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Korean Pop

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

2AM – ‘Saint O’ Clock’ album review: My favourite K-pop album of 2010!

When I heard of 2AM the first time, I disregarded them as some soppy-boy band for girls who love their mushy love songs. An Asian version of Il Divo (minus the opera) if you may.

2am Saint O' Clock promo teaser concept member photos
From top: Jinwoon, Changmin, Jo Kwon, Seulong

Even when allkpop began hyping their upcoming new release with the many (many) teasers they kept releasing, I never bothered to click. Then when the official music videos for their first two singles were released, I was curious to see if the hype was all worth it. I listened to the two singles – “Like Crazy” and  “You Wouldn’t Answer My calls” and went: “Wow, nice songs. They have great voices too.”

So I thought to myself: ” Well, if they have two great songs in one album, they may have a few more good songs”.

2am Saint O'Clock rain alternate new album cover
2AM's first full-length studio album

Long story short, here I am writing a track-by-track album review for an album I think is one of the best pop albums of the year! (I’ve managed to find out the English translation for the Korean song titles):

1) INTRO – Phone:  A beautiful piano laden instrumental with the phone constantly ringing in the background. Sounds very Japanese soundtrack-esque. Also a precursor to the next track.

2) 전활 받지 않는 너에게 / You Wouldn’t Answer My Calls – A beautiful emotional ballad. Not much else to say really. It’s beautiful track.

I wouldn’t rave about the video, but then again, I’m a guy. The girls seem to love it. (4 out of 5 for the song)

3. 미친 듯이 / Like Crazy – Another great ballad! Slightly more uptempo compared to its predecessor but a soppy ballad none the less.

Since I don’t know Korean, I have no idea why they’re crying so much in the video. (4/5 for the song)

4. 바로 나야 (feat. GLAM) / Just Me (Feat. GLAM) – One of the my favourite tracks on the album! Happier, fresh-sounding with a 90s- groove to it. (4/5)

5. Mirage – Getting into American R & B territory with this one. Just ‘okay’ to me. (Sorry, I don’t like Korean-pop trying too hard to sound American) (2.5/5)

6. 다시 사랑하기엔 / To Love Again – A nice ballad. Sounds like a track you’d often find on a soundtrack to some K-drama or movie. (3/5)

7. 이젠 없다 / Now, There’s No More – Found this to be track best enjoyed with your eyes closed. Another great ballad. (3.5/5)

8. 불안하다 / Nervous – Beats! Thumping beats! Yet another song with a strong 90s-vibe. This time a lot more uptempo. (4/5)

9. Love U, Hate U (feat. 방탄소년단) – My least favourite track on this album. Only because its another attempt to sound American with its “H to the A to the T to E” lyrics. Didn’t even bother listening to it in full the first time. (1/5)

10. With or Without U – The most uptempo track on the album, this is a great track with the guys letting it all out in the chorus. (3.5/5)

11. 사랑한단 말 못해 / Can’t Tell You That I Love You – The final track on the album and believe it or not… my favourite song on this album! A sexy uptempo track with great beats, this seems to be a favourite among fans as well.

Overall album rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

I’m definitely getting this album! Either on yesasia.com or when I go to Bangkok in a few days time. With this album, 2AM are now officially on my k-pop radar.

Update: I finally bought my copy of the album. Picked it up when I was in Manila, Philippines.

Shinee Hello 2AM Saint O' Clock album CDs India
Also bought SHINee's 'Hello' re-package album because I loved "Lucifer" so much!

They’re back! SNSD/Girl’s Generation – “Hoot” 훗 — the new single!

My favourite girl group (and pretty much the group that got me hooked on k-pop) are back with a new single and a new look!

SNSD Girls Generation members Tiffany, Jessica, Seohyun, Yoona, Yuri, Sooyoung, Sunny, Taeyeon, Hyoyeon
The new concept image goes for a very retro spy-inspired vibe

Written by Yoo Young-jin, the man behind “Genie (Tell Me Your Wish)” and (still) my favourite song of 2010 – “Lucifer,” the new single “Hoot” sounds a lot more grown up compared to their earlier releases. It’s still fun! Take a listen:

EDIT (28/10/2010): Embedding the recently released music video…

On first listen I went: “Hmmm, different.” Then I played it again. And then again. And again.

This went on for nearly 2 hours straight in office, I’m not kidding. It didn’t really take me long before I realized I really like this song!

The girls sound great and my only grudge against the track is the constant laughter of the girls that appears after the choruses. Quite annoying — and distracting. Maybe it has a part in the video but I do feel it couldn’t have been done away with in the audio release.

The music video is out on October 27th and I will update the post with my opinion on the same then! EDIT (28/10/2010): After watching the video (which guest stars Choi Siwon of Super Junior as a Bond-like agent), I don’t feel any indifferent about “Hoot”. The music video compliments the song very well. Particularly liked the idea of 3 rooms with 3 girls in different colour palettes. Dance choreography is okay, the “shooting arrow” move is very well done but I did notice that Jessica got more screen time in the front. I love her and all but I hardly saw Yuri & Hyoyeon get some good screen presence. I also feel the bits of the video where all 9 girls dance in black looked futuristic, which made for a disconnect with the rest of the video’ s retro vibe.

EDIT (27/10/2010): Just finished listening to the whole album.

I know it’s just a mini-album, so I’m not going to write in great detail to critique it! Here’s my track-by-track review:

01. “Hoot” – It took me a few listens, but I really like this track. I honestly didn’t want another “Gee”. They’ve grown past that. This really is a different sound from them so I had high expectations that the whole album would be, well, “different” – 4 out of 5.

02. “내 잘못이죠 (Mistake)” – Supposedly written by Yuri, it’s a good R&B ballad. Not great, but good – 3 out of 5.

03. “단짝 (My Best Friend)” – Sounds like a mish-mash of 3-4 k-pop songs – 2.5 out of 5.

04. “Wake Up” – Essentially “Run Devil Run” 2.5. Heard it once, don’t think I’ll be clicking on it again – 1 out of 5.

05. “첫눈에…(Snowy Wish)” – Early X’mas track, catchy & sweet. Probably my second favourite after “Hoot” – 3.5 out 5.

Though I was expecting a “different” sound throughout, the new mini-album from SNSD is not that good in my opinion. With the whole retro-vibe concept, I was expecting more funky sounds.

I had it on pre-order on yesasia.com but having listened to it in full, I think I’m going to cancel it and wait for a full album release or an album re-package in a few months time.

‘Hoot‘ mini-album final rating: 3 out of 5

Rainbow’s new single ‘Mach’ — Really starting to like this group!

I’ve written about Korean girl group Rainbow before. After their disappointing debut single —  “Gossip Girl,” they came back strong and won many fans (including myself) with “A” (I still feel the lifting-the-shirt dance is lame).

Rainbow Mach new single kpop dominatrix black leatherNow they are back with a new single called “Mach”:

Why the song is named after a measure of speed I’ll never know (until I learn Korean). But who cares. It’s a great follow-up release and I’m now really starting to pay attention to Rainbow. I still don’t know their names and could care less for their sexed-up image.

As long as they come out with good singles like this, I’ll be eagerly awaiting Rainbow’s next release.

I just hope they hire better choreographers from now on.

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