Posts

Song Review:: i-dle: Mono

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Release date: 2026 January 27 Album track list: Mono (feat. ska water) Album runtime: 3 mi nutes  So, they got a music show win (actually several, but there only needs to be one), which means that I have to kick my butt into gear and get this review written. It's not that I didn't want to write this, nor that I didn't think this would get at least a win, but I also tend to follow my soul's whimsy to give songs the attention they deserve. It does mean that sometimes songs slip through the cracks (which is why I have that spot for the regular reviews in The Form, which you can always submit a song to do a regular review for, even if the song hasn't come out yet). This is a club song without being one of the whipped into a frenzy kind, which means that the beat is very solid and present, but there's also very little variation to it. It's got one spot where it goes more mystical, but it doesn't last long before the best returns. The meaningful variation is v...

Greatest Hits:: BB Girls: Rollin'

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 After a January filled with big profiled names (three of which were from the same Big 4 company), I wanted to settle a little back into the smaller companies. And after the last few posts, I wanted to shift back to something a lot brighter both lyrically and compositionally. So, while I wait for some more submissions, you're going to get this one. You know I love those underdog recovery stories, so let's talk about a well-known one. Technically, they're going by BB Girls now, but since this was what they were called when this song was released, that's how we're going to refer to them in this post. Brave Girls originally debuted in 2011 under Brave Entertainment as a five-member group. They've had extensive line-up changes over the years, and Rollin' was their first single without any of the original members. This makes the second such song I've done in the last few weeks like that, which feels like a pattern except I'm not doing it on purpose. This...

Music Show Wins:: Week of 02/04 - 02/10

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  Girl group domination this week! One established powerhouse and one rookie that's setting stages on fire. Metaphorically speaking.  For the extra stages, in honor of Oneus getting a new home after leaving RBW (and I think this might be a good choice for them, tentatively), I snagged one of their After School Club appearances (Ep. 456 from 2021). I also have to say that even though Seoho very clearly was not a fan of the crop top, I love that Jamie was checking in with him. She shouldn't have had to, but I'm glad that she did. And to go with the RBW theme for these two, I'm going to give you a MAMAMOO stage for The Show from back in 2018. And then, for the extra stage from this week, I was actually impressed with the debut song for Navillera, so I decided to make sure to share that one.  The links in the spreadsheets, as always, go to my reviews. And because sometimes the After School Club link gets weird, that goes to the YouTube video. Show Champion: KiiiKiii "4...

Song Review:: Yang Yoseob (Highlight/BEAST): Unloved Echo- Fade Away

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Release date: 2026 February 09 Album track list: Fade Away , Dear My, Don't Go Away, Moonlit Mirage, Nightly, Shine Album runtime: 20 mi nutes  If this is the member I think he is, he's so funny when they do their monthly gaming stream. He's also one of the ones who is better at gaming in general and doesn't scream at the slightest spook. That's basically all of the content that I watch of those guys because I like watching the idols play video games. It's an intersection of two of my great loves. He's also the main vocalist, so I'm curious about what kind of vocal prowess we're about to hear from this, his third mini album. Most of the instrumental for the first part of the home is a piano, which gives the song a softness to it, especially since it's just wonderfully melodic and simple. The standard addition of drums and strings (which instantly makes it a win in my book as we know) continues with that softness. The song does kick up its heels a...

Song Review:: Monsta X: growing pains

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Release date: 2026 February 06 Album track list:  growing pains Album runtime: 3 mi nutes  Well, here we are, friends. Monsta X has dropped another English single for us (which is a spoiler for me even though I haven't heard it yet.) That does amuse me a little bit because apparently today is my day to cover English tracks because I also covered NOWZ's and posted it today. The instrumental for this song is, quite frankly, a track from a movie sound track. This is the soft, sentimental road trip section when they're setting off after graduating from college and before they have to get on with the real world. It would probably be a movie that I don't watch because I don't particularly like the realistic fiction genre because more often than not they make me cry and it's a bad cry in my chest. But that's the part they'd put in the trailer to show the bond they have. I may not like those movies, but they regularly have banger soundtracks. There are multiple ...

Song Review:: NOWZ: Hooked

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Release date: 2026 February 06 Album track list: Hooked Album runtime: 3 mi nutes  Okay, so this song is an English collaboration with Nigel Tay that was released for Valentine's Day. The last little bit, we've been getting songs from them that I really like and while I'm hopeful that we'll get more songs from them that I like, I'll understand if we get back to songs I like less again.  Well, we don't need to worry about that, everyone. That was an immediate yes. This is a very bright song, the brightest that I think we've heard from them so far, definitely the brightest title track we've gotten from them so far. The energy of the song is playfully high without being frenetic with an added grounded-ness because of how strong that bass guitar is. I recognize that it's not the most interesting thing to be playing for the bass guitarist, but without it, the entire balance of the song would be off.  It's nice to see them show that they can do the rap...

Battle of the B-Sides: AKMU: Whale

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 Coming to you from The Form, this one has been on the list for a while, but I was waiting for a good spot for them. With them having left YGE after eleven years, and with the recent batch of these fun little posts, this one feels like a good spot. I haven't heard this one, so I don't know how the communication between those songs is going to work, because while I'd like to say there's no rhyme or reason to these other than "Look at how amazing these songs are", I cannot help but try to build them like chapters in a book with a logical flow of events so that you the reader do not get overwhelmed by having too much of the same thing for too long. I didn't get anything other than the song from whoever submitted this one, but that's okay! I'll just go with what I can find and what I think is cool. For those who are unaware, AKMU is a brother-sister duo who debuted back in 2014 under YG Entertainment. They won K-Pop Star 2 and got the offer to sign wi...