[Review] Dreamcatcher - Scream

Impulse reviews are not usually my thing but it provides nice contrast with the weeks in review for "So What" coming out later I didn't even know they were coming back, but Dreamcatcher has joined the crazy February rush with a new title track "Scream." "Deja Vu" is still lukewarm for me, and while "Piri" was good it couldn't hold up to their earlier greats. Maybe with a title like "Scream." we'd see some more intense Dreamcatcher that may bring us Halloween early.

[Review] Sistar19 - Gone Not Around Any Longer (Revisited)

The fact that Sistar19 only ever released two songs is depressing. "Ma Boy" was sensational with audio and choreography, so the sophomore release had a lot of expectations. "Gone Not Around Any Longer" was quite a mouthful of an English title, considering how short and to-the-point the Korean title is. Let's see what my thoughts were on it from seven years ago, and how the song holds up nowadays. This review was during the 2nd season of my blog so each aspect of the song was compartmentalized. If this revisit comes off a little choppy, that's why.

• Yeah, I’m giving Hyorin 5 (read: not 10) points in vocals. You know why? Because of that fourth word: Hyorin. She is everything and everything in this song and by everything I mean Bora has no lines sung for three plus minutes. At least she got something in “Ma Boy”. Yes, Hyorin sounds absolutely divine. Yes, her high notes are fancy, pretty, and charming. Yes, the variation work is quite lovely if but a little awkward structure for the ending. But that’s all Hyorin, no Bora. 

I still stand by how annoying this was. Yes, me being a huge Bora fanboy (especially during those days) factored in but you can't tell me that this shit was fair. Considering groups in the current age still have line distribution woes, it's unacceptable that a duo had one member with all of the singing lines. If instead of calling this a Sistar19 release Starship had labeled this Hyorin featuring Bora then it'd be less obnoxious.

[Review] GFriend - Crossroads

It's been a while since the last GFriend review (a little over two years to be more precise). They have been steadily churning out the hits in that time, in addition to joining the BigHit family. No doubt that both of these moves have been positive for them. "Fever" was released the same month Source Music was acquired by BigHit, but given that comebacks are planned in advance, I will consider "Crossroads" to be their first true song since the merger.

[Review] T-ARA Triplets Special

How about a tripleheader? T-ARA have fallen off the pedestal but they remain active as individuals. They're one of those "unofficially disbanded" groups because the members all say the group isn't dead but until they release music together they might as well be. In the meantime, we have some solo efforts to go over. The triplets of Eunjung, Hyomin, and Jiyeon were very powerful in their heyday and each of them have had some solo success with songs like "Never Ever" and "I'm Good." Let's see how their most recent stuff holds up.

Hyomin - Allure

I don't think it's too crazy to say that Hyomin has seen the least success as an independent act out of the three. Songs like "Nice Body," "Sketch," and "Mango" aren't bad but can't compete with Jiyeon and Eunjung's best. Hyomin's best song in my opinion is the ballad "Gold," which brought her less-exposed vocals to front and center. That song gives me goosebumps to this day, and illustrates how a perfectly sculpted song can meet a singer's needs and show their talents efficiently.

[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.