warthoginrome writes:

I don't know if you had the chance to run into this news, so I wanted to point it out, because the topic is common to the entire asian pop scene ( Read more... )

Anybody know anything about this? According to Billboard, it's been on the K-pop chart for 39 weeks, never getting above 35. A trot rhythm, ballad-like but definitely Asian. In the olden days, this would have been my stereotype of what Asian pop sounds like. Touches of what seem like country & western, but the resemblance may be a coincidence ( ( Read more... )

Q: What do the following have in common: Good Day, Dum Dum Boys, Get Away With Murder, In My Eyes, Try To Follow Me ( Read more... )

So far The Voice in 2012 has produced no moments of genius to match Dia Frampton's "Heartless," though "Cinderella" is audacious enough to make me think there's a chance we'll get one. And I've found six standouts that are better than good (and I'm doing this all by YouTube, so my listening hasn't been all-inclusive). Here they are in no particular ( Read more... )

( How to get Maura Johnston interested in K-pop )

Loose lips sink ships, but loose sync is the shit.

Excellent post by arbitrary_greay about "loose sync":

There are some cases where the performers can be putting their own spin on the same steps and yet still seeming in perfect sync. I like to call this "loose sync," as usually the music for these performances don't have the emphasis on the beat and feel looser ( Read more... )

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Galaxy Dream ft. Turbotronic, "Ready 4 Romance ( Read more... )

Mentioned in my last post that Korean freestyle rapper SOOLj has a leaning towards riffs out of the other freestyle as well, the great '80s postdisco dance music from Miami and NY and Jersey and Philly. Wouldn't be surprised if those riffs were all over Korea these days, though owing to the paucity of my knowledge, I've only found a few others, one ( Read more... )

At Maddie's suggestion, I posted Co-Ed School's "삐리뽐 빼리뽐 (Bbiribbom Bbaeribom)" over on poptimists as this week's problematic Korean video:

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This presents the mentally ill as goofy and silly in kiddie-candy colors, so as potential objects of ridicule, I guess, though also as fun. The positive side would be that, in playing crazy, the Co-Ed Schoolers get to ( Read more... )

"Today my body is acting strange, as if it doesn't belong to me." Returning to the locked ward, we present IU's new video, "The Story Only I Didn't Know":

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The major aesthetic question is can even a singer as sensitive as IU get me to like ballads, the answer here being, "Well, she did this time, but she doesn't always ( Read more... )