MUSIC MONTH IN REVIEW (DISCUSSION POST): JANUARY 2023: omonatheydidnt

adenar in omonatheydidnt

MUSIC MONTH IN REVIEW (DISCUSSION POST): JANUARY 2023

Mar 20, 2023 15:20

Hey omona! New year new me, I'm back! Let's turn over a new leaf and skip ahead to January.
Wow! I really thought January was kind of a quiet start to the year, but looking back, so much happened, and a lot of it outside the releases themselves.
Let's review!

May Review | June Review | July Review | August Review

[new music top ten]

VIVIZ COME BACK WITH 'PULL UP' MV by juhli with 64 comments
GOT THE BEAT START THE NEW YEAR WITH "STAMP ON IT" and GOT THE BEAT - 'STAMP ON IT' M/V + MINI ALBUM LISTENING POST by goshipgurl and adenar wih 47 comments collectively
TWICE: THE 2ND ENGLISH RELEASE 🌃🌆 “MOONLIGHT SUNRISE” MV by dior_chic with 45 comments
NEWJEANS 👖: “OMG” MV + SINGLE ALBUM “OMG” PULLS IN 800K PREORDERS by dior_chic with 38 comments
NCT 127 - AY-YO MV by juhli with 35 comments
SF9 'PUZZLE' MV by broadcities with 31 comments
TAEYANG: “VIBE” FT. JIMIN (BTS) MV by dior_chic with 26 comments
XG: “SHOOTING STAR” MV & “LEFT RIGHT” AUDIO by dior_chic with 11 comments
4 WAY TIE! MONSTA X - 'BEAUTIFUL LIAR' M/V + 'REASON' ALBUM LISTENING POST by adenar, YENA: “LOVE WAR” FT. BE’O MV by dior_chic, NEW AI GROUP, MAVE DEBUTS WITH "PANDORA" by waves_of_light, and TXT - SUGAR RUSH RIDE MV (AND ALBUM LISTENING POST) by pikapika217, with 10 comments each

GOT the beat + January + overridingly negative reviews, name a better OT3. 5 of these artists only debuted in 2022, and two of them (GOT the beat and Yena) did so exactly a year ago!
[monthly music news overview]

link to spreadsheet

i accidentally left the yellow highlights in for the tracks i was marking for the top ten! i hope that doesn't make it unreadable

[second chance songs]

Click to view

ILY:1 got a small amount of attention when they released 'Twinkle Twinkle', but I think it's worth a revisit a couple months later. The sextet debuted in April last year and has two GP999 contestants and a Niziu Project contestant in their lineup. 'Twinkle Twinkle' has the same blueprint as Oh My Girl's 'Secret Garden' and 'SSFWL', or Lovelyz' 'Destiny' or 'Hi', and people have also drawn comparisons between them and WJSN. If you want to get your elegant but girlish fix, this is the song for you.

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'chrOme hearts' is a pre-release track from 'seOul cOllectiOn', which would go on to be released on March 3rd. 'chrOme hearts' itself is a fairly disjointed track, but it doesn't overload you with the mix-and-match feel right from the off; you're first treated to sections that are smooth and sexy, with the chorus hitting antidrop territory, and then as the song goes on and introduces more from the rappers, it slowly mixes and combines things. Some people on omona liked it, some people didn't. It's worth a re-listen, I think.

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xooos grew her audience on youtube through covers, and has finally started releasing original music. Naked is a cheeky English-language track that wouldn't be out of place on an Alessia Cara album, but has a slightly more sophisticated, light-hearted feel to it. She also doesn't look half as AI-generated in the M/V as she does in the screencap, I promise.

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ONEWE is definitely a wildcard as far as English-language releases go, but on 28th January they dropped a full 11-track album of English language tracks. 'Gravity', the lead single, is a slick offering with some interesing and unusual trap references sprinkled here and there, that grows in grooviness in such a way that it will make you want to move before the end. Onewe definitely don't get shown enough love around these parts and this is a fun track to start with.

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Sumin never misses. 'Best Friend' sits in the moodier place where hip hop and r&b meet, and for once it feels like the arbitrary male rapper feature (Woo Wonjae) actually contributes something to the track, especially when his and Sumin's lower registers combine. The slightly dreamlike harmonies in the instrumental really elevate this track to the next level.

[songs omona missed]

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Released on the second, 'The Beauty Of Acceptance' is a driving, atmospheric track that builds into a wonderful synth-led symphony towards the end, verging on the anthemic. Now all in their 40's, Nell is one of the industry stalwarts, and their tracks are still something special.

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prettylittleiris, also known as Iris Hwang, is a Canadian transplant. She initially debuted under Astory Entertainment after the agency decided she wasn't right to debut in a girl group (which, good for her - Favorite have essentially faded into obscurity). She left in 2020, has contributed to songwriting on tracks such as 'Giddy Up' by Majors and 'Imagine Love' by Miyeon, and has a consistent gig hosting SoundK with Ashley Choi of Ladies' Code. 'Madly Into You' is a sweet track, laid back but not lazy, and her vocals are girlish but not shrill.

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'Heart Emoji' is going to time-travel you straight back to pop rock/emo music of the 00's, and I mean that with every affectionate bone in my body. That's it, that's the best way I can sum up this track. I've never heard of Dive before (born 1994, real name Shin Hojung), and BIGONE is ex-24K Daeil.

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If I remember right, this track was produced for/in a TV show starring the singers. It's great to see Eunice again, and Cheetah (she of the most-iconic-pixie-cut-in-Korea) never fails to deliver on the rap. The M/V stars a random collection of celebrities, including Sandara Park, Thunder, JeA, Ra.D and Hyerim. It's a fun song about being done with the monotony of life and wanting to achieve happiness.

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AIMERS (Hyper Rhythm Ent, ages 24-19) only debuted in November, so this is a 'special digital single', but it doesn't seem like a throwaway track put out to keep the fans happy. It's a genuinely lovely, uplifting but still somewhat energetic song, with a cute self-film-style music video released on January 27th.

So, omona, let's discuss!
What are you still listening to?
What grew on you?
What fell out of favour quickly?
Did you miss any releases that you would have been looking forward to?
Who surprised you and who let you down?
Is there anything omona missed that you'd recommend?
Did you find that the reaction to releases in other kpop communities was different to omona's?

source: me & google sheets, ILY:1, OnlyOneOf official, xooos, ONEWE, SUMIN, OFFICIAL_NELL, Warner Music Korea, 12ENT, AIMERS

!monthly music recap, dia, onew, nugu, r&b, onlyoneof, 24k, nell, hip hop, cheetah