#50: Rain - One

Rain. Oh Rain. Back To The Basic, the album this was on, could very well be his last album before he goes into the military, and as an ex-fan, I was a bit disappointed with how it turned out. I mean yeah, Love Song was good for the first few listens and the guy really knows how to perform the damn song (even if it did get too much a few performances in), but the songs themselves paled in comparison to the tracks on his previous album, Rainism.

But if there's one thing I respect Rain for, it's that he really tries, and most of the time he does a good job. I always say that you're born with talent, that no matter how much you practice you will never have the spark that truly talented people have, but to a certain extent, Rain is the very contradiction of that statement. When he started out he wasn't the best singer and he still isn't, but you listen to his recordings and then you listen to his voice live - he doesn't hide the fact that he isn't the best singer since anyone. And that's why I think he's gotten better over the years, because he never masked his (in)abilities and he let them develop and strengthen in time.

One is the perfect example of how much he tries to deliver, and how little he tries to cover up. You don't hear any forced or auto-tuned high notes he can't hit in real life, no extra-padded lines to the point where you can't hear his voice, and no overpowering instrumental hooks. The song may seem very generic, but that's just one dimension of the song. The melody is all within his comfortable range, and any higher notes he hits aren't pushed - everything comes out naturally.

It's for that reason that this song is in the top 50. A song is half construction and half execution, meaning that how you deliver the song, how you sing it, is just as important as notes and chords and transitions. A good song is not a good song until someone executes it at a level up to par with how it was put together.

One may be a tad bit generic at certain places, but the sort of "harmony" between the construction and the execution make it one of the best songs for me this year.

Kpop conquers the World Cup

In lieu of an Inkigayo recap today, since Dream Concert is airing instead, is a post I've been thinking about since last week but never got the time to write because I've just been so busy with a gazillion things and summer is coming to an end. UGH. Anyway.

I'm in no way a soccer/football fan, and I don't think I will ever be in this lifetime, but for some reason I'm attracted to music from countries who are CRAZY about the sport. First it was Britain and now it's Korea, it's more than a coincidence - it's almost like fate.


Of course since Korea is just crazy over soccer and talent companies need to earn as much money as they think they can in the quickest time, why not make songs for the world cup? Fantastic. But this isn't the first time the World Cup was influenced kpop in some way, shape or form. At least the kpop I'm aware of.

In 2002 Rain debuted under JYPE - the singer/dancer combination, backing from JYP and strong material mixed with heart-wrenching sob story would've been more than enough to launch anyone into super stardom any other time. However according to that Hip Korea docu on Rain, the reason why he didn't succeed on his first try was because of the World Cup. Korea rejected (kinda) one of the best performers of the 2000's on his first try because of the World Cup. THANK GOD he tried again though, 'coz I would've never gotten into kpop had he not succeeded, but that's a completely different story that has nothing to do with my point.

This didn't shape kpop that much, but personally the title of the best Korean World Cup song ever will have to go to none other than DBSK. Their now-anthemic (at least for me!) 동방의 투혼 was released in 2006 and is probably one of their best Korean ballads ever. It was epic, their vocals were in top form, and it gave me goosebumps all throughout when I first heard it. I mean it when I say no one can do kpop World Cup offerings like DBSK.

There are however a few songs that have come in close this time around, but some I just don't like whatsoever. I give you 7 songs from 7 top idol groups - all in support of Korea for the World Cup.

World Cup songs generally fall into 2 categories - they're either ballad-y and inspirational or noisy, happy and spirited ones that could easily be cheers. These songs posses strong percussion lines sometimes left unprocessed, catchy melodies, easy-to-remember hooks and "Dae Han Min Guk" being chanted and/or sung every few seconds - what more is there to a pop song?

Sponsored by Coke, 2PM released What's Your Celebration? and it just screams advertisement. People have pointed out that it sounds like a Coke song but since I stopped watching TV a long time ago and I've never listened to the radio, I don't actually know what that sounds like. Either that or I just can't remember - this song sounds very familiar though. Their vocals are OK, but I find the chorus a little sloppily sung - they're slurring the notes when they're supposed to be nice and snappy. I do like the percussion line that's obvious on parts of the song, especially at the beginning and the end - very big.

This is my first time writing about T-ara on the blog, and I've gotten some attacks on formspring because I've never mentioned them before but to be completely honest with you, I've never had anything ground-breaking to say about them - until now that I'm writing this World Cup post and they did a song. One of the earliest songs to be released by idols, We Are The One has probably the cheesiest hook ever and the girls are drowned out by the chorus - you have to turn the volume up to hear them because if you listen in passing, you'll hear random voices. The chorus is so cheesy that it sticks so bad - I won't be able to get this out of my head for hours. UGH. However the verses are pretty OK - the melody's pretty and their vocals sound decent. Small and mouse-like, but decent. It's one of those songs that are borderline ballad but borderline uptempo too - there are parts of the song that are one thing then the next part is completely different. It's cohesive though, and here we go again with the percussion - I like.

If my memory serves me right, HAM's video for 우리는 하나 was the very first World Cup release by an idol group, it also happens to be one of my favorite of the group. I didn't like HAM when they first debuted, and I didn't like their second single either (I was still with OMGKPOP then so yeah) but this one song made me interested in these girls again - their vocals are very, very strong. I LOVE the real drums, and I LOVE the treatment of the vocals on the chorus but the chorus after the middle 8 just gives me goosebumps every time. It's not as good as the DBSK ballad, but it's pretty damn close - good try girls, REALLY good try. There's something that I still don't know yet though - who's the guy singing with them? UGH I know, shoot me now, but answer my question first!

2AM were the latest idol group to release a World Cup single - I first heard Number One the other day and the video followed last week. It's like that T-Ara song in the sense that it's borderline ballad AND uptempo - it has this uplifting feel to it. The melody is pretty, and there's just the right amount of autotune throughout the song - plus the vocals are really nice and smooth. The talking gets to me a bit and the chanting of the random colors is rather, uh, random, but it's very sweet to listen to and it doesn't piss you off or anything. It doesn't have the intensity that some of the others have so it's rather refreshing after all the heavy ballads and uptempos. WAHAH.

After School's Dreams Again! reminds me a lot of a female version of 2AM's Number One - the bits out autotuning here and there, the cool and calm nature of the song and the smooth vocals. It's a little more intense in a different way though, and it sounds very Euro/trance-y - would have no problem fitting into a Robyn or Agnes album with a few tweaks here and there. I love the piano loop mixed with all these electronic elements and their relaxed vocals - one of my personal favorites.

Kara released We're With You on the same day as T-Ara, if I remember correctly. Out of the two I preferred the Kara one, although it's not without it's flaws. It's a Kara song, and that instantly makes the vocals not my type. I've never liked their vocals and I remember saying that had someone else with better vocals recorded Lupin, I would've worshiped it like hell. The melody is pretty, the guitars add a good contrast to the nature of the song and the the yeah yeah's towards the end are nice a floaty but everything else is far too cutesy for my taste. It sounds very Kara though, so I gotta hand it to them.

Ah yes, Super Junior - or at least part of the band. SME released a video teaser for Victory Korea one day, and when I heard it I was all over it. The full song was released a few days later and the video followed, but I was rather disappointed. I mean yeah part of the instrumental is like a direct copy of Sorry Sorry raised by a few octaves but that isn't my main concern - I don't know why but after an hour of listening I got sick of it. When I listen to it now I don't wanna throw up or anything, it just doesn't hit as hard as the other songs anymore. Leeteuk singing is good and Yesung's voice was brilliant on this but where's Shindong? SME's starting to treat him like a backup dancer now and not as a member of an idol group that you know, sings? UGH. It's really upbeat and catchy and the chorus plus the verses are brilliant but for the most part, it goes right through me now. It's a very good World Cup song though - does the trick.

Thanks to Bing for pointing it out on the comments section that I didn't include Big Bang on this post. UGH. I remember writing about the song, but I honestly (and I'm not trying to cover up any mistakes here) have no idea why it didn't get on the post. UGH anyway.

Ah yes, Big Bang, Trans Fixion and Kim Yuna's rather highly-publicized duet, 승리의 함성. It's a very catchy song, and for the most part it literally sounds like Big Bang singing a World Cup song, which is good, but my main problem with the song is that they're not actually the ones singing the hook - or at least it doesn't sound like them. Nice try at singing Yuna, but I wouldn't advise you to give up figure skating. I like that little bit with Trans Fixion - it sounds different from the song and yet it doesn't seem detached from everything. I like.

[May 29, 2010] MBC Music Core Highlights + Commentary

I would very much like to fly to Korea right now and shoot the sound engineer today. Who's with me? We'll book a flight and rush to MBC the minute we land. HAHAH. The consensus today? Almost everyone sounds crap compared to yesterday.

A lot more performances compared to yesterday though, so yayyyy.

Credit for all the videos goes to the always brilliant CrazyCarrot220.

CN Blue - Love
The lead singer guy lost the texture in his voice when he got hospitalized. Even if I don't like CN Blue that much (yet? we'll see.) I kinda feel bad for the guy - he had a nice voice. I forgot what he was diagnosed with (nodules or what?) but hopefully he gets his voice back soon.

MBLAQ - Y
UGH. Everyone in this band is still too pre-occupied with looking good during their "big close-up" to care about singing. I mean yeah they're synchronized 'coz Rain must've slave-driven them to oblivion to make them "perfect" or whatever but everything about this performance was so stiff and lifeless - there was no passion, no feeling in their movements and vocals. I mean I admit that I know nothing about dance but I notice if it's really robotic when it shouldn't be. They had no feeling and their vocals were still crap. Sorry MBLAQ, strike 2.

Secret - Magic
Now why can't SME give us a girl group like Secret? You know, ones with more than one or two girls who can actually sing. UGH. And if I remember correctly, someone messed with Secret's sound a few weeks back - it happened again today, halfway into the performance. Either the sound engineer sucks or someone has a grudge against Secret. LOL. Apart from that it was a strong performance though, yay.

f(x) - NU ABO
f(x) were average today, but average is better than crap so they should take that as a compliment. Luna's middle 8 was rather bleh today too. Sorry Luna, no goosebumps this time. WHAT is Amber wearing? Polka dot pants? UGH SM.

4Minute - HUH
Even if they didn't sound as good as they did yesterday, the performance as a whole was pretty good. Their vocals were decent - not good or anything but I'm not throwing up in agony. Hmmm.

After School - Bang!
If it's true that everyone sounds crap today mainly because of the hands-free mics, then why did Secret and now After School sound relatively decent today? I mean they weren't at their best and that high note was really sloppy as hell but they didn't sound like crap. The hands-free mics were a major factor, but its "intensity" or whatever was lessened when I heard AS today.

The Wonder Girls - 2 Different Tears
OK the girl doing the verses has gotten on my last nerve - she now annoys the HECK out of me. UGH. The rest of the performance was OK except that the girl doing the bridges was a bit shaky and the adlibs towards the end were sloppy, but everything else was fine. Still not the BIGGEST fan.

Super Junior - Bonamana
And we're back to normal SuJu with weak vocals. Siwon was good today considering that their mics were crap but everyone else sounded pathetic, I'm sorry to say. It's not their faults though, IT'S THAT STUPID SOUND ENGINEER'S. I mean, just when SuJu were getting pretty decent vocals, the engineer just HAD to go in and make them sound like crap. FANTASTIC. I like the fact that they didn't cut the second verse though - yayyyyy.

Rain - Love Song Hip Song
Love Song was pretty good today, and the dance thing between the songs was nice and new and fresh and whatnot. I hate this - the week that Rain FINALLY gets his wardrobe for Hip Song sorted out is the week he stops promoting it. UGH and we had to live with weeks of him in bad outfits - FANTASTIC. I gotta say, I'm gonna miss Rain now that he's wrapping up promo. Awwww. Hahah.

CORRECTION: No Inkigayo tomorrow to make way for the broadcast of last weekend's Dream Concert. UGH I forgot. :((((

I start school on June 8th, so next weekend might be the last week with regular music show recaps for a while. MIGHT.

[May 28, 2010] KBS Music Bank Highlights + Commentary

If you're annoyed that I haven't been writing lately, I'm pissed off at myself for not having the time. My review classes are almost done, but senior year starts on June 8 - I pretty much treated the start of my review as the end of my summer. Oh well.

Rather quiet today on MuBank. Gummy was on but I didn't include her 'coz I can't find a video. :( Whatever. Over-all the performances were surprisingly good - I think it's 'coz pretty much all of them are comfortable with the stage now. Credit for all videos goes to the brilliant UnknownCarrot110 - let us all bow down and worship. Hahah!


CN Blue - Love
CN Blue have now earned my respect because of the live drums - I'm like, "YESSS!!!". The lead singer was apparently hospitalized earlier this week so that explains his rather weak vocals. But if you compare his vocals to a run-of-the-mill idol group, he wins by a long shot. For CN Blue standards today's performance was a bit bleh but for over-all, it was OK.

Secret - Magic
What surprises me is that unlike Rain and Hyori, who started promoting their singles at around the same time, I'm still not sick of Magic. I've listened to it a lot and it's not really that fresh to my ears, but when it comes up on shuffle or something I don't skip it. Their performances have been rather consistent these past few weeks and their vocals have been at the same level, but they've gotten so much better than they were when they debuted so I gotta hand it to them.

f(x) - NU ABO
So Luna screwed up the lyrics today towards the middle of the performance but it's not such a bit deal for me - one of the things I hate the most about singing is memorizing lyrics of choruses 'coz they change them every so often in the song and you end up with 2 or 3 different lyrics for the same melody. Ugh. But because they're SM I wouldn't be surprised if Luna gets a scolding later. Oh well. The performance was very comfortable. Vocals were standard f(x), and Luna's middle 8 gave me goosebumps for the first time since they started performing the song. Rather good - FINALLY.

4Minute - HUH
I used to think that Hyun A was being pushed as the "star" of 4Minute just because she was an ex-Wonder Girl and it really seemed like that last year. This year though, I noticed that she's not as overrated as some people take her to be. I mean yeah sure she carried 4Minute when they were just starting out and they came to be known as "the band with the ex-WG member" but you observe her even when she's not front and center and you see that whether she's in the back or front, she sells the song and the choreography really well - as do the other members. Their vocals today were a bit iffy at times, but the performance as a whole was rather good for a group of their "caliber".

Rain - Hip Song
OMG YES SOMEONE IN RAIN'S WARDROBE TEAM OR WHATEVER FINALLY HEARD MY PRAYERS - decent outfits today! But whyyyyy does it have to be decent when he's actually ending promo? ughhh. Rain just stands there and everyone goes wild - THAT is a true performer. You don't even have to do anything, just standing on a stage should make the audience freak out over you. I mean Rain has the repertoire and the talent, but that's not what kept him around for so long - it was his ability to perform that did, and will for as long as he wants to.

The Wonder Girls - 2 Different Tears
(UGH. Please don't tell me I have to learn their names now.) The girl doing the very beginning is brilliant, the girl doing the bridges was miming, the girl rapping is kinda bleh and the other girl is OK but that girl doing the verses is starting to properly annoy me - I might hate her by the end of this week's music shows. UGH. Today's performance was very tight, and that's why they're one of Korea's top girl groups - they know how to command an audience already freaking out over them. Not as good as Rain, but pretty good.

Super Junior - Bonamana(WINNER)
Well that's more like it SuJu - it only took you what, 2 weeks and 6 performances to get this song right? Oh well, at least they got it right - I shouldn't be complaining. Significantly less shaky parts and much, much stronger vocals from Kyuhyun, Ryeowook, Siwon (FINALLY) and Heechul (of all people) - I'm proud. LOL. The entire performance was right as hell - I'd give them another week and I might just get goosebumps. They deserved #1 today, hands-down.

I wanna squeeze in some reviews this weekend, but I might be busy since I'm moving rooms and my house is being remodeled so they'll come when they come. Recaps for MBC Music Core and SBS Inkigayo will come as scheduled.

Now, how's everyone been? Thanks for all the comments over the past few weeks and I'm sorry I haven't been able to reply to anyone - real life is a pain.

[May 22, 2010] MBC Music Core Highlights + Commentary

I can't believe this is only my second MuCore recap - fate has not allowed me more! Ugh. Today's show was packed with comebacks and performances galore so let's get right to business, shall we?

Sound-wise MuCore was pretty decent - except for a few slip-ups with the system all the other problems came from the idols themselves. So there.


Credit for all the videos goes to CrazyCarrot220@YT.

CN Blue - Love + Black Flower
In the comments section of my recap for yesterday's MuBank there was a discussion running about how the guitars aren't plugged in so only the drums are playing live but then somebody argued that there could've been transmitters. I see the rationality of both arguments, but personally I'd have to side with the "only the drums are live" argument because knowing TV producers, it'd be difficult to have a bunch of dudes going crazy with live guitars in an environment like that - at least they think it is. One thing I find rather strange about the song is that for like 5 seconds there it's like they turn into TRAX - I'm like what??, complete with eyebrow raise. Oh well.

MBLAQ - Y
*sigh* Lazy singers, VERY lazy singers. If they had weak vocals but knew how to perform or had presence I'd consider, but they don't so I won't. They're too concerned with trying to look good on stage when one, they don't have the power to carry a performance just by standing there and two, their song isn't even that good. Sorry MBLAQ but until you learn how to perform AND sing at the SAME TIME, you won't be Rain 2.0.

Secret - Magic
I liked Secret today - tight performance. The girl who sings second has gotten surprisingly good - it's like all of a sudden she got technique, which is good, I just hope she'll be able to sustain it. Right now the only problem in Secret is that blonde girl's vocals - they have potential but she's not working on them so they're still weak.

f(x) - NU ABO
Wow, the sound engineer today must really hate f(x) - the sound got crap about 1 minute into the performance. That and Luna's middle 8 was a semi-EPIC FAIL - sorry Luna, I know you did it really well yesterday but today you were back to how you were last week.

4Minute - Who's Next (with BEAST) + HUH
I gotta say it - 4Minute know how to sell a song. There were a few iffy parts vocally but the performance was rather good today. But tell me MBC, what's the use of having clothes with touches of neon IF YOU DON'T TURN THE STAGE LIGHTS OFF? I was waiting for the lights to go off on the dance break or something but they didn't - why'd you make them wear spots of neon green and pink then? Ugh.

The Wonder Girls - 2 Different Tears
I dunno, I was too distracted by some of the strange styling to care too much about the performance today. Vocals were a bit iffy as well, and the backing track is just stupid, but they were OK. Not the best ever, but competent.

Rain - Hip Song
I saw him do this on one of the morning music shows and he was in a suit - you know, decent clothing? It was good. I may sound a bit superficial for saying this but I'm dead serious - wardrobe and styling affect a performance. I'm not saying everyone should be wearing formal clothes all the time or anything, but they should at least be soothing to the eyes, not painful and annoying, because people will spend more time criticizing clothes than they will the actual performance - that includes me, sadly. The performance was typical Rain - end of story.

Hyori - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Until Hyori adds something new to her performances, I'm bored to death. I'm sorry and I know a lot of you like the song and all but I've heard it too much - no more, please.

Gummy - As A Man
I missed Gummy yesterday - she's a breath of fresh air in a sea of sub-par idol group vocals and badly written/produced material. Gorgeous, gorgeous voice both live and recorded and the song may be a little sappy or whatnot but it's nice and sweet - it's a pop song.

2PM - Without U
What's with all the glow-in-the-dark outfits today? 4Minute, f(x) and now 2PM? Surprisingly, their vocals are getting a bit better considering that I've never really thought highly of them in the vocal department. They're strong, at least the ones who aren't miming. WAIT WAIT WAIT - where's Junsu? OK ANYWAY.

Super Junior - Bonamana
Siwon was miming - I wonder why. Does the sound engineer not realize that the reason why backing tracks are called backing tracks is because they're supposed to be behind the live vocals - you know, SOFTER? UGH. You can hardly hear any of their live vocal's 'coz they're being drowned by the BACKing track. I find myself STILL playing this song even it's been weeks since it came out - that's a good thing.

I'll be out tomorrow night, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to write up a recap for SBS Inkigayo - I will, however, be home in the morning so I might put out a few reviews if I feel like it. The posts will come when they come.

[May 21, 2010] KBS Music Bank Highlights + Commentary

Apologies for being MIA this week - I was so busy with review classes that when I got home I was too tired to even think, which is why I felt like I was gonna go crazy if I didn't write today. Hence, my review of the new Wonder Girls single AND today's MuBank commentary.

Quite a number of comebacks today, but all the acts had already performed on Mnet Countdown yesterday because none of them were from SME (long story) so technically today wasn't the first time they all performed their singles. I don't wanna do a recap of Mnet M!Countdown because I'm freaking out already with the 3 music shows, what more if I add.

I also noticed that a lot of the bigger artists used hand-held mics instead of hands-free ones. Usually hand-held mics sound better so yay. Although I'm not used to some of these idols actually holding mics anymore. Oh well.

Once again, YT credit for all videos goes to UnknownCarrot110.

CN Blue - Love + Sweet Holiday
The producers of MuBank committed a very, VERY grave crime with CN Blue today. Well at least it's grave for me. WHO THE CRAP OSTRACIZED THE DRUMMER TO A TINY LITTLE CORNER ON STAGE? That's just stupid - the 3 other guys have to actually HEAR the drummer because he lays down the foundations of a song. He lays down the tempo, the feel and the way the song flows AND YOU THANK HIM BY PUTTING HIM IN A CORNER? I know it was just for one song when they sang two but still. UGH. However I think I have new-found respect for CN Blue because I'm 90% sure that they're playing live - I hear hints of live drums here and there when it's not drowned out by fancy guitar lines. I hear wood clanking on metal. Yayyyyyyyy.

MBLAQ - Y
I won't deny the fact that MBLAQ have improved A LOT since their crappy Oh Yeah days, but their material is still generic as hell and they're still not the best singers in the world. In reality, I find their vocals very lazy - the reason why it's like they're going out of tempo is because they don't sing with conviction, their vocals have no kick. Their vocals are stronger than before, but now they lack kick. I mean a lot of pop singers lack soul, but at least some of them have kick in their vocals - they don't make it sound like the song's being forced upon them. Rain is trying way too hard to make MBLAQ 5 Rain clones music-wise but he has to understand that there's only one of him - that his ability to perform even without the best voice in the world is something he can't just tell 5 random guys to do. The 5 guys have their own style, and they'll learn that as time passes, but if Rain keeps pushing songs that could've been for him, they won't get anywhere. I'll expand on this once I whip up my review - hopefully by tomorrow morning.

f(x) - NU ABO
Their live vocals are getting better, and Luna's middle 8 is starting to sound fantastic - atta girl. I'm still not sold on the song as a whole though - f(x) have A LOT to prove to me in the coming months/years, but this performance was relatively good.

4Minute - Who's Next (with BEAST) + HUH
That's it, I'm writing a review for this single too, that makes 2 reviews to write tomorrow morning. GREAT. I like how BEAST kinda "passed on the Cube torch" or whatever at the beginning, and that track has grown on me. I'll save a lot of my observations on Huh for my review and just focus on the performance first - once I've said my piece by tomorrow, I can start ranting here. One thing I noticed about Cube idol groups, namely BEAST and 4Minute, is that when they're actually singing live, they're pretty good performers. These 2 bands know how to sell a song and they both started out kinda bleh in terms of performance but they've learned and grown - that's what's important. They tweaked their sound a bit, but I can still tell that it's from Cube, there's a certain combination of the instrumental and the melodies and the vocals that makes this entire package look, sound and feel very much like something Cube Entertainment would do. They've got a long way to go performance-wise, but hopefully by the time they're halfway into promo it'll get better.

The Wonder Girls - 2 Different Tears
One thing I like about never bothering to learn their names is the fact that I'm not biased when it comes to their vocals. The girl who did the hook at the start is really good, and I mean REALLY good, but the girl who did the first verse is very lazy - her runs at the end of lines were sloppy and her nasal-ness can get a bit irritating. The one doing the bridge is OK, but one line alone isn't enough to gauge if the nasal-ness is good or bad. The girl singing the so I hate you.... part has weak vocals, but a lot of potential - with a little technique I might just like her vocals.

Rain - Hip Song
The fanchants made this performance. I mean yeah Rain sang a bit more than usual but I still hate his wardrobe - it's irritating. Rain does what he does best on this performance and that is command an audience into thinking he's the best thing since anything, which is probably is.

Hyori - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
*sigh* When's she wrapping up promo? I hope she does soon. She isn't doing anything different to amuse us anymore, so I'm bored for like a gazillionth week in a row.

2PM - Without U
2PM are starting to bore me as much as Hyori now, I'm sorry. With Wooyoung, my favorite voice, lip-syncing his parts, I have nothing to get excited about anymore. They're good performers, yeah, but the song bores me now. Oh well.

Super Junior - Bonamana (WINNER)
SuJu score their first win on Music Bank today, and I have to admit that it was deserved - even if it's against my "beliefs" or whatever, I can't stop listening to it. Today's performance gained a few eyebrow raises from me in terms of their vocals, but SuJu aren't known for their strong vocals so today was a pass. The performance was tight and a lot more lively than the recorded version, and the vocals were comfortable. Not necessarily strong, but comfortable. Although I am surprised that Heechul sounded pretty good today. No magic trick during Donghae's line, I believe he did it earlier during an interview and gave the rose to the girl host.

So there you go, the weekend of comebacks is just beginning. Over the weekend I'll be reviewing 4Minute's HUH, MBLAQ's Y, a few of the World Cup songs and possibly the new Kylie single, POSSIBLY. That plus a recaps of MBC Music Core and SBS Inkigayo - that's a lot of posts! Well I gotta make up for the 4 days I was MIA.

[May 16, 2010] SBS Inkigayo Highlights + Commentary

Apologies for my absence for yesterday's Music Core recap, but I was at a resort in the mountains staring at orange and blue skies with stars scattered around and lounging around taking in the 17-degree temperature all day while you guys back in Metro Manila were melting in 30+-degree heat. Not bad, eh? I thought so. I wanted to show you guys some pictures, but I'm far too lazy to move them from my camera to my computer. Maybe next time - for now let's just get on with today's recap.

Never did I think I'd see the day (well since I started writing recaps) when Inkigayo would have decent sound. Not great, but better than usual - MuBank still has the best sound for me. We say hello to Davichi and Super Junior but goodbye to BEAST.

Credit for all videos goes to the fantastic CrazyCarrot310@YT.

f(x) - NU ABO

The only thing I actually take notice of when I watch f(x)'s performance now is Luna's middle 8. Of course I listen to the other parts and all, but I pay attention to that middle 8 in particular for the simple reason that it's the only part worth watching for me. Luna did it impeccably today - probably the best she's ever done. The middle 8 was nicely delivered and the high note wasn't off - yay.

BEAST - Special

BEAST ended promotions for their second mini-album Shock of the New Era today, and I'm impressed. When they debuted I named them better than their then competition MBLAQ, and I still think they are - better vocals, better material. I watched their debut performance after I saw this and they really have turned into true performers - they've got decent material, they tried some harmonies here and there and they've gotten more confident on stage, you can see that they have good group dynamics and they're comfortable with not only the stage but each other. Seriously, all they have to do is give me one drop-dead-gorgeous single and I'll be all over it.

After School - Bang!

Someone please fire the cameraman today - he's making my headache horrid. Their vocals were good today - probably the best they've ever been since the start of promotions. The two girls were actually singing, Gahee sounded nasal but her vocals were decent, that girl in the pony tail was OK and except for the fact that her high note at the end made my head throb, Raina was good today too. Maybe a few more voice lessons and some intense technique sessions? That should do, they're capable of it after all.

Davichi - Time, Please Stop

Davichi - gorgeous voices. The girl doing the verses was a little shaky at the start, but the second verse was a lot better. The chorus was very scream-y, but it fits the song - their vocals during the higher parts were brilliant and the harmony part (I just heard one!) was pretty. Here we go again with the fake band though. Ugh. Props?

Rain - Hip Song

Fanchants make Rain's perfomances - that accounts for about half of their outstanding-ness (LOL), but today's chants weren't as loud as one of his earlier performances on Music Bank. It's also with his performances of Hip Song that the importance of decent outfits really sinks in - I liked it when he was doing it a few weeks ago but the change of outfits just made me go "bleh". As a performance it was good though, as Rain's performances always are.

Hyori - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

I'm still bored with Hyori - there's only a certain number of times I can see this song performed live before I start losing interest, and Hyori has exceeded that limit. I saw her duet with Daesung yesterday morning before I left for the mountains (LOL) and I was all over it, still am - Hyori needs to give me something new with her performances, and by that I mean a new song. Oh well. Her vocals were so-so today, not bad but not spectacular.

Gummy - As a Man

Gummy seemed a lot more comfortable today, as if she wasn't already comfortable during the previous performances, but the sound engineer still can't seem to understand the meaning of TURN DOWN THE BACKING TRACK. Oh well, at least she sounds OK. Stellar vocals, good stage presence and a decent sound system make for a brilliant performance.

Super Junior - Boom Boom + Bonamana

I hate to admit it but they actually did relatively well with Boom Boom today. I wouldn't call it a spectacular performance but considering that they don't exactly pwn anyone when it come to live vocals, they did well today. Kyuhyun started it out strong, Donghae surprised me yet again with his now-existent live vocals, Sungmin was competent and Ryeowook did what he always does. Heechul's line was far too backing track-ed for my liking but his really short line at the end was OK. What kinda disappointed me though was the rather bad performance of Bonamana. Siwon still can't sing live, Heechul's vocals sounded weak and what surprised me the most was the fact that you could hardly hear Kyuhyun or Yesung - I once again blame the engineer. It's not the mics since they brought their own today (or SM did), it's the mixing and rendering of the vocals which is the engineer's main responsibility while the performance is going on. The backing track still pisses me off and the camera angles made my head ache a bit. However even if there are a gazillion people on stage in boyband language, it didn't seem like it - that's what separates Super Junior from the other bigger bands like ZE:A, their group dynamic. They looked like one single unit today and that's the foundation of an entire group's performance - everything else can be learned and acquired with time and practice.

2PM - Without U (WINNER)

And 2PM win again today - they haven't won a triple crown yet, right? *sigh* I'm bored with this song too, but then again I never thought it was any good when I first heard it. Their vocals were surprisingly relatively good as well, like a lot of other acts, and the performance as a whole was tight. I guess they do deserve the win today.

That wraps up this week's incomplete music show recaps - apologies for the second week without an MBC Music Core recap. Catch me this Friday for a live tweet+recap of KBS Music Bank!

[May 14, 2010] KBS Music Bank Highlights + Commentary

This week's Music Bank was rather entertaining, actually. Comebacks from Gummy, Lee Jung Hyun, Davichi and Super Junior plus almost everyone else who was on last week. Hope you all enjoyed my live tweet a few hours back!

At least Music Bank has a decent sound engineer. I wouldn't say he/she's good, but the vocals weren't drowned by super loud backing tracks or strangled by crappy microphones. And the cameraman has improved too. Yayyyy. Credit for all the videos goes to UnknownCarrot110@YT. Brilliance. Again.

Secret - Magic

Once again, we get another consistent performance from the girls today. The blonde girl was slightly better too, although still a bit bleh - I now hail her the Sandara of Secret, with a bit more talent. But seriously, at the rate Secret are going, I'm tempted to write a vocal commentary - maybe in a few weeks once I get used to doing these music show recaps. So much to write, so little time. Oh well.

f(x) - NU ABO

I'm still not convinced. I'm sorry, I just don't like the song. However their vocals sound very comfortable this week and Luna's middle 8 was good - her high note was a bit off though. Amber's vocal was cut, didn't notice it until I saw someone say it on Twitter. Oh well. NEXT.

After School - Bang!

After School were a lot better today as well. If it wasn't for Raina's slip during the middle 8, they would've pulled the entire song off pretty decently. The performance as a whole was tight and like I said, most of their vocals were relatively strong today, even Nana and the new girl. After School are slowly becoming my second favorite girl group - it's about time!

Lee Jung Hyun - Suspicious Man

It was my first time hearing of Lee Jung Hyun a while ago, and she reminded me of my beloved Robyn - she still does. The blonde hair, the similar hair style and a bit of the music since Robyn's Euro and this girl's going for a Euro-ish thing. Her vocals just annoy the hell out of me though - she's trying to sing a bit like Robyn but she can't. Like duh. I'll have to do my research/background check (LOL) on her soon if she's gonna hit the music shows regularly, so next time she performs I'll have more to say. Hopefully.

Davichi - Time, Please Stop

I LOVE Davichi, loved them last year with 8282, I still think they have gorgeous vocals and that the song is gorgeous but my conscience is telling me this is too much like 8282. Time, Please Stop is to 8282 kind of like how SuJu's Bonamana is to Sorry Sorry - similar elements, slightly different sound+melody. The band at the back just made me laugh, it's obvious they weren't really playing because I don't hear any real drums. I do like the fact that they're all girls though - yay! I still wanna spazz over their vocals though, outstanding.

Rain - Hip Song

So, no more stripping during Love Song, Rain's gonna be promoting this song from now until whenever. Ugh. I liked the old outfits for this better, the new ones remind me of what he wore when he was going around with Instead of Saying Goodbye like a gazillion years ago with the boxing gloves and all. Once again, you have to watch Rain to know how good he is - I tried just listening to him when I was watching the live broadcast and I wasn't impressed but watching it back on YT, the performance was actually pretty good. Wardrobe aside, of course.

Hyori - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

I'm bored with this song now, I'm sorry. ALTHOUGH, the one good thing that Chitty Chitty Bang Bang has brought upon this world is the fact that I am in the process of converting Adem to kpop-ism using this song. *fist pump* I'm glad she's lost all the wigs and horrid-looking outfits though - she looks a lot more decent today.

Gummy - As a Man

We finally get a better sound system for Gummy and she doesn't sing There Is No Love??!? Whyyyyyyyyyyyy. Her vocals on the first verse were a little bleh, it's obvious she didn't warm up or anything before she started 'coz by the bridge her vocals were brilliant and by the chorus they were spectacular. LOVED this week's performance - Gummy's now probably my favorite female solo artist along with Lyn.

Super Junior - Boom Boom + Bonamana

Well well well, it's Super Junior. I miss Han Kyung. *pouts* I was rather surprised with everyone's vocals today as they seem to have improved since we last heard them live - that only means that my vocal commentary is now back to only having an intro because their voices have changed (rather late) and I have to take down a completely new set of notes for all of them. Donghae's gotten better and singing live (FINALLY!), Ryeowook no longer sounds like that much of a girl, Heechul can actually sing now, but Siwon still sucks live. One observation about the song that I only noticed now - Kyuhyun's not singing in the correct range/octave for 3/4 of his line in the first verse, it's too low. That and the backing track to Bonamana annoyed me with that robotic whatever under the vocals. Ugh. The performance today was pretty strong though - still don't think the song's any good, but I will enjoy watching the performances. Something to look forward to for the next few weeks.

2PM - Without U (WINNER)

So Junsu's still injured, Wooyoung's still miming. Oh well. The performance today was tight, vocals were pretty OK. I knew they would win from the very start of the show. I mean, they were against December (was it December?) - duh.

Please note that there will be no recap for tomorrow's MBC Music Core because I'll be out of town until Sunday afternoon - will be back in time for SBS Inkigayo though. Yayyy.

[May 9, 2010] SBS Inkigayo Highlights + Commentary

Before we get to today's Inkigayo recap, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAYYYYYYY! Weeehee. OK moving on.

Last week I stressed the fact that the Inkigayo sound engineer must be fired and burned in hell for his crimes last week. He should be for this week's crimes too, the sound today was even worse than yesterday's MuCore. BOO.

YT credit goes to UnknownCarrot300. *bows down* Apart from the Gummy vids which are courtesy of the equally brilliant CodeMonMonMixes.

ZE:A - All Day Long

Someone has to go teach this engineer how to TURN THE BACKING TRACK VOLUMES DOWN. You know, SOFTER? The track on this performance was so loud, you'd think the boys were miming 70% of the song when they actually only usually mime around 30%. I heard traces of live singing on a few parts, but if you were casually listening to the song, the backing track is loud enough that it literally drowsn their vocals.

Secret - Magic

Just for this performance, someone PLEASE fire the cameraman along with the sound engineer. ALTHOUGH, Secret seem to be one of the two groups least-affected by the curse of the stupid sound engineer (we'll get to the other one later), maybe because a lot of the performance used pre-recorded lines, but maybe because they may actually have enough vocal ability to carry themselves. IF they can make those vocals into fantastic performing packages, they may possibly stick around for longer than I first thought they would. That and the rapper is quite a good singer, reminds me a bit of how CL 2NE1 can sing too, but she's not as good as CL yet. I'd give it some time.

B2ST - Special

Right now I'd very much like to fly to Korea, hunt down the SBS sound engineer, scream at him/her, cut off his/her fingers and ears, then watch him/her die a painfully slow death. Seriously, does the engineer even have ears? B2ST sounded crap today because of those stupid hands-free AND hand held mics - if it was just the hands-free ones I'd kinda forgive him since they're always a problem but even the hand held ones sounded crap! Although if you listen carefully their vocals weren't at their best, but that doesn't excuse the sound engineer from crimes of crap sound. AJ doesn't have a very nice voice to start with and the sound today made it worse, heck it even made Yoseob sound bad, and he's pretty good! BOO. (to the engineer, not B2ST - they were fine.)

f(x) - NU ABO

Let's put it this way - the only person who was affected by the crap sound today was Luna, because she had to actually sing without a lot of backing when she did the middle 8. It sounded held back, soft, and she didn't really hit some of the higher notes right. The rest of the performance was bleh. NEXT ACT.

U-Kiss - Mworago

Just when I thought ZE:A's vocals were drowned, looks like I hadn't heard U-Kiss yet. UGH. Heck, even that blonde dude (sorry, don't know his name) sounded like he was miming, and in the past performances he was supposed to be the one who could sing. I just hop for everyone's sanity that the engineer dies a very painful death one day.

After School - Bang!

The other group who sounded pretty good today were After School - does the engineer favor the two groups? Ugh, just like the MuCore engineer - playing favorites. Although After School sounding good today might be a blessing in disguise, their vocals are really getting better and better. The middle 8 was still a FAIL vocally and there were parts heavily backed-up by the recording, but most of the vocals were quite good if you compare it to their past performances.

2PM - Without U

OK so some of the comments for yesterday's MuCore recap said that Wooyoung has vocal chord nodules, which is why he's miming so OK, he's forgiven. But why's Junho (Junho? not sure about the names.) miming too? Please don't tell me there's a nodule outbreak within 2PM. (just joking, it's not contagious. At least the one I know of) Other than that and the fact that Junsu apparently hurt his knee, there really isn't anything else to talk about. Their vocals were consistent with yesterday's more comfortable ones, and the performance was OK.

Rain - Love Song

Compared to everyone else, Rain sounded pretty OK today. I mean, the Inkigayo sound engineer didn't let him off sounding bad just because he's Rain, but at leaast the mic wasn't shaky - because he brought his own. Lesson learned idols, if you wanna sound even the least bit better on Inki, bring your own microphones.

Gummy - There Is No Love + As a Man

Can I resurrect the engineer and kill him/her again just so he/she gets the right punishment? Seriously, who turns up the backing track to the same level of the vocals of someone who can actually sing? Stupidity. You can still hear traces of her live vocals when the backing track's on but because they're at the same level, the live and recorded vocals mix and you have to listen even more carefully to actually hear it. Her vocals were a bit lazy today at some parts, but she was consistent for most of the performance(s). I've noticed this even as early as yesterday but I didn't say it because I thought it was just a one-off mistake - Gummy's having some tempo problems during the first verse of There Is No Love. It's nothing serious, like she's missing the instrumental by one one-hundredth of a second, but to a trained ear and/or someone who's tempo-perfect (me) it's very obvious. She could be doing some of it on purpose though.

Hyori - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang(WINNER - TRIPLE CROWN)

Before I start the commentary, WHAT THE CRAP IS SHE WEARING?!?! OK on to busines. The engineer finally figured out how to turn down the backing tracks, just a teensy bit for Hyori, sice she's Hyori and all. Ugh. Today's Hyori performance was Hyori, that's all I have to say about it. And now that she's won her triple crown, I wonder who's gonna win next week. Hmm.

Well that wraps up this week's music show recaps - will be announcing via Twitter whether or not I'm doing a live Tweet for KBS Music Bank on Friday at 5:30 PM Philippine Time, so if you aren't already, follow me. Once again, live Tweets will span the entire show, but recaps will only feature idols. If you're watching too, don't hesitate to tweet me - I want multiple discussions running while it's on, OK? OK.

[May 8, 2010] MBC Music Core - Highlights + Commentary

I didn't get to do a recap of Music Core last week because I did my recap of KBS Music Bank this time last week. But I'm doing it now so here it is. Music Core is MBC's counterpart to Music Bank and Inkigayo, and it's emcee-d by SNSD's Tiffany and Yuri - ooooohhh. LOL. Read on for highlights of today's episode.

Today's commentary will mainly revolve around one thing - the crap sound system and how the engineer of today's show should be fired along with the engineer for SBS Inkigayo and the cameraman for KBS Music Bank. Burning them in hell and torturing them is optional, but recommended. Other than that, you'll have to read the recap!

Credit for all the videos goes to the brilliant UnknownCarrot220@YT - just as brilliant as CodeMonMon. Performances are in no particular order.

ZE:A - All Day Long

Apart from the still-bad group dynamics and the horrid hair+wardrobe, ZE:A were pretty OK today. The vocals were good, the performance as a whole was tight. When they first debuted I thought they were a lost cause - their material sucked, they didn't have any group dynamics and their vocals weren't at their best - but look at them now, it's a lot better than what they were back when they debuted. They managed to fix the bad material thing, and although the song's still generic, it's decent - if they can fix that within the span of one single, then they might still have potential. We'll see.

Secret - Magic

I still don't like the song, but Secret are slowly growing into performers - they have the ability, they just need the practice. There's a word for that in Filipino and I like how it sounds - "bihasa" (pronounced "Beeh-ha-sah"). It means "practiced" or "able", and I think it perfectly describes what they're slowly but surely approaching. They just need better material and more time - they might even grow into good songwriters if they're exposed to enough music.

B2ST - Special

I'm liking B2ST now. Not A LOT, but I don't hate them so that's a good sign. Their vocals are getting stronger, their performances tight, and they really look like they're selling the song. I'll be interested to see them face-off with MBLAQ again once they come back - it'll be fun to see how these 2 bands have grown. And it's got nothing to do with the performance today, but I saw their stint on last Thursday's mnet Countdown and you gotta hand it to them for TRYING harmonies. They weren't exactly the best, but the simple fact that they tried has got even a small part of respect from me. If they ever pursue the harmonies and actually manage to do them well, I might fall in love. For now though, this is all we have to work with. It's OK.

f(x) - NU ABO

I. Hate. This. Song. Seriously. I've tried, I really have, but I can't stand it. Once again, songs like these aren't really meant for singing which really pisses me off. Although I've got to admit, their performance as a whole today was a lot better than yesterday. And Luna, THAT'S MORE LIKE IT - the middle-8 and the adlib at the end were pulled-off a lot better, and her vocals were great today. A few problems with the mic, which didn't happen in MuBank yesterday, but other than that as a performance this was OK.

After School - Bang!

I think I know one of the reasons why After School's vocals have gotten better - it's because UEE isn't there. Right. Moving on now. Their performances are getting better and better - the vocals, the stage presence, everything is just falling into place more than it was before. The 2 girls singing the "duet" lines are getting a lot better too - stronger vocals today and they were singing all the right notes which is good. They still can't pull off the middle 8, but pulling off the verses is a good start. Yayyyy.

SNSD - Run Devil Run

What do you get when you mix SNSD's far from amazing vocals with a crap sound system and horrid mics? A disastrous last performance of RDR. *sigh* The girls aren't the best singers in the world to start with, then their mics failed on them - it's like the only one who had a decent mic was Seohyun! Does the engineer over at MBC like her or something? ooooohhh. Even if the performance as a whole was really ruined by the crap mics, they we're OK. I wish they would've ended promotions with decent vocals though. Oh well.

2PM - Without U

Surprisingly, some of their vocals are getting better - like a lot of acts they're warming up to performing. They're still not the best thing since anything, but there are some of them who are iff-y. HOLD ON. Did Wooyoung just mime that middle 8? It sure sounded like he did. Uh-oh, I take back what I said if he did - dammit. You know I hate miming. Oh well.

Hyori - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Here we go again - Hyori, please stop trying to go all GaGa on us, it's not working. OK maybe it is for everyone else, but it isn't for me. The sound was still crap, Hyori's vocals weren't exactly in top form today, and on top of that what the crap was everyone wearing? It was distracting. The GaGa-esque get-up isn't working for me, I'm afraid. Try again, Hyori.

Rain - Love Song

Rain was nothing special today - the crap sound made his vocals sound hoarse and there was no special whatever. The performance was standard Rain, but standard Rain is damn good. That's basically it.

Gummy - There Is No Love + Because Of You + As a Man

If all idol singers had live vocals at Gummy's level, the world would be a much better place. But they don't so it isn't, and Gummy is one of a kind. Which is fine with me because it just goes to show exactly why YG didn't dump into an idol group. I'm not saying that ALL idol groups suck, but you get my point right? Right. She doesn't need theatrics to carry a performance even if she does have backup dancers - her voice is her performance and that's the way it should be for everyone. Gorgeous voice, brilliant performance - I can die happy now.