'s (Sarah McLaughlan) of the world, with the simple but stunning piano line, the minimal use of other instruments, and the tame vocals. The absence of high note parades and screaming is partially because U-Kiss are not really the best people to do those, but I think also because that's the point of the song - to not hit people over the head. The harmonies, although very obviously tinkered with during post-production which kinda makes them sound like robots, aren't half bad, although I wouldn't call them good. Nice try though, U-Kiss. As a whole though, the song is really the type to literally pull at your heartstrings - the echo they used on the vocals, the dynamics, and even the harmonies, all make for probably the most stunning kpop song I've heard in the past few months.

However, I was really disappointed to find out that after my favorite song, the album goes downhill. It's a gradual fall, but a fall nonetheless.

"ON THE Floor" (strange capitalization) actually has a pretty decent melody and it's very catchy even not during the hook, but it's rather generic - I can readily name several other groups who've done, or could do, something very similar to this. Just taking the song alone though, it's something I'd definitely listen to twice or thrice more, but I'm not too sure if it'll stay in my iPod for longer than a few weeks. Same goes for "친구의 사랑" - it's a really pretty song, and I mean really quaint and pretty, but not gorgeous enough to stand beside the first few tracks. I like the melody, and the arrangement is very apt, but taking the entire album into consideration it's too much 90's boyband ballad and not enough U-Kiss.

"4월 이야기" is really out of place on the album, to be honest. So it's a duet between someone from the band, and a girl from Brave Girls, who has a gorgeous voice (I actually thought she was Haeri for a while, until she started hitting high notes and it sounded different) but really, it's a little too fairy tale with butterflies and princesses to be in a U-Kiss album. It sounds like a slightly better-produced drama OST, actually.

"Obsession" seemed like an interesting song at the beginning, but the vocal treatment at the chorus really, really, annoyed me, and it just goes on and on and on and it doesn't even have a pretty melody. The entire song's all over the place, and it just goes through you when you listen to it. "Top That" is every so slightly more U-Kiss, but something about the song just isn't right - it sounds more like a girls' song than a boyband song. That's not saying they can't sing girls' songs, but the way it was delivered is just off.

"Tell Me Y" is another one of those songs that just goes on and on and on. It does have a melody, but the long, slightly shrill, notes hurt my ears more than soothe them, and all the talking/screaming in the background is no help. Please go back to singing, U-Kiss, I kind of prefer the autotune over this.

So the duet with Paran is preceded by this extremely long part where all the guys do is fool around and cough and whatever, which is completely unnecessary. I know they're friends, but in case you've forgotten, this is a song, you know, with a melody and instrumentation? Yeah. So once the song actually starts after two and a half minutes, you'd think it's this really stunning or mind-blowing package, but it's actually quite boring. If you really listen intently, it's a pretty melody and the simple guitar at the beginning is kinda like the piano in "Take Me Away", but once the chorus hits it becomes a drag. It's average, boring and very predictable. I'm very disappointed, because not only is this the last track on an album I liked at the beginning, but these guys can actually sing.

Basically, the album slowly builds up to "Take Me Away", and then after that it just goes downhill all the way. The first half was really good, and the cuts are definitely going on this weekend's study playlist, but the second half was so disappointing. It's as if they put all their effort in to 5 tracks and then just got lazy for the rest of the album, or forgot the point/concept in the middle of recording and just did whatever.

The Best Track(s): "Take Me Away"
The Okay Tracks: "Baby Don't Cry", "Neverland", "Some Day", "친구의 사랑"
The Worst Track(s): "Obsession"
The Rating: 4.1/5

[May 6, 2011] KBS Music Bank Highlights + Commentary

Words cannot express how happy I am that A Pink and Girls' Day didn't perform today. Now all we need to do is get rid of Dal Shabet and my life will be complete. Jay Park is back! Yay! I'm used to calling him Jaebeom though, so this Jay Park will take some getting used to. Other than him and 1/2 of SISTAR, it's the usual line-up.


Video credit goes to UnknownCarrot170@YT. Brilliant as always.

X-5 - "The Show Is Over"
Their live vocals remind me a lot of Miss A, actually. You know they're good - they have nice voices and they know how to deliver them - but because of the demands of the performance, they always sound out of breath. Now, I say time and time again that if you're a good singer you will sound good even if you're dancing your ass off, and that should be the case - always. However, doing that requires half talent, and half practice - they need to not only get used to the stage, but its demands, and that's something they haven't done yet. In this case, practice makes perfect. In their defense though, not a lot of idol groups these days debut with such a vocally and physically-demanding song - they got used to the stage with a much easier song. I'll give it to them though - they're pretty damn good.

Rania - "Dr. Feel Good"
This is one of these highly-orchestrated performances - everything about them on stage was planned ahead - and it really is a sight. And the fact that they have the vocals to do justice to the very tight performance just makes everything so much better. Of course there are glitches in the performance, but do you expect them to be robots? Of course not. Regardless, I'll be watching - very closely.

Dal Shabet - "Pink Rocket"
No. Just.. no. NEXT.

SISTAR 19 - "My boy"
I was watching their performance on yesterday's M!Countdown this morning, and my observations on that performance are identical to the ones for this. The song itself if very laid-back, and so when it's performed there should be some kind of gimmick to make people want to watch you. In this case, it's the chair dance and the choreography, and all the winking and acting cute. Not working. At all. They're trying too hard. When MBLAQ tries too hard it looks painful, when SISTAR, or at least half of them, try too hard it lacks grace. Hyorin has a GORGEOUS voice, I have never denied her that - if you remember my complaints about SISTAR it's that only one of them can actually sing, and that's Hyorin. No matter how gorgeous her voice is though, the rest of the performance is an absolute bore. I close my eyes to just listen and it sounds amazing, my ears are in heaven, but I open them and all I want to do is close them again - nothing about what they're doing makes me want to watch them. I might as well listen to the recording at the rate things are going. It's boring, it lacks grace, the chair dancing looked so contrived - the entire performance is dry.

Rainbow - "To Me"
The more I hear this song, the better it gets. And their improving vocals are a big help too. That's more like it Rainbow - you're singing like how a band from the 4th biggest agency in Korea should. And a lot better than Kara too, may I add. Well, some of you.

f(x) - "Danger"
This is an SME performance through and through - the song, the choreography, the vocals, the stage presence - everything about this is contrived in the most contrived way possible, and yet that's what sucks you in. The performance is far from perfect, and the autotune on the recording is still a tad bit annoying for me, partially because it really affects the live performance, but they are at the level that they should be at for an SM group of their stature - using handsfree or handheld mics don't matter anymore because they're practically the same. FINALLY. Luna sounds amazing as usual, Krystal's getting a lot less annoying, Victoria's vocals are getting stronger, and SULLI. THOSE VOCALS. OH MY GOD. GORGEOUS. KILL ME NOW.

4Minute - "Heart to Heart"
Oh, they did this song today. Hyun A annoys me beyond belief, maknae girl too, the leader's fine, Jiyoon goes in and makes everything better, and Gayoon makes the chorus a lot cheaper than it could be. Pretty much the entire performance, and song, explained in one sentence. Yup, that's about right.

After School - "Shampoo"
For After School standards, this was a strong performance - you can actually hear everyone actually singing. And they're getting used to performing the song at a much faster rate than they usually do, which is good. I find it hard to believe that there are 9 of them now, actually - it just hit me when I saw the shot at the beginning with all of them. Can I nominate Jooyeon and UEE for graduation? PLEASE?!?!?

U-Kiss - "0330"
The song's starting to bore me already, but I'm happy that their fanchants are getting louder and louder! And their vocals are now at the beginning stages of being above average. The U-Kiss performance style has always been edgy - they're a fun version of highly-orchestrated performances, and that's something they've perfected with this single. If their vocals don't make you watch, the performance itself will.

Jay Park - "Tonight" + "Abandoned"(WINNER)
He's come a long way, gone through a lot of crap (partly because of indecisive fans), but my god would this have been an incredible talent wasted had he given up on music altogether. How he moves, how he holds the audience in the palm of his hands like it's nothing, how one second he's prancing around stage and the next he's dancing like there's no tomorrow, reminds me a lot of a young Rain. Actually, his story is similar in ways to a condensed version of the Rain story. There are been truckloads of comparisons to Taeyang, and I do see them vocally, but to be honest with you I like Jay a lot better, because unlike Taeyang, who's focused on the nasal-ness of his voice, Jay is focused more on the smoothness, and you all know I like a smooth voice that knows how to deliver. And he delivers. Of course the not singing during the chorus, apart from those adlibs, is something I'm not particularly fond of, but it's not like he can't sing. I like the song, I've liked it since the first time I heard it (when it came out), and the live performance did more than justice to it. Partially because he's a talented performer, and partially because the audience screaming and the fanchants send chills down my spine. Brilliance. And he deserves that win.

[May 1, 2011] SBS Inkigayo Highlights + Commentary

I'm going to rush this out because there's an emergency here at home (nothing big, but I gotta go), so no really long whiny intro today about how their sound sucks. Just read the recap LOL.


Video credit goes to CrazyCarrot370@YT.

X-5 - "The Show Is Over"
Can I say it? OK I'll say it. X-5 are, officially, the most outstanding debuting act of the year. Without a doubt. The fact that they're doing considerably well on Inki means a lot, and it means that they're really damn good. Watching this performance made me realize something though. B1A4 and X-5 are a lot like DBSK and Big Bang in terms of performance. (And don't give me that "don't compare them" speech because I'm comparing them for the sole purpose of making YOU understand how the two groups perform) X-5 have strong vocals live, and very polished performances - every move they make on stage, from which foot to step with, how many steps to take, to where to stand and even when to smile, has been orchestrated, practiced and perfected - it's the epitome of manufactured, but it's a sight to your senses and it really glues your eyes to the screen. B1A4, on the other hand, can do dancing and can do singing live, but the entire point of their performance is make it look like they're having so much fun that you want to buy their album and have fun too like them. There is no superior method, and I personally think that both of them take a lot of talent and work to actually pull off, but I'm personally leaning more towards the X-5/DBSK style. Of course there's still a lot to iron out (especially all the moaning towards the end - the eff?) and they're not the strongest band ever, but as rookies in k-pop, they're exceptionally good.

A Pink - "Don't Know"
I don't want to waste any more of my energy on you so call me when you get your act together, A Pink. Then I'll think of talking about you.

B1A4 - "OK"
Like I said on the X-5 commentary thingy above, B1A4 are the "screw everything we're having fun" band. OK maybe not "everything", but you get the point. They're so fun to watch on stage and it makes you want to prance around with them. Of course not as sophisticated and convincing as Big Bang yet, but for a rookie they're pretty damn good. Second only to X-5, who, as I said a while ago, are outstanding. Strong vocals, captivating presence (to say the least) and a catchy song make for a pretty good performance. I like.

Dal Shabet - "Pink Rocket"
We'll talk when you get a decent song, Dal Shabet. I don't even know if any of you can actually sing because it's so crap!

Girls' Day - "Twinkle Twinkle"
You too Girls' Day, I'll get back to you when you stop acting like a bunch of 3 year-olds, especially you, Min Ah. It's not amusing. At all. It's annoying.

Infinite - "Nothing's Over"
I can't believe this is their last stage. I know it's not for long (too long at least), but my god have they grown over these past few months. As long as they keep up the strong material and do what they're good at, which is basically this, it's all good. I don't quite remember exactly what I said when they debuted, but I do know that I've always had a soft spot for them. For the right reasons.

Rainbow - "To Me"
I like their outfits today. :D Vocals are fine for their standards, and the performance was OK. Not much different from yesterday. Of course the crap sound hinders any kind of improvement from showing, but if they can sustain this next week I won't complain.

f(x) - "Danger"
It's like there's a trend between SM maknaes from SuJu onwards - they all have the most gorgeous, smooth vocals (Changmin DBSK not included because he's more on the high yet deep side). And from SHINee to f(x) it took some time for those vocals to show. 'Danger' works like 'Genie' for me - the more I hear it, the more I like it. Still against bastardizing Luna's vocals, but the song as a whole is getting better and better. And their strong live performances only make me like it more. The performance itself has never been a problem - with SM slave-driving I expect no less - but the vocals are FINALLY very near to where they should be. Just a little more, f(x).

4Minute - "Miror Mirror"
Aaaand Hyun A's back to sounding like crap. What's new. Jiyoon sounds a bit tired today, but that's about it. Oh, and leader girl's vocals are getting a lot better. Yay. The presence is there, obviously, and to be honest with you I'm slowly liking this song even more than I already did (I didn't like it that much, but you get the point), which is good.

After School - "Let's Step Up" & "Shampoo"
You know SBS, a pretty stage for After School most definitely doesn't make up for your lack of a decent sound system, and a decent sound guy. Once again, the backing track was turned up way too high, and yes, they have hand mics, but SBS still managed to make them sound like crap. Of course part of it is After School's fault because they're not exactly the best live singers, but they sounded decent yesterday! And actually if you listen closely they kinda do today too, it's just that the crappy sound is in the way. Lizzy was hiding behind the backing track today, because you hear an almost perfect line, then there's a mess right on top of it - either the backing track was too loud, or she's really hiding behind it.

U-Kiss - "0330"
Vocals today are just OK, and I'm starting to not like the song to be honest with you. It's like the more I hear it the more stale it gets. I mean it's a pretty song and they can really pull it off live, but it's just not my taste anymore. They're very suave performers - there's a mixture of orchestration and practiced movements and "let's prance around stage" to the entire thing, and not just in the dancing. It's polished.

Big Bang - "Love Song" (WINNER)
I've said this many times before, but in terms of really putting on a show, YG rules. In terms of making thing different but retaining familiarity, they also rule. And because Big Bang is obviously YG's flagship boyband, they also rule what YG rules at. That first minute or so was so cool. Not the biggest fan of "Love Song", but it works for me like a lot of their material - don't like it recorded, if I just listen I probably won't like it live either, but you watch them and you don't want it to stop. That and their vocals (of the 3 singers) are near-perfect - DAESUNG CAN I MARRY YOUR VOICE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASEEEE. GD is a sight, but I close my eyes and meh - can he please shut up and stop singing already? But, based on this performance alone they are more than worthy of status, and all the awards they've gotten, for this.

[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?

>

[April 22, 2011] KBS Music Bank Highlights + Commentary

Can't believe your eyes? Well, believe them because YES, my music show recaps are back! This is one of numerous attempts to get me back in the zone and writing, so if I do anything crazy or out of the ordinary on this, forgive me - it's been months since I last wrote one of these, and almost a year since my first recap!

A number of things sparked my comeback, but the main thing was MuBank's setlist today. It's their 600th episode (O.O), so everyone promoting was out in full-force. The performances I was holding my breath for all day? 3 members of G.O.D. doing "Lie" after a gazillion years, and HOMIN DOING "RISING SUN", as well as X-5's debut.

You ready? Well, whether or not you are, read on for a recap of today's MuBank episode!


Video credits go to DBSKgirl1994 for the U-Kiss performance, and UnknownCarrot170 for everything else.

X-5 - "Fantasy" & "The Show Is Over"

"Fantasy" is a pretty good song, but they shouldn't have mimed it, for heaven's sake - it's too obvious and it's their debut performance of all things! However, I believe they redeemed themselves with "The Show Is Over". Shaky start, but things just got better from there - for their first performance, that wasn't half bad. The chorus was spot-on, the verses a lot better when I watched it on TV (now I understand what McRoth was telling me the other day about how the amazing will sound stunning, but the bad will sound horrid on amazing headphones), but the entire package well-done and thought of. You can see they made an effort, but you can also see that they're actually really good, so the natural just creeps up on you. I'll be watching them.

A Pink - "Wishlist" & "Don't Know"

These girls don't know how to sing as a group. They're not bad on their own (albeit not really that good), but you can see that individually they want the stage to themselves and it's as if when they have solos the other members don't exist. They want to be noticed when it's not they're time to shine - they're all trying to out sing and out dance each other. It's not a bad thing to try to be noticed, but they have to remember that they're not solo singers right now - they're a group, and a group sings, dances and performs together. They have to have a spark - a dynamic as a group. They have to work together. Their vocals are fine, bar the first 2 girls who sang on "I Don't Know" because they're trying to sound like 6 year-olds when they're all 15 and up (and that pisses me off), the song isn't that bad and individually they can perform, but their lack of group dynamic turns me off.

Block B - "Freeze"

Block B? I don't see the hype - their vocals aren't that hot. I mean they're there and they can sing, but over-all they're weak - there's no power to their vocals, no matter how punchy and edgy the song is. They're performers, it's obvious with how they move on stage, so all they have to do is get a less generic song, and work on making their vocals stronger and more consistent. Will I be watching? Maybe.

Brave Girls - "Do You know"

One of the best new girl groups I've seen in a long time, and my god does this song show that. Long-haired girl in the middle is obviously the one being pushed as the good one, and she's pretty good too, but personally girl in the pony tail (not the bun) is better (even if she doesn't know how to hold a mic). But long-haired girl is definitely consistent, and that counts a lot. Compared to the two, short-haired girl and blonde girl are average, but comparisons aside they're good too. Short-haired girl wasn't that good at the beginning, but she got better towards the end. The performance as a whole was ever to slightly breath-taking - you can see that they know what they're doing. It's one of those performances I'd gladly watch again.

Infinite - "Nothing's Over" & "T.O.P"

Infinite are getting a lot of attention from Cassies lately, because Jaejoong tweeted a few days ago that he likes "Nothing's Over". And why wouldn't he? In all honesty, not just because Jaejoong likes it (I believe I gave them a good review!), it's a well-developed song. It has its flaws, but they can easily be cleaned up in their next release. And the song is catchy without being annoying. Their performance today was a lot better than the last one I saw (a good few weeks ago), and everyone seemed a lot more confident singing the song, especially the guys belting out high notes. Which is good. Their Shinhwa cover? Strong. I didn't think they'd do as good as they have, but they've proven me wrong. See, this is why I liked Infinite from the very beginning - they weren't that good, but the potential was there, and look at them now, pulling off Shinhwa pretty well. And it's not easy to pull Shinhwa off. Live.

Rainbow - "To Me" & "Sweety"

That wasn't half bad (even if they mimed that S#arp cover). I mean a good third of them still can't sing, but I can point out at least 4 good voices now that are actually pretty strong live. And they can perform a lot better now - they may not be 100% in sync with each other, that's extremely hard, but there's unity to the performance. Give me a song with a better hook, Rainbow, then we'll talk. For now, you're on my "to watch" list. We'll see what happens after this.

CN Blue - "Promise" & "Intuition"

They remixed "Intuition" today. Or rather, piled on extra electric guitar lines and this and that then made Yonghwa wear shades. Guitars not plugged in, check. Excessive Yonghwa close-ups, check. The drummer still not close enough to the other 3, check. Yonghwa's vocals strong, check. Jonghyun sounding amazing, check. Just another CN Blue performance, then. Their Jo Sung Mo cover was a bit shaky at the beginning because it seemed like Yonghwa couldn't catch up to the tempo on his first line, but Jonghyun came in and saved it yay.

f(x) - "Gangster Boy" & "Danger"

I liked "Gangster Boy" for a while, but Amber talking just made me cringe. The verses are perfectly fine - everyone's vocals are strong as hell - the chorus is cutesy but not nauseating thank god, Luna's middle 8 was epic, and the hook really hits you over the head without being obvious. It's a strong performance though. And "Danger" was done well, considering that the song isn't really something you can sing live. VICTORIA'S VOICE IS GETTING LOUDERRRR! Krystal sounds like herself, keep it up and Sulli is finally slowly getting over the cutesy phase. But WHO the hell decided that Luna needed to sound like a little girl from majority of the song? SHE DOESN'T. SHE'S BETTER THAN THAT. Krystal isn't the amazing singer in f(x) - LUNA IS. But if I didn't know that and I only heard their verses, I'd say Krystal was the better one, when in reality it's Luna. Just when SME got everyone else right, they just HAD to go and ruin Luna. Her high note, even if it was pretty short (wouldn't have it any other way though), was well-done though. The performance was strong, the vocals worked with that they had, and over-all it was strong. Still not completely sold on the song though.

4Minute - "No. 1" & "Mirror Mirror"

Lesson learned, never let 4 out of 5 of 4Minute sing a BoA song. Ever. Hyun A, Jihyun, Sohyun and even Gayoon, should never be let near a BoA song. Jiyoon can do all the singing for all I care, because she actually sounds decent, just not the other 4. Please. I beg you. That said, 4Minute sound best doing what they really do - and that comes in the form of "Mirror Mirror". I'm not saying that they're suited to inferior songs, I'm saying that they've found what suits them, so they should stick with that - who they really are. Today's performance was strong, and my god Jiyoon those vocals were amazing. Can Jiyoon be lead instead of Gayoon, pretty pretty please? I have a Filipino term for Gayoon's vocals again - "bukaka". If you know what it means in this context yay, but it's hard to explain and it translates to something else literally, so yeah.

U-Kiss - "0330"

Strong performance today, even if the first guy who sang sounded really tired and strained. High note guy sounded strained today too, come to think of it. This is one of the songs that sounds better recorded, and I think it'll stay like that no matter how consistently strong their vocals get, and they're improving at a much faster rate than I expected. We'll see. Prove me otherwise, U-Kiss.

DBSK/HoMin - "Rising Sun" & "Keep Your Head Down"

Let me begin this by saying HOLY MOTHER OF HEAVEN AND HELL AND EARTH AND EVERYTHING ELSE THERE IS, THAT WAS AMAZING I HAVEN'T SEEN RISING SUN PERFORMED IN AGES. AND OH MY GOD MIN PUSHED HO SO HARD THEN HE WAS SMIRKING AFTER I APPROVE OF VOLDEMIN (and I was hung over from the jaw-dropping G.O.D. performance when I watched this so that explains a lot) Okay. Fangirling out of the way.

KYHD was done spot-on, as always. They sound a bit tired, but nothing too obvious. Now, RISING SUN, on the other hand, was amazing. I was expecting them to do the whole song, but to be honest with you I'm thankful they didn't. It's not that HoMin can't sing good enough, it's not that they can't dance good enough - for crap's sake they can sing their heads off while dancing their feet to oblivion without batting an eyelash, they just did with KYHD - it's that the song is so damn tiring to perform, whoever's performing it, with all the jumping through hoops and fire (LITERALLY! YAY! lol). Did you see the SHINee performance? They were sweating by the end of it, and they only did the chorus. Like I said on Twitter this morning, the song is hard enough to do with 5 members, and was a pain to do with 4 (when Jaejoong was injured in 2005, and when Yunho was injured in 2006), what more with 2 or 3? I would like HoMin to survive this performance, thank you very much. That said, the vocals were strong, Yunho changed Yoochun's rap verse a bit (just a rephrasing, nothing big) and sang Jaejoong's lines (YunJaeeeeee!!), Changmin sang Junsu's part but didn't scream, and the performance was over in the blink of an eye. The simple fact that they got through it is worthy of praise, and they did it - they pulled it off, damn well. It made my heart race and flutter and whatnot - it should make yours too.

G.O.D. (3 members) - "Lie"

If you don't know who G.O.D. are I will personally hunt you down and MAKE SURE you die a slow and painful death, because you deserve it. They, along with the likes of H.O.T. and Shinhwa, are the epitome of the word "LEGEND" - you cannot NOT know them because they made the industry the way it is today, and it took much, much more than just a pretty voice or a nice face to do that. Even 1 member short, the performance today was EPIC - the vocals were perfect. Not just stunning, not just amazing - perfect. The timbres of their voices have gone from gorgeous to stunning, and the technique they've learned over the years has given their vocals dimension and emotion. They didn't have to command the audience or hold them in the palms of their hands - the audience willingly let themselves be mesmerized and the sight of it was almost surreal to be honest. The screaming, the chanting, the singing, the performing - perfection. I hope the newer idol groups, and their fans, understand that you have to have more than a catchy hook and a few members who can sing to make your music as immortal as G.O.D.'s.