2023 Reviews

 As things get more filled up, this page will get more filled up. But right now, this large page for one little link is because of organization and consistency.

April

20230417 NCT DoJaeJung "Perfume"

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Song Review:: Billlie: appendix: Of All We Have Lost- trampoline {Pre-Release}

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Release date: 2024 October 16 Album tracklist:  remembrance c andy ,  trampoline, Bluerose, BTTB (Back to the Basics),  shame,  dream diary ~ etching mémoires of midnight rêverie Album runtime: 20 minutes  I'm aware of one of the members of the group by name and know she and one of the other members came off hiatus earlier in the year. I'm always relieved when a member on hiatus for whatever reason becomes active again, and I hope she is doing well. I also believe this is the first full group album in a while, so that's also an exciting moment. I'm also aware of the recent controversy of the use of AI in promotional/album artwork for this album, or this particular single. I'm not entirely sure. I also do not condone the use of generative AI in artwork. But that's something to be aware of.  Audience participation snapping? Be still, my soul. There are a couple of sections where you could actually have audience participation clapping as well, which ...
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Song Review:: KickFlip: Flip It, Kick It- Umm Great {Pre-Debut}

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 Well, friends, as this is a new debut (or near enough), I need to take a look at the ages and verify that what I heard was correct. And it was! The maknae, Donghyeon, turns eighteen in a couple of months, so if I like the sound, I can like the group. Four of the seven were contestants on Loud , which also produced TNX (THE NEW SIX) back in 2021, including the maknae, so I'm honestly grateful that they took so long to debut because Donghyeon would have have been fourteen. Three more years of training? I have tentatively high hopes for the group, as well as the fact that a lot of other people (including my Stay friend whose judgement I trust) are talking about this song. She actually brought the song up just as I was sitting down to write this after I finished reading my book. They'll be officially debuting later this month on the 20th. So, let's see what the buzz is about. I'll add the info when the debut happens, and I link everything.  The runtime. Why. Ooh, we've...
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Song Review:: NEXZ: Beat-Boxer- I'm Him {Pre-Release}

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Release date: 2025 October 27 Album tracklist: Legacy,  Beat-Boxer , I'm Him , Co-Star, Next To Me Album runtime: 14 minutes  There are a whole lot of pre-releases that have all dropped at the same time, belonging to albums that are not all dropping on the same day. Fascinating. Also, that means that you all have lots to look forward to. Happily, the maknae is eighteen as of a couple of weeks ago. Happy birthday, Yuki! Also, this album looks like it's going to be longer than the last one I covered, so I am very happy about that one. Title track is questionably short, but this one is within acceptable limits. My only question here is if that sound at the beginning of the music video is in the actual audio track or not. If it's not, I'm sad. The general thing the instrumental is doing is interesting, and I kinda vibe with it because there are textures to the song and I really like that. However, the opening sound? I was catapulted back to childhood with the similarity to ...
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Battle of the B-Sides:: f(x): Shadow

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 I love when I get suggestions for groups that I've heard of but haven't actively listened to. I know that f(x) has several songs that are on the list of K-Pop influential songs that pretty much everyone should be familiar with, if they don't know  them. I don't think this is one of them, because this is a b-side, but I could also be wrong. Which is why I like being able to dig into the albums and the songs a little bit. So, this comes from their second studio album Pink Tape, released in 2013, which won a bonsaeng in 2014 at the GDAs, and hit number 1 on multiple music charts worldwide. One of the songs on the album was originally supposed to be Ariana Grande's song, and f(x) got it instead. So that's pretty cool. It's the second track on the album and is described as creepy pop, which I am down for entirely and that was one of the reasons why this song was suggested for me to do as the suggestion included the note that I seem to really like eerie or otherw...
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Song Review:: TEMPEST: As I am- In The Dark

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Release date: 2025 October 27 Album tracklist: In The Dark , nocturnal, CHILL, Silly Kid, How deep is your love? Album runtime: 16 minutes  Yes, TEMPEST. Y'all, I really kind of like this group, and I know I haven't had a ton of comebacks with them yet, but I still look forward to their releases when I get one. Lighthouse is still one of my favorites that they've done and I was so excited that they performed it on Road to Kingdom: Ace of Ace . That beginning bit of the song before the vocals step in remind me a little bit of "FML" by Seventeen, which did initially have me expecting something a lot heavier, but the song splits its time between a grounded but not weighted sound and something a lot airier. The verses get the grounding bass and the chorus gets the lightness, which I thought was an interesting choice. I also like the way that the synth is very distinct in places, even though it isn't necessarily the main star. In other places, the synth sounds a l...
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Song Review:: Super Junior: Super Junior 25- Express Mode

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Release date: 2025 July 8 Album tracklist: Express Mode , Haircut, Air, Delight, I Know, Say Less, D.N.A, Finale, Stuck With You Album runtime: 28 minutes  Average runtime of over three minutes, which is aided by the four minute song, but there are only two that are under three minutes. This is all good. Congrats on your almost 20th anniversary, SuJu! The fun thing about this group is that the group and me almost share a birthday. Just as a fun fact, The Incredibles movie is almost exactly one year older than the group.  The introduction of this song is one of the funniest things I've heard in a while. Oh, my gosh. I thought I'd accidentally hit a radio somehow.  Ah, we've got a skittering beat. Good stuff. I'm a little amused that for what I'm assuming is their 20th anniversary album, they went more hip-hop than they normally go, but you know what? The second gen groups adapting to the times is a good sign. They are keeping it in the family, though, because it...
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Battle of the B-Sides:: KARA: Mister

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 I'm one song behind in my plan, which is a little frustrating. But I may be able to make it up. Also, quiet shout-out to whoever is reading this little blog from Seychelles. That country popped up in my statistics recently and I've got a huge fondness for them because during eighth grade, that was the country my friend had to do her report on (it was a massive project ranging from planning a vacation in the foreign language class to talking about an issue the country has in English class to writing a paper on the history of the country in history class). So, hello! Welcome! You have a beautiful country and I'd love to visit one day. What does this have to do with this song? Well, just like a country doesn't need to have a lot of landmass or a population that's in the top ten biggest in the world to have an impact on someone, a song does not need to be a title to have an impact. This song just happened to start off life as a b-side and then become the debut track fo...
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Music Show Wins:: Week of 10/22 - 10/28

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  If you haven't heard the news, The Show is set to be canceled in the first half of November, which is infuriating. The Show , while probably the least frequently occurring of the music shows, was the one that the younger/less well-known groups had the best shot of getting wins on, especially that all important first win. And, related to that, it appears that After School Club may also have been canceled. It's listed as a previous show on the website, and I cannot begin to express my displeasure in this. Again, this was a good space for the rookies and the smaller groups to start. Some groups that got very big eventually started out as rookies or young, struggling groups on ASC (BTS, Seventeen, and Stray Kids, to name a few), and it filled a niche for those groups to have more much-needed exposure. Hopefully, we get something to replace the shows, especially since I think they were on the same broadcasting network.  Okay. Bad news over. Good news. NMIXX. Almost a clean swe...
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Song Review:: MEOVV: MEOW {Debut}

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Release date: 2024 September 06 Album tracklist: MEOW Album runtime: 3 minutes I'm always tentatively excited to see new groups debut. In this case, I'm not sure about the relationship between their company, TheBlackLabel, and YG. I know they're closely linked, but I'm not positive about what specifically is going on there. Oh, well. Hopefully MEOVV and BABYMONSTER get along. It would probably make life uncomfortable if they don't. I like that they vibe like a boy group. They're still feminine, but they're not girly, which is a change of pace, welcome for me though there isn't anything wrong with the girlier groups. They actually remind me a lot of 2NE1, without the particular timely trappings that come with a 2009 debut. But it's like if 2NE1 had debuted this year instead of 2009, stylistically. To be more clear, the eyeliner is not nearly as thick with MEOVV, they include the shouting thing of fifth generation K-Pop, but otherwise there are some st...
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Song Review:: BABYMONSTER: DRIP- Love In My Heart

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Release date: 2024 November 1 Album tracklist:  CLIK CLAK ;  DRIP ; Love Maybe; Really Like You ;  BILLIONAIRE; Love In My Heart ; Woke Up In Tokyo; FOREVER; BATTER UP (Remix) Album runtime: 28 minutes  I wasn't expecting a music video over a month late, but it's here, and I'm vaguely reminded that they were planning on doing several music videos for this song. But, a song that's longer than three minutes is what I'll almost always be here for. I really appreciate the quality of the mellow instrumentals, especially when put against CLIK CLAK  and DRIP . They're soothing in a way I'm excited to see from the group, even when the energy level spikes during the chorus related sections, being the pre-chorus, the chorus, and the post-chorus. The clapping during the pre-chorus definitely brings me joy. It's not quite audience participation clapping, which I've been very vocal about how much I love, nor is it quite clapping as I'm almost positive that it...
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