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Korean Pop

My take and commentary on popular (& good) music from South Korea

Miss A – ‘Touch’ review: You can’t judge an album by its lead single

Normally there are two conditions on which I decide to write a K-pop review. Either I should be a fan of the artist (SNSD, Rainbow, Jay Park, INFINITE) or the artist comes out with music I really end up liking (Block B, AA). The decision to write a review of Miss A’s new mini album was purely because I gave the album a chance.

I’m not a huge fan of the girl group, but nor do I dislike the girls. Miss A are just one among the many popular groups that I really don’t care much for (like 4Minute, MBLAQ) besides one or two of their songs. But like every new K-pop release, regardless of my past opinions of an artist, I don’t dismiss their new music right away until I listen to a few of the tracks.

It’s a move I didn’t regret with Miss A’s ‘Touch – The 4th Project‘

Here’s a track-by-track review:

1. “Touch” – The title track and lead single:

Written and produced by JYP supremo Park Jin Young, “Touch” at first listen didn’t really win me over. In fact I stopped listening to it after the first chorus. One, it wasn’t a great song on first listen, and secondly, I found the dancing a bit… weird (I only heard the song once the music video was out). But since I decided to write this review, I gave it a couple of more listens and watched the MV in its entirety. It slowly grew on me.

“Touch” has a slightly haunting aura and an infectious hook to it. The vocals don’t ever soar but are well in line with the song’s melody. I still find the dance choreography a bit weird, so it’ll be interesting how the girls interpret it live on stage. Still, my stance hasn’t improved much since my first listen. It’s not that great a song for a lead single. – 3/5

2. “Lips” – Here now is when the album gets a lot better. Unlike “Touch,” this song instantly won me over! Produced by German producer and songwriter FUEGO, the same guy behind Chris Brown’s latest hit “Turn Up the Music,” “Lips” is pure electronic-pop. It’s got a great build up during the chorus, and unlike the current trend of forcing cheap, re-hashed hooks influenced by house music, “Lips” never strays into bad territory. Definitely one of the best tracks on the album! – 4/5

3. “Rock n Rule“- I anticipated rocking guitar sounds, but instead the third track is pure club Euro-pop. An uptempo, and uplifting dance track with a dubstep bridge (I’m honestly bored of dubstep now – everybody’s doing it!). It’s still a good song though, and suits Miss A’s image perfectly. – 4/5

4. “No Mercy” – Hard-hitting drums opens this fierce track influenced by Brit-pop music. It was by this time into listening to the album I knew I just knew I had to write this review. “No Mercy” may not make an ideal single, but it’s still an example of a fine album track. – 3.5/5

5. “Over U” – First thing that popped into my head when this song began? “Run Devil Run” and Britney Spears. Which only meant the production was foreign and surely European. And surely enough, they were. Deepfrost are the Norwegian team responsible for this song, and it’s another good addition to the album. – 3/5

6. “Touch (Newport mix)” – The final track on the album is a R&B remix of the title track, and you know what? I actually prefer this version over the one that got released! In my opinion, this production suits the song’s melody better. Was this how “Touch” was initially intended to sound? Because I’m not kidding when I say it genuinely sounds better this way.

As is the norm in K-pop, just about every idol group releases a first single which involves dancing. I don’t know if JY Park forced “Touch” to be turned into a more upbeat version, so that the choreographers to create a dance for it. I like to believe some of the moves in the dance choreography shows how forced it looks. Regardless, this remix gets another 4/5 from me!

Miss A Touch Jia Min Suzy Fei members korean girl group — A more mature Miss A this time around

JY Park’s productions have been a hit-or-miss for me. As much as I believe 2PM’s “Again & Again” is one of best k-pop songs by a boyband, I also rank “Hands Up” as one of the worst by a top-tier group. JY Park is responsible for pretty much every lead single for an artist coming coming out of the JYP label (even though Miss A are managed by subsidiary AQ Entertainment). At first I assumed releasing “Touch” as the lead single was a bit of a stubborn decision by JY Park when there were better tracks like “Lips” and “Rock n Rule,” but after listening to the album in its entirety, I feel Miss A’s comeback will still be successful. I’m sure they will perform the remix version of “Touch” on music programs and the album should win them a few awards in their promotion cycle.

But the real decision to write this review was so that I could give the other songs on the album the attention they deserve. And yes, the headline is a take on the phrase “You can’t judge a book by its cover“. In an industry where the norm for most K-pop albums are: “one great single, rest album fillers,” ‘Touch – The 4th Project‘ is a rare example of when the album tracks outshine the lead single.

JYP released the best K-pop album of last year (in my opinion) and if Miss A’s ‘Touch’ is any indication, I’m all the more looking forward to 2PM’s comeback this year. JYP has already kicked off 2012 with some good music, I just hope there’s more in the pipeline!

My final rating: 3.5 out of 5 (Pretty Good)

Jay Park – ‘New Breed’ full album review: Quality and value like no other in K-pop!

Here I go again — new music from Jay Park baby! What began with the digital single “Girl Friend” last year, was then followed by volume 1 of ‘New Breed’ in December, and is now complete with the release Jay Park’s first full album.

Jay Park New Breed 1st album covers K-pop — Take your pick

The track-list for ‘New Breed‘ goes as such:

01. NEW BREED (INTRO)
02. Know Your Name
03. Girl Friend
04. Up And Down
05. I Love You
06. Go
07. I Got Your Back
08. 별 (Star)
09. 놀러와 (Come On Over)
10. 전화기를 꺼놔 (Turn Off Your Phone)
11. 너 없이 안돼 (Can’t Live Without You) [Acoustic ver.]
12. Aom&1llionaire
13. Enjoy The Show
14. 훅 갔어 (Wasted)
15. Clap

Out of the above, I’ve already dedicated one entire post for “Girl Friend,” and my ‘New Breed: Vol. 1’ review covers “Star,” “Enjoy the Show,” “Up and Down” “Can’t Live Without You” and “I Got your Back,” so I won’t be rehashing the same text here again.

Instead, here’s a review of the remaining songs:

01. “New Breed (Intro)” – The album kicks off with a lyrically hard-hitting rap track with Jay Park telling you he ain’t gonna ‘play the game’ in this business. He’s going to give you the “real shit” whether you like it or not! Ha ha, sure why not? – 3/5

02. “Know Your Name” – The lead single for this promotion cycle:

Produced by Da Beat Freakz, the New York-based production duo also behind “Girl Friend” as well, “Know Your Name” is a killer dance track. The song manages to get the right of mix Euro-pop and R&B, without ever sounding too much like any one genre. It’s a great record and makes for a perfect single! But I would love to hear the English version as the music is better suited for it, as I’m sure it was originally intended.

As for the MV, it’s a return to fast paced dancing and choreography by Andrew Baterina – one can tell, because some of the moves look recycled (something I’ve critiqued before). Other than that, the music video looks slick and props to Jay for featuring a black girl! 😉

My rating for “Know Your Name” – 4.5/5

05. “I Love You” Feat. Dynamic Duo – Oh. My. God. I was smiling as soon as Jay began singing his first verse. It’s such a good song! The beats, the melody, the chorus — it’s just lovely. The rap from my favourite Korean hip-hop group, Dynamic Duo, is awesome and I couldn’t move on to the other tracks because I had this on replay for near half-an-hour! The only flaw I found in this song is Jay’s vocals when he attempts to sustain a high pitch. Still, I’m going to give it a 5/5 anyway!

Edit: Even after a few hours of pushing this review live, I just can’t stop listening to this track! I hope Jay Park and SidusHQ consider it for a second single, it deserves to be! In my head I kept picturing the MV to feature intricate dance choreography, minimalistic colours (mostly black & white) — and for some goddamn reason, Hyoyeon as the female lead, dancing with Jay. Gosh, I’m such a SONE!

06. “Go” – A slow-paced track with the audio production made to sound as if it’s going in loops. Very listenable none the less and great vocals from Jay on this one. – 3.5/5

09. “놀러와 (Come On Over)” – I listened to this song right after “Go,” and I couldn’t help but find it a bit similar. Sure, this is an even slower track and Jay Park sings it in a mellow falsetto for much of the song. Quite sexy and atmospheric R&B – I love it! – 4/5

10. “전화기를 꺼놔 (Turn Off Your Phone)” – Smooth, sexy R&B territory again. Jay Park has surely shown his more mature side and makes no qualms about writing ‘bedroom music’ 🙂 – 3/5

12. “Aom&1llionaire” – A song dedicated to Jay Park’s frequent collaborators. AOM are of course, Art of Movement, the B-boy dance crew Jay Park is a part of. And 1llionaire are the South Korean hip-hop record company that rappers The Quiett and Dok 2 are a part of — both of whom have been featured on many of Jay Park’s songs. Expectantly, it’s a pure rap song, and it’s alright, but I doubt I’ll be listening it too often on album replays. – 2.5/5

14. “훅 갔어 (Wasted)” – Okay, knowing how up their asses MOGEF are, this song may end up getting banned. Why? Because it’s about drinking alcohol — and lots of it. Chugging, shots and eventually getting ‘wasted’. I don’t know if Jay even drinks like that for real but this song is again, pure rap and has a bit of a spooky vibe to it. But I kinda like it! – 3/5

15. “Clap” Feat. Tiger JK & Tasha – The final track, and by the end of this album, you must have realized Jay Park is now striving to be a hip-hop star more than a pop idol. Featuring Korean hip-hop legends Tiger JK & Tasha (Yoon Mi-rae) – who are husband and wife in real life – the last song on New Breed is meant for a live experience. – 3/5

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I don’t think it’s going to be fair compare ‘New Breed‘ to ‘Take a Deeper Look’. While mini-album TADL was a good ‘first attempt’ for a newly solo artist, that too one who did a lot of the work himself with an amateur production team, New Breed on the other hand is much more than just a slight improvement. Listening to the album in its entirety, it’s simply too good! Perfectly crafted, excellent production value, and the least formulaic. It’s one among the few K-pop albums I’ve reviewed where I didn’t use the word “filler” to describe a song. Only albums from 2AM, Block B, and Wonder Girls come to my mind in terms of such quality.

I didn’t feel Jay Park was really himself on songs like “Tonight,” which seemed like pure fan-service. ‘New Breed’ on the other hand is a clever message to the K-pop scene. This former boyband idol is spearheading a new breed of idol singers in the Korean market by showing the industry what he really likes to do musically, no strings attached. This album is just quality music with a difference. From start to finish, there’s hardly any song I would skip out of pure boredom or hate. And the fact Jay Park wrote most of the songs just reinstates the faith I have in his talents!

And talk about value for your money – 15 different songs in one album! Sure, haters will argue Jay made money selling “Girl Friend” and half of this album digitally in Korea, but given how global K-pop has become (and Jay Park’s own fanbase), there are still going to be enough takers for this complete release now that it’s available on iTunes. Plus, only now can you purchase a physical copy of the album — which is what I’m going to do. Screw mp3, this album is a collector’s item! ‘New Breed‘ is probably going to be Jay Park’s last Korean release before he begins work on his English debut.

All said and done, Jay Park is taking a step-by-step approach to international super-stardom. He hasn’t taken a misstep yet, and I hope he still retains creative control when he debuts in America. I’ll be hella disappointed if he ends up doing cheap Euro-trash dance pop like the rest of America’s popstars these days.

Even if he is forced to by his label, I can always pop in ‘New Breed’ and remind myself how good Jay Park really is!

Jay Park New Breed review rating — Good job Jay! (Again)

P.S: I’m aware of the fact Jay Park also released an acoustic version of “Know Your Name”. I didn’t really review it because it’s more a promotion for a cellphone brand. That said…

Jay Park Kissing Girl Know Your Name acoustic MV — Oh Jay... are MVs your only chance to make out with a girl? 😉 You know how many fangirls are dying for the chance?

The acoustic version sounds decent enough, but I’ll take the dance version over it any day.

My other posts on Jay Park:

Jay Park – ‘New Breed: Part 1’ album review: Star rising

Jay Park – “Girlfriend” review: He kissed a girl!

Jay Park – ‘Take a Deeper Look’ album review: About time!

Jay Park live in Bangkok: First Step in Thailand fan meet (Fancam)

Block B – ‘Welcome to the Block’ album review: Impressive comeback!

Of the countless rookie groups that debuted last year, very few of them really stood out to me. While many of them churned out the formulaic K-pop sound and image, few groups could be defined ‘unique’. One of those boybands was B1A4, and the other was Block B.

While I really liked B1A4’s debut single “OK Go,” I wasn’t too impressed by Block B’s “Wanna B”. But Block B still got my attention – mainly because of their attitude. Right from the get go, they didn’t seem to (or want to) conform to the cutesy, ‘act all innocent in front of the cameras’ image the other groups were going for. Instead, they were a little zany, and didn’t mind having some fun at red carpet events.

Now Block B are back with their second mini-album – and what an improvement it is!

Block B NanrinA mv screencap kpop video members — These guys could do really well on variety shows

Comprised of 5 songs (the 6th track is just an instrumental of “Narnina”), here’s a track-by-track review:

1. “LOL” – Clever title, great song! The album kicks off with an all-rap track, which at 2:25 in length, is all too brief to contain its awesome-ness. It could have been longer, but what’s the point – South Korea’s conservative party-pooper MOGEF and ~~SM Ent.’s slave~~ KBS has already banned the song for “inappropriate lyrics”. Which sucks, because this song doesn’t deserve it given how good it sounds. I just hope the boys get to perform it on the other channels, because it has to be heard. – 4/5

2. “난리나 (NanrinA)” – The lead single (which I keep misreading as ‘Narnia’):

Who would have thought baby talk “goo-goo, ga-ga” would end up in a pop song! This song is such fun, and yet, manages to pack in the attitude that Block B wants to showcase with the band’s image. With random James Brown screams and a heavy Timbaland musical influence, “Go Crazy” is an uptempo song and one that should do really well for Block B on the charts. I’ll take this song any day over B.A.P’s pretentious “Warrior“.

As for the music video, it’s alright. They show off their swagger, how gang-like they are, and the dance choreography isn’t bad (though I’m not so sure about the gorilla arm wave during the chorus :)) – 4/5

3. “했어 안했어 (Did You or Did You Not)” – For a boy band that claims to be more hip-hop than pop, this track proves that they can still cater to the female audience. And although the rappers get most of the spotlight as far as lyrics go, the vocalists in the group get their chance and prove they have the vocal chops too. But sadly, this was another song that was banned by MOGEF and KBS. They suck, this song doesn’t! – 3.5/5

4. “싱크로율 100% (Synchronization 100%)” – The vocalists get to shine some more on this guitar-tinged track. No electronic hip-hop beat to this one, but instead you get more organic instrumentals. It’s well produced and yet another stellar track on the album. – 4/5

5. “Action” – The last song on the mini-album samples 70’s American funk, but the top-notch production makes it very uplifting and fresh. The chorus is great and the “ooh la la la” just makes you want to sing along! – 3.5/5

—–

Most of the album was produced by Block B’s leader Zico and I can’t help but draw comparisons to Big Bang’s G-Dragon. Both leaders have proven to be effective songwriters and composers — a talent very few groups in K-pop can claim to have. Block B is lucky to have Zico and he’s surely got a bright future in the Korean music industry.

Last year, Block B were hardly seen much after their debut and were even neglected in the year end shows. Maybe it’s their ‘in your face’ attitude, which for old guard, maybe too much to handle. But you know what? Screw them! K-pop needs a shot in the arm and a change of attitude. Block B should remain the way they are, because they are definitely on my radar now.

‘Welcome to the Block‘ is just Block B’s second mini-album and judging by just how good this album is, they’re are about to get a lot bigger in 2012 — and censorship or not, you can’t hold these boys back!

My final rating: 4 out of 5 (Very Good)