Small Kpop MV review: B.A.P. - No mercy

     First of all, I'm sorry I didn't make the post about the debut MV's, but I got a job now and I don't really have that much free time as before (you can see I haven't post anything lately), and because of that I won't post about those MV's (I'm really sorry for that).

     But, I did make some time for posting today, because B.A.P. has a new MV called No Mercy:

     I have to say that this song is my new favorite song from B.A.P. I can never have a favorite song for a long time from them because they get better and better, comeback by comeback, and they will never disappoint me in terms of songs, dance and music videos.

     The song is a really cool combination of old school with good beats and some traditional (I heard those Gayageum strings - correct me if I got the name of the instrument wrong, and I guess Himchan had a word to say here ^^). I love the fact that Himchan has more lyrics (yes he is my bias) because I love his deep husky voice (not only his, but in general), and Young Jae and DaeHyun look much better with this new style. From what I read on the internet (I looked up for the english translation), the lyrics are about those singers that don't put their whole heart and soul into their songs and singing, and they are kind of dissing them for that (hence the name of the song). I forgot to mention that the whistle is not forgotten in this song as well.

      I love when the "Don't compare yourself, who is like a parrot, to me" lyric comes, because they do reflect the music industry in the whole world, where most of the songs really sound the same (an example could be romanian songs and even kpop songs that use dubstep for the dance scene instead of being original). Here comes another thing to talk about, B.A.P. not using dubstep again and the part during the dance scene really blends well with the actual song (not like Nu'Est's "Action" - don't get me wrong, I love that even more than Face, but the song for the dance scene really does not match the whole song...like at all) and they are original once again for using traditional instruments (Psy used traditional song - Arirang - in his song for the Summer Olympics).

    All in all, the song is awesome and I really really really hope B.A.P. will stay like this (fierce and pro) forever and ever and ever. And don't forget:

Keep calm and have NO MERCY!!

Sexy back

Small Kpop MV review: Comebacks

     Like I said, and I do keep my promises (or at least I try XD), I'm going to do some kpop MV's review. Because I realized there are to many new music videos, I looked on my Youtube favorites playlist, I decided to part them all in 2 separate posts: one that is all about comebacks and one that is all about debuts. That is why the tittle of this post doesn't have a band or the name of the song in it.

     So...let's start!!

     First on my list will be Big Bang - Monster. I don't know if this is really considered a comeback, but it's not a debut for sure and I do want to talk about it. I think that this music video is really artsy and I absolutely love it. Yes, it true, that some of their "costumes" are a little weird (did you see Taeyang's hair?? o_O), but it matches really well with the concept of the song. I think they are like some kind of experiments-made-on-human, realized against their will, and when they realize what is going on they try to escape out of the building they are captured  in. The lyrics are really heartbreaking (I almost had tears in my eyes when I read the english translation) and I think it matches really well the music video.

     Next, we have f(x) - Electric Shock. Let me be a fan girl for a moment: They are freaking back!!! And they have an amazing song as comeback too. And Amber has more lyrics than usual and she's not just rapping. And Victoria looks so cute with blond hair. (fan girl mode off) Like I said the song is really great. I love how their music videos are always so colorful and that has the effect of expressing happiness (at least to me).

     The third music video I'm going to talk about is M.I.B. - Only hard for me. The boys went through an awful thing when they had their comeback with Celebrate and I'm really sorry for what happened and I'm also really sad they couldn't have the chance to enjoy that song and the promotions of that song as they should have (Kangnam said he didn't listen to Celebrate ever since the death of their stylists). As you here the new song you could feel the sadness inside the lyrics and I believe in a way it was written for the stylists even if it's not 100% related to it (the lyrics from The falling Flower are more related to them - I recommend you listen to that song too). The music video is really simple, expressing loneliness and sadness, and I'm pretty grateful to Tiger JK for having so much trust in these four boys. Why I'm saying this? Because he invests a lot of money in them: they debuted with a full album (not many kpop groups debut with a full album, I do believe they are the first group to do so), that full album was most expensive than any other album from a kpop group and now they filmed the MV in LA or something like that. But the boys do deserve every penny Tiger JK invests in them and they do prove they are worth the money.

     Number four is B1A4 - Baby good night, another fun music video from B1A4. The thing I like the most is that the MV actually tricks you a little bit. The boys have a really cute image and they are having beautiful voices, so you have the impression the song is a sweet song about the love one (I think the teasers helped them too)... but it's the other way around. They are singing about cheating the loved one. =))) I was laughing my ass off when I read the lyrics in english, realizing I was fooled by them. But even so, I like the MV and song a lot.

     Next is Teen Top - To you. I really don't know if they say To you now or Do you know during the song, because I don't understand why you would say something like To you now...when Do you know sounds ok...in english...with the lyrics from the song. Anyway, I love the rhythm of the song (I sense some old school songs in it) and I love the dance too (it seems really fun). I believe that Teen Top should be the #2 band when in comes to dancing (after Infinite) because they are so in sync that you can't see them making any mistake.

     I don't have what to say about Boyfriend - Love Style and Myname - Hello and Good bye. Well, just that I love the songs, and that the Myname members have really really really beautiful voices and that they should sing more ballads and slow rhythm songs.

     Tomorrow I'm going to talk about the debut music videos of VIXX, A-jax, Cross Gene and 4K.

Small Kpop MV review: JJ Project - Bounce

     I know that lately most of my post are about Kpop, but there are so many comebacks and debuts of bands I love that I can't help to write about them. Today I'm going to make a review for JJ Project. JJ Project (because of the last word, it makes me think this is a subgroup of a future to debut band - something like how things were in B.A.P.'s case - or this is made just for the fun and the members will be actually be apart of two separate bands) is a band created by JYP, with two members: JB and JR that we all got to know in Dream High 2.

     They really showed their skills in the drama, JR is like a dance machine and JB has a really cool voice, so I was expecting a great debut from them. And I got it, with a few bad things attached to it.

     The song has a fast rhythm, one that I love, but I have the impression that I'm listening to 4 different songs: a hip-hop song (I think I can hear a little bit of old school hip-hop and it makes me think of Lil Mama's songs), a rock song (even if JB says "rock'n roll" there is no freaking rock'n roll, because it's actually pure rock), a house song (it does not make me remember of the club songs these days but the old house songs - like Basshunter songs) and I guess a pop song (I really can't name JB's part anything else but pop). The things is, because these music genres, the flow of the song changes and you can feel it right way because the difference is so big from one genre to another. Overall, the song is really good, but if I were in JYP's place, I wouldn't have tried to put 4 music genres in 1. Maybe two the most, but definitely not four.

    The fast rhythm makes you want to dance, which is a good thing (you don't want to see me dancing right now). I really enjoy the part where they go "Now everybody bounce bounce let it bounce bounce" and I'm like jumping with them and when the rock part starts I go all headbanging (this song gets the rocker out of me). After listening to the song for a couple times (what couple?? I'm at my 6th listening right now :)) ), I realized it's really catchy. That's a good thing, because catchy songs makes you listen to them more and more.

     Anyway, remember people:

Keep calm and bounce!!!

My favorite song #5: Andrea Bocelli - Vivo per lei

     Today's favorite song is *drum roll*:

     Like I said, I do listen to all kinds of music (well almost all kinds), in any kind of language that can be found on this planet. When I was little I was watching with mom italian movies or dramas (hmm maybe I'll use this as a new topic to talk about) and I fell in love with the language. I heard it's quite an easy one to learn and it sounds really cool. How I came across Andrea Bocelli at a young age, I really don't know, but his songs are one of the best in the entire history of the music industry. Also, Laura Pausini has a beautiful voice too.

     Enjoy listening to this song. ^^

Small Kpop MV review: Big Bang - Blue

"I'm singing my blues"

I'm really not going to get tired of this song, ever!! I really love it. As you all know, Big Bang are having their comeback after all the bad stuff that happened to the band. I'm really happy to see Daesung being OK and smiling like he always did before the car accident, and GD suprresing the marijuana scandal. Like they said on "Healing camp", these bad things made the band even more united than before.

 

 Basically, you can feel the sorrow in the melody, the lyrics and how the music video was filmed. Sure, the song is not exactly about the problems they have been through, but you can feel all the sadness they have felt during that time. The melody is really calming, like the boys are tying to tell us, their fans, that they are ok and that we should not be afraid of them falling apart and that the band won't disband anytime soon.

The lyrics are really cool. From the beginning they are talking about the winter that passed (well, more like it's about to pass) and that spring comes ("The winter had passed and the spring has come"), meaning they did manage to move on, even if their hearts are still bruised ("And our hearts are bruised from longing"). If you think about it, during the winter most of the animals are either hibernating or have left to warm countries, the plants look like lifeless, but then spring comes and everything comes back to life. This is what happened to Big Bang. They went through hard times, they meditate about what happened, and now they are coming back, full of life.

If you look on the internet, you will see that "Blues" means, among others, "A feeling of sadness or depression" and "One's particular life experience, particularly including the hardships one has faced". So, from the start this song is meant to talk about hardships. In other words, for someone who just started to listen to Big Bang, this song will be just another song about the loss of the loved one, but for the fans, this has a total different meaning.

All in all, even if it's a sad song, I'm glad they choosed this as the first song to be promoted, and I can't wait for the other songs to be released.

Small Kpop MV review: MBLAQ - It's war

This time I'll talk about a kpop band, because today they released a new music video that tops all it's previous music videos.

Even though my number one kpop band will always be Super Junior, I can't help and love other bands too. Super Junior were already pretty famous when I came across their songs. But MBLAQ was just at their biginning. So I saw them growing as a band, as individuals, I saw their talent coming more to the surface. I didn't see a band that was great already, like Super Junior, but I saw them becoming a great band.

As I was saying, today they released a new music video, and a new min album.

I have to say I was really impressed with this song. Like I said, they are growing more and more. Every song is better than the previous song, that was great too. This is now my favourite song from MBLAQ. The rhythm is so different than Mona Lisa, a song that sounded a lot like song from Romania, like club songs. Don't get me wrong, despite all that I still loved that song. "It's war" has a rhythm that really expresses anger and sadness, feelings you would feel during a war. Now, I know the song and the music video doesn't actually refers to an actual war, between countries, but a war someone, in this case Lee Joon, feels inside. Yes, and internal war between his feeling for the girl and the feelings for his friend, Cheondoong, and anger towards the fact that he has to choose.

I may be wrong, I don't know what the lyrics mean right now, but this is what the music video makes me think of. Lee Joon is put in a situation where he has to choose between hurting his friend by taking the girl Cheondoong loves, to run away from the one that sent him to kill the girl, and helping them escape together, to live a better life. Oh, and I think that Lee Joon has feelings for the girl too. ^^

I know it may be a little bit complicated, but the idea is really beautiful. I'm sure most of you already recognize the idea of the bullet going where the one that shoot it wants to go. Yes, it's from "Wanted", a movie with Angelina Jolie (great movie by the way).

I'm sad Lee Joon has to die in this video, him being my favourite member of MBLAQ, but his acting skills are getting better and better. Cheondoong did a great thing too. All in all, this music video is a succes, and I hope that they will win at least once during their promotions of this mini album, because they deserve it.

Let's talk about: Music. Can you live without it?

I really want you to think about the question in the title of this blog and answer it sincerely. Do you think you can live without music? Because I know for sure that I can not live like that.

I'm one of those persons that has music in their blood. My dad was a really big fan of music, like myself, and mom loved to dance when she was younger, so I'm serious when I say that music runs through my veins. Music can change you life. If you are sad, you can listen to sad songs and find yourself in them, thinking that you are not the only one going through hell (that's how I feel when I am sad), and that actually encourages you to do something about it and stop being sad. Or you can listen to happy songs, to make you lively and to give you a better feeling.

Like I said, music is something I inherited, mostly from dad. He was my idol in live, and he still is even if he died. Besides looking like him a lot, I am like a younger female version of him. What he liked, what he didn't like, his way of thinking, things that got him mad, all those things and many more are the same for me.

So this is where music comes in. He was a huge fan of rock music, and thanks to him, I, myself, am one. I love old rock, this is how my love for rock music began, like Queen, The Scorpions, Pink Floyd, AC/DC, Metallica etc. Those are practically my top favorites.  I love "Radio Gaga", "We are the champions", "The wind of change", "Highway to hell" a lot, even today.

During my 9th grade (that's first year of high school in Romania), I remembered of something from my younger days and that's anime (japanese cartoons). This opened a gate for me towards Japan, with all that is has: culture, literature, buildings, anime, manga (japanese comic books), music. The music I am going to talk about. One of the most beautiful and cool and so different music comes from Japan, and it materializes in what it's called J-rock. I could write a freaking essay about this music. I don't actually know the language, but I realized it sounds so good that it doesn't even matter that I don't know what the lyrics say. The lyrics and the actual music blend together so perfectly that you become addicted to it. I myself, became addicted to it.

 

Then, I came across screamo. I really don't know why I enjoy it that much, it's just that it sounds good. I do sings-along this type of songs but I don't scream like them. It doesn't sound to good coming from me, and I really don't want to hurt my lungs. ^^ Here, there are a large number of bands I can name, so I will not be doing that. All I can do is recommend you a song that I love a lot.

Now lets move on to the next music genre: pop/dance music. I know I know, how can someone that loves rock music can love pop too? Hell if I know, but I already came to the conclusion that I am an abnormality of the world, so I guess that answers your question (it's the magic word ^^). That, and maybe the fact that my parents loved different types of music. Again, I can give you a really long list of names, so I won't bore you with it.

A few paragraphs above I mentioned about J-rock, one of the most beautiful and cool and so different music genre ever. Then, the second one is K-pop (South Korean Pop). This is something I discovered in 2010, and I'm addicted to it since then. I really can't stop listening to it. It's something really different from the pop songs from my country and USA, that is really catchy, and that it's not just Pop. K-pop is dance, electropop, hip hop, rock and R&B. There are so many people all over the world that enjoy this kind of music, and I am proud to be one of them.

Of course, these are the main music genres that I love. But I also love classical music, orchestra, traditional japanese and korean music. I even came across some mongolian traditional music that I enjoyed a lot.

So this is my story, my life with music. If music is banned, I will die for sure.

Now tell me, what is your favorite music genre? ^^