[Bonus] The Late Report: January 2020

Whoops. Sometimes you just forget things. And I forgot about December's Late Report. Thus we'll have a super mega awesome combined deluxe version for this month (even though it'll mostly be for news from January regardless). These will also come out at the end of the month instead of the start of the following month, so this edition makes its debut on the final day.

Younha - Winter Flower

Alluded to in my review of "Dark Cloud," "Winter Flower" is a sensational track that features the brilliance of Younha's powerful voice with an electrifying instrumental and RM's appearance. Obviously he's a little busy as of late so he wasn't able to join her in this performance. No idea who BX is but he did a solid job stepping in for RM here. His voice is too nasally for my ears on a first listen but he keeps pace with the original, so props. I like this song so much that I'm trying to learn it on the piano. This will be the first time in almost a decade since I've touched a piano ha, should be a fun challenge.

BTS - Black Swan

Speaking of, here's BTS performing on the Late Late Show with James Corden. Considering that I did not look at any of the "Black Swan" releases of any form, I didn't know what to expect. The first thing I noticed was that this is very much modern BTS with the dancing and style of the song. Not surprising since this formula has been relatively untouched since their meteoric rise. The second thing I noticed was that they weren't wearing shoes. That couldn't have been easy. Shoutouts to the show and all because the whole setup was phenomenal: stage, scenery, lighting, etc. It's a great teaser for their upcoming album, that's for sure.

Red Velvet - Psycho (Remix) (feat. Nicki Minaj)

Kpop remixers really out here trying to add Nicki Minaj to every song. When it's this well-done, can you complain? No, you can't. Given that she has collaborated with BTS before, you could show this to someone new and they'd probably think this was legit. Okay given Nicki's lyrics probably not but you get the point haha. Since we've yet to see the rumored English version of "Psycho," a remix like this will have to do for now.

[Bonus] Best Of B-Sides: Part II

It's been nearly a year since the first Best Of B-Sides. There's really no excuse that this shouldn't be a more recurring series. In fact, I'm going to aim for a new installment of these every month. On top of that, I'm going to make any artist that shows up be ineligible for future posts. This will ensure that everything stays fresh in terms of the groups (or soloists!) and their music. After all the purpose of these posts is to highlight some music that might be overlooked or less popular. Diversity in representation is something I strive for here and that applies to both the groups and their music.

FIESTAR - Turn Off The Light

At this point, "remember when ___" has got to be the most typed phrase on my blog. FIESTAR have been out of the spotlight for so long that I almost forgot about the other songs on their "Black Label" EP. "Turn Off The Light" is a great track that mixes dance and R&B elements together. The high tempo means a good choreography could've been coupled with it. Then top it all off with a fierce Yezi rap and it's no surprise this song is splendid on the ears. If not for the masterpiece that was "You're Pitiful" this could very well have been the title track.

Red Velvet - Zoo

If there's (only) one thing to rely on Red Velvet for, it is their constant string of sweet instrumentals. The "Red Summer" mini album was no different, and "Zoo" has one of many more exciting instrumentals. The animal noise mimicry is abundant and fitting, then there's Seulgi's gorilla scream which is certainly...something. All of the songs on this EP play to Seulgi and Wendy's vocal strengths, and also lets the rest of the crew play support rather well. Irene's starting to get a little better in the rap department, so we'll see how that develops in their newest album.