[Bonus] Best Of 2012 (#4-#1)

4. Juniel - Bad Man

Juniel’s Korean debut with “Illa Illa” immediately gave her a unique position amongst solo debuts. I thought of her like a pleasant combination of Younha and IU, two who also happen to be standout vocalists. However, “Bad Man” is more along the lines of ranking Juniel along with the prestigious high note ballad masters, like Joo, Minkyung, and Jessica. While Juniel has such a pretty voice, I think she’ll probably be limited to this type of music, since I don’t see her being able to hold her own in anything requiring more power. Regardless, she’s flawless and the adlibs are delicious. The ending is a perfect “picture” of the song, with innocent Juniel’s extremely pretty voice singing “You are such a mean person, you are such a bad person”, it’s almost eerie.

3. Big Bang - Blue

This song is amazing because Big Bang doesn’t typically release this style of music. What is even more amazing is the perfect execution by all the members. Yes, even T.O.P pulls his own impressive weight in this soft medium tempo ballad. Everyone’s notes are mellow, the tune is relaxing and soft, and the rap singing isn’t out of place, a culmination of something we don’t expect to see coming out of this loud and electric group. The most interesting part of the song is the chorus, since at first listen Seungri and G-Dragon seemed to merge. I think since “Blue” was released first, I had increased my expectations for the other two title tracks which (for the most part) did not fail to disappoint.

2. Younha - Would We Have Changed (feat. John Park)

You saw glimpses of my praise for this song in “Best Of Younha”, so you already know what I’ll be saying. The harmonization work between Younha and John Park is practically unrivaled. While 2012 did bring out some other really strong harmony showings (Kyuhyun and Tiffany in “Rise And Shine”), this song sets a standard far above what many singers can reach. The emotion and synchronization is flawless, making “Would We Have Changed” easily the best song of Younha’s 4th album and propelled “Supersonic” to one of my favourite overall albums.

1. Ailee - Heaven

Since the days of her Youtube channel, Ailee has shown off beautiful talent which has not lingered through her path to stardom. With the debut of “Heaven”, the incredible performances on Y’s Sketchbook and Immortal Song 2, to the comeback with “I Will Show You”, Ailee proved she isn’t merely a Korean American soloist but carries much stronger potential than most people thought. While her covers of “Halo” and later, “Girl On Fire” have showcased her power, “Heaven” brought out and perfected the “power ballad” genre, mixing explosive high / power notes with soothing verses and bridging crescendos. Ailee even utilized her husky voice at the end, truly standout work.
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So there you have it, my list of the top 12 songs in this bright and explosive year. Essentially, to me ballads are too strong for the singers with incredible voices for the dance pop genre to put up a serious fight. For 2013, I will be changing up the schedule a little, mainly releasing the weekly review on Sundays, optionally followed by either bonus writings or a retro review on Wednesdays and Fridays. Stay tuned and happy New Years

[Bonus] Best Of 2012 (#8-#5)

8. Seungyeon - Guilty

By leaps and bounds, Seungyeon’s “Guilty” outplayed all the individual songs by the other members of KARA, and is good enough to find itself at #8. Seungyeon’s voice was a little underwhelming for some parts but very strong otherwise, and the high note is very clean. The instrumentals were also excellent, especially during the parts where the intense bass and strings brought a delightful contrast to Seungyeon’s whispering. For bonus, the music video was also beautifully crafted. The scenery and effects were awesome, Seungyeon looked awesome, and the use of explosions at the chorus were awesome.

7. J-Min - Stand Up

The decision between whether Seungyeon or J-Min would rank 7th was my most difficult decision in this review. Yeah, it’s merely OST work, but J-Min’s voice is probably one of the best to sync this style of music, and the ending was swift and strong. While the ending of “Guilty” was more dramatic, this had better execution. J-Min’s high notes and power notes do not fail to disappoint, and she used energy to stand more apart from the instrumental, whereas Seungyeon’s soothing notes blended. The guitar solo / instrumental was classy, and while the music video paled in comparison to “Guilty” save for Jungmo’s appearance, keep in mind “Stand Up” is just a OST and, this isn’t a rank of music videos to begin with.

6. Psy - Gangnam Style

Yes, the Gangnam phenomenon is crazily overhyped by now, but I feel neglecting a song that has become Youtube’s most viewed ever, and brought more knowledge of Psy who was rather quiet seems unreasonable. At least placing “Gangnam Style” in the upper half does it justice if only for sheer popularity. But you’re forgetting this song is hilarious, too. Psy’s heartful rapping and singing will bring smiles to your face as you watch it alongside the music video, and my what a glorious music video. Quite simply one of the best if not the best MV I have ever laid eyes upon. One billion views have been reached, what is next?

5. Girls’ Generation 태티서 - Twinkle

S.M. proved whether it’s 9 or 3, or anything in between, SNSD will always be on the top. The first variant of the subunit system delivered a delightfully catchy pop song with excellent showing from the main vocalists Taeyeon, Tiffany, and Seohyun. It’s lighter than “Genie” but more serious than “Gee”, and the choreography is pretty cute and catchy, too. Taeyeon is nothing short of perfection, Tiffany absolutely killed it with her low husky adlibs, and I’m one of many shocked by maknae’s fierceness and charisma. The belts were so obviously strained but is only a minor error in light of such a nice song. The next subunit has some shoes to fill, in the footsteps of “Twinkle”, but I believe the members will bring more than enough hype for the song.

[Bonus] Best Of 2012 (#12-#9)

2012 was yet another busy year for the Korean music industry. It saw the emergence of even more groups, the explosiveness of Psy, the T-Ara crisis, IU / Eunhyuk shenanigans, among others. Of course the year also brought some crazy good releases. As it is 2012, I selected 12 of my favourites, the best of the best, previewing four a piece for the next three weeks.

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12. B.A.P - Warrior

Like previously mentioned in the specific review, “Warrior” was a breakout release for a debut because the song was so out of the ordinary. The aggression, confidence, and power in the song were unrivaled (or for some not even attempted) by other male group debuts that give them a place on the best. What It lacks in vocal talent is more than recovered by flashy choreography and very impressive rapping segments. With only a debut song, B.A.P makes it to the top 12.

11. EXO-K - Angel

Similarly to “Warrior”, EXO-K’s “Angel” places on the list from a debut group. While “MAMA” was aesthetically unique and all, I was drawn to “Angel” by the impressive vocal presentation between D.O, Baekhyun, and Suho. Baekhyun’s voice was perfectly at home here, and while I enjoyed “What Is Love” just as much, “Angel” gets the nod for including Suho, whose smooth vocals are a welcome addition.  Note that I didn’t list this as “EXO - Angel” even though EXO-M’s version is the exact same song. Quite frankly, EXO-M has a lack of good singers. Chen is the standout, but Luhan, Lay, and Xiumin are all “good”, at best. Sometimes I think Chen was included in EXO-M so EXO-K wouldn’t hog all the best vocalists of the members.

10. Sistar - Alone

“Alone” was probably the earliest catalyst of 2012’s “sexy but classy” theme so many girl groups used. Along with that, it also helped propel Sistar’s popularity skyward and handed them a nice cushion for the summer release of “Loving U”. Ignoring the atrocious music video lacking any substance, Dasom and Soyou really stepped up providing soft transition vocals and Hyorin is nothing short of stellar, of course. Bora’s rap provides good transition and the execution is quite solid. Fantastic work.

9. Big Bang - Fantastic Baby

Speaking of fantastic, what is the best 12 songs of 2012 without one of Big Bang’s signature bombastic releases. “Fantastic Baby” was all sorts of bizarre awesome from the funky verse structure, “BOOM SHAKALAKA”, everybody’s crazy hair in the music video, and just the music video in general. If you were at all surprised by anything in the Big Bang video, it probably means you don’t know this group all too well as of the past couple of years. This song is pretty much everything we have come to expect and enjoy from Big Bang, and so it ranks 9th.

[Review] Son Dambi - Dripping Tears

Vocals: 8 / 10

Son Dambi has always had an underrated voice in my opinion. It’s not standout power vocalist but it’s perfect for songs like this and past hit “Crazy”. A very smooth and soothing voice, which is great for fast to medium tempo ballads. The only high notes are ones comfortably within her range and I really like the articulation on the main chorus “Tears are falling, rain is falling, love is falling”. Either her vocals could’ve been ramped up or the electric parts of the instrumental toned down since it seemed to overtake her voice at points. The piano background was excellent though.

Appearance: 7 / 10

I’ll be honest here, Son Dambi has never really impressed me with her looks. She looks really nice at some angles and at others her eyes really bug me. The best description is a sort of cross between Narsha, Jiyeon, and UEE. But please get rid of the blonde wig. I can’t recall if Son Dambi has gone blonde in the past but this specific style looks awful. Part of it is being too short for her, part of it being how it frames her face, but yeah a pretty huge nono. However, it does showcase a uniqueness along with the funky orange eyeliner. The appearance along with the setting really reminded me of Miryo’s “Dirty” but I’ll touch upon that later.

Dance: 8 / 10

For a video that was mainly enveloped in plot(?) the choreography was mainly at the beginning to middle of the song. Continuing on with the “classy but sexy” theme, Son Dambi shows off her curves and all that. I couldn’t take her seriously in the sequences with the blonde wig though, so I kinda laughed when those came up. Like I said, it’s not subtle in any way but definitely less “severe” compared to the choreography of “Crazy”. All in all I paid more attention to the other content of the MV than the dance.

Music Video: 9 / 10

This music video first struck out like a hybrid of SHINee’s “Juliette” and Miryo’s “Dirty”. More specifically, the hospital scenes where she’s laid out in the stretcher with a confused look on her face, wearing a funky hairstyle and eye makeup. Yeah that screams “Dirty” all over it. The drowning was different, though, and the backup dancers for that part had full on body suits. A little strange, but I can appreciate it. The ending is also completely random. How the heck did Son Dambi go from that hospital room out into the ocean? Beats me. Maybe there was a magical unicorn I missed in transition.

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Overall: 82 / 100

Son Dambi’s vocals do a lot for this song, making it very pleasant on the ears. Everything else is just kinda there. The dancing is okay, the looks are okay, and the music video is okay. Bonus points for breaking the hell out of that chandelier though. Woman got muscle.

[Review] Secret - Talk That

Vocals: 9 / 10

This time around, Ji Eun doesn’t get anything extraordinary to make this score perfect, but everything about the vocals falls in line for every member. Hyosung and Sunhwa show a little more than mere transitional voices and Zinger even makes her debut(?) with a healthy amount of lines for the second verse. While she doesn’t have the greatest voice, it’s still pleasant to listen to and compliments everyone else. The setup and structure is not anything extremely impressive, but that’s precisely why their score is near perfect. The execution and emotion is perfect for the mood and tempo of the song.

Appearance: 10 / 10

I expected colour and style changes since it has been two months since “Poison”, but the only one who did was Ji Eun, and thankfully so. She looks so much better and the colour is not bad for her. Seems like the major vocalists of girl groups have tried the crimson red at some point: Park Bom, Tiffany, Ji Eun, Seungyeon. Nobody really changed aside from the hair colour for Zinger, so this remains perfect. Was hoping for a return of Sunhwa’s glorious eye smiles but it’s a ballad. Oh well.

Dance: 7 / 10

Honestly after watching the music video, the dance barely crosses my mind. Perhaps because there was just so little emphasis on it, or that TS Entertainment had the shadow backup dancers be the focal point of the choreography, but either way the dance is something light piggybacked along by the vocals. Hyosung gets a short solo and everyone drools over her, but other than that standard stuff.

Music Video: 8 / 10

Couple a simplistic set of vocals with simplistic visuals and music video and you’re bound to have a good score. Since the dance was so light, it was practically taken out of the equation, leaving solos and group shots where the scenery is pristine and everyone looks great. Emotions matched well with the song, and Ji Eun even gets some smooch time in there. While certainly not the standout ballad like 2AM’s “Can’t Let You Go Even If I Die”, the formula for the music video is the same and so a good one.

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Overall: 86 / 100

When you first listen to it, the muffles and filters of “Talk that” seem way too repetitive and unnecessary, but after multiple listens you can hardly even tell they are there (except for in the beginning, of course). What you’re left with is a beautiful melody and moving vocals, all in all making “Talk That” an excellent ballad.

[Review] TVXQ - Humanoids

Vocals: 7 / 10

Honestly, this song doesn’t have many impressive things happening in terms of vocals. Sure, the chorus is relatively high but other than that, it’s pretty ordinary. What I do like though, is the experiment S.M. did with abnormal vocal rhythm and patterns which we haven’t really seen. While the disastrous “Flower Power” of SNSD was just messy all around, this song’s mechanics work well together, but a lack of anything powerful out of Changmin keeps this score average.

Appearance: 9 / 10

Yunho’s hair got shorter, right? I can’t really tell but at least the style certainly looks like it’s shorter than when it was in “Catch Me”. Changmin looks solid per usual, but god everything is just too boring (see the music video portion) so I can’t really talk about much. In contrast to the similar uniforms of “Catch Me”, this gives Yunho and Changmin unique outfits in the colourful shirts as opposed to the blank / plain ones of the backup dancers.

Dance: 8 / 10

Now this dance I like, mostly because the type of movements matches the song (or at least the music video set anyway) with the sharp robotic movements. The integrated choreographies in “Catch Me” were cool but this style is more appealing in my opinion. On a side note to that though, since the choreography is very linear (nothing different from what the backup dancers are doing, excluding dance breaks), it was weird to try and make both members stand out with the different / bright coloured shirts.

Music Video: 4 / 10

Oh look, Yunho and Changmin are wearing fancy clothes. Oh look, Yunho and Changmin are locked in a fancy room. Oh look, all they’re doing is dancing and having close-ups. Oh look, they both have the same room in the solo shots. What else isn’t new? I’m just going to keep this section at that, because there really isn’t anything else to talk about.

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Overall: 70 / 100

S.M. has been pretty disappointing lately. “Maxstep” was okay at best, and “Flower Power” a disaster I never want to speak of, “Humanoids” falls in line and it’s just a decent song with a boring ass MV. Supposedly two more groups are to come from S.M. during 2013, so I hope they at least attempt to make some higher quality stuff. Then again, seems like S.M. has always been about quantity and not quality.