June 30, 2013

[Review] Baek Ahyeon - A Good Boy


Vocals: 9 / 10
JYP finally found his own IU. That is certainly an accurate statement regarding Baek Ahyeon’s voice. While obviously not the same voice, they share the light and airy qualities while Ahyeon has some more power. Interestingly, she actually seems to struggle on some of the higher notes but at the same time it sounds very rounded like she isn’t. It’s very bizarre to say the least. The range of her voice fits this song rather well minus a few high notes during each chorus. Other than that there isn’t much left to say. She has a very pretty voice and might be limited in the genre versatility akin to Juniel. This was my first exposure to her though and she impressed.
Music Video: 8 / 10
First things first: I loved the transitions in this music video. They ranged from very cute and predictable to simplistic and pleasing to the eye. While something so simple as transitions isn’t too incredible, you have to keep in mind the standard of current music videos barely even have transitions to begin with, so one with nice transitions deserves more recognition. There’s choreography about as complex as any other soloist could do and mingling with the other gender in both the dance and non-dance scenes. It’s not really anything we can fault her for since most soloists happen to be vocals-oriented rather than dance or rapping (for obvious reasons / measure). Given she’s the first soloist out of JYP since Joo (where is she by the way) it’s nice to see her getting good music video quality from JYP. Woah wait, did this not have the JYP whisper? Mind. Shattered.
~
Overall: 85 / 100
While the Korean title is rather silly, the rest of the song is not and definitely didn’t disappoint me for my first listen of Baek Ahyeon. A girl who has eye smiles in league with Girl’s Day’s Minah or f(x)’s Sulli along with a very pretty voice in league with IU or Juniel can certainly stand out and that’s precisely what she did. Accompanied by an airy soft instrumental and a colourful music video, this was one of the happier releases of 2013 and in season.

June 23, 2013

[Bonus] Best Of Collabs: Part II


Kyuhyun & Tiffany - Rise And Shine
One of many gems on the “To The Beautiful You” OST list, Kyuhyun and Tiffany have great complimenting voices and they know it. The song is upbeat, happy, powerful, and the harmonization is glorious. From the bright beginning to the lighter bridge and the powerful notes at the end, it’s definitely one of the best on the tracklist. The thing I like the most about this song is that neither Kyuhyun or Tiffany appear to be “in control” during the parts where they sing together (not solo parts or harmonies). You can’t tell that one has more presence over the other and that’s precisely it.
Hyuna & Hyunseng - Troublemaker
Yeah, the music video was all sorts of awk and bad, but Troublemaker is a ridiculously catchy tune and the whistling snaps are quite the hook. Hyunseng’s voice was clear and excellent. The belt near the end was a little weak but just a minor slipup. Hyuna’s usually subpar rapping is somewhat bearable, and it’s short which left more time for her voice. Kinda weird for a duo song, since Hyuna was the one on the lower register while Hyunseng was on higher notes but whatever works for the two.
IU & Seulong - Nagging
We went from happy and bright to a sexy dance song, how about something lighter and cuter? That’s IU’s cup of tea, and Seulong joined her for “Nagging” which was everything I mentioned earlier. I didn’t think Seulong would be a very good fit to the song based on that alone, but he didn’t really need to be. His raspy lower voice was a good at supporting IU’s brighter higher range on the chorus. Also, live performances of this song were half awkward and half cute.
Tablo & Taeyang - Tomorrow
Tablo’s return, signing with YG, and collab piece with Taeyang brought quite the amount of hype, and justly so. Tablo’s rapping is brief and good. Room for improvement but it was his first album since coming back so I can’t blame him for anything. I typically can’t enjoy Taeyang’s higher voice but the range was more pleasant than usual and so brought good contrast to Tablo’s rapping. While the music video was rather boring the song itself delivers, which is the most important part.

June 16, 2013

[Review] Sistar - Give It To Me


Vocals: 10 / 10
Sistar really came back with an improved synchronized sound. Dasom and Soyou really stepped it up with the light high notes. Dasom’s English is a little strange sounding, as I heard “that’s what I mean” instead of “that’s all I need” but whatever. Hyorin is still flawless, belting at the end of choruses and the power notes at the song’s climax are amazing. It feels like a throwback to the sexy and classy “Alone” but with the upgraded vocals (albeit at the cost of a more boring main chorus). Honestly, give Bora some lines next time. She’s like the only big name group rapper that hasn’t had any singing time. I’m sure the girl can carry a tune. I imagine her voice akin to Yubin if anything, which is still decent.
Appearance: 9 / 10
Honestly, Bora and Hyorin are known for their bodies since the Sistar19 debut but I’ve always taken a liking to Soyou. Her eyes are beautiful and fierce. Dasom’s bangs are a fresh change of pace, but with some angles and the lighting it looks a little weird. The outfits are flashy, a step up from “Alone” but that’s what the song is as a whole, a step up from “Alone” so it’s fitting.
Dance: 7 / 10
Let’s be real. A Sistar choreography without butt emphasis? That’s new. Although let’s be real again, you couldn’t even tell when they were actually dancing because this music video was more obnoxious than T-Ara’s “I Go Crazy Because Of You” with the scene switching, so aside from the hip swaying at the chorus I couldn’t see anything. So for that, I’ll just give it a 7 for it being a standard dance that doesn’t go too far to get banned but is still sexy.
Rap: 7 / 10
I was rather disappointed with Bora’s rap this time around, in contrast to the popular opinion. I found the rap a little too slow for the beat / instrumental of the song, and was expecting something along the pace of the rapping in Nine Muses’ “Wild”. The enunciation at the end is also a little jumbled. I thought she ended the rap with a very out-of-place “la la la” until I looked up the lyrics / watched live performances. There was some missed potential here, and it’s a shame.
Music Video: 7 / 10
This is T-Ara’s “I Go Crazy Because Of You” music video on crack. Seriously these scene changes are no joke and happen every two seconds at best. What makes this particularly obnoxious is that the scenes will change to (a) group shots, (b) solo shots, (c) a shot of members who aren’t even singing. It’s just very jumbled together and there are essentially no transitions. Not to mention that the sets vary in brightness and colour, making this not easy on the eyes at all. What saves this MV is Shin Dong Yeop’s appearance at the end, very worth bumping this up to a 7. His “pervertedness” is oh so casual and the reactions on the girls’ faces are priceless (especially Bora with the glitter).
~
Overall: 80 / 100
Even though the chorus is hyper-repetitive and uninteresting, the rest of the song is well executed by the voices of the members, and Bora’s rap serves as a decent transition to the whispering bridge before Hyorin’s power note. Collectively the vocals are very good and the dance is good enough (for what little we could see of it, at least). The music video is too flashy and jumpy, I’d much rather have a calmer box video like with “Alone” than the mess this was.

June 9, 2013

[Review] Henry - Trap (feat. Taemin & Kyuhyun)


Vocals: 22 / 25
Henry has always been a good singer, absolutely. His voice is perfect for the dance pop / pop rock sound that “his” music has emphasized and been structured around. Even in some ballads his voice is a good fit. This is no exception, and it deserves the good score it has here. The only reason it’s not perfect is because of the belts (more because of the voice rather than the belts themselves) and lack of anything interesting, really. Taemin is actually a pretty good compliment to Henry’s voice, and while it wasn’t really picked up in that awful mess in “Maxstep”, this song did much better. Kyuhyun’s entrance was…strange. While he doesn’t sound bad per se, it’s definitely out of his comfort range due to the higher register, and it seemed like Henry would’ve taken that bridge much better.
Music Video: 18 / 25
I’ll admit that I was expecting something more than the standard off the teaser. Instead, it’s just the empty room with backup dancers (because this would be hella boring without them) and the piano prop. Henry gets points for playing said instrument and the choreography is pretty good. I’m sure choreography involving a handkerchief has been used before, but few and far in between. I guess in the more twisted way, this music video really does exemplify the title “Trap”, as Henry has been and still is stuck in the S.M. dungeons. I don’t think we got to see the girl’s face either. Stop copying that theme, it’s weird.
~
Overall: 80 / 100
Henry’s vocals are solid and a good listen, but his voice is going to keep him locked into one genre whereas superstar soloists need to be versatile. The choreography is neat and all, but will certainly affect Henry’s live performances which were already shaky to begin with. Kyuhyun and Taemin’s appearances in both the vocals and music video aren’t overwhelming, but it’s still a dance box boring music video. All in all it’s a decent start, but I’m not entirely sure if there’s enough promise down the line.

June 2, 2013

[Review] EXO - Wolf


Let’s take a look at one of the more anticipated comebacks of early 2013. I will be taking into account both the Korean and Chinese audio, but will mainly be referring to the Korean version.
~
Vocals: 10 / 10
Note: I don’t consider the whole chanting chorus as part of the vocals. The vocals start at around 1:15 in the video. For starters, there’s a lot of power and energy in the vocals and it’s pretty good carry work from D.O, Baekhyun, and Chen. Even in the Chinese variant, D.O and Baekhyun get a considerable bulk of the lines, which is really for the best since the rest of the group only has okay voices. High notes are everywhere and the main vocalists pull them off superbly. The bridge is also beautifully crafted, with Suho, Chanyeol (!), and Kris (!) bringing up the lower register, leading in the D.O and Chen peak. I’m glad to see Chen showoff his skills in Korean, because he’s incredible.
Appearance: 9 / 10
I was concerned, thinking some of the outfits / hairstyles would be reminiscent of “Mama”, but that didn’t happen. There are two errors: Kai and Chen. Kai should never do this again. Taeyang doesn’t even pull it off that well to be honest (and I don’t recall Changmin’s look), so Kai is only worse. Chen’s hair was a little weird. While mostly everyone’s hair was spiked, giving the sort of “wild” look, he had hair down or messily parted. Outfits were okay, and I see D.O borrowed Siwon’s hat from “Perfection”.
Dance: 5 / 10
With the likes of B.A.P, SHINee, and U-Kiss, this choreography was underwhelming. There are nice parts, like the tree, fluid movement / running and such, but the “wolf” actions look pretty goofy and the “claws” make them look more like cats then anything. At first look it seemed interesting, but now they just look silly. There was potential for this, but wasn’t executed well.
Rap: 2 / 10
To be honest, this should probably be a 1. I didn’t like any parts of this rap. Between the horrific pronunciation of “wolf”, the sloppy spikes, super nasal “saranghaeyo”, obnoxious wolf noises, this was awful on the ears. This is a different kind of bad than say a Minho or Yunho bad. I’m going to give a grace point that the soft rapping during the bridge didn’t murder the entire thing. EXO has some good talent in rapping with Chanyeol and Kris, but this was really really lackluster.
Music Video: 4 / 10
My first thoughts after looking at the teaser (aside from flinching at the rap) was that there was gonna be some form of a plot, complete with angry scenes and a girl and some skinship to top it all off. Now, because SM never labeled this music video as the dance version I am just going to assume it’s just that: a music video. So where is the plot? Something I did like about the music video though is the use of screentime. More specifically, it helped mask the subpar line distribution between members. Almost everyone gets a flash of the camera across the rapping and chanting. There are some instances where one member lipsyncs another member’s vocals and it’s pretty obvious and a weird decision.
~
Overall: 60 / 100
While “Wolf” isn’t the mashup clusterfuck akin to “I Got A Boy” and “Why So Serious”, it is still yet a rather disappointing release from the SM supergiant. Thankfully, it also follows the recent SM trend of “bad title tracks”, as the rest of the songs on the album look promising (mainly Baby Don’t Cry), but I felt that as far as a powerful comeback was concerned, EXO fell quite short with their fangs.