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LOOΠΔ, the 12 member girl group from BlockBerry Creative, has officially made their comeback with their track “Butterfly” which is part of their repackaged album X_X. BBC has been teasing us with photos, videos, and concept trailers for the past couple of months and anyone who is an Orbit was going crazy with all the teasers but no date until just recently. I personally have followed LOOΠΔ since around the time that Yeo Jin debuted which was around this time last year. My bias is Jin Soul and my favorite sub unit is Odd Eye Circle. I currently have all the solo albums (just the regular non-colored versions), all of the sub unit albums (again, just the regular for most, except I do have one limited version, I believe), and LOOΠΔ’s debut album ++ which I believe is just the regular version. I plan on buying the repackaged album once I get paid. Sorry for talking about my purchases, I just get excited when I talk about LOOΠΔ. The music video wasn’t what I was expecting, but it exceeded my expectations by so much. The video had a message about becoming your own person; spreading your wings like a butterfly. It showcased the girls’ dance moves while at the same time, including people from all over the world in the video, breaking out and becoming their own butterfly. What a beautiful music video! As expected too, the video quality was top notch. The cinematography that BBC has is nearly unmatched because of how deep or how cinematic or noir or whatever else they make their videos. Not every video is the same either. Just look at “Rain 51db” or “ViVid” in comparison to “Egoist” or “Singing in the Rain”. Each video has its own unique style and quality level, but all are so beautiful and well shot.  I don’t know if Dreampop is the right term for this track. It definitely has the Dreampop vibe to it, but it feels like so much more. Between the filtered piano sounds to the off toned snare hits in the verse, it creates something totally different and new from anything I’ve ever heard, not just in Kpop but in music altogether.
When the chorus comes in, you expect a drop, which it delivers, but I don’t think anyone could have prepared me for this level of a drop. It navigates through the pulsating throbs of EDM and the high-pitched vocal screeches of Dreampop while almost having a Dubstep edge to it as well, all while remaining calm, but at the same time very energetic. It truly is a unique chorus and drop and only LOOΠΔ could do it. Well, Orbits, and fans alike, here it is! LOOΠΔ has officially come back and with a song that is uniquely LOOΠΔ. I personally loved the song and can’t wait to go listen to the rest of the album, which I’m also excited for because the retelling of ++ in a different order. What were your thoughts on LOOΠΔ’s new song “Butterfly”? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section. Thank you for all your support. I truly appreciate it. I’ll see you in the next review. Dreamcatcher is ending an era, or so they say with the release of their latest mini album. The 7 member Rock-influenced girl group makes their comeback with “Piri” which, according to the internet, is a flute-like instrument made of bamboo, often used in Classical music. With that introduction, I’m hoping this song has some Classical elements and maybe is a bit like Symphonic Metal because the only thing that would make Dreamcatcher any cooler would be a symphony backing their already Metal sound. I’m unsure of what is happening in the video and when this video takes place in the timeline of the Dreamcatcher Universe. There’s a ton of symbolism happening throughout the video such as the white room, the ladder, clocks, dolls, phones, and much more. Like I said, I don’t actually know what’s happening, but I believe this takes place before everything else. I could be wrong, but in the “Chase Me” music video, there is a doll that takes a huge role in the story and this might be where the doll and I believe it’s Dami trade places, maybe exchanging souls. I don’t know this story super well, so don’t attack me for not knowing. There’s a lot that could be examined here, but I’m not the person that should be doing that examining because, first of all, I don’t know all of their names and I don’t know the story and am terrible and finding hidden clues and reading into subtle cues. I hope someone will take this video and the entire Nightmare era and dissect it.  The song had the “piri” or flute sound throughout as a driving force for the song. It was incredibly creepy and haunting but did the song good. There was a moment in the chorus, I believe, where there was a call and response that was happening between the flute and the girls chanting which gave me goosebumps. The crunch of the guitar was very nice too. It was in your face, but not too overpowering as to wash out the rest of the track. I also enjoyed the fact that the chorus was a little more complex than other Dreamcatcher choruses. Not a whole lot, but just a bit more complexity in the chorus.
What do you think of Dreamcatcher’s final Nightmare comeback? What genre do you think they will dive into next? Do you think they’ll stick to the Metal sound within another realm of dream catching? Let me know in the comments what you think. Thank you for your support and I’ll see you in the next review. Itzy is a new girl group under JYP Entertainment that I know very little about. In fact, that’s probably all I actually know about this group. I know there was quite a bit of hype surrounding their debut but the process that revealed them and their official debut seemed rather quick. Maybe I’m just out of it and am losing my touch. Either way, they debuted with their song “Dalla Dalla” which I’m unsure what it means. To me, it sounds like “dollar dollar” but I could be wrong. What a trip! Literally, that video took me on a trip because the concept seemed to be traveling. The beginning of the video followed five girls as they entered an elevator with some luggage. Once the girls exited the elevator, there were various sequences of airport security and escalators and such. The type of things you’d see at an airport. On top of that, it was a very colorful video in the strangest way. I think the person editing this video wanted a challenge so most of the visual effects in the video seemed to be in post production. It was just the epilepsy-inducing type of visual effects. A lot of flashing colors and bright lights.  The song was interesting because I thought it would be similar to Twice in style but it was complete opposite of what Twice would be. This style is hard hitting and almost Blackpink-ish, but Blackpink-ish in a different way. It’s hard to explain. Maybe the catchiness of Cherry Bullet with the breakdowns of Momoland, but the edge of Blackpink. I’m not sure.
What are your thoughts on Itzy, the new girl group from JYP? Do you think they’ll be as successful as Twice? What do you think differentiates them from other JYP groups? Let me know in the comments. Thank you for your support. My website shut down for a couple of days a little bit ago, but it gives me hope that my numbers are still up. I appreciate that! Thank you so much! I’ll see you in the next review. Stephanie Young Hwang who is also known as Tiffany, Tiffany Young, or to her fans, she goes by Fany. She is one of the original 9 members of Girls’ Generation. She has since her time in the group, pursued her own career as a solo artist in the United States. Songs like “Under My Skin”, “Teach You”, and “Peppermint” easily get stuck in the heads of those listening. Her addictive voice is like honey. Tiffany released her new song “Born Again” along with an accompanying video. She knows how to get “under my skin” with her addictive like a “peppermint” songs. She can “teach [me]” any day what music is and what success really is. Tiffany, I’m ready for your seductive voice again. The video starts up with ocean waves crashing gently on the beach. Then we see Tiffany with her blonde hair, running across the beach and splashing in the water from a large rock, all in a wedding dress. The sun shines through the filter of the lens, creating flares and an ever-dramatic scene throughout the video. Have I ever talked about how beautiful Tiffany is? Because she is gorgeous. She is the epitome of an international star. Born in California, raised in a Korean home and spent most of her life as a Popstar in South Korea, only now to come back to America to dominate. I can feel her power become overwhelming. People will have to notice her.  The song has so much beauty but so much grit to it as well. I read some of the YouTube comments and part of my reaction has to do with the compression rate of the audio for the YouTube video. Many commenters mentioned a much clearer sound for the Spotify release. I did feel like the bass was too overpowering and sort of drowned out Tiffany’s voice.
However, I really enjoyed the song. The bass, which I just mentioned, was super aggressive, but I’m hoping the actual song keeps some of that dirtiness. I also love the dissonance that hangs throughout the song between her voice and the instrumental. It creates an ominous and atmospheric sound to the track, along with those gritty effects throughout. The filters on her voice don’t detract or enhance her voice, but give it a style. It’s just something that is there that makes the production level that much better. It creates distance between her voice and everything else. During the chorus, Tiffany sings in a lower register than she typically does, but then dubs in higher ad libs over the chorus which really adds to that atmospheric sound I mentioned. Finally, the subtle guitar strums in the bridge and creating a sort of pseudo-chorus right before the final chorus that really makes that last chorus stand out. She brings everything back again with a final outro piece. This song is absolutely phenomenal and honestly, I can’t find any nits to pick and except that bass which is supposedly better in the Spotify version. What did you think of Tiffany’s solo career? Is she the next crossover superstar? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section. I appreciate every one of you and I’ll see you in the next review. Since Gfriend, a six member girl group from Source Music, has debuted, they’ve spread their innocence and youthfulness internationally. Sowon, SinB, Yuju, Eunha, Umji, and Yerin have challenged what cutesy Girl Pop can be with their high intensity dances, power vocals, and ripping electric guitar solos intermixed in the songs. While maintaining all these attributes, they still manage to create a soft atmosphere within their niche of the genre. Their latest release came out a little bit ago and is called “Sunrise” which can be analyzed to mean many things such as a change of pace, a new time, the rising of a generation, and many other ideas. I’m not going to make any assumptions on my concept of what the title means, but I just thought I’d give a couple examples. It most likely has something to do with “making new”. The yellow-tinted sepia video seemed to be pulled straight from the past. I’m not entirely sure, but it appeared as if the video was supposed to take place in the 1980s because of the rotary phone, the phone booth, record players, and other trinkets from that era. If this still connects to some of their older videos, it means this is a jump backwards into a different era; somewhere between their innocent childhood and the elegant nature of this video. Maybe it is still connected to “Fingertip” and time jumping. I wasn’t able to really follow a solid story in this one except the completion of the puzzle, and celebrating what appeared to be a birthday, but there was also a solemn tone throughout and candles spread throughout the video to give me the vibe of a funeral or a death. Whatever it is, there was retrograding, celebrating of some sort, and putting together a puzzle; most likely literal and figurative.  Gfriend always is able to remain true to their sound without straying too far, but also without being repetitive. Their Symphonic, Pop driven, almost Rock style that gives them their uniqueness has always been their selling point, along with visuals and being some of the best dancers in Kpop. While this song lacked a guitar solo, as their more recent songs have been excluding, it still is a hard hitting song with much emotion and depth to it. The Pop beats intermixed with the Symphonic and Orchestral sound is always incredible to listen to.
Gfriend is one of those groups that I love and will continue to support them as long as they keep delivering new music. If you are a Buddy, please give this review a like or comment who your bias is. Let’s see if you can guess my bias in Gfriend. I’ll give you a hint, her name means “wish”. Anyway, thank you for the support. Keep on listening to Kpop. I appreciate the love and I’ll see you in the next review. Cosmic Girls, better known as WJSN just made their comeback. They are a girl group with 13 members similar in concept to Seventeen, having subunits which specialize in different areas of the fuller concept. Although we haven’t really seen much of that yet, I hope we do soon. WJSN typically features a Dance track intermixed with a variety of sounds and styles. Sometimes it’s Pop, sometimes it’s Trap or Hip Hop. It just depends with them. “La La Love” is the title track for their newest mini album WJ Stay. Everytime I hear the phrase “la la love” I automatically think of fromis_9, thanks to their most recent comeback song “Love Bomb”. It’s time to see if I can get that song out of my head and put a different one in. WJSN is one of those groups I’ve loved since day one, but I honestly don’t know any of the members’ names except Exy. As you can guess, Exy is my bias. Carnival is definitely the theme of this video, but I don’t think it’s the message of the song. But I’ll get into that in a minute. The very first scene is one of the members typing at a typewriter (for those of you who don’t know what a typewriter is, it’s basically an old computer, used strictly for typing documents.) A circus tent is revealed and a bunch of other things including an actual sign that reads “carnival”, a masquerade, and others things. The video was supposed to be more on the sexy side from some of their previous releases such as “Dreams Come True” and “Mo Mo Mo”.  As I was saying earlier, the video is sort of masquerading behind its true intentions. Not really, but I wanted to use that metaphor. The song is about asking someone to stay and not leave, I believe. The album is called WJ Stay. “WJ” meaning “would you”. They’ve been using the WJ in their music since their first comeback. So, “would you stay” being the message behind this song. The video may be some sort of performance to try to convince the person leaving to maybe not leave.
What did you think? What is your favorite WJSN comeback? Who is your bias and why? Thank you for your support. I appreciate it and I’ll see you in the next review. “Eung Eung” or as it is also written “%%” is a new song from the girl group Apink. Apink, over the years, has remained cutesy and innocent Girl Pop music. However, with their most last comeback, they made an attempt at being sexy and mature. In my personal opinion, “I’m So Sick”, the song that brought them from one realm into another, was one of their best songs (not discounting songs like “NoNoNo” or “LUV”). The six girls are back and from the looks of it, they aren’t straying too far from the style in “I’m So Sick”. I appreciate this type of crossover. It’s subtle enough to not shake the die-hard fans, but risky enough to bring in new listeners. I could, but won’t mention some of the too risky changes that took some recovery for listeners of other artists. Apink has class and style with their risks. I truly appreciate that. Are they sorceresses? I’m thinking yes because the music video took over my brain. But also because the crazy stuff that happened in the video. By crazy I mean the last 10 seconds. They brought a suit to life by putting a pinkified heart on said suit. It’s confusing if you haven’t seen the video. Actually it’s still pretty confusing if you’ve seen the video. Basically throughout the video, Apink is seen in a pink building with all sorts of pink things. They are dipping random items in a vat of pink liquid. I’m sure if I were to go back and watch it again, I’d know something more about the person they are trying to revive. At the end of the video, the six girls are gathered around a green suit lying on a table. One of the girls pulls a heart from the vat and places it on the suit, about where the heart of a person would be. The heart then vanishes and the suit comes to life. Weird huh? In the video, there were 3 girls who stuck out to me. Chorong was the first because she’s wrecking my list. She’s such a cute girl, no matter what she does. Eunji had her hair cut short, into a sort of Bob (I don’t know if that’s what you call that hairstyle) and it was black. Eunji is my actual bias. And lastly, Hayoung because, like Chorong, no matter what she does, she super cute and honestly (I know I’ve said this before) she looks like the hot mom of a friend. She’s youthful but mature and it drives me nuts.  The song felt a bit all over the place, but still grounded. Like a hint of organized chaos. It felt good and right. Especially for Apink, who have been taking risks and hinting at it with a song called “%%”. It’s probably not, but I think it’s talking about taking risks. Making something of what you have. Not sitting idly by and waiting for things to happen, but rather making things happen. Just my guess.
It wasn’t quite as catchy as “I’m So Sick” but it was still a bop. I still need to listen to it a few more times to get into the groove of it, but I loved it. Apink never fails. There’s a reason they are so popular. They know how to meet the audiences wants and needs and when to change it up. What are your thoughts on “Eung Eung” by Apink? Who was your favorite member in this video? Are you a Pink Panda (Apink’s fandom)? Thank you for your support. I appreciate it. I’ll see you in the next review. Welcome back to another music video review. Luna needs no introduction but just in case you don’t know who she is, I’ll still tell you. f(x) is a girl group put out by SM Entertainment that includes member Luna. She is known as the voice of the group with an almost Broadway vocal style. She’s done plenty of solo work including a mini album put out a couple years ago. She also covered “This is Me” from The Greatest Showman last year. If you don’t know who she is, you should do some more research because she is talented. Speaking of her talent, I’m here to review her latest solo song “Even So” which based on her more recent material, will be a Ballad. I’m not even upset because Luna’s vocals can hit almost any range from Dance track to Ballad to Jazz fusion. She is extremely talented. Throughout the music video, I found myself confused and yet intrigued at the same time. The whole of the video seemed to be surrounding Luna and her possible stage fright. The reason I say stage fright is that at the end, she takes a deep breath after everyone is gone and she’s alone with the microphone. She’s also drinking and bathing in milky water in her dress which could mean plenty of things but I’m sticking with this fear of performing which is a sort of irony for Luna. However, just because someone does something a lot, doesn’t mean they are not afraid of it or get nervous. As for the aesthetic of the video, it was very Luna. It was colorful but more of a dimly lit colorfulness. Her recent videos have been more focused on shadows than they are on color. It’s an SM video though so there’s going to be color like crazy. It also had a sort of retro Swing era vibe to it.  I think the reason it had a retro vibe to it is because Luna was experimenting in the realm of Jazz music. Like I said before, she’s done Jazz and kills at it, but this song was more experimental than her previous work. I thought for sure it was a Pop Ballad up until about the first chorus. After the first chorus came in, it was definitely a Jazz influenced piece intermixed with some Funk and Indie.
f(x), as many of you may know, is a very experimental group. The Red Velvet of the late 2000s. They are SHINee’s sister group, another SM group that delved into the unique and quirky sounding music. With all this said, it makes sense that Luna’s track would be a bit weird. But it’s good weird. SM never messes around with their music, especially with their more talented vocalists. Are you a fan of Luna and f(x)? What did you think of “Even So” by Luna? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. If you’re reading this, type the word “TURNIP” in the comments. Thank you so much for all those who support me. I appreciate it. Thank you and I’ll see you in the next review. “Gotta Go” is what Chung Ha is shouting to 2018, as she burns her place in one of the first artists to release a track in 2019. I’m not at all sure if that’s what she’s saying, but I hope she’s not saying it to her career or me as a fan. Chung Ha is a very talented solo artist, first seen on Produce 101 in the first season. She has had a very successful career thus far, but let’s see if 2019 can be the year she explodes from her current position into the ears of many more listeners. “Gotta Go” is the title of her latest release which I believe is just a single album as opposed to a mini album or a full length album. I hope there’s more music to the single album than just the one song because everytime Chung Ha sings, it melts my heart a little, only in the good way. I apologize again for my lack of reviews being posted. It’s difficult with my traveling and busy lifestyle, but I hope to be able to bring you more content more often. Chung Ha brings her seductive moves to the table with this one and I don’t see anyone complaining. From body rolls to hip trusts, this music video showcases Chung Ha’s body movement style more than trying to delve into a story for the video. The video is essentially Chung Ha with a few back up dancers, dancing in various outfits with different lighting, although they seem to favor red light and monochromatic post-production editing. I thought for sure the video would have a story, what with Chung Ha opening that massive book at the beginning of the video. The one with the big XII on the front. However, the book had seemingly nothing to do with the video. It was really just trying to show that Chung Ha can dance, which we all already know, but don’t mind watching again and again.  First of all, I’m definitely getting some Harley Quinn vibes from the above picture, but on to the song. The tone of the song was very mystical, almost tribal sounding at some parts. Her Trap influence sound mixed with her unique vocals sends this one far beyond its potential as a song. This tune is great. It’s addictive, seductive, and charming all at once in some of the best ways.
I’d like to talk about the song format, not because it was necessarily weird, but it still kind of was. The song followed a typical format up until the pre-chorus/chorus area. That’s where I got lost. I got lost because I initially thought the pre-chorus was, in fact, the chorus. As it turned out, it was just the pre-chorus. So I was prepared for the chorus, but little did I know that the chorus would be split up into two sections that were both very much the chorus, but distinctly different. Then after the bridge, typically that’s the moment for ad libs. But there were none. The space was used for a dance break, which took up the first section of the chorus and the section section rejoined with Chung Ha’s amazing vocals. It’s not much but I thought I’d mention the format. What did you think of Chung Ha’s comeback song? I’m excited to see what other material comes out of her especially if she continues down this Trap influence path she’s on. Be sure to let me know what your thoughts are on the song. If you’re reading this, comment below the word “PASTA”. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you in the next one. Before I even begin to type out the beginning of my review, I just want to take a moment to apologize to anyone waiting and hoping for new music video reviews, or even a word of notice from me. My schedule has picked up a whole bunch in the last couple of months and I literally have no time to do anything, let alone take 45 minutes out of my time to write these reviews; sometimes up to 2 hours. I’m working 2 jobs between the hours of 6 am and about 7 pm with about an hour break for lunch. So, from the bottom of my heart, I’m sorry. But I wanted to take time out to review Twice’s latest comeback “The Best Thing I Ever Did” because, first of all, it’s Twice. Secondly, because I’ve been M.I.A for so long. If you’re waiting for some older reviews, don’t hold your breath because when I have time, I listen to new music so I’m up-to-date on Kpop, I just never have time for reviews. This is Twice’s comeback for their repackaged album Yes or Yes. My 5 word review on “Yes or Yes”: It was not my favorite. Not to say it was terrible or awful or something I’d never listen to, it’s just barely about “Signal” in my opinion, and I was not a fan of “Signal”. I’ve actually listened to “Yes or Yes” several times since its release. But again, not my favorite. I actually loved “Sunset” but a song like that usually doesn’t get a music video made. This video was an interesting mix of things. There were 3 distinct separations of segments in the video. First, there were various scenes of snowy mountains and Twice walking towards and petting reindeer. These were beautifully shot from drones and what looked like a professional handheld. Another segment included the girls at a theater, watching a film of themselves. The shot in the theater was a mix of close up and panning shots that captured Twice in their true beauty. Twice being Twice and interacting with each other, even if staged, is still a beautiful thing to behold. Lastly, are the scenes the girls were watching in the theater. I believe every one of these were rough shots done with a camera phone or a cheap handheld. The nice thing about shots like these, especially when done in montage, is that they create a feeling of nostalgia or reminiscence. The filming might not have been professional but it adds personality to the mix as well as authenticity.  Before I discuss the finer details of this song, I would like to pull out some of my personal gripes about the song. In my own opinion, I think the song could have done without raps. It’s not that I dislike Chaeyoung and Dahyun’s rapping. On the contrary, I love their rapping. In fact, Chaeyoung is my bias in Twice. It doesn’t change the fact that the rapping took away from this beautifully powerful track by slowing down the progress or almost altogether halting it. They both have plenty of rap time in other songs. I just felt like this one should have been strictly vocals.
This tune is a bright, solemn, epic, Christmas piece that matches perfectly with the accompanying music video. It mixes quite perfectly piano, soft electric guitar, bells - on top of many other layered instruments - as well as their beautiful vocals. This is the reason the rapping should have been cut from the track. Rapping is a form of edginess that, in my opinion, adds grime or dirt to a track (I don’t mean those words offensively. I personally like the grime and dirt that rapping adds to most songs). To cut from beautiful vocals into almost monotone speak singing doesn’t add to the beauty, it takes away. In comparison (and I know you all hate comparisons, but I’m doing it anyway) to “Yes or Yes”, I love this song far more than that one. “The Best Thing I Ever Did” may be the best thing Twice has ever done. That’s beating out songs like “Goodnight”, “Like a Fool”, and “BDZ” in my book. Twice doesn’t make “bad” songs, but they can make songs that are not so epic and then songs that blow the listeners’ mind. I know it’s been a while, so I gave you all a larger review in hopes that you’ll forgive me. Thank you so much for your support. But even more important than supporting me, support Twice and all the Kpop artists we love. They deserve it so much. I hope I will be able to make time for more reviews coming up. I’m in the works of a couple new videos that I will upload on my channel, so look forward to those. In the meantime, I’ll see you all later and hope to stay active rather than stagnant. |
In this section of my website, I will review Kpop music videos, albums, songs, and various other things pertaining to Kpop. This will be the main stage of my website. It is where the majority of the action will take place.
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