November 2024 Wrap Up: Awards Season Is Upon Us!

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 πŸŽ‰πŸŽˆπŸŽΆ Happy birthday to meee! And also my best friend! She's amazing and smart and talented, and I love her. 

Thank you all to everyone who has read any of the posts or offered suggestions for my GH or BBS posts! I really appreciate it. And, excitingly for me, I've got a couple more regulars, so I'd like to personally thank y'all for finding my posts before I get them either on Tumblr or Reddit. 

This post is always so long. Oof. But it's also thirty days to cover, and I still have to leave things out. 

The debuts that happened this month that I covered: Yuta (NCT) as a soloist and with his Japanese debut, Sungjin (DAY6) as a soloist, Jin (BTS) as a soloist, Irene (Red Velvet) as a soloist, The CrewOne, ODD YOUTH, LOVEONE, and izna.

Some debuts that happened this month that I've mentioned: ToTh6y, 13Found, KELT9b, and KJRGL.

Some debuts that happened that I didn't know about: UN1CON, W!TCHX, and Hatchi (tripleS). I know nothing about them other than they just debuted this month. Except UN1CON, but they debuted on October 31st, and I just missed it. I think the tripleS subunit is their Japanese debut.

I'm really annoyed that The CrewOne is already disbanding, but if this is going to be the case, I want ATBO and Just B to get the attention they deserve. There are also a number of groups that are leaving their companies or disbanding, and one big name that honestly I thought was a shoe-in to leave, but apparently are staying with their company.

Next year, I think I'm going to do something for award season, but that will be something I'll have to plan for next year.

This month had so many releases that I was looking forward to. Even if I hadn't started this review blog, it would have been simply exhausting in general. Although not as bad as last November. The releases then were rough. The life of a multi fan...

  • Minho (SHINee): the last one of the available members to have a solo release in the last four months of the year and his first full album
  • TVXQ!: I recognize it's their Japan album, but it's also a 20th anniversary album, and I follow long-lived groups with exceeding interest. Plus, I've found that I seem to like their Japan releases best
  • VIVIZ: One of the few girl groups I actively follow and pay attention to, at least of debuts within the last five or so years, which is also a bit of a joke considering they have a lot more experience than that
  • BTOB: This gift of a single every month gives me life and clears my skin
  • Primrose: I've heard some really good things from this group, so when I saw the group on the comeback schedule, I was curious
  • Big Ocean: changing careers is hard enough, but changing to something as intense as K-Pop is very difficult. I'm just so proud of their hard work
  • TWS: I know it's only a single, but I'd be deeply concerned if Pledis was having them put out a third mini album in less than a year. It's one thing to capitalize on a successful debut. It's another to overwork the kids, especially with Kyungmin still underage
  • Jin (BTS): Is this Jin's proper solo debut? Oh, I'm excited for this
  • ATEEZ: Of the KQ groups, while xikers definitely has had my heart first and longest, ATEEZ has done an admirable job of trying to steal me from their younger brothers
  • A.C.E.: Their voices are amazing. Incredible. The thing they released last month was a great dance showcase
  • NOWADAYS: They're going to have a title track I absolutely love. I just know it. First single, I liked one of the tracks. Second single, I liked both b-sides. If the trend continues, this one should be the one where I like the title track. And while I don't count their B2ST remake as a single for those purposes, it's proof that I will like a title track of theirs eventually
  • Park Je Up: Grim Reaper Boy is doing an album!!! I like the remake he did at the very beginning of the month, but I'm very interested in this
Songs I reviewed for the "Greatest Hits" segment, where I take a look at title tracks from the past and talk about why fans love them so much (these are a lot less formally structured than my reviews and so you never know who or what I'm going to focus on):
  • Tempest "Bad News": a fun debut track that bridges the intensity of older groups like ATEEZ, Stray Kids, and The Boyz with the cute brightness of the younger groups like TWS and The Wind, and the mischievousness of xikers
  • Loona "PTT (Paint The Town)": their dancing is incredible and makes me tired and sore just watching them, also with the shoutout to Indian culture and instruments
  • miss A "Hush": I didn't want to say "Wow, they're amazingly sexy" but essentially, "Wow, they're amazingly sexy" and they manage to not just pull it off but own the concept so thoroughly, there's no deception there
  • B.A.P "Feel So Good": the bright title track amidst their dark concepts, addictively fun, and the music video is my favorite part of the song (this one definitely got added to all the playlists)
  • SHINee "Everybody": My first suggestion! I was very excited to be able to chatter about the choreography, because no one should stop talking about it
  • A.C.E "SAVAGE": fabulous voices, intense choreography, a lot of different versions, and a lot of goofiness 
Songs I reviewed specifically for the "Battle of the B-Sides" segment, where I take a look at any of the b-sides, regardless of when the album was released (same deal, less structured, I just get to fangirl all over the music):
  • MBLAQ "Darling": high energy hug song, with an addictive "popcorn" part, that features some scarily high ad-libs and some nonsensical English lyrics, which is all the good stuff
  • Jin (BTS) "Heart on the Window": My first suggestion for this segment! Duet with Wendy, and what a duet it is, incredible
  • Vanner "WANT U BACK": sexy concept from them, great vocals, Sungkook's rapping is amazing
Feel free to check out the monthly review page for any of the other reviews. I covered about sixty of this month's releases, give or take. I may not have counted well. 

So, now for the segment where I talk about what I was actually listening to and what I loved best from this month's releases.

Top Releases of the Month:
  • Ilhoon (BTOB) "Lullaby": I knew as soon as it came out that it was going to end up here. I don't care that it came out a week ago. This song is the absolute chillest, most soothing, compassionate hug we could have gotten from him with it still being very him. I missed him, and I wasn't even a fan before 2020.
  • Big Ocean "Flow": This is such a good vibe song. And they have officially got the three sign languages they're going to be using debuted: KSL, ASL, and ISL. Very exciting!
  • G-Dragon (BIGBANG) "HOME SWEET HOME": Guess who's back! It's your boy GD! And the other members of BIG BANG. My VIP friend, who I'm slowly dragging back into the fandom life and introducing her to some of the groups that debuted while she wasn't listening to K-Pop, was having a rough day, and I figured she'd forgotten that song was being released, so I waited until I was seeing her later that day to show her the song. She appreciated it. Also, after months of Google pushing him on me, G-Dragon is adorable, and I give in. The synergy in this song really is just great.
  • KAVE "You": Stone is good. Stone is excellent. But You is even better. My boys enlisting and prompting this review blog introduced me to this band, which makes the stress I've put on myself fully worth it.
  • ODD YOUTH "Best Friendz": This is such a cheerful, happy song. I'm genuinely hoping that this group can get some good traction.
  • J.Y. Park "Easy Lover": You may be as surprised as I am, but I love the song and the music video is fantastic. Dude knows his music.
  • 8TURN "You are my reason": Even if I can't listen to the group because of the maknae's age, it can still be one of my favorites from the month. And I have a huge soft spot for love letters to the fans.
  • TIOT "Take It Slow": Their voices are so beautiful, like, shout it from the rooftop beautiful. And it's over four minutes of just beautiful singing and beautiful instrumentals.
  • BTOB "Be Alright": I got a lot of healing songs out of this month. Theirs is a shining beacon of an example. I'm just happy with it. It's amazing.
  • V (BTS) "Winter Ahead": I love his voice. The song is incredible. Next, please.
  • Jin (BTS) "I'll Be There": Look, the title track was great. Loved it. But I'll Be There is everything I didn't know I was hoping for from Jin's solo debut. Unfortunately, it wasn't his debut song, but it does continue my trend of liking b-sides better. What a hug of a song.

Honorable Mentions:
  • NU'EST "FACE": I'm as surprised as you are that it took this long for FACE to return to my top listens of the month. But I'm unsurprised that it's here because I had some rough days at work and this song maintains my sanity. 
  • Moonbyul "Is This Love?": Again, sanity maintenance. Also, I love this song. It's amazing. It's cheerful. It's so catchy. And the music video? Very nice.
  • Park Je Up, Choi Suhwan, Seunghun "I'll Be Your Man": I promise I was listening to this completely unrelated to Je Up's album. But honestly? The fact the Eunkwang was full of compliments for it, and their general high-stakes gambling with the song makes it an incredible cover. And of BTOB's songs? This one is one of the more difficult ones to cover. Plus, the fact that Je Up was the one who wanted to do it because Eunkwang was one of the coaches? I admire the cahones. And also, yes, I'm giving the version with the reactions because Eunkwang.
  • g.o.d., IU "Sing for Me": "g.o.d." "IU." "Collaboration." I adore the very start of the song so much. I laugh almost every time I hear it. It was part of the reason why I had it on repeat for a couple of days this month.


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