It’s time for Kpopalypse roundup! Let’s take a look at this week’s new releases!
Don’t hate on Ikon, this horrible photo is their photographer’s fault.
Ikon – Killing Me
Unexpectedly good, definitely the best thing Ikon have ever done, if they keep this quality up I may even have to relent and start writing their name that stupid way.
Zico ft. IU – Soulmate
Accurate video as waiting for Zico to have a good solo song is a bit like waiting for an elevator that never stops on your floor.
Seungri ft. Mino – Where Are U From
This is pretty much just PSY, but arguably Seungri is a better PSY than PSY is, because while PSY obviously just took the piss, Seungri may not be completely joking. Also I like it how they used Mino here because they wanted someone who looked like G-Dragon, and G-Dragon doesn’t really meet those requirements anymore.
SF9 – Now Or Never
Now that tropical shithouse is slowly dying, boy group k-pop comebacks are starting to become good again.
Nature – Allegro Cantabile
Strange instrumental sections, oddly choked-out EQ and awkward transitions between parts characterise what is definitely one of the weirdest and best k-pop debuts I’ve ever heard.
Leo – Touch & Sketch
Not the best k-pop song called “Sketch” that I’ve ever heard that’s for sure.
Stella Jang – I Go
If you’re going to go just go, don’t stand there and sing about it like your attention-seeking friend who says she’s quitting Facebook and Twitter for the 53rd time but always comes back three weeks later.
BTOB Blue – When It Rains
As if BTOB didn’t have enough shit ballads, they now have a subunit especially dedicated to even more syrupy shit. It could be a good thing though, perhaps this will free up BTOB themselves to suck slightly less.
Gracie – 25/7
Pretty sure she sings “24/7” in the song and the CEO just mistyped it when they were doing up her album art but nobody wanted the responsibility of telling him that he fucked up.
Riot Kidz – Fahrenheit
It’s heavy enough but the song isn’t all that great, Korean pop-punk always comes off as an even more lightweight version of the already lightweight US version of the UK originals.
Tae Jin Ah – Blooming Love Flower
I know music is subjective and all that, but if you don’t like Tae Jin Ah you should probably be killed.
BONUS SONGS
Tiffany Young – Over My Skin
Actually I covered this already when the audio came out. Just a heads up that there’s now a video, Tiffany looks absolutely great in it, and the song is still shit.
Giriboy, Kid Milli, NO:EL, Swings – Flex
I’m not sure what’s being flexed here, but clearly it’s not anybody’s songwriting ability.
whatever this is
Boring.
Villain – Manitto
Nice alpaca hair, fuckface.
Gracie ft. Moonc – Hustle
Not much hustle here I’m afraid.
Soya ft. Heedo – Y-Shirt
The Turkish subtitles that randomly came up for me when I played this song make a lot more sense to me than the song itself.
Dish Crimson ft. Yongrim – Sunset
The beat is almost good but then it becomes some stupid R&B thing and it’s all over.
South Club – Grown Up
Oh my god how slow and boring is it.
Vincent – No More Lonely Night
I think he’s a bit more lonely than he’s letting on.
some more clowns
This is also boring.
Glabingo – On My Body
You all know the rule by now about producers appearing in the title of videos, right?
Hlin – You Are
This song barely even exists at all.
Leesun – Pattaya
Another tropical atrocity.
BONUS RANDOM VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Gfriend – Sunny Summer – stage mix
Entirely too much work has gone into the seamless transitions for this video. It does interfere with my fap slightly to have all the changing clothing colours though, just when I’m digging Eunha in the white thing it changes to a red thing and then my broken colour vision just goes “fuck this”. It’s still really impressive anyway so I’m happy to feature this here, even if they kind of cheat by never doing a transition when the camera is zoomed out.
That’s all for Kpopalypse roundup for this week – more next week!
I like that Nature song. A good debut.
But why do I get the feeling the it (or at least the video) is really about puberty?
Because you’ve been following K-pop for too long.
Allegro Cantabile is a remake of Nodame Cantabile anime OST by the same name. Other than lighter instrumental (but not your usual twee Jpop textures), they dont really change much from the original.
That OST is rather large and is mainly classical pieces. Any specific section you’re referring to so I can verify this?
It has the same title – “Allegro Cantabile” by SUEMITSU & THE SUEMITH. My friend is livid about Nature’s debut. He thinks the remake is woefully unnecessary.
Thanks!
Ignore the first part of my comment, I didn’t read what you were replying to.
Where’s sixbomb, shouldn’t it be on this week list?
I feel like BtoB Blue’s snoozefest won’t stop BtoB’s snoozefest since the sub-unit debuted in 2016 but that still didn’t stop the group from releasing a boring-ass ballad in 2017. Sad.
Nature is such a generic name, couldn’t they have been called Nature9 or something.
Nature’s debut is interesting (God they all look so young! Maybe cuz I’m old.)
The “whatever this is” video is now unavailable.
Thanks for giving us a Gfriend video I missed! (Maybe cuz it’s on the Korean part of YT – 3 English comments out of 572.) The transitions make for a trippy experience, like reality keeps changing every three seconds… They are well-done, by some high-tech Korean. Good job!