T-ara in 2012

Well here I am on Christmas Day and it's a relaxing part of the day. I thought I would just chill out and listen to some music. As often happens when i do that, out comes the K-pop!

It dawned on me that the year is over and I've barely covered many of the songs that were released this year. I really enjoyed this year in the industry and I'll have to stay on top of it more next year if I want this blog to liven up a bit. So I've made a promise to myself to post more.

So on that note I better try and catch up a little bit here and I'll do so by discussing T-ara and their activities in 2012. T-ara has been one of the more prolific bands of the last couple years. I featured their 2011 song "Cry Cry" in a previous post. And their year ended with a leadership change as Hyomin stepped down in favor of Soyeon.

They opened up the new year of 2012 with an album release called "Funky Town". On this album was a single track called "Lovey-Dovey"

The song became their third consecutive number 1 hit on the Gaon charts. With a music video featuring zombies taking over a nightclub and joining in for some dancing fun. Ah yes even the living dead need to get down once in a while :D

In May and June - Core Contents Nedia announced they would be adding two new members to create a nine member group. And in June off they were in Japan with their first Japanese album and tour. However only Areum had arrived by the time they released their Extended play "Day by Day" in July.

The song reached number 2 on the Gaon charts and a full length music video story was released as well. But I'll only show you the Dance version :D I'm not personally into korean drama stories though they can be quite good.

Then came the drama. The cyber bullying and contract termination of Hwayoung in July. Once again they were reduced to a seven member band. Which is fine by me, these large girl groups are a bit unwieldy and hard to follow when you're trying to know each individual as a performer.

And so after rumors of comebacks being postponed indefinitely they returned in September with the extended play "Mirage" featuring the single "Sexy Love"

The song reached number 4 on Gaon . Not my favorite theme for a song by them but musically it's my favorite of the year.

Anyways i hope this isn't the end for T-ara. Let's see what 2013 does.

A Secret History - Part 4 2012

And so i come to my final installment of a Secret history chronicling the girl band Secret.

For most of the year 2012 Secret was absent from the Korean industry, while most of my favorite girl bands like Kara, 4 Minute and Sistar were releasing songs I was waiting to see if they'd do something. What no more Secret? I thought.

Well they were off in Japan having huge sucess with japanese versions of their songs. And then in September finally they came out with a new song for their third extended play called "Poison" This song continued with the retro sounds but returned to their sexier image.

The song peaked at number 4 on Gaon

Then in December they rounded out the year with a single called "Talk That" which reached number 8 on Gaon

This one I found interesting because it was a bit more serious for them and not like their other stuff. More of a mature electronic sound to it.

And so that concludes the career of Secret 2009-2012 as they make their way into my list of all time best Korean girl groups. based on their late start this year I don't expect to hear from them again until late in 2013 but hopefully I will hear from them again.

시크릿

A Secret History Part 3 - 2011

Time for the third installment of a Secret History!! I know you're all excited :P

Secret opened up the new year with the release of a retro track called "Shy Boy" in January. This time instead of the swing jazz elements in their hits from 2010 they introduced a 50's retro sound into their single and even costumed up :D

the song reached numero 2 on the all mighty Gaon chart.
This isn't one of my favorite songs but what the heck let's see it anyways.

They followed this up with a single called "Starlight Moonlight" in June which is way too cutesie for my taste. it reached number 2 as well.

They spent the summer gaining japanese sucess becoming only the third girl group tio reach the top 10 on the Japanese Oricon chart.

Then it was back to Korea for the first ever full length studio album by the girls ( a sure sign of success in this industry). The album was called "Moving in Secret" and was released in october and off of it came one of my favorite tracks by Secret called "Love is Move"

Time to bust a move :D This one hit number 3 on Gaon.

Besides these releases. lead singer Jieun released a single called "going crazy" in March featuring fellow label member Bang Yong Guk, the rapper of B.A.P.  A song that reached the number 1 spot

So a very busy year for the girls. Continuing their success of 2010. Can they keep this up in 2012? Well we'll see. (actually I already have seen xD)

A Secret History - Part 2 2010

Time for my next installment in A Secret History.  2010 was Secret's breakthrough year.

In april they released their first mini album..."Secret Time" .

The mini-album reached number 4 on Gaon while the hit single "Magic" hit number 2. The music video gaining wide views thanks to Hyosung's suspender dance. And the mini album's title has given rise to the fan club's name - Secret Time.

Time for a little "mazic".

Then in August, Secret released their second mini-album of the year called "Madonna". The title track landed them in the number 1 spot on Gaon while the mini-album peaked at 5th.  Again their video garnished numerous views as Hyosung busts a move. 

These two songs launched their more sexy look and dance moves and introduced the retro sounds that would become part of their sound as they mixed it with dance pop and R&B.

And so 2010 launched the Secret Sucess as they also walked away with the Newcomer Award at the Golden Disk Awards (Korea's Grammys).

A Secret History - Part 1 2009

I want to try something new with this blog. Something along the lines of writing about the history of artists in little short segments. So I'll start with a Korean girl band called Secret.

In 2009 TS Entertainment formed the girl group called Secret and they entered the K-pop scene in October with a single called "I Want You Back"

left to right intros:
Jieun - she was 19 at the time and had worked for JYP from 2007-2008 eventually leaving them after her debur in a gril band was delayed. She is the main vocalist of the group and is introduced in the intro to the video for this song.

Zinger - she's the rapper and I've always liked her punch rap delivery. She was also 19 at the time and came from a bodyguard father and a singing mother

Sunhwa - the pretty maknae of the bunch who had just turned 19. Coming from a poor family and inspired by the k-pop artist BoA she struggled on talent shows until eventually TS Ent took her on.

Hyosung - my personal fave. She celebrated her 20th birthday on the day of the singles release. She is the main dancer in the group and you;ll see why she is my fave later on. She also came from a struggling family background and went the talent show route.

so here it is the single that launched the career of Secret reaching number 27 in the gaon charts.

This was one of the bands that debuted during the year i fell in love with K-pop and the r and b mixed with a bit of bubble gum pop appealed to me. And then they came out with a bang in 2010 but that's for my next post.

Dripping Tears

In 2007 a 24 year old Korean singer named Son Bam Di released a single called "Cry Eye" which reached number 6 on the Gaon charts and so began her star career with Pledis Entertainment.

Since then she has released four mini albums and one studio album. I first found about her in 2010 when i came across a short stage performance of her song "Can't U See"

The song reached number 12 on the Gaon chart and from the same album came the song "the Queen" which reached number 3.

She's back this year with her fourth mini album and a new song called "Dripping Tears"

Miss A

I've decided to change the format of my posts. Since I started this blog i was presenting one song at a time in the hopes I would eventually cover some of my favorite songs from the past but I find that I'm barely keeping up with the industry this year.

So instead I'm going to make my posts about the artists themselves and get a bit more into their history and some of my favorite songs by those artists.

Also I changed the settings on my comments so anyone can comment . Feel free to do so. I'd love to hear other people's opinions about songs and artists. Of course any spam comments or outright abusive comments will be removed

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So on that note , I will begin with an artist called Miss A. Miss A is a female group  formed by JYP entertainment. The same company that formed the Wonder Girls and 2PM.

Two Chinese girls, Fei (from Hainan) and Jia (from Hunan) were recruited by the company back in 2007. From 2009 JYP was forming the girl group in China where they had a single called "Love Again" . At first they had no official name and were known as the Chinese Wondergirls or the JYP Sisters.

After some changes the two Chinese girls were paired up with two Korean girls Suzy and Min (who was added just prior to their debut). Then the release of their debut single occurred in 2010 "Bad Girl Good Girl" off their mini album "Bad but Good". The song reached number 1 on the Gaon chart.

At the MNet Asian Music Awardst hey walked away with Female Rookie Award. Best Female Dance Performance and Song of the Year

from left to right we have Jia (today aged 23); Min (today aged 21); Suzy (today aged 18); and Fei (today aged 25)

The group released a second mini album called "Step Up" that year with a single called "Breathe"  which reached number 2 on the Gaon chart. Now this is not one of my favorite songs by them so you'll have to look for it yourself.

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In 2011 the group released their first full studio album called "A Class" featuring their previous hits and some new tracks including the single "Goodbye Baby"

Jia's pink was a bit too much for me so the orange hair is much nicer. Personally I prefer it when the Asian girls stick with brown or orange or blondish hues and not go for the outrageous pinks and blues and greens . Actually I think the same about Caucasian girls too.

Anyways the song reached number 1  on the Gaon charts and is probably my favorite song by them. It received Best Female Dance Performance at the Mnet Asian Music Awards

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In 2012 they released an extended play album called "Touch", the single reached number 2 on the Gaon chart. Again this is not a song I like much so you'll have to check it out for yourself.

They then released another extended play recently called Independent Women Part III with the single "I Don't Need A Man"

Now this is a recent release so there isn't a final stat on it yet but it has reached number 3 on the Gaon charts

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So, what is my opinion of this band? Well, like most groups I seem to only like a few songs by them and I wasn't sure if they would become a band I would really like but every year they have released at least one song that I like so it was good to see them come out with something I like by them this year. That way they stay within the circle of girl groups I will continue to follow

I Will Show You

One of the best voices in today's K-pop belongs to Ailee , a Korean-American. Born Amy Lee in Denver, Coloroda she moved to Korea in 2010 and was discovered in a contest in 2011 where her stage presence and performance of Beyonce's Halo wowed the judges.

She debuted this year with the single "Heaven" which reached third spot on the Gaon charts. This month she released her first mini album and her first single is called "I Will Show You" . A song that mixes her strong vocal ballad voice with a pop sound and pop rock undertones. Personally I love this one. It hit the charts this week and I hope it climbs.

Get Out

No no the title does not mean i want to you ignore my blog. OMG I'm ignoring this blog!

Ok so I better get going here, because it seems like new groups are popping up like mad this fall.
A new band is called AOA (Ace of Angels). This group is a bit of a novelty in the K-pop world as it consists of eight members . However five of the members also play instruments while three are dancers . Of the eight members only the drummer does not contribute to the vocals or dance.

A fascinating concept for an idol group. Now admittedly I did not like their debut song "Elvis". But recently a song came out called  "Get Out" which made me take notice of them.

This is the band section of the group. from left to right
Mina on bass -aged 19
Yuna on keyboard -aged 19
Choa on guitar - the eldest at 22
Jimin on guitar - the leader aged 21
Youkyung on drums - aged 19

This is the dancing section of the froup consisting of four members of the band plus three singer -dancers
Choa
Chanmi -aged 16 is second from left -youngest and magnae
Hyejong -aged 19 is third from the left
Seolhyun -aged 17 is fourth from left
Yuna
Jimin
Mina

So let's see how this combination works!

Vista

So while I'm on the subject of new girl groups , there is another group that came out recently called FIESTAR,  Now as far as I know this is the first girl group by LOEN Entertainment.

 

Now I'm still trying to figure out who's who in this band . I know that third from the left is Yezi (the youngest) and Linzy is the one on the far right. Well maybe when they get more popular I'll figure it out. I think Cheska is the girl with the reddish hair .

So their new song is called Vista. Not a huge fan of the song but I like the choreography in the performance music video. One of the reasons I like K-pop is the dance choreography. So it looks like this group will be a performance group like KARA and T-ARA which is a good thing.

So let's watch them perform:

I'll Be There

Well I better not ignore this blog like I do my other one because I just can't keep up on all the new releases. A new girl band this year is called Spica. I had not heard of them until they released their latest single so I'll have to check some other stuff out by them. They released two extended plays this year. The highest number they have reached in the Gaon charts is 36 but maybe this new single will do it.

from left to right we have : (I've decided to just use stage names from now on)
Boa (aged 25) the leader
Juhyun (aged 25) the eldest and main rapper
Jiwon (aged 24)
Narae (aged 24)
Bohyung (aged 23) magnae

I really like the retro feel of the song . maybe this one will push them up the charts?

Top Girl

Now it's time for a Canadian K-Pop girl...Gina Jane Choi who goes by the stage name G.NA. Gina is a 24 year old performer who was born in Edmonton, Alberta.

She had been slotted for a girl group in 2007 but tht project never came to fruition. Signed on with Cube Entertainment (the same company as Beast and 4Minute) she debuted in 2010. Since then, one album and three extended plays have helped to make her a "Top Girl"

This song is off her 2cd EP called Top Girl which came out in 2011. The song made it to number 4 on the Gaon charts.

Cry Cry

New k-pop songs are coming out left, right, and center from some of my favorite groups so I better get this blog rolling daily.

I think it's time for me to introduce a very successful girl group called T-ARA. T-ARA debuted in 2009 with CORE Contents Media and is a seven -member girl group. I usually prefer the smaller four or five girl groups but I must admit that seven members makes for great arrowhead configurations in dance routines. (that was a bit of sarcasm)

They have released one album and four extended plays as well as a Japanese Album and a number of repackagings. Controversy recently surrounded the group with the departure of Hwayoung apparently over cyber bullying by her group mates after an injury. (Just thought I'd spread a little gossip). the group has also had numerous leadership changes.with Park Soyeon being the current new leader.

The line-up I'll look at here is for the above post titled single "Cry Cry".

Park JiYeon - aged 19 magnae
Park SunYoung (known as Hyomin) - aged 23 (leader at time of this release)
Lee JiHyun (called Qri) - aged 25
Jeon Boram - aged 26 the eldest

Park SoYeon -aged 24
Ham EunJeong aged 23
Ryu Hwayoung -aged 19 (no longer with group)

The song "Cry Cry' was released on the extended play "Black Eyes" in November 2011 and it reached number 1 on the Gaon chart.

So I'll present two versions of the song.,,
Dance version:

and the Ballad Version:

Blue

Ok I'm going to mellow out this blog today with a song by one of the most successful Asian acts in the world.  And that act is BIGBANG.

A male group formed in 2006 . They have released two studio albums and five extended plays. Extensive touring and the release of numerous Japanese releases has helped to make them well known throughout Asia

 From left to right we have:
Choi Seunghyun - called T.O.P.  - the eldest (aged 24)
Lee Seunghyun - called Seungri - magnae (aged 21)
Dong Youngbae - called Taeyang (aged 24)
Kang Daesung  (aged 23)
Kwon Ji Yong - known as G-Dragon and the leader (aged 24)

As I've said before I've never been a huge fan of boy bands but this year the band released a nice mellow hip hop ballad that just eases into my ears and I find very enjoyable. It's called "Blue" and is off their most recent EP called "Alive". the song reached number one on the Gaon charts.

Beautiful Night

When I first starting following K-pop it was all about the girl bands. At first I resisted boy bands. I found them too sweet or too aggressive. But then I stumbled across Beast or B2ST. Not too sweet and not too aggressive and some good vocals. After that I was able to explore other boy bands and open up my K-pop tastes.

Beast was formed in 2009 by CUBE Entertainment (the same company that formed 4Minute). Since their formation they have one studio album and six extended plays to their credit. They, like other Korean bands, have also moved into the Japanese market where they have one studio album.

They've changed their image a lot for this newest extended play album. Lots of hair dye and color

In the center:
Yong Jun-hyung aged 22: the main rapper of the group

At top and then going around clockwise to the right:
Jang Hyun-seung aged 23( it's his birthday today)
Son Dong-woon aged 21 :the magnae
Lee Gi-kwang aged 22
Yoon Doo-joon aged 23 : the leader
Yang Yo-seob aged 22 main vocalist ( he sings the bridge)

Their newest EP contains the "summer hit" "Beautiful Night" which reached number 3 on the Gaon charts. Enjoy...

Anymore

A new single came out recently that I really like. It's by Seo In-Young and is called "Anymore"

She is also known by her stage name "Elly". This 27 year old singer is an ex-member of Jewelry. Jewelry debuted in 2001 and Elly left the group in 2009 . She eventually formed her own record company in 2011. one of her reasons for leaving the group was to break free of the sexy dancer image she had received while a member of Jewelry.

As a solo artist she has released one studio album and three extended plays. The song Anymore has just debuted in the top 50 Gaon charts as of this week. So i have no real stats yet for this song. Here it is:

Don't Cry

Ok I know if I don't say something about Korean girl band 2NE1 people are going to say ..what's wrong with you? How can you not like such a popular band? Well sorry but I'm not a fan. I guess it's the song style. Though I do really like their slower stuff.

One song I really like is by Park Bom the main singer of the band. She is a 28 year old singer who debuted with the band in 2009. Now I'll talk more about them in another post. But one thing I'll say is though I'm not abig fan of their stuff I love their voices and think they deserve their success.

So here is the song "Don't Cry" , a solo work by Park Bom which appeared on 2NE1's second extended play and reached number 1 on the Gaon chart.

How Dare You

Another girl group that is having great success this year is Sistar.

Sistar is a four woman group that debuted in 2010 and work for Starship Entertainment. They have one studio album and two extended plays to their credit along with seven singles that have all made top 10 on the Gaon charts.

My first interest in this group developed with the release of "How Dare You" in 2010 which reached number 2 spot on the Gaon charts. A catchy little number that always brings a smile to my face as does the music video.

We are mighty Sistar:

From left to right we have:

Soyou

Bora - the eldest and the rapper

Hyolyn - leader

Dasom - magnae

I'll talk more about them and the other girl bands I've introduced later but for now here is my favorite single by this band

Not Alone

well that title is a bit of a paradox since so far i am alone on this blog. xD

today i'm going to switch things up and not discuss a girl group but rather an artist who i feel had a very underrated song.

The artist is 25 year old Park Jung Min. Jung Min comes from a boy band called SS501 which existed from 2005-2010. now i admit i haven't fully explored this band yet. so i'll have to put that on my k-pop to do list xD . He released his first solo work in 2011 a mini album called "Not Alone"

I'v ealways felt this would be a good korean eurovision entry because the violin classical element gives it a flavor that could go over on that stage. i love the bridge in this song. anyways here it is:

Volume Up

Ok i lied. i decided not to do a boy band post. xD reason being that i just heard the new song by 4Minute and I love it! :D

Now this post isn't going to be about their new song though, but rather about what could be my favorite k-pop song of 2012 so far.

first let's look at the band. 4Minute is a five girl band created by Cube Entertainment in 2009. Now their name is of course based on the concept of a song being four minutes long.

They have released one album, three extended plays and four singles , that does not include their japanese work as like other k-pop groups they have expanded into the japanese market.
 
I wasn't a big fan of 4Minute when they first came out.But 2012 has been the year that this group finally made songs i could really enjoy. let's take a look at the bands line-up

from left to right we have:
Nam JiHyun - aged 22 and the leader of the group
Jeon JiYoon -aged 21 lead vocalist and lead rapper
Kim HyunA -aged 20 main rapper
Heo GaYoon -aged 22 main vocalist
Kwon SoHyun -aged 17 magnae (youngest)

in this vid HyunA does the lead rapping and JiYoon is the lead vocalist. by lead vocalist i mean JiYoon leads the chorus.

"volume Up" made it to number 2 on the korean Gaon chart and the extended play album made it to number !.

Anyways here is the song. I love the bridge element. I love the saxophone interplay and the strength of the chorus

Step

Well it's time for me to step this blog up.!!

And for me, the reason why i wanted to start this blog was the return of a my favorite girl band KARA.

A little background information:
they started out as a four member band back in 2007 and then became a five member band when one of the members left and was replaced by two others in 2008.

In total they have three studio albums, five extended play (mini albums) and 11 singles in Korea alone. This does not include their work in japan which is a market k-pop is gradually expanding into and beginning to influence though slightly.

Now i won't get into a lot of detail and bio information because as i introduce songs of groups over the next little while in my blog I'll give out more info on each single. But let me at least introduce you to the members of the band!

in korean the last name comes first by the way

In order from left to right is:
Jung Nicole - aged 20 

Kang Jiyoung - aged 18 - makne
Goo Hara - aged 21 (in the back)
Han Seungyeon - aged 24 and the main vocalist
Park Gyuri - aged 24 and leader of the group

I've always considered that Hara looked the youngest and thought she was the makne but i guess i was totally wrong!! Nicole is american born.

So anyways this first post is my asian music blog is devoted to them because rumor has it a mini album is coming out at the end of this month. kara has provided me with some of my favorite k-pop songs so my fingers are crossed for another good song.

So here is there Sep 2011 song. it's called "Step" . the album made it to number one on korea's Gaon chart and the single reached number 2. it also won on each of the three music show awards in korea including two weeks on M! Countdown and Music Bank

It's a very simplistic fun dance poppy song. neat foot movements in the music video , i've always liked their slinky moves.

i'll talk more about them later when i look back at some of their other stuff. But my next post is going to be about  a boy band. i promised myself i would try and balance the boys and girls xD

New Blog Introduction

So I've started my second blog. this one will be devoted to k-pop and other asian music. a personal fetish of mine xD. I'll be discussing some of my favorite asian music in this blog

so what is k-pop> well...not easy to describe ..it has dance pop elements, r and b hip hop elements, rap elements (which seems to fit the korean language well) . the music videos have an emphasis on dance choreography, costumes, settings and are usually very well done.. but there is a distinct korean style that just can't be put into words. a style i've grown to love especially with the dance elements in the videos

i've found there is three main types of k-pop songs when dealing with boy groups and girl groups of which k-pop has plenty (groups are as common if not more common than solo artists)
these are
1) the ballad... asian music has a very croony style of ballad...these are usuually more common to solo artists but groups do them as well. the tone of asian ballads tends to be melancholy . not really my style though i have found some good ones
2) the cutesy songs - often the groups will have cutesy songs where the boys act all nice and flowery and the girls act all dollish and flirty and pretty. these usually aren't my style either though i do like the more poppy ones
3) the straight up dance pop and r and b pop songs which are very poppy and well choreographed..these are the ones i love the most.

now the k-pop industry is very manufactured. groups are formed by entertainment companies who promote the group usually with a debut single. singles are then promoted until the next single is ready to be released. studio albums usually are not made until a group has achieved sucess and are actually rare in this industry. rather singles are rleased and extended plays (or mini-albums)

k-pop has a couple of music shows with a weekly countdown and winner as well which aids in a group's popularity shows such as music bank for example. success in these shows as well as on the korean music charts  are included in agroup's statistics when measuring their popularity.

large groups will sometimes be split up - splinter groups so to speak. though the average group size is around 5. and occasionally a member of the group will do a solo project.

groups usually have a leader who heads the group. there is usually a main rapper and a main vocalist and also something called a "makne" . the makne is the youngest member of the group. often pretty . sort of like the group's little sister.

fanbases exist for the most popular groups and often call themselves by specific nicknames. you can watch fanbases quarrel on youtube comments. it's quite funny actually xD

so that's sort of a little introduction . hopefully it will make more sense as you delve along with me into this industry :D