Filler

I don't really have anything in particular to say but it's been so long since my last post that I thought anything must be better than nothing, right?  Well, we'll see.  Maybe by the end it'll turn out that nothing would have been preferable.  If we have any Friends fans, it will be like the scene where Ross went to kiss his cousin and when she asked what the heck he was doing, he thought, 'Say something clever! ... OK, doesn't have to be clever, just has to be words.  Say some words.  ...Any words will do.  ....Oh my god, this is the longest that anyone has not talked ever! ...There is nothing you could say that could make this worse so just say something!'  "I haven't had sex in a very long time."  'Yeah, you really shouldn't have said anything.' Lol.

Anyway!  Have been a bit busy recently.  Have a steady part time job that pays less than minimum wage, and also signed up with a temp agency where I may get a day or two, every other week or so for decent money.  I'm also working on my dissertation and trying (with a downward sloping level of success) to keep up with house work.  I also look for a more steady job and an internship at the same time.  That's pretty good, right?

I haven't had a whole lot of time to listen to new music, but what I have heard, I haven't particularly loved....or liked.   Grr.  Ooh, minor new development.  I've become a Doctor Who fan.  Yay David Tennant!  (Releases an involuntary fan-girl squeak)

                     

Gah.  That was unintentional.  I thought it was funny, how the English were all ga ga over this show.  I rolled my eyes and was proud of my ignorance on the subject.  (Now that I think about it, half of what I'm proud of not ever seeing turns out to be pretty good.  Maybe I should start watching/reading/listening to everything and then be proud of not liking things for informed reasons rather than being proud of having no direct knowledge?  Hmm.)  One of my university lecturers, who is a fan of Star Wars (like me) highly recommended Doctor Who, and since we had the same taste in movies, I figured I'd give it a shot.  And lo and behold, it was awesome.  Gosh darn it.  Still not a fan of Big Bang Theory though! Ha!  My integrity remains intact.

Xinye and I went to the Notting Hill Carnival yesterday.  What is this?  It's more or less a parade where all the floats are music related and the floats are generally the least impressive thing in the parade because each one is preceded and followed by people in huge, elaborate, and revealing costumes. Half the time I was watching this thing, I was wondering how the heck they got the components to the carnival!  Well, until we found all the rent-a-vans and trucks.  Then it was like, '...oh...'

The crowds are reminiscent of sardine cans and most of the music is R&B, so exciting though the parade is, Xinye and I would gladly skip this but last time we went there was a group of drummers that were absolutely amazing.  We wanted to see them again.  Unfortunately they weren't there this year but it was still pretty cool.  I'm also so thrilled to get home after the carnival.

A couple of my parents are coming to visit next month, which I'm excited about.  They aren't going to be here long enough for a comprehensive look at London, but just long enough to get exhausted from days of tramping all over the city.  Good luck to us!

Ok, that's all.  So... 'Yeah... you really shouldn't have said anything?'  Hahahaha!

U-Kiss Alone Review

Why should Japanese songs be left out?  They're still sung by Korean bands!  Disclaimer:  If anyone actually thinks that I may own Ukiss, or Alone, or anything having to do with them, I've got a 500 year old cell phone to sell you.  It was way before its time and is unique.  Step on up.

This is the most eligible song ever for the intro to a robot/tech anime.

I'm so sorry about the quality.  I know it's not very good, but I couldn't find anything better.  Oh, I tried.

Yeah, right around the 40 second mark, I was transported to Gundam Wing.  At first I didn't like it very much. I didn't think it was consistent with Ukiss's other songs.  But then I listened to it again, and viola!  I liked it.  More than that, I really liked it!

Except for the hat.  Everyone knows which hat I'm talking about, right?
 
 Yeah, this ridiculous Russian fur hat with the huge gold brooches super glued on by a 10 year old.  And then, because the kid did such a good job, they gave him a glove and a bunch of square gold studs.  Sigh.  No Kevin.  Just no.

I did really like their military-esque costumes though!    The group has always impressed me with how close they seem as friends so the uniforms just solidified their 'groupness' to me.  This is me totally ignoring the member trade that happened a couple years ago, by the way.  They're a sold group, I tell you!

Ok, what is the song about, you may be asking?  No clue.  I don't know what it is about Japanese songs, but either our languages are so different that it's not possible to accurately translate, or the Japanese just really like esoteric, almost makes sense, but not really songs. And this translates well into their music video because there is no plot.  It's all dancing.  I really like UKiss' dance skills so I'm not disappointed or anything, but when you have a song you just are not grasping the meaning of, it would be nice to have some clues in the music video.  No matter!  It's not like I listen to music in languages I don't speak for the deep meanings!

LOL!

Ok, I don't follow bands so closely as to know all their affiliations, but how U-Kiss get to use the same room TVXQ used?  Did UKiss not film their Japanese song in Japan?  Or did they bring the set?  I don't know.  But it was a nice little throw back for me because I really liked Keep your Head Down.  I kept waiting for the fire hall to make an appearance, but apparently they only took the sharing so far.  And you know what?  The dark room with light holes made just as much sense in this video as TVXQ's! (None, just in case you didn't get that)

I really enjoyed the English.  A catchy beat AND plenty of English??  This is why I love you UKiss!  

I've found that with this band, I either love their songs or hate them.  Not much middle ground.  And this one, this one had to grow on me, but I love it now!  Thank you U-Kiss and Japan.  A wonderful combination and addition to Tick Tack, my other fav Japanese Ukiss song.

BTOB's WOW Review

Disclaimer:  I do not own BTOB, but boy do I wish I did!  I am in no way officially associated with anything the band does or produces, but I'd volunteer to be in their music videos in a heartbeat.

I know this is not a new song anymore.  It's pretty old, in kpop song time, but I love Wow so much that I couldn't go on without writing about it.  It just has one of those beats, you know?  Enjoy...

Aw, so much to say and such short attention spans from the average blog reader!  First thing I'm going to say is how much I appreciate that the woman in the video has more make-up on than the guys!  As normal is that is in the west, it's just not a given in Korean music videos, so alright BTOB!

For the mass majority of the video, I adored their costumes.  Only the white ones had any really cringe-worthy elements.

I am, of course, referring to the socks.  Even BTOB can't pull a sock over a pant leg and make it look good.   Oh no, no no.  

I loved the dancing in this video!  I liked the very beginning when the middle three are all but chasing the camera.  "Pay attention to us!"  I liked the part where they were admiring the woman's S-curve, demonstrating by showing their bums!

 

But my favorite was just how much energy and enthusiasm they had.  You have to imagine they've practiced this dance hundreds of times but they don't look bored, like they're just going through the motions.  I know I don't look that happy at work, doing the same thing I did yesterday, and the day before that, and will be doing again tomorrow!  Even in their dance practice!  This is a composite of at least three dance practices and yet, look how enthusiastic they are!  Not in front of an audience, just practicing, they are energetic and fresh, and I find this amazing.

Also, I really enjoyed how the beginning of the song starts off in the regular, well choreographed dance routine and then slowly deteriorates into a skillfully controlled chaos of individual moves and sequences.  There was always so much to look at.  Plus, when everyone is doing their own thing, it gives unskilled people like me the feeling that we could jump in in the back somewhere and totally fit in.  It's easy to picture dancing with BtoB and instead of getting security called on us, getting high-fives at the end.

As for the plot of the video, as each boy falls for the girl, falling irrevocably in love (I like to think), he disappears.  She doesn't return the feelings of any them until the last, where she is the one to disappear instead of him.  His name?  Um, no idea.  But he's a cutie!  So in the dance of seduction, the score is Girl-6, Boys-1.  I especially liked the cherry and tie scenes.  The girl running her foot up the inside of guy's leg was the most sexually explicit play I've seen between sexes in a kpop video!  So that was new.

The song was about a guy seeing a girl in a class above other girls.  He freely admires the different parts of her body and imagines doing nice for her.  Unfortunately, the song is not as original as the music video, but hey, as a non-korean speaker, the words don't bother me one little bit.  I can imagine them singing something amazing as I shake my groove thing to WOW.

Nu'Est Face Review

I know this song isn't new anymore but it's still one of my favorites and I finally decided that, as there are no new songs that I'm dying to write about, now is my chance to finally air my take on Face! Ok, first, I don't own anything having to do with Nu'Est or face.  Thanks.

Only slightly off topic for just a second, I recently left a job where I worked under the worst boss in the world.  He was such a bully.  He delighted in making me feel like poo.  Nothing was ever good enough and he was so bored that he didn't mind spending 20 minutes at a time telling me how worthless and stupid he thought I was.  When he finally sent me to sweep or mop, I plugged into my ipod, and this song always make me feel just a little bit better.  Ok, a lot a bit better.  So, a personal thank you to Nu'Est.

Rather than my usual review, I'm going into a little more detail about the video because I've watched this one so much.

Anyone else notice the fog in the school?  In the very beginning?  Their school has a serious insulation problem.  Or, that's right outside the guy's locker room and it's a cloud of stink! (No offence guys)  I just don't remember my school ever having clouds or fog in it.

You know that scene where bully victim looks into his locker and some one has trashed it?  And he looks all sad.

I'm afraid I can't related at all.  My locker always looked like that, and no one ever trashed it save me!  It took me a while to realize that his locker had been vandalized instead of it just being business as usual in a school locker.  

Oooh, and the entrance of Ren!  *Squeals*  The first time I saw this video, I thought, "Wow.  A guy band with a girl in it.  That's new!"  But then he started singing and I had to pause, and rewind and listen to it again and then listen to the rest of the song just to make sure that Ren was actually a guy.  Wow.  And you know what I like about Ren so much?

It's because most 'pretty' kpop idols play up their feminine image by being really cutesie, aegyo.  Like all pretty girls are so stereotypically 'cheerleader on redbull' all the time.  But not Ren!  Ren is pretty, and enters like a boss!  He's badass through the whole video, never falling into the trap others seem to.  Way to represent the 90% of pretty girls who don't rely on kitten soft cuteness in their everyday lives!  Love you Ren!

Ok, fangirl side has been exercised.  Back to the music video!  Great energetic dancing!  Love it all.  Save for Before the Dawn by Infinite, this is the most violent fist fight I've ever seen in a kpop music video.  There's just all kinds of new stuff being introduced by this band!  So brave for a debut.  I have only one real complaint...

WHY?!?!? 

I hate gloves!  Ok, I don't have gloves, but I hate the ugly, excessive gloves that kpop-ers wear!  *Disgusted sigh*  Join the ranks dude.  

   

And I know there are many, many more that I couldn't find pictures of.

Please stop!  No more!  

I've read a few different plot theories, and everyone is just as confused as I am.  Why are they beating the boy up and then befriending him later?  Why are they hitting eachother?  I mean, the song is about rising above the petty cruelty of another, but if that's what they were trying to do in the video, there were probably less confusing ways.  

Ok, I'm sure I have more to say, but I can't remember it right this minute, so I'm going to sign off here.  Yay Nu'Est!  Yay Face!

Infinite's Man in Love Review

Disclaimer:  I don't own Infinite, ok?  Why are you rubbing it in??  I don't own their songs or their music or anything having to do with the music video I'm reviewing.  No suing me please!

Meh. I'm not in love with the song.  Cutsie, "I'm so in love," its a beautiful world songs don't tend to do much for me.  They tend to have less of a beat.  And this may be a bit of a tangent, but cutsie aegyo boy music videos and most girls' videos are more about 'look at me' than 'listen to me.'  I listen to music because it makes me happy.  I watch their music videos to listen to the music, not to watch hot people flaunting themselves in front of the camera in a bid to have looks outshine the voices.  Ok, rant over, back to Infinite!

I've been a fan since Before the Dawn, even though it was a creepy stalker song.  This song is much less creepy.  It says things that are totally relate-able.  They're saying that they care more about how they look and are giggling all the time because they're in love.  It's saying that he wants to do stuff for her and sees her everywhere.  Cute stuff.

Because this is a aegyo video, I was thrilled that it had a coherent dance!  I have no complaints about it.  However, the costumes are... not so good.  I actually thought they detracted a bit.  It's hard to pay attention to what they're doing when those horrible vertically striped pants are blocking everything else out.

Just right of the center.

And the checkered shirt!  Wow, why?  Just why??

Those are the worst two items of clothing, in my opinion.  But, honestly, I wouldn't want my boyfriend to wear any of their clothes.  And that's just the black and whites!  Shall we touch on the colorful, tear-inducingly  bright ones? Yes!  Let's.  

Ok, this one's not so bad, but who wears their sweaters like that anymore?  Ever since Hollywood started dressing their snobby rich guys like this, it has become unfashionable for men to drape their sweaters around their shoulders.  

Pink pants!  I've only seen boys in kpop videos wear pink pants.  I wish they'd notice that the fashion is not catching on.  And that there's a reason that it hasn't caught on.  It's not attractive.  I could go on, of course, but I like Infinite, and I respect that they may not have complete control over their costumes, so we're going to move on.

Ok, my main peeve about this video is the kitten.

Don't get me wrong.  It's adorable.  But I would be so angry is someone got me a kitten.  A pet is a huge responsibility!  If I wanted a cat, I'd get one for myself!  What if I don't have a cat because I'm allergic?  What if I don't have the money to buy the cat litter and the food, or my place is so tiny that it would be cruel to keep a pet in it? What if he hadn't liked cats? What if he were more of a dog person?  Or maybe he already had a cat or a dog?  A new pet could stress your existing pet or get eaten by the dog.  Of all the things that a person can give as a present to someone they like, an animal is one of the worst, in my humble opinion.  I'm really hoping that people don't see this video and decide that its a good idea.  There might be a sudden influx of baby animals to shelters and pounds.  Don't do it!!

Ok, so...all together, this video gets a 4 out of 10.  Eh music, cute words, cute guys, bad clothes, good dance, eh plot.  

Heo Young Saeng's The Art of Seduction Review

Disclaimer:  I do not own Heo Young Saeng, his music, his videos, or anything else having to do with this song, this singer or this industry.  Please no suing!

I've also seen this song called "How to Get Girls."  Having watched the music video, I thought, 'Wow, that's kinda creepy.'  And then I looked up the lyrics and thought, 'Huh, that's really repetitive and Extremely creepy!'  The first lines of the song (besides 'This is the time, the time, this is the time, the time) is "I'll sell my soul to the moonlight, and I'll trap you alone in my crimson heart."  A few things hit me about this, first is that it could be really sweet, depending on what words follow and what images the singer is going to present us with.  The next thing was a faintly nostalgic connection to LeAnn Rimes' Can't Fight the Moonlight, for possibly tenuous reasons.  And lastly, HOLY CRAP, STALKER!

The song gets worse with lines like 'If you reject me, I'll hit on you and hit on you again.  I don't give up.' and ' it's all your fault for being so pretty,' and 'that's the problem. Being pretty is the problem,' (anyone else remembering those movies where a psycho takes a knife to their obsession's face to make them ugly so that no one else will want them?  Just me?)  I'll concede that maybe, just maybe, if you're in a really healthy relationship, or in the clutches of typhoon of teenage hormones, this song might seem sweet if you sing it to your significant other.  But no one else could get away with it and would be, in face, inviting a restraining order.

Um, did anyone else think that the acting was... well, bad?  It was a bit over the top, in my humble opinion.  He was trying much, much too hard to look cute.  Fail.  It did occur to me that this might have been on purpose; the product of the girl's distorted mind, which can't distinguish 'cute' from 'creepy,' kinda like not being able to distinguish a baby doll from Chucky. Maybe his bad acting was on purpose.  But then I thought, nah! This guy is one of the singers from SS501.  Bad acting seems to run in the group.  (Oh! Ow! Burn!  [Please don't hate me])  The reason I couldn't make myself believe that the over-acting was intentional was the scene at about 2:20, where he looks like he's trying to hide how scared he is.  It was much more obvious than the being overly cute.  Yep, subtlety is not a strong point of Heo Young Saeng's acting.  The fear though, that was good.  He acts fear well.

As for the dance... um, I'm going to have to assume that this guy was chosen for his singing ability, not his dancing.   Now, I'm uncoordinated.  When I try to do kpop dances, I've been asked if I'm alright.  But this dance, I think I could do.  And do just as well.  A lot of arm waving.

There wasn't very much english in the song.  "Crazy baby" a couple times.  Meh.  Not a lot to sing a long to. The song is semi-entertaining but won't be making my play list.

Minor notes, where did they get the shiny rope?  That looks pretty cool.  And anyone else get a little de ja vu of Kan Mi Youn's Going Crazy?

But this is not the first, nor the last time that kpop will share plots!  And if that girl wasn't so nuts, I'd love to hire her to paint my room!  Having murals on my walls of my fav kpop idols would be amazing!!

U-Kiss Standing Still Review

Disclaimer:  I do not own U-kiss or their music or their video.  I'm just a fan writing about Standing Still and am not making any money off it.  Don't sue me!

K, about the song first!  It's a bit slower than the songs I usually go crazy over, but there's so much English in it that it's easier to listen to over and over because it's so entertaining.  Being able to sing along is one of the things I miss most about English music when I miss it at all.  U-Kiss was very kind to throw in so many English words.  It feels like I can interact with it, sing along for the most part.    

I'm skipping ahead to the dance now because I think the dance is one of the big reasons I really like the song.  There's so much energy in the shoulder-bump shuffle (see 1:02) and it's easy enough that I can try to do it while singing the English words (badly, alone, with window blinds drawn of course).  My favourite bit though, is from 0:48 seconds to 0:55 seconds.  That's when all the gratuitous body rubbing and patting is going on.  Now, I don't like it for the reason you're probably thinking I do (well, ok, that too) but because if you watch it again, it looks like they're trying to be really cool while putting out their burning shirts.  "Rub off the fire, rub off the fire!  Not working, try patting it!"  But because they are U-Kiss and filming a music video, they' 'I'm on film, can't look like I'm panicking, play it cool, play it cool!'  A much sexier version of this guy:

Think that's what they were going for?  Because that's all I can see.  It's the 'Sexily Putting Out the Fire' move.  

The only thing about the dancing that I was, 'eh' about, was all the reaching and lip rubbing that DongHo was doing.  It seemed excessive to me.  That's not his fault though.  That's the video editor's bad.  His image might be the 'hot, sexy' one, but give him SOME dimension, will you?

Ok, costumes and make-up!  There is an exceptional amount of eye-liner, but this is normal for U-Kiss and is not done to the point of Panda, so yay.  My personal theory is that they're wearing an inch thick make up but it's so well done that you don't notice.  I think this because of how cold it looks in that warehouse they're dancing in.  See their breath?  When it's that cold, your face turns red, or at least mine does.  Your nose gets red, your cheeks get rosy.  It's just what happens.  But none of U-Kiss resembled Rudolph or those rosy cheeked gnomes

 

so I'm assuming that they had make-up caked on their faces to keep them looking normal.  You have to assume that they were on this freezing set for a couple hours, right?  Naturally, they should have changed color at least a little!  So good job to the make-up artists!

Their denim costumes had a lot of metal.  A lot.  I really liked their black costumes.  Very chic and not overdone.  

Oh, and I really liked the girl's contacts.  Personally, I thought they made her look exotic and exciting.  The only thing that detracted, and it was very slight indeed, was that she didn't blink.  She drew too much attention to them, implying that they were new to her too.  If she had made them seem just a little more common place, it would have made the effect better.  I can't find a picture of her, but if you watched the video, I'm sure you saw it.

Ok, I'm going to take a stab at the meaning of the song.  They're singing about burning while the girl is standing still and something about him being lost in the maze.  So, I'm going to interpret that as, she is verbally or emotionally abusive, hurting him badly, but he's so lost in love with her that he can't leave her.  Meanwhile, she's not changing and keeps hurting him.  Yeah... that's what I'm going with.  My boyfriend offers a different interpretation.  He thinks that she's dumping him cruelly.  That the maze is him being lost without her. Meh.  Either way, it's not a happy situation for poor Ukiss!

Overall, like the song, like the video.  It's not one I'm going to be passionate about, but it provides amusement with the Sexily putting out the fire dance and all the english words, and energy when I feel like dancing about like a dork.