Just A Little Fangirl Love

  You know what's kind of cool? This week's music show wins cover three of the four categories I classify K-Pop under. The only one missing is a co-ed group. Boy group? Check. Girl group? Check? Soloist? Double check.  Nice. The ecosystem is flourishing. With After School Club still on hiatus, I'm still giving a rerun. This one comes from a boy group that debuted back in 2011. Episode 20, guys, gals, and nonbinary pals! And you know what's really cool? They're having their first comeback since 2018 this month! I'm really excited about this even though I previously had no previous knowledge of the group! Now, granted this is their first Japanese mini album and not a new Korean mini album, but you know what? I'm just happy to see them releasing new music. But, back in 2013, they were young and cute, and I think I really like this song. As always, the links to my reviews for these songs are found in the graph below. Show Champion: Kang Daniel "Episode...

Release date: 2025 June 16 Album tracklist: Movie Star, Episode , Love Game, One Call Away, Little Bit Lost Album runtime: 14 minutes  I'm late with this, but I've also been putting off listening to this until I could write the review. His voice is incredible, y'all. Ever song I've listened to by him has hit my brain so perfectly well, I'm glad I live in a time when I get to even hear it. Also congrats on the wins! Old timey and a little crackly. I like it. Now, let's see if we get that in other places in the song. And the answer is yes, so it's not a one off and I'm satisfied. There's a weird little quirk to the instrumental, and I mean this in the least insulting way possible, but in places, it sounds like Baby's First Midi Keyboard, or at least like a preset on a keyboard. You're obviously going to go, "But Fangirl, that's pretty insulting." To which I respond, "Yes. But it reminds me of my childhood and learning to make...

  I'm simply really behind with this. I'm not through doing this. Anyway, we're running down to the end of the Seventeen comeback season, which opens the wins back up to everyone else, as we're clearly seeing below. As much as I've loved seeing Seventeen get their wins for their tenth anniversary, I'm glad for the variation now. Although we get another surprise win for Woodz. It's a welcome development, but a little baffling. I really hope that someone askes him how he feels about this when he gets out. I do have to say it's been a good week for soloists, though. I did not continue that with the After School Club re-run episode, however.  As always, the links in the graph below go to my reviews of those songs. Show Champion: Doyoung (NCT) "Memory" MCountdown: Seventeen "THUNDER" Music Bank: Doyoung (NCT) "Memory" Show! Music Core:  Doyoung (NCT) "Memory" Inkigayo: Woodz (UNIQ/X1) "Drowning" ASC Performanc...

Release date: 2025 April 9 Album tracklist: Mess , Mess - Instrumental Album runtime: 5 minutes  Do I have to do the title track for his new mini album? Yes. Will I get to it soon? Yes, because Episode  has been getting wins on music shows! Yay! I'm slowly getting my backlog worked on, and I wanted to do this one. However, I'm deeply disappointed by the runtime. I mean, look at that. But this is Kang Daniel, and I've come to realize how good his voice is.  There's something very old about the instrumental track. I can't decide if it's the plink of the high notes on the piano or if it's from the slightly staticky overlay to most of the song, or maybe it's both, as both of those elements are found in music from the thirties. Although, to be fair, the one isn't necessarily on purpose but rather from the degradation of the recordings. The rest of the instrumentals aren't from the thirties. We've got the underwater echo that I love so much, but it...

  Release date: 2024 September 23 Album tracklist: Losing Myself, Get Loose, Electric Shock , Come Back to Me (feat. CHUNG HA), 9 Lives Album runtime: 15 minutes I am mostly familiar with Kang Daniel because of Produce 101, but I expect a lot from him because the quality of the Wanna One members demands that. I understand he's also been going through some legal problems, so finding out he was putting out a new album made me pleased and surprised. I wish him well. Hello, piano! That's fun and spritely! I haven't looked at the lyrics yet, but for some reason, I have a feeling that this is one of those cheerful sounding songs that have kind of depressing lyrics. Actually, the instrumentals remind me of a musical. It's probably the piano doing the frequent arpeggio that sounds like rain falling. There's also a sense of drama during the chorus, something that I deeply appreciate. He didn't just give it a tone shift, he added more bombastic layers to drive energy forw...