Music and more Music.
Matthew. 21. (Aspiring?) Writer. "Music Lover". Asian Pop Fanatic. FuckYeahRihanna Admin. This is what I waste my time with.
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Nine Muses / TICKET
Speaking of acts on a roll - the best K-Pop single of 2012 (maybe??!) has just arrived at the station. It’s Girls Aloud “Sound of the Underground”, 10 years on, in Korean, and amazing. All sorts of wild things are crawling about in the production, and the chorus doesn’t quit for a second. I wish the MV were better, though.
Nine Muses / NEWS
“NEWS” is really what I always imagined Nine Muses would do. Sexy, adult, modern, fashionable K-Pop - a high(er) end version of the Girls’ Generation mold. And at last they live up to their ‘supermodel’ status. Not only do they look like supermodels in the video, they sound like them as well, with all the too-cool, disaffected attitude to match. It’s produced by SweetTune (KARA, Rainbow, INFINITE) though, so it doesn’t take itself too seriously. All the toy-sounding effects in the verses balance the chorus and keep it fun.
A strong start to K-Pop 2012 and Nine Muses’ best single to date.
Hey guys! This year I’ve compiled my favorite Korean songs - both singles and album tracks - as a list of 50. Just like last year we’ll be counting them down, 10 at a time, until we reach #1. Read below for my first picks, and stay tuned for parts 2 - 5 coming up soon!
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50. ZE:A / Here I Am
Just as trashy as it wants to be while also sounding quite gentlemanly at the same time. Maybe it’s because they’re wearing suits in the* music video. Just ask Pitbull, a suit and tie can make any sleazy club banger sound up to 12% more classy.
*AWFUL
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49. Orange Caramel / Shanghai Romance
Sha! Sha! Sha! - How can you not appreciate that bit?
“Shanghai Romance” sounds like all of Orange Caramel’s other singles put together, but when your other singles are also quite good you’re allowed to do that, so say the rules of Pop.
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48. ALi / Don’t Act Countrified (feat. JunHyung)
The funky beat from TLC’s “Waterfalls” didn’t just dissolve back into that huge puddle at the end of the video - it simply traveled across the ocean until it reached Korea about 15 years later. Soul is universal, and it’s alive and thriving in K-Pop. This one will creep up on you.
Also - “Countrified” is officially the oddest fucking word we’ve ever heard. And while the song title also translates as “Don’t Act Foolish”, Countrified is just so much more fun.
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47. AA / So Crazy
Rookie talent was in short supply in 2011, so it’s a good thing these guys came along and broke us out of that rut, ridiculous facial expressions and inanely amazing dance routine included.
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46. LeeSsang / Grand Final (feat. Jung In & MC Nal Yoo)
This party jam by LeeSsang sounds like it’s up to something naughty, but it’s actually about rowing. Yes, BOAT ROWING. Forget about all that ‘putting your hands in the air’ nonsense - 2012 is going to be all about putting your oars in the air. To a dubstep beat, of course.
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45. Girls’ Generation / TRICK
No one cares if “The Boys” makes a bigger impact; “TRICK” is the god damn single that should have been. Teddy Riley can continue tripping over his keyboard trying to think of something that goes down this smooth.
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44. Nine Muses / Figaro
Asian Disco was kind of a big ‘thing’ in 2011. No, seriously. The Japanese were at it, and so were the Koreans. They were quite good at it too, as Nine Muses showed us.
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43. KARA / Rider
Okay,
Korea,
it’s really about time you started doing the whole ‘second single’ thing.
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42. Brown Eyed Girls / Hot Shot
Sure, you could say that this is just Ga-in’s solo material + 3 backup singers.
But then we’ll say we like it that way. Korean tango was still ‘hot’ in 2011.
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41. After School / Virgin
It’s actually kind of epic when you think about it. Okay, yes, the title sounds like the name of some low-budget Asian porno, but, THE SONG!!!
A lot of songs of this sort - the ‘CLUBBING’ kind - are all about being a superstar. Or at least feeling like one. Escapism. And hey, sometimes that’s good! But this one takes a different approach. I guess when one thinks of the idea of ‘superstar’, you think of someone who’s a pro - good at what they do. So, in a club, you could say this would be someone who’s rather experienced and obviously goes there a lot. In the case of “Virgin” the lyrics actually enhance appreciation.
“From this moment on / I am a Virgin
Virgins used to know nothing / Those days are gone
Now on the stage again / it feels like the first time”
So while the beat might trick you into thinking this is just another one of those ‘going out and dancing’ sort of affairs, at the heart of matters is this idea of a ‘Virgin’. But even then, it’s not as simple as it seems. After School aren’t saying that they are virgins to this stage, they’re saying that - FOR TONIGHT - they are virgins, and are going to experience it like the first time.
You could say the characters in the story are in fact ‘superstars’, but are tired of being so and just want to get back to that feeling of ‘the first time’. The newness and the excitement. That human experience. There are loads of dance songs cluttering the charts nowadays, but few so beautifully understand the humanity like “Virgin”.
Nine Muses - No Playboy (MV)
The moment we’ve all some of us have been waiting for, the debut video for Nine Muses’ “No Playboy”. The song is alright, the thumping bassline really grabbed my attention from the start but I wish No Playboy sounded a bit less like SNSD’s “Genie” and had more of a chorus. Also, the rapping section is just there and doesn’t really add anything. I think they should leave that kind of stuff to 2NE1 and focus on looking as sexy as possible, because if there’s one thing they get right in this video, it’s the sexiness. All nine ladies are stunning to look at, and the video plays like a moving spread out of a fashion magazine.
I see potential here, I think the video visually sets them apart from the group they so obviously aspire to be, but musically this sounds like a lesser Genie. (Though I will admit the song is growing on me already, so there is hope yet!) This is a good start, it will be interesting to see where they go from here.
7/10
Nine Muses - No Playboy (Teaser)
As a HUGE SNSD fan, I shouldn’t be this excited for Nine Muses… but I am. For those of you not in the know, Nine Muses is a brand new NINE MEMBER girl group that will be debuting this month. (Perfect timing as Girls’ Generation will be away promoting in Japan for the next few weeks). A lot of people are calling them a rip-off, and they’re clearly trying to capitalize on the popularity of SNSD, but they look hot! And also, it looks like they are positioning themselves as a more sexy and sophisticated version of SNSD, and apparently all 9 of them are “supermodels”.
This teaser clip is pretty juicy, the full song and video should be out soon.
