Quick K-pop December 2013 Pt. 1

[koganbot]

Quick opinions:

SNSD Love & Peace. Japanese, Scandinavian, consistently tuneful, not trying to overpower us with muscle and rhythm.

[EDIT: Video no longer available and I don't remember what it was that I embedded. Might have been "Love&Girls" but it could've been any of the others from Love & Peace. Sorry.]Tymee "On The River." Strong, harsh,

Comments

[koganbot]

I'm amused by how the MTV writeup says:

The members' candy colored hair and tutu skirts reflect an innocent-yet-fun image that girls of all ages can connect with, but don't let that fool you. Their girly and cutesy image does not mean that they shouldn't be considered a serious musical competitor in the K-Pop industry.
I doubt that any observer will think Peach Girl's girly and cutesy image should automatically prevent them from being a serious competitor in the K-pop industry, especially if the observer manages, as I did, to misread "tutu skirts" as "tofu skirts." If there's anything that signifies commercial potential, it's tofu skirts.

The tune does seem to have a Japanese brightness to it. Was it composed in Norway?

What strikes me, though, is that the singing adds no extra girliness or cuteness to the sound; there's a directness and fullness to their timbre. Reminds me of T-ara, who are straightforward no matter what material they're attempting. This directness of course doesn't mean that Peach Girl are likely to be as successful as T-ara, or successful at all. Few acts are, no matter what the talent or approach. Also, I like this song but it isn't as immediately catchy as many singles by T-ara, and isn't quite going for catchiness, no matter the clothing.

By the way, last year there was a pretty good '80sish dance K-pop track called "Peach Girl," by someone named A.Y.

[davidfrazer]

There's a manga (and anime) called Peach Girl, which must be where the name came from. I learned this by seeing videos the anime show up as related links on YouTube. :)

I've no idea who composed "Fox Fur Muffler". Doesn't seem to be the only Norwegian Scandi-K-Pop producers I'm aware of.

By the way, Hwayoung has signed with an agency and is relaunching herself as an actress.

And here's a video of TREN-D introducing themselves with silly walks.

[koganbot]

I don't know. I think they could be trying harder:



Have they released anything other than "Candy Boy"?

[davidfrazer]

I don't think TREN-D have released anything else yet, but they've performed another song at events.

[davidfrazer]

By the way, TREN-D have fanchants now.

Not up to the standards of the Pop-jusshi chorus yet, though. I think (but perhaps I'm just imagining it) the members' real names are in there somewhere.

[askbask]

There are quite a few Norwegian producers, writers working with kpop outside of dsign, though they often show up as just individuals, often work with other Europeans, and not as a team like dsign. As a long time BoA fan it was only this year I realized a Norwegian made her most enduring Korean hit 'No.1', so the Scandi-tradition goes way back with SM.

[koganbot]

Who did write "No. 1"? Wikip isn't revealing this information, and I'm not finding it via the Korean Copyright Association (perhaps it's listed under a Romanized transliteration rather than "No. 1").

[askbask]

This man http://www.ziggymusic.com/

Tutu Pop!

[davidfrazer]

Crayon Pop at the KBS Song Festival today (Friday).

[davidfrazer]

A bit late now, but OneHallyu has a Peach Girl thread with the names of all the members. The girl with purple hair is called Yuka and is half-Japanese (specifically, her mother is Japanese and her father is ethnic Korean from Japan). I wonder if the management have or had any ambitions of debuting the group in Japan.

Incidentally, there's a new fruit-themed girlgroup called Berry Good. Their debut Love Letter is a cover of a hip-hop-ish rock-ish song by early 2000s boyband Click-B.