Park Jimin and Baek Yerin of K-Pop Star fame — now under JYP Entertainment — hit a very bizarre note last year when they debuted with the overly subdued single “I Dream“. While not a terrible song, its complete lack of energy was a poor musical hook for a rookie group to ride and it didn’t do much to impress. ... Read More »
It’s been a tough past two years for Hamasaki Ayumi in the wake of a failed marriage to an Austrian who posed in Leslie Kee photobooks in arseless underpants for a living, Koda Kumi charting higher than her with an album that sold less copies, a hat-trick of three albums failing to hit #1 on the Oricon chart, and a ... Read More »
Okay, so Girl’s Day recently released an awesome music video for “Expectation” starring one of the best concepts of all time. Sexy concepts aren’t anything new, so the effectiveness of the concept is inherently subjective, but if I let my penis do the talking, then this was THE FUCKING BEST HOLY SHIT. Okay, so we are 10 seconds into the ... Read More »
There’s something about the Rainbow I used to know that didn’t quite make it over to their 2013 album, ‘Rainbow Syndrome‘. As their first full-length album drops this month – which, as on trend as the rest, has been split into two parts – one would have expected a resurgence of old styles and a splash of something new, but ... Read More »
Boy-band DMTN may have changed their stage name(s) – they were formerly known as Dalmatian, each with their own nicknames, which they seemed to have dropped as well – but their original style is all intact just as we remembered it. DMTN’s suave R&B pop blend resurfaces this year in “Safety Zone“, the group’s first comeback single since 2012′s “E.R.”. ... Read More »
I agreed with all of you that I should give JYJ‘s Jaejoong‘s first solo mini-album, ‘I‘, a review, but how I would go about doing that was up to me. Oftentimes the first reactions I have are the first you read in print, but there are many cases where I retreat into my own space, many cases where I hold ... Read More »
K-pop was kind enough to debut trillions of groups for audiences last year, and among those was boy-band VIXX. It hasn’t been long since their entrance into the Korean music industry – they debuted in May 2012 with their first single, “Super Hero” – but they’re already back with their first single of the new year, “On And On“. This ... Read More »
One of the best ways to know you have come to terms with an inherent liking for a K-pop group is when you’re no longer apprehensive or cautious about their comebacks. It’s something I can’t say for many today, but there is one new exception: Korean pop-rock quartet CNBLUE. Having dipped into rounds of redundancy and banality a couple years ... Read More »
You know, I had planned on ringing in the New Year with a hot mess, but I certainly did not mean this hot mess. SNSD‘s latest track, “I Got A Boy“, is, to put it lightly, meh (but, of course, you already knew that). While the song itself is a clusterfuck of jarring musical atrocities, watching the video gave me ... Read More »
The interesting thing about fads in music is how artists, companies, and producers are willing to twist and mold them to their own musical style to achieve a proper sense of belonging; at least before the fads disappear (that is, prior to being resurrected in a later era). Before you know it, trends and fads become a norm in songs, ... Read More »
I tried so fucking hard not to like this girl, but I think I love her. Kyary Pussy Pamyu is a hot mess, but she knows she’s a hot mess, which is why I like her. She really does not give a shit. I honestly don’t even think she cares about the yen in her account, because as long as ... Read More »
Sensible comebacks and SM Entertainment are two things that don’t mix very well, and this couldn’t be more true with SNSD‘s 2013 lead single, “I Got A Boy”. A song that sounds more like seven, SNSD’s “I Got A Boy” is dying to be considered edgy, and to an extent it sort of achieves its goal. It explodes four different ... Read More »
Musical stability isn’t a part of Girl’s Day‘s vocabulary, as they’ve managed to hit every sour note in arm’s reach throughout their K-pop existence. On and off, we’ve gotten very different extremes to Girl’s Day’s musical identity; from being strong and engaging, to full of gimmicks and juvenile pantomime. Trusting a girl group like this one isn’t an easy task, ... Read More »
It’s been three years since YG Entertainment has pushed forth projects involving new faces in the music industry, but as it’s been made clear this year, they’ve found enough established success with 2NE1 and Big Bang to finally move on to the next generation of YG superstars. The next chapter comes to us in the form of SBS “K-Pop Star” ... Read More »
Breaking records for the amount of comebacks made in a year, B.A.P are at it again. This time with their new single, “Stop It“. Palpable irony aside, the effort to actually spice things up with ‘Stop It’ is more than appreciated, as it gives everybody something fresh to savor from the most ruthlessly persistent rookie group of the year. It’s ... Read More »
Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.