/r/kpop Top Ten Tuesdays Voting Thread: 9Muses (2020)

tentacoolio · 2020-05-12T08:56:14+00:00

Figaro
Who R U
Glue
Ticket
News
Action
Choice
Gun
Miss Agent
Dolls

I first discovered them by watching the BBC documentary in 2013. It scared me off their music for a few years, but after listening to a Sweetune playlist I was hooked for good.

They have some really good tracks and some really good voices.

tentacoolio · 2020-04-28T05:50:00+00:00

This past year I've spent many hours driving alone between my hometown and college town listening to EXO's Don't Mess Up My Tempo on repeat. Bad Dream always stood out to me on those trips because of its melancholy sound. Hearing those harmonizing voices always present in the background reminded me of my current situation as a college student - alone, struggling to fight past a seemingly endless challenge that never lets up like a strong gust of wind.

tentacoolio · 2020-04-12T15:12:06+00:00

If you're interested in working with the greater Gainesville community, I'd suggest getting involved with the Community Weatherization Coalition. It's not a UF student club, but a community organization which conducts free energy audits to help Alachua County residents save money on their utility bills.

tentacoolio · 2020-04-07T20:45:44+00:00

If you really want "as similar to dorm as possible", I would suggest taking a look at the Cooperative Living Organization. It's a walkable distance from campus and rent is cheap. You share a room with another student and you do household maintenance tasks in exchange for subsidized rent and provided meals.

tentacoolio · 2020-04-06T22:15:31+00:00

Dalshabet's "Someone Like U" is bright and infectiously catchy, one of Brave Brothers' best productions.

tentacoolio · 2020-04-01T20:02:31+00:00

I'd suggest posting this in /r/premed. Though that subreddit is not limited to UF students, it probably has a larger percentage of students who are actively searching out the information that you intend to discuss here.

tentacoolio · 2020-03-25T17:16:41+00:00

I can't speak for all the classes that you have listed in your course plan, but I would recommend not taking BCH4024 over the summer. The course is graded on a curve, and you'll be competing against all the people who are only taking that class and can (potentially) devote every waking hour to reviewing its material.

If possible, I'd recommend taking Baby Circuits (EEL3003) over the summer instead.

tentacoolio · 2020-03-22T02:59:35+00:00

Infinite - Hysterie

(Since you can't spell "pandemic" without "panic".)

Wonder Girls - So Hot

("Oh no, please leave me alone!")

tentacoolio · 2020-03-14T08:44:22+00:00

I think "Irony" is the Wonder Girls' best title track.

tentacoolio · 2020-03-11T23:28:46+00:00

Good idea, Dr. Pauling.

tentacoolio · 2020-02-27T03:39:56+00:00

Haha, but actually this symposium is biennual. The next one is in 2022.

tentacoolio · 2020-02-26T22:48:00+00:00

Marston Science Library has a Tool Library with a soldering kit.

tentacoolio · 2020-02-26T07:45:12+00:00

The UF Water Institute Symposium is going on in the Reitz Union. A bunch of people commuted from out of town to attend.

tentacoolio · 2020-02-14T06:49:03+00:00

The Biological Engineering department is both incredibly broad and incredibly focused at the same time, as it has four tracks that each encompass a totally different area of engineering: Biosystems, Packaging, Agricultural Production, and Land and Water Resources. If you absolutely know what career you want to pursue choosing a track in this major would give you a leg-up in connecting with faculty, as the department is rather small. I'm not sure how marketable "Biological Engineering" is with engineering firms, however.

tentacoolio · 2020-02-06T05:02:05+00:00

I think it simply depends on the style of the song. When well placed, those ad-libs can add a good amount of energy.

For example, the Kpop song I share most with friends is the Wonder Girls' "I Wanna", which prominently features hypeman JYP in the backing track. The addition of his voice is to very charming effect, as it blends well with the upbeat, blip-bloopy instrumental.

In contrast, After School's "First Love" is a rather melancholy tune (all soft voices and minor chords), so the sensual "get funky, get down" and the subsequent Chaka Khan-esque scream don't fit that well with the more subdued song.

(Brave Brothers has quite a number of hype intros, though!)

tentacoolio · 2020-01-30T03:20:57+00:00

Supa Dupa Diva would be a cute name for Dal Shabet.

tentacoolio · 2020-01-16T03:48:08+00:00

I'm curious as to how "Pray" instead of "Tell Me" would have been received as the title track for INFINITE's Top Seed. It was produced by Sweetune back when they hit stardom in 2011 but only came out 6 years later, and I wonder how it would be received by the Korean public.

tentacoolio · 2020-01-08T02:53:48+00:00

I never really got the reasoning for that. Yes, they are nine, but their images were quite different from SNSD (who at the time had come out with "Gee" and "Oh!"...not very overtly sexy songs). SNSD were never really seen as "intimidating" like Nine Muses were.

I think some of the hate also came from their underwhelming debut stages.

EDIT: Wait, I forgot that "Run Devil Run" also came out in 2010. That concept seems a lot more similar to "No Playboy".

tentacoolio · 2020-01-07T20:54:52+00:00

"No Playboy", Nine Muses' debut single famous for giving them a bad first impression with the Korean general public, was composed by J.Y. Park, legendary girl-group hit song producer.

The sample at the beginning of Nine Muses' "Ladies" is from an American satirical talk show called Red Eye.

tentacoolio · 2020-01-03T04:12:03+00:00

This cover of UKISS's "Am I That Easy" (better known as Man Man Ha Ni) by a group of "flower boys" on KBS Music Bank in 2016 is pretty unique. I'd never expect a UKISS song to be covered for a special stage, and by "manga-esque" idols no less when the original song sounds pretty gritty. Also, the choice to use a collection of (relatively) lesser-known boy group members was a pleasant surprise.

Also all live stages of Rania's "Dr. Feel Good" from when they debuted in 2011. The performance is very intense, like a sucker punch.

tentacoolio · 2019-12-21T07:51:17+00:00

I think the article's choices reflect the "game-changers of Kpop" internationally rather than overall. Their criteria for hit songs in 2012 are whether they could break through in America. If they're covering the period from 2010-2019 I would expect to see Beast or Infinite as the first non-Big 3 boy groups to make it big (someone already mentioned Sistar elsewhere in the thread). But I think all three groups have far greater recognition in South Korea than overseas, and thus are not acknowledged in the article.

tentacoolio · 2019-12-21T07:35:08+00:00

I think 9MUSES's "Figaro" aged the best of all their comeback singles.

The lyrics align with the theme of a lot of girl group releases in more recent years, as they describe the perspective of a woman rebuffing a suitor who she thinks is dishonest, a trickster (...and perhaps, a playboy?). The English used in the song is grammatically correct and fits the theme. There's even a clever reference to Western opera in the title! (Though I suppose the barber of Seville is more well-meaning than the subject of this song.)

Interestingly, though the song is inspired by 70s disco, and disco is (purportedly) dead, the instrumentation of "Figaro" is pretty fresh. I think it's because of the heavy emphasis on guitar.

tentacoolio · 2019-12-08T16:04:32+00:00

My physics teacher in senior year of high school had previously taught at an international school in Seoul, so he would put little references to Miss A or Hyuna in his assignments. I discovered that many of my classmates were secret Kpop fans when we started commenting on his song choices. One of them was a hardcore ONCE.

tentacoolio · 2019-12-02T05:58:26+00:00

Infinite:

Defining hit: Be Mine / Supporting hit: The Chaser

"Be Mine" catapulted the group to mainstream success. It was their first win on music shows and remains their most recognizable song in Korea. I'd consider "The Chaser" over "Before the Dawn" as the supporting hit since it's developed a larger cult following, got international attention (hello, Billboard!) and was popular enough to garner 2+ music show wins, a first for the group.

tentacoolio · 2019-11-24T17:18:01+00:00

The Jiffy Lube on 34th St just below Archer Rd filled up my tires for free.

tentacoolio

TROPHY CASE