A Touch of K-Pop: January-March '14

Hey so guess what! I'm still alive.. Just not alive with an "I'm so excited to be blogging!" kind of alive feeling. If anything, I'm in a slump. A rut. Drama, blogging, and believe it or not, Kpop. Blame overly redundant dramas. Blame it my mood. Or the fact that my home computer screen needs replacing because it's so old and glitchy that my eyes hurt when I stare at it too long. Hey at least I got some new glasses that don't have scratches on them the size as the crack in the universe.

This was my March madness.

Why am I in Kpop rut though? Because honestly, these past few months haven't been that too exciting. For me at least. I think I got overly used to a string of my bias groups promoting, from October on-wards. So January and February were like filler months, and then March happened with the big girl group extravaganza, but by then I just wanted to hear good music, and I got it, and then I was good.

And now I'm hopelessly behind,* and I don't need to apologize for it but honestly I miss ranting a bit about the nonsensical things in Kpop so here I am once again, but this time with a slightly different format.

First things first though:

In two weeks I am going to a B.A.P concert with my mother in Dallas. It's her bias group, so don't look at me. I know I'm not a huge B.A.P fan but I do like a lot of their music and am pretty excited to be seeing them live. Now I just need to learn how to distinguish Daehyun from Jongup and I ought to be good.

Here's the second thing:

In June my husband and I are going to Miami for our 5 year anniversary trip (so cool!). The beach? It's not really my thing. I don't like sand, and I don't wear bikinis (I wear a very classy 50s era checkered bathing suit and I look damn fine in it). Miami, or rather... South Beach is the last place you would probably ever catch me and my husband on a vacation. But we're going because, well, you know... Block B will be there.

I'm going to see Block B in concert!

Hopefully they won't be playing those instruments though, or you know...
it probably won't sound very good. 

We have VIP tickets. I'm going to die. And probably cry lots as soon as as I see them. I'll be packing a a whole tissue box because I'll probably need it the moment they start to sing 'Be The Light'. It feels like this is too good to be true...

So onto the next stuff. I haven't blogged anything Kpop related but that doesn't mean I neglected the whole industry. In fact, my 2014 playlist seems to suggest otherwise. Here are 40 songs that I've noticed this year and currently dropped into a playlist, beyond the cut.




They're not all in chronological order. Songs in blue are my favorites.

1. TVXQ - "Something" The first song by this duo that I actually liked! Maybe it's the style, the jazz, but I can't help but listen to it on repeat endlessly (or at least I did for about a month solid)
2. Rain - "LA Song" Not exactly my favorite thing in the world, but it's catchy every now and then.
3. Rain - "30Sexy" I personally don't like the song, but it's kind of addicting. That and I can't say the word thirty or dirty anymore without thinking of his rythmns in the song, or the dance.
4. Girl's Day - "Something 썸씽" I can't even remember what this sounds like now. I think I didn't like it but hey, I'm just marking my playlist that Girl's Day made a comeback.
5. Two Song Place - "Age-height 나이-키" Nothing less than comic gold, and the song is fun. Lady comedians rock, and it's nice to see FT Island's Seunghyun.
6. Ailee - "Singing Got Better 노래가 늘었어" So, her singing's always been good.
7. C-Clown - "말해줘 Making Film" I've always loved this sound from C-Clown, so this song's no exception. 
8. B1A4 - "Lonely 없구나" Frankly not my cup of tea, but I like the boys and the song's not actually too bad
9. Got7 - "Girls Girls Girls" This is JYP's new comeback huh? It's catchy, really catchy, but too repetitive and therefore I don't like it. I think I'm also realllly starting to feel that age limit with my younger boy groups
10. Spica - "You Don't Love Me" Arguably my favorite song of 2014 so far. I love this video, I love the style, and these girls kill it on a live stage as well. They've bumped up into my top favorite girl groups just for this one song alone. 
11. Gain - "Fxxk U" I admire her for the song and the subject matter. It takes some major guts to do what she does in this industry. Also, the song is great, and anything featuring Bumkey has automatically got my attention. 
12. B.A.P - "1004(Angel)" A song that grew on me in waves. Personally the video's a bit too angsty for my taste but that doesn't matter when the rest is all ear candy. 
13. Roh Jihoon - "A Song For You 너를 노래해" I know next to nothing about him except his fans are happy when he releases something, and then that's it. Song is lovely though, if not life shattering
14. Rain - "I Love You 사랑해"  Okay so I have a weakness for sweet songs from Rain.
15. Yoo Seung Woo - "Hesitating Lips 입술이 밉다" What happened that baby kid I saw at Kcon?! The boy's growing up, and wow in the best way. He looks fantastic. I also won't hesitate to list this song in my Top 5 favorite songs from this year. The rest of his album is perfection too, fyi.
16. K.Will & Mamamoo - "Peppermint Chocolate 썸남썸녀" Unexpected, but quite fun
17. BTS - "Boys In Luv 상남자" Here's another group that's too young for me. Actually I have nothing against their songs and I will usually listen to them happily for the first 2 minutes, but they don't leave me craving anything more.
18. S.M. The Ballad - "Breathe 呼吸 (CHN ver)" A boring MV, and I didn't know the song was even all that good until I watched it live. (Yes, and I biased for the Chinese version, Chen, and Zhang Li Yin.)
19. BTOB - "Beep Beep 뛰뛰빵빵" I needed a kickass (and a little bit groovy) BTOB comeback song with a fun MV. I got it. Me is happy now.
20. CNBLUE - "Can't Stop" Is there a Cnblue song that ever goes wrong?? Okay maybe there are a couple, but this song isn't one of them. Love the whole album too
21. Nell - "Four Times Around the Sun" Nell has that sound that's always peaceful to me, and while the song doesn't exactly move me, I still like it.
22. TVXQ - "Spellbound 수리수리" The song and video feel like a knock off of their other better song. Fun, but after a while my ears can't handle the grating of their over stylized voices.
23. Lunafly - "Special Guy 특별한 남자" Another Lunafly song I don't like so well. Their debut was the best, but after that I can't really find much love for their sound. I feel bummed. 
24. Sumni - "Full Moon 보름달" Strangely I like the video a bit more than I like the song. It's just cool, and the visuals get to me and I'm kind of jealous how well Sunmi looks in a bird dress. Btw I love his first collaboration of JYP and Brave Sound just has to, you know, announce that. It's fitting. 
25. Troy - "Green Light 그린라이트" Omgomg I've been waiting for this debut for so long and it's perfect!!!! I could cry. I am crying, right now. Not even kidding. Bumkey what are you doing to me? Actually all of them kill me. Excuse me while I go and play this over and over again. Curse them for only putting out a single. I need more!
26. 4Minute - "Whatcha Doin' Today 오늘 뭐해" Okay, so yeah 4Minute's back too. You know what, I liked the MV. I mean, if you're gonna be raunchy, just go for it. I sat in shock for the first half a minute and then I decided to chill out and enjoy the rest. Song is standard. I won't be buying it. 
27. Orange Caramel - "Catallena 까탈레나" The song is vomit to the ears (how can they stand singing in that kind of voice??) But, I also kind of bought it and watch the live stages and the video is hilarious. What can I say, I have respect for girl groups that just don't care about how they sound or look and perform their hearts out (Gosh I hope they like doing this kind of thing though).
28. 100% - "심장이 뛴다(Beat)" A forgettable song from a group I want to like. They're 2 members down but I can't otherwise distinguish them from any other boy group with a dark theme. That's sad.
29. Lee Michelle - "Without You 위드아웃 유" Wow I'm happy to see her get a debut, especially with a voice like this. I'll be keeping my eye on her from now on. 
30. MBLAQ - "Be a Man 남자답게" I almost always forget about MBlAQ when listing off boy groups but this song has brought my attention back. They always have solid and usually distinctive release songs, that I'm always sorry they don't get the same kind of buzz as other boy groups. They certainly have the talent. 
31. 2NE1 - "Come Back Home" Yeeahhh 2ne1 finally! I can rest now because there's finally a full length album and I like it! I'm not usually a fan of songs that incorporate so many different sounds, but this meshes well. I won't even bother analyzing the actual MV but it's definitely... visual. 
32. 2NE1 - "Happy" Well that was different. 
33. Girls' Generation - "Mr. Mr." Horrid MV, but the song grows on me. Come on, it includes not just one shocking key change but two! That's absurd, in a fabulous way. 
34. Super Junior-M - "Swing" Oh look it's SJM! Uhm, I'm not that excited, but at least it was a fun one (or two time) watch. Henry's cute still. :)
35. Toheart - "Delicious" Can I please forget that this song even happened? I'll be able to eat nutritious food again.
36. JJCC - "At First 첨엔 다 그래" A debut I wouldn't otherwise note except for Jackie Chan's name (marketing works) but the song is so atmospheric I've just accidentally listened to it twice in a row. At think that bodes well for me liking the group. 
37. Led Apple - "Who Are You?" Woah they all went for apple red hair. Heh. Subtle. Song is forgetable though.
38. Yoon Jong Shin (Ft. Kang Seung Yoon & Mino) - "Wild Boy" So, if you ignore the MV, holy shit this song is the best. That and KSY's solo voice always has me melting into a puddle of goo. It's not Winner's debut, but it's like a dose a medicine that'll help me last another few weeks, until I die again from the wait. YG wants me dead, that's all I know. 
39. M.I.B - "Chisa 치사 Bounce" M.I.B. never fails to impress me. I love their style, their videos, and the way their own their niche in the music industry. Thankfully they put out a full album this time so I'll more goodies to keep me in love.
40. Crayon Pop - "Uh-ee 어이" Heh... They're back. 

*This is me being a bum in Kpop. Lol. April will be much much different though... I can't wait.