David's Top 5 Kpop Songs for 2013

2013 has seen a large shift in terms of my musical tastes. Besides BoA, Se7en, Rain/Bi and FTTS, I never really listened to Korean music. I was mostly Japanese, with the likes of BoA, Ayumi Hamasaki, Namie Amuro, Moumoon (a big find in the latter parts of 2012), Yuna Ito, etc.

I was always for the solo singers, for I always felt that groups weren't as talented. Ever since playing Ahri on League of Legends and realizing that her dance was based on SNSD's Run Devil Run... I became hooked onto Kpop music. 

Of course, I can go on and on, but I won't bored you with my foray into Korean music. Let's start get started with my top 5 Korean songs for 2013! Once again, this is my opinion. Yes, there are probably many other songs out there that are better than the songs I listed, but I didn't put them down on my list because

1) I never heard of them (I'm still a Kpop newbie)

2) I'm not interested in the group/artist (To this day, I still prefer a woman's voice to a man's in pop music)

3) Being biased to certain groups may have play a significant factor in my list. (=P)

Now I got that out of the way, let's really start now!

#5: SNSD/Girl's Generation - I Got a Boy

I admit... I'm a huge SNSD fan. I'm not quite a SONE (their fan group), but I really like Girl's Generation. I was immensely pleased when they won theVideo of the Year award at the YouTube awards (or whatever it's called). I can't say I heard a song as unique as this song. It has a variety of different tempos, and the music video was very colourful/eccentric. It took a while for me to get used to the song, and to this day I still don't have it on my iPhone, but I'm considering the possibility for it making a showing on my phone. 

It's a good song, and despite SNSD being my favourite group, it's not my number one song for the year! As stated previously, it took a while for me to get used to the concept of the song. 

#4: Sistar - Give it to Me

 Personally, I always thought that Sistar should be renamed "Hyorin featuring Sistar" since the leader of the group just overpowers everyone with her vocals. However, with this song, I felt that each member had a bigger part to sing in the song. Sistar's Give it to Me starts off strong with a G minor chord to Soyu's interlude/beginning/whatever-its-called. The chorus is great and the choreography is even better. And Dasom even has a pretty decent part in the song!

And I can see why Bora is considered to be the visual of the group. I have to say that she looked stunning in the video. 

To my ears, it's better than I Got a Boy. I was initially hooked to the song, but I have to admit that I don't listen to it as much as I used to.

#3: Ladies Code - Bad Girl

This group is a relatively new find for me. I only became aware of their awareness a week ago when I heard this song being played on my brother's computer. From what I know, Ladies Code debuted in March of this year. Ladies Code's Bad Girl is, I would classify, a upbeat Jazzy-like tune. A very catchy beat ensures after a strong piano open. 

At first, it sounded like a good, but typical song. When the main vocalist, Sojung, started singing... she just blew my mind. Her voice is one of a kind! The rest of the members sounded strong themselves, but Sojung is one of a kind. You'll have to give this a song a try if you haven't done so already! Sojung is the one with the blonde hair by the way.

#2: Kara - Damaged Lady

I posted a detailed review of the song and MV on September 6th for those who are interested in reading something more in-depth! As of today, this still happens to be my favorite Kara song. True, it's a song about being bitter after a break up, but the melody and music video were simply amazing. The drastic difference between their Queen costumes and White-shirt-and-tie created a nice visual contrast. 

Go girls go! It's going to be sad to see the group of 5 be reduced to potentially a group of 3 (I'm not sure what Jiyoung is planning to do since I'm not really up to date with the news). Best of luck to Nicole on whatever she's planning to do!

Link to my review on Kara's Damaged Lady

#1: Song Ji Eun - False Hope 

Song Ji Eun, the main vocalist of Secret, has done an incredible job with her 3rd single: False Hope. (To be honest, I'm still not quite sure what it's called, so let's just keep it to False Hope). I also wrote a detailed review of the song and music video on September 30th. 

The music and the video topped my list for best Kpop song for the year. It's really a shame that Song Ji Eun is underrated. Her voice is simply amazing. She may not be as powerful as Ailee or Hyorin, but her voice reminds me of crystal. I never heard such a clear tone before. 

Besides her tone, the MV, I found, happened to be very symbolic and well made. One of the best pieces for sure in 2013. If you haven't had the chance to listen to it, you should really take some time to do so! I think this is the most played song on my Korean list in iTunes.

Link to my review on Song Ji Eun's False Hope

Honourable Mentions for 2013

IU - Red Shoes (Quite the change from her cutesy work!)

Secret - I do I do (Interesting one-shot music video. Definitely better than their Yoo Hoo single they released in the Spring)

Kara - Runaway (A balladish song with a nice flowing melody)

Kara Damaged Lady Review

It's been a while since I made a review blog of something, so here goes! I'll start off with Kara's Damaged Lady and then proceed to SNSD's GALAXY SUPERNOVA tomorrow, or another day. I'll discuss my opinions for both the song and the music videos.

Once again, I am not a professional, thus I may use the wrong terminology/expressions throughout my review. These are strictly my opinions and you're free to agree or disagree with them. Feel free to comment/critique this post!

***

KARA - Damaged Lady

Music

(*Note, the MV's song differs slightly from the song by having a brief instrumental introduction before the rapping starts.

The brief instrumental introduction in the MV starts off catchy, with a syncopated (off-beat) to grab my attention. Soon after, we hear the face of Kara (Goo Hara) rapping, with a sense of loathing in her voice. 

That then leads to a brief... vocal belting (not sure of the term) from the main vocalist of the group, Han Seung-yeon. which goes well with the accompany music. It gives the song a strong start and ensures that it has my attention. Soon after, we hear the first verse: a fast-flowing melody line accompanied by piano chords and some guitar rifts. 

Then comes the rock like background, followed by what sounds like a synthesizer to tell us that the chorus is soon coming up. And it sure delivers. 

The chorus is beautiful, with all the members singer a melody line that is mostly stepwise (not a lot of leaps). This, along with the strong background music really creates an atmosphere of power but bitterness. 

The bridge then follows continues with the synthesizer, which I think helped smooths the transition of to the modified first verse (or would this be considered the second verse). Nothing really changes besides that it's shorter and the synthesizer is still present to tell me that the chorus is coming back quite quickly!

There is another bridge... or something equivalent to a dominant preparation in which it preps up for the chorus and ending. 

And the song ends well, with what sounds like a diminished chord. It's no perfect ending, but it does leave me with a sense of closure for the piece. 

Overall, the song is catchy with smooth transitions. The group members are able to, in my ears, to mesh their voices into one for the chorus quite well. The strong rock guitar sections and synthesizer really creates the atmosphere for the song; the sense of bitterness from a break up and a broken heart. However, there is that power present, like the empowerment that can come from the break up (if that makes any sense!).

I have to say, that it is my favorite Kara song to date! The chorus is catchy, the verses are catchy, heck... everything is catchy about this song! There isn't any flaws I can pull out from this song.

Score 10/10

Music Video

Instead of describing the storyline of the MV, I'm just going to express my thoughts for the piece.

First off, the clothing used in this MV. All I can say is that the dresses, dress shirts/tie combo, victorian-royalty-dresses and whatever else they're wearing was well crafted. It really brought out the charm from each member of the group. The dresses looked elegant. The dress shirts and ties gave them a sense of power and independence. Nothing was overly sexual, which I believe is the right path for this song. Even with the wet dress shirt scene was tastefully done. All in all, clothing was well used well to strengthen the message, of the transition of being "girly like" in a bad relationship to strength and independence. 

Next, settings and transitions. I think the transitions and settings were thought out quite well for this MV. There's probably a reason why they chose certain things, but I am unable to interpret them at this point. All I can say is that each setting is pleasantly crafted and the transitions make perfect sense, with nothing seemingly out of place. I especially liked the scene where the five members, dressed in their dresses, were looking at their reflection before they made their transformation.

Finally, the choreography. I'm not a dance expert, nor am I familiar with the type of dances that Kara usually does, but it seemed to be a pleasant choreography. Their moves aren't really flashy, nor strong looking, but it works well with the song. The "taking-off-the-ring" move feels really symbolic and caught my eye (that feeling of independence once again). Also, I liked how the moves weren't overly suggestive.

To sum it up, great MV! The clothing, transitions, setting and choreography mended well together with everything having a part to play in the music video!

Score 10/10

Final Thoughts

I'm not a huge Kara fan, but this song and music video may change my position on that! Damaged Lady is a catchy song that has a wonderfully made music video. There isn't anything I really dislike about Damaged Lady (well... maybe the short wigs at some parts). For Kara fans, it's a must watch and for non Kara fans or those getting into K-pop, I think it's a great first video for you to watch!

And now some screen caps that I captured via YouTube

 The "taking-of-the-ring" move

Dress shirt and tie that I mentioned 

Kara's Nicole (One of my biases in the group)  

Goo Hara looks so happy here! She's the one in the middle 

Kara's Nicole 

Kara's Goo Hara (my other bias thanks to the variety show, Invincible Youth)