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Showing posts with the label bigbang

Song Review:: Daesung (BIGBANG): D's WAVE- Universe

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Release Date: 2025 April 08 Album tracklist: Beautiful Life, Us Before, Universe , Last girl (with Han Yo Han), JUMP, Fly Away, Wolf, Umbrella - Bonus Track Album runtime: 28 minutes  Apparently this is his first Korean mini album, which is both entertaining and adorable. It's nowhere near his solo debut, because that was almost two decades ago with trot, but the time gap is kind of precious. I'd also like to say that I'm a huge fan of how long these songs are, with only one of them under three minutes and that's barely. I'd also like to add that one of the places that Baekho has signed with is the company that has Daesung's company. So they're sort of at the same place now (like how Baekho and V were both under HYBE, just not in the same company). We're definitely leaning more towards the rock and the ballad for this, though by the prevalence and drama of the drums and the electric guitar I'm much more inclined to call this a rock song, and I couldn...

Music Show Wins:: Week of 03/26 - 04/01

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  Another Triple Crown can go on the books! I want to confirm who won on The Show  before I add that on here. We've got a first win for a song here, as well as some familiar faces. As I said last week, After School Club would be going on hiatus at the end of its twelve-year first season, which means I have a lot of groups and a lot of performances to be able to look back on and share with you all. So I decided to go back to episode 410 and Weki Meki. The MCs were Jimin (Jamie Park of 15&), Heejun (of American Idol and K-Pop Star fame), and Yuri (of JxR and of almost NCT).It happened to be Yuri's first time as MC on ASC, and we also got a proto-MC Challenge with one of the members of Weki Meki teaching Yuri the point dance for Dazzle Dazzle. I also shared with you their sped up dance they did for that episode of ASC. I've got a special fondness for dances at 2x speed. Show Champion: NMIXX "Know About Me" MCountdown: Jennie (BLACKPINK) "Like Jennie" Mu...

Music Show Wins:: Week of 03/19 - 03/25

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  Well, all sorts of groups got wins this week, along with a Triple Crown! Congrats to all the groups for their first win for the songs! There isn't a single song that won on more than one show this week, which I like for the sake of diversity, and that means lots of different stages to share with you all. Also, three of the wins were with YG affiliated soloists/groups. After School Club had TNX (the group formerly known as The New Six) on, which was cool for them to talk about their new song before it comes out. Also, the amount of times they said something like "We didn't ask the company for permission, but it's fine" was hysterical, and one of the five of them is an absolute character. He's a delight. Also, the MCs on ASC announced this was the final episode of season 1 of ASC, which has lasted for twelve years, so they'll be going on hiatus for a little bit before the next season. So rather than just not include an ASC performance at all, because I can...

Music Show Wins:: Week of 03/12 - 03/18

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  Well, that was a clean sweep. VIPs and FAM, congrats! This is roughly as I expected to happen, so thank you for not disappointing me, but I'm only including the music video because there were no performances except for MCountdown two weeks ago. The Show has disappointed me for not airing anything, I'm assuming there were some extenuating circumstances. On After School Club, we had OT5 again with 100 . They're hilarious. Also, as I was watching the portion where they play the game, I found the perfect gif to describe one of the members. This was a funny episode. Also, Aron mentioned that he'd celebrated his thirteenth anniversary over the weekend and when asked a question about his members, I was unsurprised by his response and I still laughed. via GIPHY And as always, the links in the graph go to the reviews. Show Champion: G-Dragon (BIGBANG) "TOO BAD" MCountdown:  G-Dragon (BIGBANG) "TOO BAD" Music Bank:  G-Dragon (BIGBANG) "TOO BAD" Sho...

Music Show Wins:: Week of 03/05 - 03/11

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  As expected. As much as I'd like BTOB to get a win for their new song, it was bad timing with everyone else who is releasing songs around that time. Case in point, we got two first wins for a song. And one of those was a first win ever. So congrats! NouerA was on After School Club, and they made me laugh. For example, here are two little quotes that I caught during the chaos of the games in the last part of the show, prompted by the chaos of the members. One of the MCs said, "What in the hell is going on?" And I laughed. And then not even three seconds later, another MC goes, "This is a chaos." Which made me laugh harder. NouerA are cute, adorable dorks who remind me a little bit of second gen groups in early days. And the starry eyes from the members when they see dance covers of their  song for the first time is what I live for with the newly debuted groups. We have that moment here. Starry-eyed rookies having all of these firsts. I hope they do well. As alw...

Song Review:: G-Dragon (BIGBANG): Ubermensch- TOO BAD

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Release date: 2025 February 25 Album track list: HOME SWEET HOME (feat. Taeyang and Daesung) , POWER , TOO BAD , DRAMA, IBELONGIIU, TAKE ME, BONOMANA, GYRO-DROP Album runtime: 18 mi nutes  There are a lot of earlier releases that are higher up in my draft list. So many. So very many. But my music show wins senses are tingling so I'm just going to get this one out of the way now because it's likely that I'll be needing it. The king is back. Long live the king. In all seriousness, that fact that G-Dragon is returning to K-Pop after so long away from it and after everything that has happened with a certain former member whose name we don't mention and also T.O.P, as well as everything he's been accused of the last little bit. BIGBANG has not been a lucky group. Insanely talented, but not lucky. Also, why is everything capitalized... I'm genuinely surprised by how minimalistic these instrumentals are through most of the song. It's a pleasant surprise, if I'm...

Music Show Wins:: Week of 01/15 - 01/21

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  Most of the music shows are back on, which means the live stage performances, which I love best, are back in almost full force. We get more variety again! So, this week had another triple crown, which is exciting because once again, he got it without promoting the song other than the one performance. We got two first wins for songs, which is absolutely delightful for the groups. I'm so happy for them. On After School Club, Allen and Taeyoung rejoined as MCs with Aron for WEi, a five member boy group that debuted in 2020. There are some very cute dimples going on, some excellent English skills, more going for Taeyoung's MC job here, and some throwing the other members under the bus. That's always fun to see.  As always, the links in the chart go to my reviews. Show Champion: N/A MCountdown: BOYNEXTDOOR "If I Say, I Love You" (note: this performance is from the 250109 episode) Music Bank: BSS (Seventeen) "CBZ (Prime Time)"  Show! Music Core: G-Dragon (BI...

Music Show Wins: Week of 01/08 - 01/14

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  It looks like we may be getting more music shows back up and running if this week is any indication, but the most exciting news of all is that this week was a group's first first place on a music show! Congrats to n.SSign! Took about a year and a half, but I'm so happy for them. G-Dragon also got the Triple Crown on Inkigayo this week, which opens the trophy back up to someone else for next week, and that's without promotions. On After School Club, Allen and Taeyoung were absent, so Jayn Lee, former leader of TO1, joined Aron as co-host for n.SSign to come out and play a little. And in a both funny and adorable moment, Aron complimented them on smelling good. So if you're a fan, at least one of them smells really nice. Both of the hosts struggled a little with the MC Challenge, which remains my favorite segment, and the members had some interesting insights for the Question Corner. Show Champion: N/A MCountdown: Stray Kids "Walkin on Water" (note: I think I ...

Music Show Wins:: Week of 2025 01/01 - 01/07

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  We didn't get any of the music shows for the first part of the week because of the mourning period. Starting with Music Bank , we got a return to a song that had a couple of weeks without a win, and as soon as I saw the name, I started laughing. And then for Inkigayo , we got another older song. YG supremacy. For After School Club (ASC), the hip-hop girl group YOUNG POSSE were the guests. I found them to be delightfully adorable. There wasn't an MC challenge, which made me a little sad because that's my favorite segment, but I was very entertained by the members regardless. The link for the episode is included as always. I'm not including any performances this round because of who got the wins and the lack of a performance from YOUNG POSSE, but I will include a live performance from them Show Champion: N/A MCountdown: N/A Music Bank:  Rosé x Bruno Mars "APT." Show! Music Core: N/A Inkigayo: G-Dragon "HOME SWEET HOME" ASC Performance: YOUNG POSSE T...

Song Review:: G-Dragon (BIGBANG) (featuring Taeyang, Daesung): HOME SWEET HOME

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Release date: 2024 November 22 Album tracklist:  HOME SWEET HOME Album runtime: 3 minutes  So BIGBANG did in fact perform at the MAMAs. Sneaky, sneaky. I like that clever little loophole, and now I've got my finger on the kind of trickery I can expect from the group, should they continue to move back into the music industry as a group. I look forward to puzzling it out from them. It's still a little surreal writing that title, because I have mad respect for the older groups. They have gone through some insane things. I apologize for the slang. I don't know what happened there. So, welcome back, BIGBANG. Unofficially, of course. I look forward to your official comeback as a group. And the three-and-a-half minute runtime feels illegally extravagant in this day and age. The drums are so dramatic in this song. They're never on their own, but they do a good job at attempting to trick the listener into thinking there are sections where it's just the vocals and the drums ...

Song Review:: G-Dragon (BIGBANG): Power

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Release date: 2024 October 31 Album tracklist:  Power Album runtime: 2 minutes  If anyone has the earned right to just casually drop a pre-release single with very little warning, and without telling us when the album is coming out other than presumably sometime next month, it's him. I also decided to do the Battle of the B Groups today (because apparently the Spirit of Halloween shunted us all back in time) in debut order, so I'm starting with G-Dragon of BIGBANG first. Which is funny because he's also the oldest one of the bunch, by only a couple of years. Bro needs no introduction. Well, he introduces himself in the song. But other than that. I don't like the runtime for this song, and I'm a little disappointed in him for that. Initially, I didn't like the instrumentals. But it took me about halfway through the first listen before I realized I was actually vibing to the song. I don't know what happened, and frankly it's a little disconcerting. The rep...

Song Review:: DAESUNG (BIGBANG): Falling Slowly

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  Release date: 2024 March 05 Album tracklist: Falling Slowly , Light Album runtime: 7 minutes Ah, a proper song length. I'm writing this before the frantic rush of the next few days in terms of releases, because competition there will be fierce. And also to start to pad out the March releases because somebody had to get a win on a music show months later. I joke. I'm actually very happy for them. And I picked this one because I scrolled randomly, and his was the one my cursor was on when I stopped. I feel like Daesung needs very little introduction. He is the maknae of BIGBANG after all.  The instrumentals for this song are absolutely gorgeous with a lovely acoustic guitar that gets to spend time at the front of the song, before it hands over the reigns to an electric for very strategic sections. But seriously, that beginning is one of the most soothing things. There's a sense of the bittersweet to it, because at no point is there a strong bass driving the song, and the ho...