Wednesday 26 September 2012

[Single Review] UKISS- 'Stop Girl'

Let's just say I was deeply perplexed by this title. It seemed so wrong. Like if you were to use 'stop' in such a context, it would appear that 'stop' is an adjective, describing a girl to be very stop, whatever that means. How could someone be stop? Anyway, through further research, I found out that the song goes along the lines of guys falling in love with another girl (big surprise there, Ukiss) and them being unprepared, thus telling the girl of their infatuations to 'stop'. To just hold back. And that kind of cleared things up a bit....but that title still vexes. Why couldn't it have been 'Stop! Girl'? That exclamation mark just adds another dimension to the title, an added pop you know? And Kevin and Eli.........you guys were the English warriors of Ukiss, what happened? Why didn't you intervene with the title??? Ah, anyway, onto Ukiss.

I haven't really heard much Ukiss, even though they have been freakishly efficient in pushing out track after track this year. I mean with 'Doradora', 'Believe' and 'Neverland' later last year, it's safe to say that they have been pretty freaking busy. I heard those tracks like once before, maybe twice, just to try it out and get a feel of what Ukiss' style was. The songs DO sound uniquely Ukiss which is nice to know, given the range of aegyo counterparts in the girl group industry, that they were at least able to try out a sound different from other bands. However, this efficiency in pushing out tracks seem to have had detriments on the songs' quality. What I mean is that rather than focusing on one song, and perfecting it before releasing and blowing the brains out of everyone (eg. Brown Eyed Girls with 'Abracadabra' (2009) and 'Sixth Sense' (2011)), by Ukiss seems to just be satisfied with at least showing proof of activity by releasing yet another track ever so often, and it had turned out, none have really been mind-blowing. Which also explains why they haven't had a Music Bank win even after 4 years. Well, 'Doradora' was cool, which a cool dance to it, and a decently catchy chorus, and '0330' was good, but the rest were just pretty meh. So how would 'Stop Girl' match up to these? Could it be the breakout song (at least in my personal opinion) for Ukiss?

Ok, on my first listen, I felt a bit torn. Some parts of the song I felt were incredible in terms of raw emotion and harmonzing, but there were parts of the song which just fell flat and ruined the pace of the song somewhat. Let us analyse the song in beats of 20 seconds each. Take note I am using the timing from the music video so check it out for this to make sense. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XboGRNb1Fd8

0:00-0:20- This introduction is quite different compared to other songs in the Kpop world today. It has this really American pop feel to it, very Jason Derulo-esque or maybe Usher, with the incessant 'yeah's and that R&B techno synth beat in the background. It's good and really sets the tone for the song, a sort of moderately-paced hip-hop pop hybrid. A great start. Oh, and that dwindling run of notes towards the end is a nice touch, somewhat reminiscent of that of like Lil' Wayne tracks. 

0:21-0:40- Hoon's part kicks in with a somewhat pleading line, followed by a slight pause. This first line was quite mediocre especially to kick off the song. However, the next two lines, especially the last one really do it for me, with a really cool electronic meets R&B hiphop feel to it. Kiseop's lines follow the same pattern but without the awesome last line, which is replaced by Eli's ever-confident swaggy rap cut. This beat serves to set the tone, a rather sombre sound with really chill and swaggy beats. Not a bad combination, and it serves as a build-up for the next beat which differs slightly.

0:41-1:00- Now, Kevin's part has got to be the biggest part. I think his voice is quite high-pitched, thus it wouldn't really fit into this type of quick-paced speak rap portions, which seem really weak. And his last line seems autotuned to death and at the end of it, the pace really slows by a lot, which is disappointing. Thank goodness Soohyun picks it up with his part which though follow the pattern of Kevin's, have a really deep tone and this manly husk to it. Which really penetrate with emotion and bring the song right back up to speed.

1:01-1:30- I LOVE THIS CHORUS! It really reminds me of Usher, with the extended voice trails towards the ends of the lines and the variation in tone. The harmonizing too is brilliant and with regard to context, I think it really brings forth a sense of hesitation, but a form of confident hesitation if you will, like a plead for the girl to halt for a moment but with a composure so cool and suave that it's just awesome.

1:31-2:20- Pretty much the same as those above. Though Kiseop's and Hoon's exchange is really powerful and emotion-filled. Kevin still kinda spoils though...but Soohyun delivers gorgeously both in his part and in the interjection in the chorus.

2:21-2:40- The rap. Aah. Dongho's rap is good, and his tone is sort of flat throughout, not in a bad way but rather it has a purpose and a sort of attitude that comes with it. However, I prefer Eli's as you can hear his intonation a bit better and his voice also has that added fierceness which Dongho cannot replicate due to his tone I think. On a whole, the rap segments meld into the song quite seamlessly due to the R&B beat of the song giving the song some versatility when transferring to and from sentences. Really good job.

2:41-End- The awesome chorus strikes again. Not much to say here, but Kevin redeems himself a bit with the second chorus house, when he interjects with a couple verses. Here his voice does not sound as rushed and complements the chorus very well, adding a background, a back voice, a layer of emotion to the song. In fact, here he sounds a bit like Jesse McCartney with his youthful tone and all. Great ending to a great song on a whole.

So is this THE song for Ukiss? It's a brilliant song I must say, but honestly, I have this feeling they can do so much better. They are surely improving but if they can just keep their consistency, I am very sure THAT song is coming. The song to propel them to the mid-top tier alongside B2ST, B1A4 and 2PM.

Sunday 16 September 2012

[Single Review] Orange Caramel- 'Lipstick'

I haven't really listened to much After School. I don't know why, but it's sort of a thing for me that when I get obsessed with a bunch of groups, I can't really bring myself to start listening to other groups not included in my obsession list. Who isn't in that list? Well, Dal Shabet, Dalmatian, SECRET.....I can't really bear to click on their videos or hear their songs. Maybe, it is because I fear disappointment, that the first song I hear from them should be ass-kickingly awesome. And I fear that they would not deliver.

After School to me is one such group. Their songs are well-known and their odd graduation system is interesting to say the least, but I'm not really a true fan of them. The irony is that I am a complete diehard fan of their epically cute sub-group, Orange Caramel. When I first heard them in 'Bangkok City', I really despised them; their cuteness and the odd jarring beats of the song really did not appeal to me. 'Shanghai Romance' completely turned that around. It was cute as usual, but it had this very authentic China-meets-anime feel, with was pulsating and just really feel-good. 'Funny Hunny' too was a gorgeously peppy track, with a fully animated video to boot, just adding layer upon layer of endearing aegyo-style cuteness.

'Lipstick' does not divert from this cute concept. But I'd say, lyric-wise it is more deeply thought out than the rest of their songs. I mean, this isn't just plain falling-for-a-dude love type of thing, rather it's a rather spiteful or mischievous song, with hints of darkness. And this is all masked behind incredibly catchy and cheerful tunes and the epic Americana background track repeating on loop through the chorus.

From the start, the opening lines come at you quick and accompanied by this digitalised synths which add to the playfulness of the song. Also, to me, the opening lines had a slight undertone of sexiness, with a tinge of squealing and an almost-whiny sort of enunciating (that surprisingly does not put me off the song) which make the song sort of more desperate and young. The verses are fast too, with the shrill whining coming in towards the end of the lines, which I think serve to add an emotional depth (like a beg, a pleading tone for love) to the song, which at first listen may seem rather playschool (as were Orange Caramel's previous singles). The chorus, was what killed me. The 'mo-mo-mo-mo' parts sounded so cute, so catchy and like the quintessential aegyo girl. And the way it couples with the short slightly slower verses interjecting the chorus bring on an onset of rising and falling of pace and feeling, which adds a whole new level of complexity to the song, which by now, has already sold me.

The slow bit, typical in most KPOP songs, still manages to be delightfully pouty. It isn't too adrupt, rather it follows the same emotional path, just reducing the pace gradually and kicking in the Americana beats towards the end for another sudden rush of emotion of joy.

And I think that is what Orange Caramel really excels at. Happiness. They bring forth a sort of playfulness in their style. Their videos are so brainless and dream-like that they are hilarious, and I think it is to show an image that the girls are sticking to the usual roots (aegyo) while playing totally out of the box simultaneously (alien videos and outfits and songs), a sort of restrained audacity which I can only credit to successful management and organised conceptual decisions.

With these continued Orange Caramel boppy hits and if only After School could take a leaf out of their book, I'm pretty sure After School would find itself slowly catching up to my obsessions list in no time. But, meanwhile, Orange Caramel remain gorgeously alien, and just bring me into their world. Bring me there please. Again. Now.

Friday 7 September 2012

[Single Review] T-ara- 'Sexy Love'

T-ara! What balls they had to stage a comeback just after the ugly situation with Hwayoung! Usually groups involved in such scandals would probably just wait for the effects to die off, which would usually take months to even years in certain cases, but T-ara seems determined to soldier on and slay the charts. I think I need to use this opportunity to bring up a point that we should really stop hating on T-ara. Like seriously. The bullying was not proved, rather it was declined by both T-ara and Hwayoung, and would you really let your childish dislike for bullying affect whether you would like the group's music or not? Honestly, I would not really care if there was indeed bullying in T-ara, though if it happened I would be upset, rather I simply care about the quality of their music. I mean, why let internal matters within a group irrelevant to myself prevent me from hearing wall-thumping, ass-kicking tunes? Yes, and I only care about music quality, and T-ara has never disappointed.

Is there any other girl group as bold and diverse and shamelessly addictive as T-ara? They have practically sampled every style out there, with the aegyo concept ("Bo Peep Bo Peep"), the sexy concept ("Like The First Time"), the retro concept ("Roly-Poly"), the disco concept ("Lovey Dovey") and the outrageous WTF concept ("Yayaya"). I really respect T-ara for actually giving other styles a shot and trying to appeal to wide spectrum of audiences, and honestly, no matter how drastic the song style changes, all their songs (well, maybe most of them') have been awesome.

Now with the controversy about Hwayoung and all, I wondered what style T-ara would choose to go with to win back the converted haters. To overcome all that negativity, I would have expected a classic,  T-ara, ridiculously addictive dance track. And voila. Sexy Love. Sure, it is playing somewhat safe, but with all the trouble behind them, maybe safe is the way to go. Let's face it, T-ara is monkey balls awesome, but CLASSIC T-ARA? Respect.

Onto 'Sexy Love'. Let's just start by saying I like this song. Yeah, it's not my favourite T-ara song ("I Go Crazy Because Of You" still holds that honour) but it is pretty solid. From the get-go, a wall booming beat comes in, setting off this club-like atmosphere in you and your feet start to twitch. It is an amazing beat and really sets the pace for the rest of the song. Then a robotic creaking sound plays alongside which is well probably to serve as a build-up for the pre-verse hook, and it does serve its purpose, though it kind of overpowered the infectious wall booming beat which I guess is a tad disappointing. But the next bit makes up for it wholesale.

Duck + Robots + T-ara being robots = WIN.

Yeah, I can't really describe what that background track felt like to me but it was like an anthem, an anthem of robotic dance pop, and I could just imagine a filled Seoul Olympic Stadium just grooving to this. Jiyeon starts the song off with her verse. Jiyeon's voice is ok? I guess? She was great in HersHE perhaps because of Ailee and Hyorin, but I never really thought of her as a powerhouse vocal. Still her lines probably bring forth the sexiest vibes out of any other lines in the song, with an airy trailing vocal towards the end and a slight slurry texture throughout which add a sultriness to the song. Hyomin's parts are the catchiest as usual and the rhythm in her lines never let up, just rushing forward with a tangible impatience and venom, just adding the buildup once more. Boram's parts were high pitched. And they were so-so. Boram is pretty meh to me but at least she got some exposure, and Qri butts in with her whisper. That whisper was probably the most artistic element in the song for me, as it added a sense of mystery, like some ancient goddess suddenly chimed in with a soft quivering message, and it added another layer of sexiness to the song. Mystery and unpredictability are part and parcel of sexiness, because you never know what the real thing is. However ambiguous that was, not knowing anything just makes the result better and not knowing a woman makes her true self and personality shine through much better, enhancing her womanly face, enhancing her appeal.

The chorus is a sudden fast-paced burst of intensity and rapidfire mutterings of sexy organs by Soyeon. What I don't like about this chorus is that it is flat, it lacks intonation. It is like a rap but with louder background, and one-dimensional, not really falunting Soyeon's vocal ability. Eunjung's section after the chorus serves as a pretty good, mildly energetic closing section for the intense chorus, which is much appreciated.

Onto the rap. AARRRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHH! Why do raps have autotune? Why? Maybe to add to the robotic vibe of the song? But I could barely hear anything in that rap; maybe the excessive digitalizing was to allow Ahreum to smoke her way through the rap (originally meant for Hwayoung) or something? I don't know. But it is my least favourite part of the song by far.

In all, a solid track by T-ara, it is decently catchy (disregarding the rap) and the dance steps are really fun to watch. Maybe not their best track but surely enough to show the haters what T-ara is about, what they can be and what they will be.

- The Kpop Philosopher