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Korean Pop

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

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

Just when you thought I could take a break from writing k-pop reviews at the end of year, my favourite k-pop solo artist decides to push out one half of his new album. Still… I’m not going to complain. New music from Jay Park, yay!

It was only last month that Jay released the digital single “Girlfriend,” but now the burgeoning global star is set to release his first full album. Well, in two halves that is.

Jay Park New Breed part 1 album cover korean pop — Not a great album cover... but whatever

After uptempo singles — “Abandoned,” “Tonight” and “Girlfriend” — Jay Park slows things down with his latest single “Star” (별).

The song is a smooth ballad, but being a Jay Park single, still features some choreographed dancing. “Star” didn’t win me over instantly but the song slowly grew on me after repeated listens. It’s got a nice chorus, and Jay’s vocals are fine… except when he attempts the high notes during the bridge – it felt stressed, and shows his limits as a singer in some ways. Jay Park’s a good singer, no doubt, but he’s just a not a power singer.

The choreography is alright – but I do wish Jay would work with choreographers other than his own friends. The moves often resemble dances from past performances. I know Jay likes to help and support his crew and all, but I would like to see something radically different for a change.

As for the video…

Jay Park kissing girl Star MV kpop — Another video, another chance to kiss the girl in the MV. Hmmm, I wonder who comes up with all the ideas for the videos 😉

The MV for “Star” looks like it was filmed by the same production crew that worked on “Girlfriend,” because both videos have the same polish. I’m not really feeling Jay’s mohawk, it looks too big a cut for his head. Then again, I’m a straight guy who cares little for fashion– why should I nitpick about his appearance right?

“Star” may not be a stand out single like “Abandoned” was, but considering there is surely another single coming early 2012, I’m sure Jay chose this song to showcase his diversity as an artist as supposed to something we know we are used to hearing from Jay Park. My rating: 3/5

Here’s a mini-review of the rest of the tracks on the mini-album:

2. “Enjoy The Show” (Feat. Dok2 & The Quiett) – As “Star” ends and track 2 begins, as soon as you hear the first “mother fucker,” you know Jay doesn’t give a shit about being a mainstream popstar! 🙂 This song is easily my favourite track on the mini-album! Loved it on first listen, especially when the chorus kicked in: “nyah-nyana-nah-nah”. Ha-ha-ha… who has ever used that in a song properly?! And I know damn sure that’s going to turn into a fan chant when this song is performed live. Imagine how funny it would sound! Of course, aside from the taunt, Jay Park proves he’s such a 2NE1 fanboy with the clever inclusion of the “I Am the Best” line in Dok2’s rap. – 4/5

3. “Up And Down” (Feat. Dok2) – Another track featuring Jay Park’s favourite rap collaborator Dok2, track 3 is an electro-pop dance song. Good track, but as soon as I saw the song title I somehow knew the lyrics to match “up and down” were not going to be the most original. – 3.5/5

4. “I Got Your Back” – A very American-sounding R&B track, so if I were to wager a guess — this was written in English first? (Heck, for all I know, Jay writes all his songs in English first) The vocals are smooth, the chorus is cute, and the tempo is maintained throughout. – 3/5

5. “Can’t Live Without You” – If this song sounds familiar, it’s because this is just an acoustic version of track 3 from Jay Park’s ‘Take A Deeper Look‘. I actually prefer this version and his vocals sound better in this recording – something I felt was amiss when I reviewed that album earlier this year. – 3/5

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If this was Jay Park’s way of teasing us fans with what’s coming in 2012, he’s done a mighty fine job of whetting our appetites. “Star” may not be a favourite of mine, but just like “Girlfriend,” I don’t see Jay promoting it a hell lot. This being the year end and everybody taking a break, Jay’s definitely got a better uptempo single in store to lead the latter half of New Breed‘s full release next year.

‘New Breed’ may be Jay Park’s last Korean release for a while as he did mention that 2012 will see him begin work on an English album (now that he is signed to Universal Music Group). ‘New Breed: Part 1’ is a sign that Jay Park is slowly gearing up for greater success as an international star. The production quality on this album is few notches higher than it was on TADL, and I just can’t wait to hear the tracks on ‘New Breed: Part 2’. Don’t make us wait too long Jay! 🙂

My final rating for ‘New Breed: Part 1’ – 3.5 out of 5 (Good)

Update 07/02/2011: ‘New Breed’ the full album is out! My review of the other tracks can be found here: Jay Park – ‘New Breed’ full album review: Quality and value like no other in K-pop!

INFINITE – “White Confession (Lately)” 하얀고백 review: 2011, this was their year!

By Mithun Divakaran
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Dec 07, 2011
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Korean Pop, Music/Videos

Sorry Cassies, Blackjacks, VIPs, ELFS, Kamilias, Sones (disclaimer: I’m one). You can argue all you want about how impressive a comeback all your favourite artists made this year — but 2011 belonged to INFINITE!

This was their year. The year that kicked off with “Before the Dawn,” continued with “Nothing’s Over” and then, their best single yet, the one that won them their first award – “Be Mine“! After that, INFINITE were on “Paradise” with a few more awards and now, they end their year thanking their fans (in)spirit of Christmas with a new single.

I didn’t think I’d write a post for this song because I expected nothing special, since, you know… it’s just a holiday single. They’re usually cheesy right?

Nope, not this one.

I guess the reason I really liked “White Confession” is because if you listen to the song, it doesn’t reek of ‘that time of the year’. Even if it wasn’t chilly outside I still would have listened to it non-stop. I mean, who listens to Mariah’s cheesy Chritsmas pop hits in the middle of June?! “White Confession” fortunately does not have any jingle bell sounds, and the only hint you get it’s a Christmas single is the “Merry Christmas” at 2:58 and the guitars and humming beginning at 3:33.

I love the song structure too, the build up, the chorus – which isn’t a proper chorus anyway. The rappers – Hoya and Dong Woo – get a lot of rapping time, while the rest of the members still get to shine with their vocals – in fine form as ever!

Of course, the MV is as Christmas-y as it gets. Shot on the clean streets of Japan (and what looks like a nice suburb of Tokyo), the video is simple yet very effective. I can tell it was shot using a video DSLR camera as supposed to a usual movie camera. The depth of field in some shots, the frame-rate and the close-ups — whoever filmed this video really did a good job of giving the music video and the boys a very natural feel. I enjoy listening to the song more watching the video, it’s definitely one of INFINITE’s best MVs. Proof that a good music video doesn’t have to be an expensive production. The simplicity of this MV works for the song.

“”White Confession” is yet another production by top music duo Sweetune — the guys behind KARA’s “Mister,” “Lupin,” “Jumping” and the bright “Step”. Sweetune’s “Figaro” gave Nine Muses another shot at success (I really liked that song!). They are also responsible for Rainbow’s two best tracks “A” and “Mach” (ugh, I wish Sweetune had worked on Rainbow’s disappointing comeback). And of course, Sweetune are responsible for many of INFINITE’s songs including “Be Mine”. In short, I really like Sweetune’s production style!

Five singles. That’s how many INFINITE put out this year – and all five of them were top-notch! No other K-pop group can claim to have done that (or did). Even though I feel INFINITE will be ignored at this year’s Golden Disk Awards, or for that matter, any of the big year-end award shows (due to rival fanbases, which are simply too big compared to Inspirits) — I’m sure INFINITE will still be content with their achievements this year.

This judge awards INFINITE: 4 out of 5 (Very Good)

You got to give credit where credit is due. Hats off to the people at Woolim Entertainment who work on INFINITE’s management! They really know how to set this group apart from the clutter of the zillion K-pop boy bands out there. Ever since their debut with “Come Back Again,” Woolim’s song selection for INFINITE’s singles have been good after good after good. Woolim’s not a big company, with hardly any money-making superstars on their roster. Their ‘low budgets’ showed in the MVs for “Come Back Again” and “She’s Back” — INFINITE’s first two singles. But as the money slowly rolled in, they invested in the right talent and managed to package INFINITE to stand out from the rest.

Woolim really pushed INFINITE to work their asses off to be the best in-synch group out there, and it’s paid off big time. INFINITE are in my opinion, simply the best performance group out there! I never tire of watching an INFINITE performance. Even it’s the same song every week on the usual music programs or the random concerts they perform at, the boys really work their muscles to deliver the best. Even SNSD, South Korea’s best girl group have admitted they genuinely love INFINITE. A lot of their peers do too.

2011 will surely be remembered by anybody who follows INFINITE as the year the boys ‘made it’. The members themselves will treasure this year too. The year they finally won their first award. The year they finally moved out of their dilapidated apartment and into a better one (with more toilets! ^_^). The year INFINITE debuted in Japan. And can you believe it’s not even been two complete years since they debuted in June 2010?

Imagine what INFINITE has in store in 2012!

Infinite christmas Santa outfits lately korean pop — Enjoy the holidays boys, you deserve the break! (Image: http://www.ifnt7.com/)

K-pop Round-up-Review: U-KISS, A-Pink and Trouble Maker

By Mithun Divakaran
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Dec 01, 2011
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Korean Pop, Music/Videos, Round-up-Review

I didn’t want to dedicate one post to each one of these songs, and thus, one post for all. First up, a boyband that made me shut up and take them seriously this year.

U-KISS – “Tick Tack”

U-Kiss Japan single Tick Tack mv members screencap — U-Kiss deliver another smashing single to appease their fans

I know, this is their Japanese single. So technically it’s J-pop, and not K-pop. But aside from the Japanese lyrics, everything else about this song and video just reeks ‘K-pop’. From the standard ‘wiping lips with finger’ actions to the song itself. Produced by the same geniuses behind much of U-KISS’s stellar Korean album ‘Neverland,’ this song could have easily began as a Korean track that was then changed to Japanese. But for once, Japanese really works for this song — it sounds natural.

It’s a heavy dance track, yes, but the vocals are still given a chance to shine (although the ‘non-singers’ in the group, Eli and Dong Ho just mouth their allotted lines). The choreography isn’t bad and I particularly love the part at 1:40, how they spread apart with that leg dance.

U-kiss Japan pv Tick Tack screencap — Finger swiping lips. Yup, this is still K-pop alright.

I felt sorry for U-KISS after they failed to win a single award despite appearing on just about every Korean music show for nearly two months promoting “Neverland” and then “Someday”. Here’s hoping the boys do really well in Japan with “Tick Tack”.

Rating: 4 out of 5 (Very Good)

Update: U-KISS’s Kevin tweeted this:

U-kiss Kevin Woo tweet — Thanks Kevin, this clarifies both my doubts!

A-Pink – “My My”

One of the more hyped girl groups of 2011… but yet another that I cared a damp squib about with their first single. A-Pink, from Cube Entertainment’s sister company, were just another one of those cutesy angelic young idol groups that found a fanbase among the tween crowd and the older “oppa” crowd. I wasn’t either of them.

Their comeback song though…

… is pretty good! Sure, they still haven’t strayed away from their formula and the girls look innocent as ever. My only gripe is — man, they all look alike! Usually for such reviews, I would make a screen cap photo of each member but after figuring out four of the members, I just couldn’t figured out who the other three individuals were!

Anyway, the song. A lot of people have said it’s a throwback to the first generation of K-pop girls groups, like Fin.K.L and S.E.S. But since I never grew up listening to them, the reason this song still resonated with me is because of it’s very 90s vibe. I was instantly taken back to the days of Mariah Carey’s “Dreamlover” and Shanice’s “I Love Your Smile,” and “My My” has the same retro pop vibe many such pop hits had in the 1990s. Even the dance choreography in “My My” is very 90s-inspired.

A-Pink have really good vocals, so in many ways, I feel this group will eventually grow the SNSD-way and shed their cutesy image in a year or two (and turn ‘sexy’ eventually). If not that, I hope the girls at least get different hair cuts!

A-pink My My mv screencap mithunonthenet — Yes…erm, whichever one you are… I’ll anticipate A-Pink’s next release

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 (Good)

Trouble Maker – “Trouble Maker”

Another Cube Entertainment offering and a rather surprising project. 4Minute’s HyunA and B2ST’s Jang Hyunseung form the duo Trouble Maker, something quite different and not an expected idol pairing. HyunA’s hot off her “Bubble Pop” viral hit and B2ST has had a great year with “Fiction“.

After a steamy performance at MAMA 2011, expectations were sky high and with the song officially out, Trouble Maker doesn’t disappoint!

The instant I heard the whistle, I wondered if the people behind this track were influenced by Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger”. The other song that came to my mind upon hearing the whistle part was the hook from Perfume’s “Love Beam”. Influences aside, “Trouble Maker” still stands on its own as a funky pop song with a catchy chorus.

Troublemaker JS Hyuna video sexy screencap k-pop — What HyunaA gets in ‘sexy’ screen time, Hyunseung makes up for with more lines to sing

Cube gets a lot of criticism for promoting HyunA way too much. For good reason. I mean she already had her solo success with “Bubble Pop” and became a sex symbol overnight. From cute to sexy, Hyuna is surely one of the prettiest k-pop idols out there and Cube really have a ‘star’ on their roster. Her sexy demeanor works for Trouble Maker, but it does seem a bit unfair when an artist whose singing capabilities are lacking gets way too much attention than say, her fellow 4Minute members. Oh well, if Britney Spears can last 10 years…

Even though the song is essentially ‘Hyunseung featuring HyunA,’ for the sake of the visuals, the pairing makes sense. The MV is alright: sassy, sexy and… erm, actually I don’t know what the video was about. Two spies/agents spying on each other? Get caught, make out? Somebody gets shot in the end? Who knows, maybe there will be a continuation.

Which I hope there is. Judging by the song alone, “Trouble Maker” will be a hit and should do very well on the charts. I’m sure 2011 is not the last we have seen of these two ‘trouble makers’.

Rating: 4 out of 5 (Very Good)