K-pop for July

I haven’t written any K-pop reviews in forever.

First: Mina's "Toy Boy." You can't expect much from a song with the chorus "just like a toy boy" performed by a woman who tries hard to show nearly every inch of her skin (it is summer…) but still, it is a song. Therefore the absolutely weak vocals delivered with no power or energy (but a huge amount of electronic help that we can tell is needed), well, I'd just say this is a pass.

MBLAQ, a group always worth watching for the eye-candy and the Rain-ish dance moves, has released "Mona Lisa" earlier this week. It's not a perfect release. I won't be listening to it over and over, but it's not bad, either. It's got a hint of a Latin feel in parts, something that appears in several of MBLAQ's previous releases as well. If only they'd get rid of Thunder's lame rap it'd be a B+ effort. Seungho is still my favorite, but his hair looks like it was fried and then dyed in this video, whereas for the first time GO is starting to look attractive (Jun ALWAYS looks hot, of course and Mir is a cutey, too). And I must admit dance moves where men grab their crotches is so much better than when women do it.

GP Basic is a pretty new group, this release is called "Jelly Pop."  It's nothing special, just regular old electronic Korean dance music without strong singing or interesting lyrics. And for some reason all the members have died hair (orange trying to be blond). And the dance motions are in some cases too sexual for a group with such young members. The one cool part of the video is the clapping section (unfortunately the music takes over the clapping beat, we don't get to see them continue to beat the rhythm themselves).

  

Kim Hyun-joong's "Kiss Kiss"  is the most annoying type of video, the type where they just use footage from the person's "star" life and put the song over it. There are a few things probably shot for the video, but mostly it's crazy fans, stage scenes and Hyun-joong going here and there. Boring. The song is okay but too soft for my tastes. If I watch it again, it's only because he's total eye candy. Still I prefer SS501's faster tracks over this.

  

DBSK/ TVXQ (동방신기) has released their latest song, "Superstar,"  it's a Japanese release (unfortunately), but hot dance moves and catchy. I hope the long version is even better (this is still the short version). Also I find the video very washed-out looking. I want more contrast and more color.

Finally, even though it came out nearly a month ago, 2NE1's latest, "I am the Best."  The song isn't the best, but the visuals in the video are as usual absolutely awesome. And I have been listening to it consistently since it was released. But you know it bothers me that 2NE1 incorporates Korean 삼고무 (3 drum dance) –after—it's already been incorporated by a Western artist, Shakira, on "I Did it Again" (you can really see the drums on this live performance video). Neither Shakira nor 2NE1 did the drummers the favor of using them in a way that the drummers could really show their stuff and contribute to the audio, not just the visual, but… oh well. 

See the Drums on each side of the pyramid?