New Music Alert!
WooAh - Shining On You
It's hard to believe this is the same group that just released 'Pom Pom Pom' a month ago. Just a complete vibe shift; although, I guess you could say that 'Pom Pom Pom' was the outlier and this is just a return to form. Anyway, fun song, cute video!
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Old Music Alert!(?)
As I understand it, this is an unreleased track from before the group had their member reshuffle, and they went back and re-mastered it with added vocals from Youngji. Really touching, I'm glad they are still honoring Hara's memory.
KARA - Hello
Happy Throwback Thursday everyone! I've heard it's been hot as hell out there for some folks, so I hope you're doing well and not suffering too badly from the heat. In my neck of the woods it's been the opposite; uncharacteristically mild temps and a lot of rain, and since I'm not much of an outdoors-y type of person I've been enjoying it while it lasts. I think we're caught up on new releases (feel free to post 'em if you know of some that haven't been mentioned) so lets get into the throwback!
Today I brought the debut solo single from a member of a very popular and beloved girl group. She never really enjoyed anything near the level of success that she had while she was in the group, unfortunately, but I guess that's kinda the norm for most solo releases by members of popular groups. It's pretty rare for them to be more successful than when they were together. That all being said, I really like this video; the song starts off a bit slow but the chorus is really great and totally worth the trip. Also, there's a part where it looks like she's dancing on the street and she does this move where she drags her bare feet together across the pavement; it looks so painful that I have to assume the whole scene is CG because otherwise OUCH! Anyway, please enjoy!
HA:TFELT - Ain't Nobody
A rare boy group post!*
Stray Kids - Chk Chk Boom
Video features cameos from Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds. Actual song is short but sweet.
*if any boy group stans want to post here with recommendations, I'd love to have more suggestions.
This is a performance video for a song XG did for the game Valorant. I guess the song has been out for a few months now, but I completely missed it.
XG - Undefeated (Performance Video)
This Friday should also be the pre-release to their second mini album, Something Ain't Right, so keep an eye out for that.
KARA - I Do I Do
Missed this when it first dropped; this really nice comeback for KARA.
Happy Throwback Thursday everyone! Been kinda light for new releases this week, especially compared to the deluge we were getting this past month. I believe we're caught up (new XG drops tomorrow!) so let's jump in our time machine.
This group is not one I'm super familiar with, tbh. They debuted in 2013 and were active until 2015, finally disbanding in 2017. None of their releases ever cracked the top 50 on the Korean charts at the time. But that doesn't mean they didn't have any quality songs! This one seems like it was their most popular one, so check it out and maybe you'll find something you like.
BESTie - Thank You Very Much
Happy throwback Thursday. I'll add this Girls Generation stage mix of their 2015 hit Lion Heart. Now there are a lot of similar videos of a lot of groups that does apparently seamless cutting between several different performances of a song but this one goes above and beyond in its editing...
SNSD (Girls’ Generation) - ‘Lion Heart’ (stage mix)
Here's the promised XG video.
XG - Something Ain't Right
They keep doing it. Banger after banger. Love that Cocona seems to be keeping the shaved head look and it wasn't just a stunt for one video. Honestly she slays with that look.
Rolling Quartz - Red Wine
Happy Throwback Thursday everyone! Been kinda light for new releases this week, especially compared to the deluge we were getting this past month. I believe we're caught up (new XG drops tomorrow!) so let's jump in our time machine.
This group is not one I'm super familiar with, tbh. They debuted in 2013 and were active until 2015, finally disbanding in 2017. None of their releases ever cracked the top 50 on the Korean charts at the time. But that doesn't mean they didn't have any quality songs! This one seems like it was their most popular one, so check it out and maybe you'll find something you like.
Well, it's not Thursday anymore, but I'll piggyback off your choice because there are a couple of BESTie songs that I listened to a LOT back in 2015, which was the year I first got into Kpop. I believe these were their most popular releases as well:
BESTie - Excuse Me
BESTie - Love Options
U-Chae - Awake
this is the solo debut of former Pixy member Dajeong who left the group in June (don't know the reason for her new stage name). It's...okay? A decent first outing; too short though, IMO.
Red Velvet's 10th anniversary song:
Red Velvet - Sweet Dreams
Happy Throwback Thursday! I've got a doozy of a throwback this time so let's jump right into it. This one is from a singer who (at the time) went by the stage name Ivy. These days she goes by her real name, Park Eunhye, and primarily performs musical theater and does some film acting as well. This song has a Beethoven sample (fun!) and the MV is a homage (or, if you are SquareEnix, a blatant rip off) of Final Fantasy Advent Children, to the point where legal action was taken and the video was banned after it's release in 2007 from being played on TV. On top of it all, it's a pretty good little bop, so check it out!
Ivy - Sonata of Temptation
JEON SOMI - Ice Cream
Here's a special video for a b-side from their most recent EP, I SWAY, which featured the title track Klaxon.
(G)I-DLE - Bloom (Special Clip)
UNIS - Curious
I'm digging this quite a bit. I was into their last single, 'Superwoman', as well, so I went back and checked out some of the other songs; I gotta say, they have a pretty decent hit rate (for me, at least). I keep getting reminded of other group's songs when listening to some of them; not a lot, just like a tickle in the back of my mind that a certain riff or rhythm is similar to something I've heard in the past. It might be just various songwriters' styles that I'm picking up on, though, and after the issue I had with Billlie's 'Eunoia' that turned out to be actually nothing but my brain playing a cruel prank on me, I think I'll just ignore it and enjoy the songs.
LightSum - Pose!
I like this new single from Lightsum, but I don't love it. I really appreciate the group trying new a new sound (for them, anyway) but it doesn't have a lot of dynamism pulling you through the song; if you listen to any 10 seconds of the song, then you've more or less heard the whole thing. Say what you want about the trend of bashing two (or more) songs together to create one song with wildly divergent sounds, but at least those songs have something to change up the flow a bit.
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IVE - Crush
Another new single, this time in Japanese. This was...fine? I dunno, maybe I'm getting jaded. It felt very rhythmically stale to me, and the MV was a bit of a nothing-burger. Your mileage may vary, I suppose.
I don't know why, but I'm really pulling for Lightsum. They seem to be a group that could really find success if they could only get the formula right.
Happy Throwback Thurdsay everyone! Hope you're doing well. We've had some fun new releases this past week; super-popular groups, up-and-comers, soloists, and one of the groups I'm always happy to see have a comeback, Lightsum!
I don't know why, but I'm really pulling for Lightsum. They seem to be a group that could
really find success if they could only get the formula right.
I think anyone who has been a fan of this scene for any length of time will have groups they like but wish would break out more. It's hard to pinpoint why some groups struggle to grow their fanbase; budget certainly is a big part of it and the quality of the song is often tied to that, but there have been breakout successes from small companies (not that Cube is small by any means) and I think that sort of thing is just a matter of luck and timing.
Anyway, enough dinking around from me, let's get to the throwback! I heard Gyeongri from 9muses is having a solo comeback soon, so to celebrate we're throwing back to 2013 today! At this point, 9muses has already gone through some line-up changes since their debut in 2010, but they're back up to nine members when this song is released, including (you guessed it) Gyeongri and their newly added member Sungah. This song has really nice groove to it and a good horn section, which is always fun. Please enjoy!
9muses - Dolls
Here's the first fromis_9 comeback in a while and I'm really digging it:
fromis_9 - Supersonic
And another sexy, summer concept from HYOLYN:
HYOLYN - Wait
Happy Throwback Thursday everyone! Hope you're doing well. I'm gonna jump right into it with this song from a short-lived group that I didn't really know that much about but I saw their video come up on my recommended list while hunting around for stuff for the throwback and I thought it was kinda fun so I dug a little deeper. Turns out, this song was released on the same day as Girls' Generation's "I Got A Boy", so bad timing I guess? Also, the group was only around for about 3 years, disbanding prematurely due to bad press and scandals during that time which ultimately could not be overcome. You can read more about it if you want, but I'm gonna just focus on the video and song, which I think is pretty good; it's got a bit of silliness and charm that reminds me of certain G-Dragon MVs. Fun fact: this song samples another Korean pop song from the 90's! Anyway, please enjoy.
GLAM - I Like That
New solo song from LISA:
LISA - NEW WOMAN feat. Rosalía
New solo song from LISA:
LISA - NEW WOMAN feat. Rosalía
Damn! That knocked me for a loop. Really awesome, and a huge departure for her as well. I didn't care for the middle bit (you know which part I mean), but overall I'm super impressed. And the MV is amazing too! I have to say, I hesitate to even call this a Kpop song. I mean, she's from Thailand, and I can't even tell if her new company is based out of Korea or not.
I think it's fine to post here, don't get me wrong; she's kinda grandfathered (grandmothered?) into the scene by association. I'm just saying that this song does not feel like a Kpop song in any way; if I didn't have prior knowledge there's nothing that would make me consider it as such.
Totally agree. In fact the song is categorized as "pop" in iTunes. Overall I like the whole thing, including the guest artist. I only know of Rosalia from watching her Coachella sets a few years ago since she was on the same stage just before Blackpink when they performed there. I liked what I heard, but never go around to checking her out more.
BTW, I think it's totally fine to post here. I'm not one for gatekeeping and it bugs me anytime I see someone comment "But XG isn't REALLY Kpop" (or LISA, or AleXa, or BiBi, or Katseye, or whoever) online (never saw it here, but have other places).
I declare this a Kpop-adjacent friendly zone!
I declare this a Kpop-adjacent friendly zone!
In that case...
Katseye - Touch
Katseye - My Way
I had been questioning whether or not post about these MVs but now I'll just do it! I'm really impressed with the newest Katseye EP; my only note is that the songs are too short! Is three minutes too much to ask these days?
Unrelatedly:
Mimiirose - The Flowers Swayed
This one's solid, but probably won't crack my top ten. But it is over three minutes. Take that!
Cute release of a b-side from the ARTMS album.
ARTMS - Unf/Air Self-Made MV
Cute release of a b-side from the ARTMS album.
ARTMS - Unf/Air Self-Made MV
I like the song; I'm not sure I'm okay with the MV just ripping off the schtick from the New Jeans 'Ditto' MV. Also, is Heejin's hair a wig or did she bleach it too many times and have to cut off the damaged parts? What I'm saying is I have questions.
NMIXX - See That?
XXL is one of my favorite songs this year, and it great to see Young Posse come back with more CGI craziness. Don't think it'll beat XXL for me, but it's still a lot of fun.
Young Posse - ATE THAT
And a new song from Moon Byul. This is from the repackage of her Starlit of Twinkle album which features 3 new songs and an English version of TOUCHIN&MOVIN.
Moon Byul - Is This Love?
Even more new releases!
STAYC - Meow (Japanese single)
This is fine, but not great. Also, too short. Oh well; I guess they can't all be winners.
And, for a bit of diversity...
NEXZ - Keep on Moving
This is the group formed by the newest season of JYP's NIZI project competition show; the first season culminated with the formation of NiziU, and this group is also primarily Japanese. The only non-Japanese member is still basically Japanese; his parents are both from Korea but he was born and raised in Tokyo. Anyway, this song is not gonna make any lists for me this year but it's a decent listen. I seem to recall Niziu needing some time to ramp up as well, so we'll see how it goes.
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