[Review] Mamamoo - Piano Man

Okay so I was totally going to start reviewing some releases from S.M., YG, and JYP, but then I remembered that this song is new and absolutely worth reviewing. So here we go with Mamamoo and their "Piano Man."

Every year, it seems 1-2 new groups flock onto the radar. 2013 had Girl's Day, early 2014 had AOA, and roughly in the middle of the year I stumbled upon Mamamoo and "Mr. Ambiguous." Right away I knew this group had to be looked out for. Anyway, Mamamoo doesn't deviate too far from their previous release, keeping to rather high vocal standards that you just don't see as often as you'd like. Every second of the vocals was enjoyable, especially the latter half where they start going crazy wih harmonizations and extra. I'm not a huge fan of groups that just splash their name in their own songs but both insertions of "Mamamoo" and "Mr. Ambiguous" were well done in the songs so I can't complain. Hwasa's voice is amazing, and seems perfect for this type of music. She was great in "Mr. Ambiguous" but easily better here. Solar and Wheein are just as good, but I'm just in love with Hwasa's voice in particular.

Moonbyul's presence is questionable at best. This song could have easily done without the crappy "To the left, to the right" business after each chorus. Her actual rap isn't half bad, and live performances show she had the charisma and ferocity to make the rap work. Still, I can't but help get the feeling that she's essentially the Bora of her group. She looks good and manages her raps without contributing anything for vocals. But perhaps that's enough to not be carried by the vocalwork of the other members.

While the MV seems like another throwback to Secret's "Poison," there's no heist involved and the girls are just having a good time (and props to Gongchan from B1A4, who I assumed was just some actor). All the haters can leave, the girls aren't wearing anything too revealing and the dancing is pretty tame, with the exception of Moonbyul's solo parts (I'm guess by "dancer" they meant more like stripper?). The colour scheme is great. It's like a throwback to the old times with the heavy usage of black and white, but keeping the colours of the jackets and curtains adds a little vividness. They look like they're having fun, and the choreography also matches the heavy piano background.

"Piano Man" is a masterpiece. Fantastic vocals backed by a supportive instrumental and fun video. The rapping is average and could be done without, but like I said Moonbyul does a good job of working with what she has. Considering that Mamamoo is a rookie group, I think people should be paying more attention to these lovely ladies and if they keep this up they will surely skyrocket to the top of the girl group list.

[ Score: 92 / 100 ]

[Review] Apink - Luv

Before I swing by the "Big 3" I'd like to drop a look at A-Pink's latest comeback. Teasers looked promising, even if that just meant the regular A-Pink formula. I think A-Pink has a lot of room for growth, and that's what I think they were aiming for with this release.

I was a little jarred by the opening and didn't expect the dramatic jump, but Eunji continues to be stellar, even though she had no extraordinary parts (disappointing). The vocal growth of members like Naeun was definitely a focus in this song, and I'll have to say I'm pleased with what I'm hearing. They're still really weak as support vocalists and pale in comparison to say, Jia and Fei from Miss A but hey, it's a work in progress. There are a few segments of the song where I could see a bridge over to past songs like "NoNoNo" or "Mr. Chu" but I would attribute that to the "A-Pink sound" more than anything else. Poor Bomi has the unlucky position of having to pronounce the "v" sound which doesn't exist in Korean, although Eunji should be noted for pulling that off smoothly. I actually think she and Suzy have some of the best English enunciation, and given they don't speak English that should be applauded. Overall it's a step towards the more mature sound for A-Pink and although slightly underwhelming, they sound good together (per usual).

Choreography-wise the group has also matured, though it should be said that it's tough tackling choreography and formations for a group with even number of members. Still, it's pretty and they look pretty, can't ask for much else I suppose. The MV is completely polar to the song and choreography, and is arguably really out of place, even if the MV is supposedly matching the lyrics. It's too upbeat and peppy for an emotional MV. The sparkly tear makeup or whatever is rather awkward, as well. Bomi and Naeun continue to stun with their looks and Eunji is as flawless as ever. Maybe they're all really sad because they're all sharing (going after?) the same guy. Ahh, the continuous struggles of the average group.

A-Pink is a group on the rise, and in terms of music and maturity "Luv" is certainly a push in the right direction. I'm curious as to see how they'll develop from here, but here's hoping there's more superstar vocal performances from Eunji and that Naeun and Namjoo continue to work hard as well.

[ Score: 83 / 100 ]

[Review] AOA - Like A Cat

AOA is having a busy year, From "Miniskirt" to "Short Hair," they've been flaunting their skills and their faces, and early teasers for "Like A Cat" showed no deviations from this. The girls were gonna be sexy, the music would probably be catchy, and the choreography would have butts at some point or another.

I'll be very forward and say that this is the weakest release from AOA this year by far. Don't get me wrong, this is a good song, and the hook is really powerful. Choa is fantastic and makes the rest of her group look bad, but there is a very loud and distracting instrumental. It's not as supportive as the instrumental in "Miniskirt" and just not as good as the one in "Short Hair." Quite frankly, it's jarring when compared to the vocals and they simply don't mesh well. On the other hand, there is too much presence from Jimin in this song, and that's not good. Her nasally voice pretty much takes control of the whole song from the beginning, and didn't sit well with me throughout. The English / rap segments themselves are okay but I just can't stand her voice. Sorry, Jimin. Better luck next time?

The choreography for "Like A Cat" was the most tame, which actually works for them. There's plenty of cat-like gestures and all that, and even the butt-shaking for the hook isn't as in-your-face as previous songs. Were there any formation changes, though? I remember once during the rap break but none elsewhere. Given song titles alone I would have imagined "Short Hair" to have had the most calm choreography but I suppose I can't say I'm not pleased with it.

Another AOA MV with substance, how pleasant. Even if this only reminds me of Secret's "Poison" MV, The ladies are super sneaky thieves that use teamwork and blatantly random techniques to acquire the diamond. Sure, there is plenty of questionable shenanigans going on, but really, it's a video with actual plot and substance, I can overlook the "mistakes."

In the end, this song would have been completely average, but Jimin's mosquito voice dominance is too much and the instrumental does hurt more than it does help. On the flipside, a good hook plus an MV that is actually an MV and not boxes and fanservice brings some points back. Still, this song has a long ways to go before catching up to "Miniskirt."

[ Overall: 70 / 100 ]

[Misc] The Porting

Alright, with the inaugural post of the blog out of the way, I'm going to begin the massive work of moving all of my old Tumblr reviews / posts over to this blog. It's gonna take some time (as I have over 100 pieces) but I'm willing to do so for the sake of archive and history, so I can look back at my old writings (and cringe, probably). I'm also going to keep the original dates of the reviews so I don't suddenly have 100+ posts in November, again for legacy sake. Just makes sense for me. Anyway, possibly more introductory stuff on the way but for now, I need to get back to moving posts over.

[Misc] Bias Power Rankings

So, I've more or less decided to shift over the Blogspot for the time being. It's both more convenient and geared towards what I want for my blog and at the same time, it's something new and fresh for me to learn some stuff on the side. Anyway, before I port all of my old reviews over from Tumblr (for archive sake), I figured I'd write up some articles to serve as more of an introduction and be fun little extras. For today, we're going to go over my biases. I've never actually compiled an order of my "waifus" so this will be an interesting challenge.

Should I even explain how I pick my biases? I just like them, heh. Of course appearance / eye candy / fanservice plays a role, but I am someone that loves vocals so most of the girls on the list will be good singers. I'm not someone that dives into much of the entertainment and variety world outside of Running Man but I do pay some attention through sites and Youtube and such. Anyway, here's the ranking.

10. Jaekyung

Underrated Jaekyung of underrated Rainbow starts off at #10. Jaekyung is a solid vocalist that's unfortunately in a group that's been mediocre for a while. Rainbow Blaxx had some good songs but Rainbow is still struggling to find the success like KARA. Anyway, Jaekyung's true strength is how reliably ridiculously attractive she is. That sounds a little strange, but I think she's consistently a top 3 visual, as her plethora of selcas on Instagram will show. This girl simply cannot look bad, perhaps outside of derpface.

9. Juniel

Juniel is an absolute sweetheart and is one of few soloists on the Power Ranking. This lovable singer has a beautifully soft voice and has excellent acoustic versions of her music, too. In addition, she is probably the only girl on this list that is just genuinely (naturally?) cute, as her voice (speaking and singing) is just very sweet and I'm not that bothered by it like I am with other cute aegyo voices. Some call Juniel a "IU clone" but she knows what she's good at and that's perfect.

8. Kyungri

Kyungri is hot. But let's be honest, who in 9MUSES isn't super attractive by default? The group could've easily been 9MODELS and no one would give that a second thought. Anyway, with Sera out of the picture (sadness), Kyungri will be the group's go-to vocalist when they make their comeback... Please have a comeback soon. Kyungri would be much higher on the list if her group was more stable. Seriously, I had some serious faith in 9MUSES last year after releases like "Wild" and "Gun" but member departures leave much to be desired.

7. Sojin

Back when I first jumped into Girl's Day with "Expectation," Sojin immediately stood out to me in both vocals (I liked her much more than Minah at the time) and appearance. You can imagine the shock when I found out she was 28. Still, she seems to be right at home with Girl's Day and I still think her voice is on average better than Minah's. Part of me is pained because Queen Victoria of f(x) is quite similar in a few ways but doesn't make the list, but Sojin definitely earned her spot here.

6. Suzy

The Nation's First Love was certainly my first love out of Miss A, even though everyone from that group is lovable and her "Bad Girl, Good Girl" look was...questionable at best. She's matured since then, and so has her voice, which used to be the weakest of the group. Now, she and Miss A sound incredibly in sync with each other and her presence in the acting, variety, and CF world is no joke either. Secretly, I think Sojin should outrank Suzy but because of seniority (Suzy had a 3 year headstart) Suzy snags #6.

5. Bora

Sistar's rapper isn't half bad, as referenced in my Girl Group Rapper Power Rankings. Part of Bora's charm is that she is a fierce no-nonsense girl on stage, and a bubbly energetic angel off the stage. Her athleticism is strong and she just unf. She's probably massively underweight but she makes that look healthy all the same. So far only she and Jaekyung's body size don't make me cringe if I think about their potential diet and such. Bora may be the weakest singer on the list but that's to be expected since she's a rapper, and would be horribly overshadowed by Hyorin and Soyu anyway.

4. Minzy

To be completely honest, Minzy is the only girl I really like from 2NE1 (now). She's more than a competent vocalist, a disgustingly good dancer and has enough rapping power to be in a subunit with CL. Minzy can flip from being adorable to eroMinzy in a heartbeat, and she can pull off both ends of the spectrum well, something most of the other girls on this ranking struggle with (in my eyes). She is incredibly balanced and well-rounded, to be expected of someone who was on my original bias lists back when I first started getting into Kpop.

3. Soyu

Sistar is the only group to have 2 members on this list. That's Sistar power for you. Anyway, Soyu is still underutilized by the group, although side projects and collaborations really bring out her strengths. She's an amazingly soft singer who spends her free time getting jacked. That's crazy. When she appeared on Running Man she was just...awesome. Sassy and competitive and everything. Soyu is just awesome. Sistar is continually going to climb the girl group ladder and that might mean Soyu could challenge the top 2 slots on my list. But...

2. Taeyeon

There's no denying that Girls' Generation was my first girl group crush, and that Taeyeon was my favourite member. The Kid Leader is adorkable (and the only girl I will ever use that word to describe), beautiful, and has an almost mesmerizing voice. Whether it's in OST work or Soshi songs, I'm always blown away by her voice. Out of all the placements on this Power Ranking, the top 2 were the ones I was 100% sure of. There was no changing this vote, and the power of Girls' Generation in their prime continues to show strength to this day.

1. Younha

Younha reigns supreme as the #1 KPop girl in my heart. Younha has always had this pure, mature look even in her younger days and it's been attractive ever since. Her voice is extremely versatile, and is hands down the best singer on this list. "Hero" and her Someday album completely hooked me when I was first introduced, and she has been killing it ever since. Speaking of, Younha outranks everyone in terms of seniority. While I didn't fully "get" into KPop until 2009, I had a taste of Younha many months before with her Japanese work "Houki Boshi" and "Ima Ga Daisuki." I'd seriously make efforts to see this girl outside of just music and I'd absolutely love it if she got to guest on a future Running Man episode.

Honorable Mentions

Hyejeong, Sohee, Eunji, Victoria, Erin

This was fun! Maybe I'll have updated versions of the Power Ranking as time goes by and my biases change, and this has definitely sparked my drive to write a Girl Group Power Rankings, too.

[Review] Girl's Day - I Miss You

Girl’s Day is on a constant rise, and after dazzling us with the summer spectatular “Darling,” they returned with an emotional ballad in “I Miss You." I was really glad to see Girl’s Day with a ballad for this comeback. We’ve already seen them do absurdly aegyo stuff, classy sexy stuff, and fun cute stuff. It’s time for Minah to absolutely stun us with her ballad vocals.

What I didn’t expect was that Hyeri would get so much limelight, not that I’m complaining. I’m very pleased to see a group stop overshadowing members, and especially since certain groups might not even be able to give generously to the less appreciated members (unfortunately, I’m looking at you Dasom). Still, the vocal quality is excellent in this song, and Minah continues to be excellent.

The ending was rather weak, but not to the level of 2NE1’s “Missing You” weak. Still, that is overlooked because Yura has a damn good rap. I can’t even believe I’m typing that out right now. Perhaps calling the rap “damn good” is an overexaggeration but it’s rapping from Yura that has good flow and sounds good. I’ve never heard anything close from Yura previously. Sojin also jumps in for some singing layered in, a term I will coin “Sistar layer rap” and that sounds really good, too. The overall ballad might be fantastic but I can really come to appreciate this song because it’s Yura’s first with a decent rap segment. Good work.

I dunno why but I laughed a little when I saw MInah in the group shot. The combination of her hairstyle and the outfit makes her look a little puffy or weird or something which made me chuckle. Outside of that, it’s a serious MV with serious emotions. The girls tugged at my heartstrings when I saw them tear up, and on side note, the happier shots of them happy in the snowfall reminds me that I’m not going to be very happy when this winter rolls around.

Girl’s Day has pretty much covered all the bases by now. “I Miss You” is a strong ballad with moving vocals and a supportive rap. They’re showcasing all their talents at a crucial time, with the shenanigans of their sunbae girl groups. Girl’s Day will only continue to rise. If I had gotten into Girl’s Day with this song, I might have put even more stock in the group than when I did with “Expectation.”

[ Score: 92 / 100 ]

[Misc] Scouting Report

Hey there. This is Tery, and I'm potentially moving my blog (http://terywj.tumblr.com/) over to this site because I've always wanted a medium of interaction if I ever got a following for my reviews. Something like Blogspot would be better to see other people's opinions and critiques on my writing.

So this is just a scouting of the mechanics and fundamentals of the site. I may end up shifting everything over, or I might not. We'll have to wait and see.