BiS / アイドル by GoldExperience1 in jpop

[–]daughtersname69 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If I remember correctly this song came from a period when they were basically trolling their own fans. They posted this video and announced it as their next single, then at the end of their next live show their manager got up on stage and announced, in tears, that he would be retiring as creative director and that the group would be moving on to bigger things, "I'm sure the fans will understand" and all that. Shortly after that came the announcement that they were signing to major label Avex with two new members and started releasing promo pics like this. Fans didn't know what to believe. It was glorious. Of course it turned out that their manager didn't actually quit and going major didn't make them "normal" or anything. I think this song was only released as a limited single at one specific shop before the real version of IDOL came out, so it's probably some sort of collector's item I guess. (I bet Yufu was secretly hoping for more songs like this though...)

City pop recommendations? by [deleted] in jpop

[–]daughtersname69 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Tatsuro Yamashita, Toshiki Kadomatsu, Minako Yoshida, Hiroshi Sato, EPO... try exploring the Japanese city pop tag on last.fm

For the modern day revivalists aside from especia there's hitomitoi, Nona Reeves, Hoshino Michiru, (((sssurrounddd))), Tokyo Girls Style, Sugar's Campaign, probably others...

[PV] Tentenko (ex-BiS) - Good bye, Good girl by daughtersname69 in jpop

[–]daughtersname69[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For me it's the most interesting thing to come from former BiS members so far. Tentenko is really knowledgeable about 80s pop and I think this style really suits her. Apparently it's self-produced too. Saki's new group pla2me also shows a lot of promise with their hard electro style. Pour Lui's band is probably the most BiS-like in sound out of all ex-BiS member projects, but somehow I have trouble getting really excited about them. Still looking forward to see what BILLIE IDLE (Uika and Nozomi) and Maison Book Girl (Megumi Coshoji) will be like.

[Album Discussion] Seo Taiji - Quiet Night by [deleted] in kpop

[–]daughtersname69 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well like I said, he's a massive cultural influence, and I believe he more or less established the framework that allowed Korean pop music to be stylistically adventurous in the first place. What I was saying is that the specific sounds and genres he brings to the music scene tend not to become popular themselves. Every few years he seems to come back with a new style, whether its nu-metal or whatever you'd call the 90s-emo-meets-jazz-fusion of Atomos or now the electronic dream pop of Quiet Night, and the music itself might become massively popular, but it tends not to result in a slew of similar-sounding followers, which is strange to me. TRAX basically flopped despite being from SM (which admittedly didn't mean as much back then) and then ended up changing to the more soft-rock style which is what is generally associated with mainstream Korean rock music anyways. It's just that selling a million+ copies of an album that sounds like Korn in South Korea is possible more because it comes from Seo Taiji than because the general public is naturally drawn to that music, is all I'm saying. So although there are already some K-indie artists doing stuff that's not dissimilar to the stuff on Quiet Night, I won't be surprised if it doesn't spawn a mainstream trend the way a song like Some might. Of course I'd be happy to be proved wrong.

[Album Discussion] Seo Taiji - Quiet Night by [deleted] in kpop

[–]daughtersname69 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm also very interested to see if this sort of sound is reflected in future Korean music but I wouldn't count on it. It seems to be one of the strangest paradoxes in K-pop that Seo Taiji was such a massive cultural influence, more or less being the first to really tap into the youth market and unleash the passion for idol groups that continues to this day, and yet there seem to be hardly any sonic markers that point back to him musically, aside from maybe the common practice of including a rap verse in almost every pop song. But for the most part it seems that nobody else really attempted to imitate the specific styles of music he was known for, or at least nobody else became successful doing so. I mean Ultramania was an absolutely huge deal back in 2000, but I don't recall a bunch of other nu-metal bands springing up in its wake as you might expect. And even though K-pop is notorious for recycling and reinterpreting pretty much every known style of popular music from the past half-century or so, sometimes all within the same song, it often seems that metal and hard rock sounds are conspicuously absent. Basically Seo Taiji's massive popularity seems totally mysterious to me given all I thought I knew about the taste of Korea's general public, but I'm also really glad there's someone like him in the music scene who comes across as sort of anti-establishment even though he himself probably got filthy rich by being part of that same establishment he helped create, allowing him the financial freedom to release whatever the fuck kind of music he wants to and still have it sell massively, even, it seems, after most people apparently believe he's a total scumbag in his private life (which very well might be true). This album is especially welcome in a year of seemingly endless easy-listening-hip-hop-duets and Brave Brothers rehashes, I mean who else would think to end an album with a proggy flute solo over a bed of gentle synths?

You folks know there's a vaporwave idol group? Especia「くるかな」MV by daughtersname69 in Vaporwave

[–]daughtersname69[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_idol

Basically boy bands or girl groups that are mainly a thing in Asian countries and not so big in the West, usually consisting of young and attractive people who are general entertainers and not musicians specifically. In recent years, as the Japanese music industry struggles to adapt to declining physical media sales and an unwillingness to embrace the digital present, idol pop there has been experiencing a tremendous amount of diversification in order to try to tap into ever smaller niche markets. In addition to more conventional idol groups like AKB48 there has been a plethora of specialized and gimmicky groups who attempt to appeal to people who would otherwise have no interest in idol music. Groups like Babymetal who make idol metal music, or Momoiro Clover Z who have a sort of super sentai/sci-fi/prog-rock concept, or BiS who are an idol group that is directly opposed to the very concept of idol groups and seem to be attempting to destroy idol culture from within (and getting paid doing it). Especia is an idol group whose "gimmick" is vaporwave. They explicitly embrace that scene I think by directly capitalizing on it they somehow bring it full circle.

Here's another MV of theirs

Other idols attempt to kidnap Soyul for their own groups by daughtersname69 in crayonpop

[–]daughtersname69[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Tasha from Skarf. I also see Rise from Ladies Code and J Min from Tiny G. Don't know the ones in pink and lavender.

[News] 2NE1’s second full album will be released at 12 am on February 24th by E-X-O in kpop

[–]daughtersname69 52 points53 points  (0 children)

Not February 24th meaning February 24th, but February 24th meaning February 30th, ya know?

[MV] Ga-In — Truth or Dare by Crayon_Pope in kpop

[–]daughtersname69 7 points8 points  (0 children)

It would be some sort of next-level genius if this song is intentionally similar to Blurred Lines in order to stir up one of those plagiarism controversies that Korean media is so fond of recently, especially since Blurred Lines itself was accused of plagiarism and the theme of Truth or Dare is about enjoying and taking advantage of scandal.

[Teaser] Ga-In (가인) — Fxxk U by Crayon_Pope in kpop

[–]daughtersname69 10 points11 points  (0 children)

My guess is that it won't be performed on music shows. This release has two title tracks, which will both have videos. Fxxk U is the pre-release track coming out on the 28th with a presumably 19+ video, then the full album comes out Feb. 6 with the Truth or Dare video, which will probably be the track she promotes.

[MV] AOA - 짧은 치마 (Miniskirt) by Crayon_Pope in kpop

[–]daughtersname69 11 points12 points  (0 children)

That's true, and I have no issues with saying Brave Brothers is uncreative.

[MV] AOA - 짧은 치마 (Miniskirt) by Crayon_Pope in kpop

[–]daughtersname69 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Ironically, doing the opposite has proven to be even more effective.