Oh yes! So, in the past 2 weeks I've probably watched less than 5 hours of drama, and kept up with barely anything in Kpop. I don't know what happened. So let me recap the few things I do remember doing/watching/listening...
Sweet Flower, Deep Flower
My husband says that after everything Block B came out with, Junhyung's solo "Flower" is his favorite song of the year. That was, until I pointed out the Engrish. You know what, I'm not sure Beast is or ever will get their act together with the Engrish. It was bad in the past, it's still bad now, and Junhyung's solo endeavor is just as spotty. But so what because I love it. I'm ad-dic-ted to this song, and to the choreo of whatever fantastic backup dancers Cube had the brilliant idea to include. The MV for "Flower" is cool of course, but I can't stop rewatching the Practice version for its incredible CGJ-less imagery and amazing technicality.So you want to know my shallow thoughts on The Boss, Exo, December stuff, and a late as hell Christmas roundup? Read on, friend. Read on.
Something New
I made a new discovery this month. They are called The Boss. And while I vaguely followed the news that these to-me-unknowns were making a comeback, it surprised me that so many people commented on said articles, making a huge fuss. I ignored them for a while until a suggestions link on Youtube brought me to "Why Goodbye."And something in the depths of my soul said suddenly, "I want to stan them."
I'm not at fandom level yet (I only know all their names and faces.. ahem), but it takes a lot of excellent music, and more than a general dose of feels for me to reach that level. However, something about The Boss made me sit up and take notice. I will be keeping my eye on these guys. Judging from their history they've had more than their fair share of bad company troubles, and being a BBC, that is something I can relate to with The Boss fans. Here's to hoping these boys keep it up.
In other news, there is Exo. I'm sure no one has ever heard of them before - I certainly don't care about them one bit *coughsImlyingcoughs* But I'm crazy happy that after so many bad misses with promotional songs, "Miracles in December" was a change in the right direction, and certainly in a direction that promotes their talented vocalists. So what that this miracle-inducing(?) Christmas(?) song was depressing as hell. It's rare for me to like a ballad these days, but this one I will take. Especially live.
Cute huh?
In line with the things that made me cry this winter:
- Discovery of a fantastic fancam of Winner's dance performance "Don't Stop the Music."
- Block B on the SBS Gayo Daejun performing a freakin' ROCK version of "Very Good."
- YG promo for the new Big Bang lightsticks, which appear to dance along to "Haru Haru."
- Husband's present of official Teen Top merchandise including a towel, hot pack, pictures, BABY blanket with the members' drawings to their fans, and... an actual lavendar sparkling lightstick. I own very first light stick. Did I mention that I have died and this is all a dream? Oh wait it's not! I really do have a Teen Top lightstick! And the best husband in the world. :)
Christmas Roundup
I dislike most jingly Christmas music. In fact, even before I was a Christian, the only songs I liked were hymns. So it's no surprise to me that nearly every version of Kpop doing Christmas is bland and boring at best, or cringe-worthy at the worst. Crayon Pop was cute, if a little harsh on the ears; the Cube Family song was laughably cheesy; Bom and Hi were... wow so odd; and Exo appeared with a bazillion elf looking promo shots which I absolutely refuse to post a picture of, because they make me gag. That's all I got out of this season. Here's to the end-ish of winter, with Spring looming bright and the return of pastel pants.Forgive me for this short post. It's already 2 days late, and I have too many Tumblr gifs to catch up on this morning. Oh wait, I have family visiting. Hold that thought! :'(
A wonderfully-written article sis! Though I have been mentioned in these articles, I have never once commented on this glorious series. However, something has finally motivated me to reveal myself here....the omission of your new discovery in the KPop realm of shipping. In the beginning of the article, you mentioned that you spend a lot of time "mindlessly browsing tumblr." But you did not mention the content of your daily readings. So the responsibility is passed on to me to say that Sara now ships Xiuhan, an Exo pairing she said adamantly she would never ship in the previous installment of this series. She even told me that she "fully supports the xiuhan ship." She ships it in the same way I do, which is fangirling over the cute moments and looking forward to more such interactions. So she does not ship it as a real life couple...or does she?
ReplyDeleteOk, I'm done throwing my sister under the bus...I can't believe I succeeded in converting my sister to shipping my OTP heh heh heh *continues snickering evilly*
I.. just... Uhm... I... argghh...
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I'll get you back for this later on tumblr.... And don't think I won't win this next battle.
I didn't make you ship Xiuhan! I only mentioned it, and you started shipping it on your own! Why must I be punished? *puppy eyes* Unnie, have mercy upon my fangirl heart
DeleteYeah, I have no idea who The Boss are, ha ha. There are so many groups that I'll see on a show or I'll watch a music video and i'll think "who are they? I need to look them up" and then... don't do anything about it, and forget about them until their next comeback when I'll think "oh hey, I liked them!", lol. As you said, there are just too many groups. I really like that The Boss song though, I want to listen to their other stuff!
ReplyDeleteMiracles in December is so beautiful. They've been having Lay play the piano a lot lately too, which I just love. Plus, D.O's voice, as in every song, is so smooth. I love his voice.
Also, lol at BlueVIP
I often wonder how many gems in Kpop I miss because I'm too lazy to keep up - but then again, it's not that often in mainstream Kpop at least that I miss out on anything notable. I am semi-good at giving rookie group songs at least 30 seconds of my time. But nothing ever really pops out anymore. It's more of less the same songs over and over.
DeleteI like Lay... singing dancing and playing piano. :) And of course D.O. has a lovely voice. Usually I like him better, but strangely for Miracles in December I actually like Luhan's part more. Hence why I was so happy when they upped it all 4 singers, and of course the completely Chinese live version was to die for too..
Uhm.. ignore my sister. She speaks lies. Nothing but lies. *shifty eyes*
I was thinking about that the other day. How every group is pretty much exactly the same, and every song sounds like every other song. 67 groups debuted last year, apparently. With that many groups, plus all of the older groups, it's impossible to actually come up with anything new anymore :-(
DeleteOMG THANK YOU :D for mentioning The Boss. I think it is quite a shame that people complain about idols' vocals when there is a group like The Boss with really distinctive voices and good vocalists that basically goes unnoticed.
ReplyDeleteIt is also really unfortunate that their material tends to be lackluster sometimes (I liked Stumble,Stumble and especially Why Goodbye) and they were marketed as "the new DBSK" in the beginnings and then shipped off to Japan...
I hope that they'll get that song that shoots them into public awareness some time soon before they disband or something :S
I knew next to nothing about them before this comeback. But I hope super good things for them. :)
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