Song Review:: Epik High: PUMP COLLECTOR'S EDITION- MICHELIN CYPHER

-

  • Release date: 2024 October 18
  • Album tracklist: PRETTY MUCH (Intro), ANTIHERO, MICHELIN CYPHER, LATE CHECKOUT (GO Edit), K-DRAMA, GOOD RIDDANCE, GROUP CHAT FREESTYLE - Full Version, OK GOOD, OFF DAY - Verse Version, I WAS HAPPY (Feat. Kim Jong Wan of Nell)

  • Album runtime: 20 minutes

 I actually have a little bit of fondness for EPIK HIGH, partially because of Hoshi's love for them, partially because I think their lightstick is hilarious and part of me wants one (will I ever go to one of their concerts? Likely not), and partially because I watched an interview they did with Joon from g.o.d. and Brian from Fly to the Sky, which was hilarious and insightful to the early days of K-Pop, as well as them just messing with each other because they're all old friends. Do I know anything about their music other than they're hip-hop? Nope.

Side note: why are all of the song titles on this album shouting at us?

Well, okay. This is very Caribbean. There's a song from Scooby-Doo!, the live-action movie where the gang goes to Spooky Island and typical shenanigans happen (it's not as good as the sequel, but then I love crossovers more than just about anything else, and we get all the good monsters in the sequel), that the instrumentals of this song reminds me of. This is mellow, which allows the function of the instrumentals to do as expected. They are there for the beat. Which is cool. Also, when I stop paying attention to writing and get distracted by something else, my head is moving to the beat. It's a lot of very standard hip-hop beats, but they've also got some very interesting vocals-as-instrumentals that happen occasionally, including something that sounds like a siren-mimicking whoop.

I have to bring it up because it makes me laugh fondly and as soon as I saw those lyrics, I was reminded of that one conversation with Eric Nam, Felix, and Chan. At least these guys know the max number of Michelin Stars. Even the way Epik High raps that part of the chorus has a very similar rhythm. It's cute. And the fact that there are three of them, and the intro is about one super star, two super star, three super star. It's a nice detail. Anyway, moving on, the song features explicit language, so watch out for that, but as this isn't a new thing for Epik High, I doubt the fans need that warning, though the casuals (like me) might like it. There's a swagger to their rapping that I actually believe. It's not fierce. It's not quick. But there is weight to it that would do well even without the beat of the instrumentals to guide it. These are men at the top of their game and decades of experience to back it up. And some of those puns are really quite clever. I don't know if the Korean is as clever. I assume it is. But I'm just incredibly impressed by some of those puns.

Just as something funny, the ad before the video was peaceful clay sculpting. Ah, so amusing. Anyway, on to the music video.

Well, this is very 1970s. They even gave it the look of something from the 1970s, not just with the costuming. And I deeply, deeply love the fact that they just straight up said the storyline. No time for misinterpretation here! I was pretty sure this was a little bit of a diss track, just going by the English, but Mithra Jin's section confirmed it. That was pretty savage. Also, that food looks genuinely delicious, and I really want to try it. So, having finished the music video, I initially thought they were poisoning the people who they were taking revenge against, but after letting it settle in the brain a little longer, nah. They just made food so epic (pun partially intended) that no one could deny it, which is a good metaphor.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Song Review:: FIFTY FIFTY: LOVE TUNE- SOS

-
Image
  Release date: 2024 September 20 Album tracklist: Push Your Love,  Starry Night , Starry Night - [ENG version],  SOS , SOS - [ENG version], Gravity Album runtime: 18 minutes And here the group has re-debuted. Theseus's ship has sailed once more. The company had better know that there are going to be eyes on them and this group. I, personally, don't want to witness another B.A.P situation, so hopefully that's not what's going on. It almost sounds like there's a plucked cello in the instrumentals. It's very subtle, very soft, but I don't know if it's a plucked bass guitar or a cello. I'm going to go with a bass guitar because the likelihood of that actually being a cello is probably low. It's the most intriguing part of the instrumentals, as the rest of it feels a little standard. Not that I don't like it. This doesn't need to be a cinematic soundtrack with twenty different tracks layered together, because that's not what kind of song
Read more

Song Review:: Jennie (BLACKPINK): Mantra

-
Image
Release date: 2024 October 10 Album tracklist:  Mantra Album runtime: 2 minutes  So that's both Lisa and Jennie who have released singles this month within two weeks of each other. Pretty cool. And apparently Ros é also got herself an OST, so that's also pretty cool  But this is barely a song in length. It's just over two minutes.  This is a classic BLACKPINK sound. I'm not super familiar with BLACKPINK, though I do have songs that I recognize as BLACKPINK songs if I hear them that I like. But that was my first thought while listening to this song. The trumpet is an interesting instrument that I'm hearing, being a pretty uncommon addition to the the instrumentals of most K-Pop songs. I think I may also hear the wooden blocks, or a cowbell. I know those two instruments are very much not the same thing, but without having them isolated, I can't quite tell. Either way, what we have is another interesting sound to the mix. Jennie, like her groupmate Lisa, went with
Read more

September 2024 Wrap Up: We'll Meet Again, Don't Know Where, Don't Know When

-
Image
 The official start of this little music review blog! I'm proud of it. And, again, thank you for everyone who has read even a single post so far, even if you aren't reading this one. I am simply happy and grateful and will endeavor to continue this honesty with love and recognition of the hard work of the artists. And for the one person who seems to be reading every single one, thank you and I love you. You make my morning every day. September of 2024 saw a couple of debuts, a re-debut, and some comebacks I was very much looking forward to, as well as some I would have been looking forward to had I been listening to the group/artist already. The ones I personally was emotionally invested are as follows: Vahn (NINE.i): They were the first group I saw in person, and the reason I watched Boy's Planet, after the fact of course because I didn't get into K-Pop until after ZB1 had already debuted. I love their voices, and I have yet to run into a song I didn't like by them
Read more

Song Review:: ITZY: GOLD- Gold

-
Image
Release date: 2024 October 15 Album tracklist: GOLD , Imaginary Friend , Bad Girls R Us, Supernatural, Five, Vay (Feat. Changbin of Stray Kids), Born to Be (Final Ver.), Untouchable (Final Ver.), Mr. Vampire (Final Ver.), Dynamite (Final Ver.), Escalator (Final Ver.) Album runtime: 34 minutes  Okay! ITZY. I get them and TWICE mixed up a lot. TWICE is the older group, and ITZY is the younger group, yes? Still, right now, I'm glad this is a JYP group so I can focus on that  company for a minute instead of another one that I'm a little angry at right now. So! ITZY! Let's get to it! And look at that! Hey, there, Changbin! Glad to see you again! Also, can someone help me out with what "final version" is supposed to mean? They take up half the tracklist, but I'm not sure what they're supposed to be. Oh, I like this introduction. I like it very, very  much. We've got power chords! Their voices are glitching! And then the abrupt switch to what I can only descr
Read more

Song Review:: Baekhyun (EXO): Hello, World- Pineapple Slice

-
Image
Release date: 2024 September 06 Album tracklist: Good Morning, Pineapple Slice , Rendez-Vous, Cold Heart, Woo, Truth Be Told Album runtime: 19 minutes I'm deeply impressed with the fact that Baekhyun is on his fourth mini album as a soloist despite having been part of an active group for the past twelve years. 2012 was such a good year for the K-Pop debut crop. There were a lot that beat the seven year curse and are still together, or recently got back together, and with EXO getting ready to fully reunite post-military enlistments within the next year, I imagine that will be a time of celebration for the fans. In the meantime, we have solo careers and partial group releases. The runtime on this album is a little worrisome. I don't know what it is about the musical trend right now that sees so many songs, especially title tracks, with the 70s vibe, but my love for Scooby-Doo requires me to love the groovy sound. This one is kind of a grungy 70s with more synth that requires head
Read more

Song Review:: Peniel: story of my L:ove- Daydream

-
Image
  Release date: 2024 September 29 Album tracklist: Daydream (Feat. JUNNY), Stuck On You Album runtime: 5 minutes Am I a little peeved that we got three days' notice of this thing's existence before it was released? Yes. Is that just what BTOB does these days apparently? Also, yes. It's fine. It's all fine. It's not going to affect my anticipated enjoyment of it. Also, I'm side-eyeing that runtime. That cover art is flipping adorable. Anyway. Continue. There's a really cute part of the instrumentals during the chorus. On the words "find me in a daydream", instead of maintaining the rhythm that the guitar has been plinking out, it follows the rhythm of the words. I think it happens a little earlier in the chorus as well, during the "rhyming" section (it sounds like it's a six line chorus, so lines 3 and 6, even though the lines don't rhyme in the traditional sense with the words but they do with rhythm and syllables). I love the pre
Read more

Song Review:: Seventeen: SPILL THE FEELS- LOVE, FAME, MONEY (Feat. DJ Khaled)

-
Image
Release date: 2024 October 14 Album tracklist: Eyes on You, Love, Fame, Money (feat. DJ Khalid) , 1 to 13, Candy, Rain, Water Album runtime: 18 minutes  Did I watch the concert so I've already seen this performed? Yes. Have I watched the music video trailer? No, which is a surprise. Normally I'm all over them like fur on a cat, but with my conflicted feelings over the title track collaboration, my reticence is unsurprising. The concert helped. Woozi was very clear that he  is the songwriter for the group, and I trust him. Also, I had to round up to hit that 18 minutes for the run time, which means the average length of song is less than 3 minutes. Which does not please me, and I'm a little disappointed in Woozi and Bumzu for that. At least the title track is over three minutes. There is a very Latin pop feel to the instrumentals, which I'm not sure we've seen a lot from Seventeen. It's been a familiar sound over at KQ and with Stray Kids as well, but we haven
Read more

Song Review:: Jin (BTS): Super Tuna

-
Image
Release date: 2024 October 11 Album tracklist:  Super Tuna Album runtime: 2 minutes  When I got into Korea last year, I never would have thought I'd be sitting here a fan of what is, as far as I can tell, the Korean version of bluegrass or possibly "golden oldies" style. I absolutely love trot music. We can thank God of Light Music  by Seventeen for serving as my introduction, but that also intersects with my love of strangeness and parodies. I have since discovered more that instantly go into regular listening playlists. Super Tuna  and God of Light Music  go hand in hand, which means I'm basically required to love it. I don't like the very short run time that rounds up to two minutes at all. But given that this song was the product of Jin wanting to go fishing with Bumzu and this was the excuse given (please correct me if I'm wrong), I wouldn't have expected a song written on a boat during a fishing trip to actually be a proper length. But less than two
Read more

Song Review:: Day6: Band Aid- Melt Down

-
Image
  Release date: 2024 September 02 Album tracklist: Monster, Melt Down , She Smiled, Shxtty Game, Help Me Rock&Roll, Counter, I'm Fine, Still There Album runtime: 25 minutes I love proper bands. There's something so satisfying about them, which I'm almost positive stems from my mother's influence with the 80's hairbands, and as I'm getting to know the Korean bands, I'm liking them just as well. Also, look at that glorious  runtime. That's a proper album.  My favorite thing about Melt Down  is the fact that it sounds like either an anime opening song or the theme song for a sitcom from the 90s. Every time I listen to it, I can't help but think of Full House . That's the vibe. I don't think the song of this song is my favorite from the album, but I still very much enjoy it. The vocals and everything are great. Actually, I just love most of the album. I think there's only one song I wouldn't be happy to just leave on repeat, but they
Read more

Song Review:: Rose (BLACKPINK) x Bruno Mars: APT.

-
Image
Release date: 2024 October 18 Album tracklist:  APT. Album runtime: 3 minutes  If this ends up being on the tracklist for the album (congrats to her on that, by the way!), then I'll edit and fix the information part directly above this paragraph. Without the tracklist, I can't be sure because there could be information I've missed. It's entirely possible because I do pay attention to Moon Jong Up and B.A.P, and I still  missed the information on the pre-release. But it's fine. Fixing this post won't be that hard.  I said it on Jennie's single , and didn't mention it on Lisa's  because I had no way of knowing that would be a significant thing to say, but I find it interesting that three of the four members of BLACKPINK have now dropped singles in the last month, where the singles are English focused tracks. This one has the most Korean so far, so now I'm looking at Jisoo to see if she's going to follow suit with the others.  80s' petty roc
Read more