Song of the Week #48

IU - Heart


"Heart" by songstress IU is a self-composed song that was released and served as an OST for her drama "The Producers", and also managed to take the number one spot on the singles chart in South Korea. The more IU has grown and started composing her own songs you can tell that she has a preference for these type of minimalistic, stripped-down tracks with focus on vocals and harmonies, and she excels in them. I personally love this song as I think it's sweet and beautiful but also very touching, as she truly reaches out to the hearts of the listeners.

Glorious Photoshoots - August Round-Up

Goregous After School member and actress Uee stuns with her Grazia photoshoot. I had so much trouble picking which shots to include because they were all flawless.

Beauty Trumps All In T-Ara's MV For "So Crazy"

Sometimes I feel genuinely sad when I think about what kind of position T-ara would have had by now had they not got into that scandal three years ago. Ever since their debut in 2009 this group has been spitting out hit after hit, and by early 2012 their song "Lovey Dovey" would grow to become their best-selling single to date, reaching over 3.5 million downloads. I can't even imagine how famous they would have been if that stupid scandal didn't happen.

Anyhow, the group are still going (thank God) but with much less success, at least in their home country. Despite what people may say about them I've liked this group and no matter what I'm always looking forward to another T-ara release.

Song of the Week #47

Primary & Oh Hyuk - Gondry (ft. Lim Kim)



This song you guys. This song. I've only recently started getting into the relatively new indie-rock band Hyukoh, whom are making it big in South Korea right now, after seeing them on the popular show "Infinity Challenge" where they're part of their music festival (if you haven't seen it I strongly recommend it), and I love their music. They're amazing and you should go check them our right now. Their frontman and vocalist Oh Hyuk, whose voice is phenomenal and perfect, has collaborated with producer Primary for a few songs as well this year, and "Gondry" was the one that stood out the most to me. I literally cannot get enough of it.

Beast's New Mini Is The Good Kind Of "Ordinary"

Beast to me equals quality music. No matter what I can always count on this six-piece to deliver songs that are well made and well performed. Every album since "Fiction" in 2011 I've loved, despite them all having quite different styles. Their most previous mini, "Time", showcased yet another side of the group, a more relaxed and simplistic style of music, and now they've come back with "Ordinary", which is an album that continues that same musical pattern.

TBT - Miss A's "Bad Girl, Good Girl"

Released: June 30, 2010

This debut song by Miss A is still one of their strongest releases ever, and they've been around for five years now so that says a lot. "Bad Girl, Good Girl" was an instant hit in South Korea when it came out, and made Miss A win their first music show award only 22 days after it was released and their record still stands to this day. The song itself is magnificent and embodies everything Miss A stands for: femininity, power and confidence.

TBT - Bang Yongguk's "I Remember" (ft. Beast's Yoseob)

Released: August 11, 2011

Before there was B.A.P there was Bang Yongguk, who started out as a underground rapper with plenty material of his own. This song and video was released by TS Entertainment, who the group now as returned to after the filing a lawsuit against said company, as a way of promoting him before the debut of his group. Anyhow, the song's amazing and wonderful and the MV is quite an emotional experience. I also have to say that I love Yoseob's vocals on it, as his lighter voice contrasts Yongguk's darker one perfectly.

Got7's New Mini "Just Right" Is Just OK

I was hesitant as to whether I should give Got7's newest mini album a try, considering my less than enthusiastic feelings about their previous comeback "Stop Stop It" and the album that came with it. I feel like with most Got7 releases there has been a blend of really great songs and really poor songs, which makes me a bit uneasy because I want their albums to be consisting of only the good kind of tracks. However since I really enjoyed "Just Right" as a song and the video as well I thought I'd give it a shot anyway, and I can say that while I'm not overjoyed I'm not disappointed either.

Song of the Week #46

G-Dragon - Window



I'm always on the edge when it comes to G-Dragon as a songwriter and producer because half of the time he comes out with something so terrible I can't believe YG's allowed him that much power, but then he also releases songs like "Window" which are absolutely wonderful in every sense of the word. This song is incredibly sad and incredibly gorgeous, and listening to it feels like entering a whole other world, almost. It's strange but the song is just that captivating.

TBT - Wonder Girls' "Tell Me"

Released: September 13, 2007 (however the video was uploaded in 2008)

Now that Wonder Girls have made their comeback after over three years of absence and several member changes (that includes the loss of two original members and the gain of one), I thought it would be appropriate to remember the song that shot them into stardom eight years ago. "Tell Me" is one of K-pop's most iconic songs ever, and even after all this time it's still an amazing track with an equally awesome video.

8 Favorite Male Voices

Part of what makes K-pop so amazing are all the talented people that make up the whole phenomenon. There are idols with flawless dancing abilities, mad rap skills and of course the one with chill-inducing voices. Below I have listed some of my favorite voices in K-pop in no particular order, and note that this isn't based on technical skill or vocal control but rather whose vocal tone I find the nicest to listen to.

GFriend Raises The Bar With "Flower Bud"

I knew from the start that my favorite rookies of the year GFriend would have a hard time following up the short but splendid debut mini-album that was "Season of Glass", as that release was everything I never knew I wanted from a girl group. Every track was great and it showed that although their concept is generally conceived as "cute" it didn't mean that their songs had to be bland and boring (*cough* A Pink *cough*). "Flower Bud" is the title of their second mini, and I went into it with great expectations.

Song of the Week #45

SHINee - The World Where You Exist



I only recently heard this song whilst listening to their "Boys Meet U" album, and I could not believe what I had been missing out on. I generally tend to stay away from SHINee's Japanese releases since they're usually not my type of music (there are exceptions, of course), but this song drew me in from the very first note. It's absolutely beautiful and I'm starting to believe I might have to give SHINee's Japanese albums a second chance.

Watch Out Everyone! GFriend And Their "Me Gustas Tu" Are Coming ForYour Faves!

Out of all the girl group summer comebacks, this was the one my expectations were the highest on. As you may remember earlier this year I wrote a review of their first single and MV "Glass Bead", and I was left both impressed and skeptical. They showed talent and potential, but I was worried that they felt too similar to other bigger and more established groups. However as time went on and I listened to their mini album and watched more of their live performances most of those worries went away, as I realized that these girls have what it takes to make it big. Now that they've released "Me Gustas Tu" I've realized that all my initial worries were gone.

Princess Sulli Officially Leaves f(x)

Can't say it's much of a surprise really, but hearing that now, a year after her hiatus from the group, Sulli is officially leaving f(x) to focus on her career as an actress makes me sad anyway. It's been obvious for some time now that Sulli wasn't wholeheartedly enjoying herself as a singer, and for the least few years of f(x) promotions she was getting lazier and lazier and less and less enthusiastic. She was over it, and because of that I do think it's actually for the better that she's leaving the group. If she's not going to put effort in and if it's making her unhappy it's certainly better for everyone if f(x) now continues as a four-member group.

What will be of the group now? Well, my wish is that they'll keep on going as four and come back with an awesome album to prove they've still got it, which I know they do. My only worry is that their contracts will end next year and I'm not sure they'll all want to renew it. Keeping in mind how horribly f(x) has been treated by SM it wouldn't surprise me if they all called it the quits, and I would have to understand them if they did so. If not I'm hoping with all my heart that SM can treat them better and give them what they've been so deserving of: an official fan-club, a solo concert and just some freaking respect. I don't know whether Sulli's departure will benefit them or not in that sense, but I wish for both parts to see a positive outcome.

Infinite's "Bad" Is Quite The Opposite Of That

My babies have come back to slay the scene, finally! How I have waited. After a couple of underwhelming releases ("Man In Love", "Destinty" and "Bad Romeo" in particular) I thought that maybe Infinite was loosing their spark and that their 2012 success with my all-time favorite "The Chaser" was in fact their peak. That might still be true, but when they came back with "Back" last year I saw a new side of this group that gave me hope. Producer Rphabet is once again the genius behind their new title track "Bad", and I have to say that these two acts working together seems to result only in awesomeness.

TBT - Big Bang's "Fantastic Baby"

Released: March 6, 2012

Although I'm not that much of a Big Bang fan today, there's no denying that "Fantastic Baby" is simply made of awesome. It will definitely go down as one of their biggest hits and definitely their most performed one too. The video is true YG-style and the song too has G-Dragon's producing trademark all over it, but it's just so much fun. T.O.P looks pretty fine as well, and not to mention Daesung's abs. Yelp.

A Pink's "Remember" Is Ironically Very Forgettable

A Pink has, in my opinion, one of K-pop's most solid discographies in terms of title tracks. I generally don't listen to them otherwise because I'm not really into their type of music, but every single they've released has had an insane earworm-factor. This dates back to even their earlier days, such as their catchy debut single "I Don't Know" and the one that got them their first ever music show award: "My My". Even if you don't like their style of music you can't help but to like their title tracks because they're all so damn catchy. At least that's where I stand. After a very successful run with "Luv" last year I was excited to see what they would bring out next, but "Remember" has left my with nothing but disappointment.

A Message Of Self-Love In Got7's "Just Right"

I would say that Got7 had a pretty decent first year last year. Their debut release wasn't my taste at all, if you remember, but I found that a large majority of the international K-pop fandom did. Or they liked Jackson at the very least, but seriously who doesn't? However I watched some of their behind-the-scenes footage and the first season of "Real Got7" (a mini reality-show on JYP's official YouTube channel) and I totally fell for them anyway. With their next comeback, the amazing "A", I was completely hooked. Then came "Stop Stop It" and I felt like they were once again regressing to their debut days, which made me unhappy but of course I still liked them. It's fair to say my expectations for their first comeback of 2015 were mixed, but as it turns out I shouldn't have had to worry at all.

Song of the Week #44

Ailee - No No No


What's funny about Ailee is that I, for the most part, do not enjoy her title tracks. We all know she's an amazing vocalist, but the main singles she releases aren't my type of music at all. Same can't be said, however, for her album b-sides. "No No No" is exactly one of those songs, and I sincerely wish she'd promote with a song like this someday as well.