Archives For big bang

I would never… in a million years — or five years, give or take — would have ever imagined that I would see the day of Kpop groups performing specifically for a Latin American audience. So the musical event known as Music Bank was held in Chile last month [1], featuring Super Junior, Afterschool, MBLAQ, Davichi, CNBLUE, and Rani and…

Sure, they did the mandatory Livin’ La Vida Loca performance and the mandatory Kpop Gangnam Style, but they also did Lambada — which is in itself quite impressive, even if~~~ a little clumsy with that stage — and then they went on singing El Hombre Que Yo Amo, and Gracias a la Vida, at which point they had already delivered. I mean, they didn’t need to, but they did.

Music acts in other places, other than Japan (and maybe China), are not required to perform in other languages. We’re all accustomed to sing in English when Aerosmith comes over, and we sure as hell don’t expect Justin Bieber to sing in Spanish, even if pop groups in America used to have one or two tracks in Spanish (or other languages). No, it seems now other language versions are left to the fans and their covers, which aren’t half bad – just check out the Spanish version of Call Me Maybe [YouTube] or G-Dragon’s Spanish version of Heartbreaker [YouTube] or Big Bang’s Love Song [YouTube] or GD&TOP’s Knock Out [YouTube] — or just check out Seba Dupont’s YouTube channel, they have LOADS of covers.

So for the groups to have learned these Spanish songs to perform for this show in specific, it takes dedication and a respect.

It feels good to dish your money when that happens.

Remember the days back back in the day when MTV was about music videos, and they had a show called Making Of the video before premiering a music video? Remember when they used to announce music videos and it was important? I miss those days…

And even though these music video directors talk about the big budgets given to only top artists, it feels like it’s been ages since I’ve liked a western mainstream music video. The Rihannas and Britney Spears don’t impress me — though, I gotta admit, I didn’t mind that Katy Perry music video for Wide Awake.

I don’t mind Lady Gaga, but her last couple of MVs have been lost to me.

There are some other music videos that are not so mainstream that have indeed peaked my interest… but I’m taking my eye candy — all of it — from crack Kpop music videos. Because… you know When Kpop Went Beyond American Pop.

The 2NE1s, Big Bangs, and other idol groups with their glossy and marvelous candy music videos infect my eyes and earworm into my brain. It’s hard for Korea to actually put some emphasis into their creatives and they should, so we must work with them on that. Otherwise… how will people know about directors Hwang Soo Ah and Cha Eun Taek?

Your music videos matter, Korea. Pull yourself together!

I haven’t done one in a very long while, huh?

Since the demise of the LivingSocial application on Facebook — TuneSocial — and my shift from downloads to streaming… it’s been hard to keep track of the music I listen to and rate. I tried Discogs.com, but I’m thinking of dropping it because they’re such an uptight community. Every time you add an album that doesn’t adhere to their guidelines of barcodes, catalog numbers, and milimetric genres, you get voted down.

I don’t buy or sell anything there, and I find myself adding more than I’m actually just searching for… and still there’s people who vote me down and are bitchy about it, instead of helping out and finding the lacking info themselves.

I rather keep my own database without hassle. I’ve added about 350 albums tonight… in the time it took me to add just a few albums at Discogs.

These are the albums I’ve heard this year. There aren’t TOO MANY amazing ones yet, but there are a few very good singles that shall be contenders for the Top50 list this year~

This year I’m doing better with my music than with my movies. LOL I’ve only seen like new movies this year, hahaha. If I don’t work harder on that, I’m not going to be able to pick my Best Movies this year.

Light blue highlight only points out a “special edition” xD

I love when I do long and weird titles. xD

I don’t want to offend anyone — I know I’m doing my generalization, but let’s be honest~ I haven’t been into the American commercial pop scene since… I left Britney, and I left her circa her Toxic days too.

Even though people say I’m a music snob (I don’t know why…), I really like my easy-to-digest commercial pop of pretty idols that I can worship,  catchy music, and dance routines. I was big on the dancing, and I’m not talking about jiggly butt dances or Waka Waka stuff — as you know, I prefer my Shakira in her Donde Estan los Ladrones days… — I’m talking about sync dancing that gets you pumped, all the UMPH from the Nsync and Britney days of late 90s and very early 2000s.

I gave a try to the Katy Perrys, the Jonas Bros, the Justin Biebers (yes, yes I did.) — by the time Ke$ha was out, I had already given up. I didn’t even try Miley because her voice exasperates me, so I wouldn’t be able to stand her singing voice.

And then Kpop happened.

Maybe it was because I saw these Asian faces looking back at me — then again, maybe it isn’t — or maybe they put something in my kimchi (though I’m pretty sure I started eating kimchi after my Kpop thing), maybe it’s because they’re just better… who knows, but there’s something so VERY fascinating about the way Kpop is spreading.

We’ve been looking how it’s grown over the past 2 or 3 years into a phenomenon. I wonder how big is going to get, I want to see it get big… but not only Kpop, of course — other types of Asian music. I want to see how Kpopers get famous, Cpopers, — okay, not Jpopers, but definitely Jrockers, and the Taiwan music scene, and the indie Japanese scene~

So obviously, I made a playlist prompted from the Kahi post I did a day or two ago.

These are songs from from the Kpop industry that just stuck out. It’s a bit thin on the earlier years [the playlist is ordered by year], but it begins getting pretty heavy in 2008. I tried picking just songs that are dance pop and not ballads just to keep the list in check — at the moment it has 30 tracks, that I hope will expand into more songs as the months and years go by~

[iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PLDD96E58EC50B1F36&hl=en_US”]

Here’s the YouTube link.

If you have any suggestions as to what it’s missing, comment away.

*EDIT*

Must include MVs (so songs released as singles), not older than late 90s.
Also… song must work as MV too. So no awesome songs but tacky videos. Sorry.

Now tell me, how did you get into Kpop?

My purty iTunes Library~

April 22, 2011 — 4 Comments

I’m a dork, you can’t deny it.

I’m a dork, and I’m proud of my -mostly- tidied up iTunes library.

As with my CDs, and my DVDs… a little bit of books, and mostly with computer files, I like to know where my things are. Of course, iTunes makes it way easy to keep things organized with their “copy to folder” and “keep things organized” options, but then we’ve got album covers, song names, artists names… and music can get a little messy.

Continue Reading…

Top-Rated Songs of 2010

April 7, 2011 — 3 Comments

I know it’s pretty late, but I guess that I always put the list off because there was always that “haven’t listened to that yet” issue. I will be probably adding 2010 stuff later on, but it won’t hurt to put my top rated songs — according to iTunes and iPod numbers.

Surprisingly, or not surprisingly… the majority of top-rated songs that are equal or greater than 5 stars are Asian artists with their Asian songs and albums. LOL As you know, I’m trying to mix everything up with languages, so I’m also trying to pick one song per artist xD

I hope you like this compilation, there are links to preview the tracks… and also links to buy the albums via affiliate programs, so if you like anything – please support this blog (or YAM)

Continue Reading…

I’m taking a wild guess here, I’m really confused with all the nicknames in the comments, but I’m guessing Southsideirish is Bill (you can change your name in the Intense Debate profile, you know xD), so… I finally took time to watch 2NE1’s presentation he recommended – in… Sketchbook?

Plus, I also took some time to listen to their debut album, and like I commented when they released their 3 singles, I’m giving the album a passing grade already. However, I’m doing so just barely. I’m giving them a 3/5, which is more than I could say for the likes of Rain or even Taeyang. xD But why is that? After all, I did love Try to Follow Me and Clap your Hands. I’m all over those two, and I’m partial to Go Away and Can’t Nobody. The rest of the album? It just sort of felt kind of bland, and I’m not counting the remixes. Can’t Nobody is so processed that I can’t even understand what they are saying, and if I give Kanye flack for it, I’m giving 2NE1 flack for it too. LOL

2NE1 defends themselves vocally, but they’d better be prepared when autotune begins wearing out. I am not convinced they could kill it vocally, or in a 100% full-on Michael Jackson-worthy choreography. 2NE1 is cool, it’s fun, but I don’t think I can see them here once Bom and Dara hit 30.

Give me a performance where 2NE1 kills it Acapella style a la Acapella Candy Man from Brown Eyed Girls, and I’ll eat my words. Same with the dudes of Big Bang – I know Daesung can sing – but can all of them kill an Acapella performance together as Big Bang?

And… is it me, or is Minzy the lovechild of Daesung and G-Dragon? There, I said it.

And LOL it made me do.

I’m not the biggest Meisa Kuroki… enthusiast. Never seen her on a drama, and she was okay in a rather okay-ish Mamoru Oshii Assault Girls with Rinko Kikuchi (does Rinko Kikuchi EVER speak???). Anyway, I digress. Kuroki, however, seems to populate my entertainment news reading, and well… I won’t complain about her. She won me over when she told actor Koji Yakusho (54) that she’d rather play his daughter than his lover. Snap! All the respect to Yakusho-san and his acting talent, but that was creepy. Dude. DUDE! Get a grip.

So… as a result, I was mildly interested in LOL! – First, OMG? Isn’t that Miley Cyrus’ movie or something? And… WTF is up with LOL! as a song title. xD The song sounds different to general commercial Jpop, and I daresay seems more influenced by commercial Kpop instead — is this the work of DBSK, Big Bang and all the other K-stars crossing over? — and I even dare to say that it gave me a lot of Lee Hyori vibes, which isn’t bad. Japan needs a little love for the bubbly personality that is Hyori. Ooh! Can there be a collaboration? xD Imagine all the sex appeal in that video~

Anyway, off topic once again! While listening to the song, I couldn’t help but laugh at it… when she autotune-sings “laughing out loud, out loud, out loud” I would burst out laughing because it’s so silly. Right? And the song… and the look on the video, they don’t match, right?

[iframe src=”https://www.yinyuetai.com/video/player/76714/v_5501040.swf” width=”480″ height=”334″]

I know someone who likes her *coughJulzcough* and someone who will find her hot *coughErickcough*. So you guys, better brush off on your Spanish. Turns out Okinawan Meisa Kuroki’s dad is half Panamanian. Try to say that fast Panamanian. Again, Panamanian. xD

Oh, Julz. Now that Kuroki has a Twitter account, you can hit on her in Spanish. LOL

I still think Big Bang should stop singing in Japanese, but their funny pronunciation didn’t bother me as much this time around. The video is alright — with all those circles on the wall — and there was a bit too much autotune on Seungri, Taeyang and G-Dragon’s voices (big surprise!). It’s a pity even Daesung has to use it, when he has a perfectly fine voice. But dude, that hair split in the middles has got to go!

TOP, baby, you’re alright. LOL I’m not even sure if you did your rap in English, Korean or Japanese. I don’t think I care, you sounded and looked good on the video. LOL

G – I want your glass-less glasses.

I didn’t love his debut, and I don’t love this song. However, we’re here to talk about the concept of his video. Obviously, this has tints of Michael Jackson’s Thriller, and BackStreet Boys’ Everybody. And I could even argue it also has some 5ive’s Don’t Wanna Let You Go. It’s the whole mansion, goth, death thing going on, with choreography… which I’m down with.

I wish Taeyang had commited to the look. As it is now, it just looks like the girl wakes up from a wet dream, I mean… hot Taeyang is singing/whispering to her while she’s sleeping. In Thriller, MJ committed to the zombie look… in Everybody, Nick committed to the mummy look, Brian became a silly werewolf, Howie was a silly vampire, AJ was the Phantom, and Kevin was Mr. Hyde. Taeyang should’ve commited to a less-Taeyang look.

The choreography was oka-ish. It was really well edited on the first few seconds of the dance inside the mansion, but the dance in the cemetery was kinda boring.