4. Soyu & Jungigo - Some
Soyu has been on fire lately. Perhaps the best combination / collaboration of hers to date, Soyu and Jungigo provide some relaxing sweet harmony. Given no prior knowledge of Jungigo, suffice to say that I was very pleased with his voice and how it matched with Soyu. One of my favourite things (I really hate using this word) to see in a duet or collaboration is that no voice overpowers the other, and that when both of them are singing or harmonizing, you can hear both equally. You need the right combination of singers / voices in order to achieve that. I may have mentioned this before, but Kyuhyun & Tiffany's "Rise and Shine" is the perfect example. Anyway, all I'm trying to say is that this combination of Soyu and Jungigo is really good. While this is essentially a ballad duet (duet ballad?), it's not better than "Don't Look At Me Like That" because of the rap from Lil Boi. If there's one thing that has stuck with me since I got into Kpop, it's that nasal singing and rapping just don't sit well with me.
3. Orange Caramel - My Copycat
If this was a few years back I would have never imagined Orange Caramel would land a top 3 finish, but here we are. "Candy culture" was certainly never my style, and Nana's nasally voice compounded my interests to stay away from this subunit. But when "My Copycat" rolled around, All the walls were broken. "My Copycat" is very addicting, and very fun. Nana's nasal delivery isn't as prominent, and the instrumental is equally as goofy. "My Copycat" is hands down the best music video of 2014. Sure, another Orange Caramel nominee "Catallena" is arguably better, but the actual song of "My Copycat" is far superior. Anyway, the MV has you play a game where you find what's different between the scenes and subsequently has you try to find OC amidst a crowd. The dance is just as fun, silly, and carefree, not to mention that the "sexy outfits" are fantastically meta.
2, Girl's Day - Darling
"Darling" is cute. Going from sexy to cute seemed questionable at first, and I certainly thought so, but I couldn't blame them for returning to a familiar concept that drew them fans in the first place. And what do you know, Girl's Day is really good at being cute. With the combination of multiple strengths: a cute butt dance, the most inefficient car wash ever, everyone in a banana-esque outfit, "Darling" knows what it is and doesn't try to hide it. Once more, Minah really comes into her own with the adlibs at the end of the song, and even makes Sojin's support vocals look pedestrian here (I'd like to note that this was a good ploy, as in the following track "I Miss You" the lines were rebalanced to be more equal). Like I mentioned in my "Darling" review, the success of this song is not only related to Girl's Day as a unit, but because they showed even after a year of maturing into adults, they can still effortlessly pull off their original style.
1. Epik High - Happen Ending
"Happen Ending" is one of those songs where you don't need lyrics to be understanding. The calm, laid back nature of the chorus with the fast impactful raps is truly the Epik High formula we have all come to enjoy and love. It's worth mentioning that most people were wary of the YG signing as they feared Epik High would lose their trademark sound (and become YG-ified). It's clear that this did not happen, and this song and subsequently the album did not disappoint. I won't comment much on Tablo and Mithra as I believe I gave them enough praise during "Born Hater." Jo Wonsun's original feature was stable, but what "Happen Ending" really benefited from was having many different vocalists feature in live performances, and each brought their own distinct style, interpretation, and feel to the song. Younha was the closest the Wonsun's original sound; softer, but with the serene emotional grace that she usually provides. Lee Hi and Minzy brought a strong rich undertone to the chorus. Suhyun and Yoo Inna, while not amazing, were impressive in how they held their own in comparison. Surpringly, I find myself at a lack of words to talk about "Happen Ending." Maybe that's just how good the song is.
Merry Christmas, everyone. I hope you have a great time with friends and family during the holidays. Before the year comes to an end I may drop a few more bonus writings I've been toying with, and most importantly, I'd like to thank everyone that takes time to view my blog and listen to my thoughts about the Kpop world. It's been awesome, and I hope that 2015 will be a much kinder year for Kpop.
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