More K-pop and J-pop

[koganbot]

Some excellent, excellent commentary on K-pop and J-pop (and a bit of Chinese pop) by Anonymous down in the comment thread to my mid-year lists, along with over a dozen video embeds.* Anyway, I'd like to stir up the local hivemind on what you think is going on in these three videos (and K-pop and J-pop in general, if you have any ideas; you're

Comments

Time is always the eraser of time

[koganbot]

The English of the person who did the second translation isn't as idiomatic as that of the first,* which means some is clumsy and some is surprisingly novel ("Time is always the eraser of time"). Also, that translation includes the written text at 3:27 and 3:32 and 3:35 that the first doesn't translate (text messages, surely):

You came to school!!
The school is unclean
because you came!!
The air is unclean!!
I don't want to breathe the same air as you...

You're unbelievably gross!!
Annoying
Can't you die for once?

Because everyone hates you

*[EDIT: Both of those translations were killed by YouTube.]

[petronia]

The first one is great (...for something that appears to be a beer commercial...) - it kinda reminds me of the ending of Grease? What is up with the hairstyles though!? And the Adam Lambert makeup?! /dying

[petronia]

"Like Beyonce," says E.Via - this is pretty risque for Korea, although the superflat presentation and the squeaky-clean cuteness of the girl(s?) remind me of Youtube memes like Caramelldansen, or Kim Ok-Bin (geez I just realized she is the same person as the lead actress in Thirst! It's like Nicole Scherzinger winning a prize at Cannes). Timeline-wise perhaps Kim Ok-Bin was the domesticization of Beyonce-style booty-shaking, and from thereon to the mainstream? Despite E.Via making fun of Asian Poses(tm) in the other vid this is much cuter/friendlier/less threatening than Ok-Bin Herself, whose (massive) sex appeal is grounded in to-hell-with-game-face sullenness. (This worked really well for her in the movie, too.)

[petronia]

AKB48: ...erm wow this is idoru group pop, definitely, but instead of incorporating pop-punk (which we've seen) it's got bleed-through from International Emo** instead, which in the Japanese context comes across as a bit visual-kei...? The haircuts and the hint of 19th century in the uniforms, mostly. Them's some hard-hitting lyrics, too (the first translation is very accurate). Meanwhile vid-wise I'm reading a tATu-esque tale of TEEN LESBIANISM AND OSTRACIZATION - long-haired girl A and short-haired girl B are good friends, A expresses romantic interest in B and is shunned for it (or is shunned anyway and B betrays her), A commits suicide, B feels guilty (per lyrics, sin of omission - she didn't do anything to help A). What matters is the universe of the kids themselves, adults are neither wanted nor able to help/understand.

** International Emo: contrast and compare Jena Lee - Je Me Perds (I Lose Myself), which is also about texting and teen suicide from school rooftops, only IN FRENCH FROM FRANCE. Interestingly I'd very much

[koganbot]

Kim Ok-bin (born in 1986) named the Korean Beyonce due to her dance skills is an actress and model who was voted Hottie of the year 2006 by M-net. When she won the honor of being the co-host for the annual M-net music festival, as a Lady, she was supposed to do something that is intended to warm up the audience. While supporting her, M-net put some of her moves on the air to help promote the festival.

omg... she was naturally shy and a quiet girl actually. so no one expected that she could dance like this, jesus in lingerie thing

[askbask]

Isn't it interesting how much Korea has been inspired by Japan, in pop culture in general and the music industry specifically, and yet how different the two countries' pop idols are

Sunny Chicken Refresh

[koganbot]

Well, with those links dead, here's a compilation tape of Sunny's greatest chicken catches:

Meanwhile, HyunA screams:

[askbask]

E.via's "Shake" has grown enormously on me. I'd listened to it a few times before, but now I've become slightly obsessed with. Unfortunately it wasn't a big success (charting around #40), so she'll probably go back to the semi-underground.

She played around with the sexual controversy baiting on her album last year and it's obviously not a road to mainstream recognition in Korea, but it sure does sound great: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amqaA8wntB4

[koganbot]

Has she had an actual album? I've been able to find three EPs (albeit one of them containing 15 tracks if you include all the remixes and alternate versions and radio clips). Must Have seems to have been released this year, so I can put it on my year-end list.

[askbask]

For reference, a selection of roles* portrayed/communicated/inhabited by korean girl group members/artists on singles currently in rotation:

f(x) as the edgy, punk-y youth:

Narsha (of Brown Eyed Girls fame) as the Madonna/Lady Gaga thought-provoker ( /catchy gibberish chorus provider):

4MINUTE as the well-known sexy n' dangerous electro vixen:

IU as the still innocent, young up-and-commer. This song has been a huge hit for the past month:

Take a look at her interpretation of SNSD's Gee (and Super Junior's Sorry Sorry) for what seems to me like a hint that she'll come to find her own artistic signature soon enough

New embed for IU's live version of Gee & Sorry, Sorry

[koganbot]

New Embed for IU & Seulong Nagging

[koganbot]

Re: New Embed for IU & Seulong Nagging

[koganbot]

Well, those embeds are dead, so here are new ones: