Blog Archives - A-STYLE | MEDIA MATTERS

Alice Nine - Affection (PV Review)

5/31/2013

Engrish & Awesome.

So Shou absolutely cannot pronounce the word 'affection' . . . And the 'come on' repeats of the pre-chorus have this strange Deep South twang to them, but honestly it's adorable, so I'm okay with it.

The video itself is nothing special, just another stage-perf PV, but it's well done and I like how it turned out. Cool & cute in all the right ways. They styling's a bit ridiculous, but Alice Nine has never really shown anything like an aptitude for fashion. Hiroto's the only one that actually looks like a rock star.

I LOVE the song, it's very electronic-y for A9 and I like how they're experimenting with it. The melodic Square Waves and the high trill arpeggiation mix well with the instruments and the vocal effects and double-tracked processing is cool (Shou's natural voice singing a higher line is put into two tracks alongside the track with vocal effects and panned severely right and left so you hear it low in the song while the warped voice is front & center). And all of the odd electronic bits are beautifully blended into the growl of the guitars. There's a fabulous undercurrent of energy and build and there's a drop in that energy just before the pre-chorus and between the pre-chorus and the main chorus, so when the pre-chorus hits, and then draws you into the main chorus, the tension is palpable and the release is fantastic. The denial of that release in the bridge builds up the tension even more and makes the following chorus all the better for it!

8/10: Fabulous!

EXO - Wolf (MV Review)

5/30/2013

Hot Hounds, but No Bite.

For Exo, I think it's a well made track, they've been seriously gypped on the musical qualities of their releases, but I definitely agree that the song's construction is a complete mess. There's no real shape to the song. The transitions between sections are pretty well done and the chorus and bridge are nice on their own but they really don't fit into the song. The bridge especially, I think it's honestly quite wonderful. And their vocals are strong and smoothe in all the best ways.

The styling's pretty cool I like the eyes and most of the hair styles, but the clothing is pretty much a standard raid of the SM over-size scraps closet. All that baggy clothing . . . it's all very familiar, I'm pretty sure it's made a few other SM MVs and none of it was made very memorable. In Wolf, it looks pretty good, but it's just there, none of it has any real oomph to it.

I LOVE the choreo, it's powerful and complex. It plays off the concept and it makes good use of all the members, but meh, it's still not very high on my list of releases for summer 2013. And for heavens sake the MV is them dancing around in a room. They really could have pushed the concept further, added some story, maybe taken the leap into the real world... Anything to make it more interesting.

Over all, it's blah and SM is really showing that they're stressed at the seams. SM is a dying company and if they don't shape up soon the Big 4 is going to go back to 3 and SM will be nothing but a memory.

3/10: I've Seen Worse.

Boyfriend - On & On (MV Review)

5/30/2013

Cute & Safe

This is an adorable, but rather bland release. The track is industry par, nothing very interesting. It's just cute coffee shop BGM. The MV's simple and remarkably unexciting. It's just some more BTS-style footage, carefully crafted cuteness designed to look unplanned. I'm sure some of it is actually the members' natural cuteness, but this whole thing reeks of being contrived. And considering the fact that the reason I fell for Boyfriend to begin with was the intensity of their choreography from their very first teaser and then their first single . . . pretty much everything they've released since then has been rather disappointing, but this is particularly dull.

Don't get me wrong, it's a fairly solid release, but it's just the industry standard with zero effort to be more.

3/10: I've Seen Worse.

CL - The Baddest Female (MV Review)

5/30/2013

Unnie Earns Her Stripes

I'm terribly impressed with Miss ChaeRin here, CL has really proved that she can pull off just about anything and look fantastic doing it. She really can do incredible things, conceptually. And since the whole crazy concept / MV setting / and the song itself are CL's creation with only a bit of Teddy's supervision, I have to say I'm proud of her for the whole thing.

However, it feels unpolished. She's a well-trained rookie in regards to producing so that's not unexpected, but it still true. The MV is very western, lots of Nikki Minaj influences here, clearly, and a lot of her Sunbae-GD's influence too. The quirky but clean styling, the posh vibe, the more or less nonsensical scene selection. I'm totally cool with the MV, it really suits the whole hip-hop concept.

The song on the other hand . . . I have reservations for it. The slow verses are not my style but they could work, the pre-chorus build up is actually great, and the drop to the chorus is pretty nice, but the 'Unnie' section at the end of the chorus . . . it falls flat. The bridge is nicely transitioned into but it doesn't seem very necessary and it doesn't have the impact it could have. The second half of the bridge proves that much, that section is really nice. Lyrically it's pretty empty, and they don't make good use of all the various sections.

What I think happened is that CL got so excited about her solo production that she tried to make a dozen songs in one. There's just too many sections, too much to keep track of, too many pieces that don't quite fit together. I've seen it happen to plenty of great musicians, and all of them have managed to improve tremendously the moment they finished their first track and moved on to their second. I think she's got incredible potential. But this is not my favorite track this summer.

7/10: Me Gusta!

2PM - 하.니.뿐. (A.D.T.O.Y.) (MV Review)

5/27/2013

HOT DAMN.

Hard-core Hottest I am not, most of 2PM's stuff just isn't my style, but HOT DAMN I've been watching this over and over (and listening to it on repeat) for almost a month.

The Choreo is just glorious, angsty and hot and yet still strong, powerful, and hyper-masculine. In case you're wondering why the hand thing is so sexy {I've seen the comment going around}, it's called protectionism and in this case it's got a few layers: the hand's placement is that socially naturalized to be the placement of a partner's, typically one asking for sex, they're projecting a girl into their space and the 'you' of the lyrics plus the way they stare straight at the camera leads the audience to project themselves into the empty space that lacks the partner they're imagining. (Isn't psychology fun?)

The MV is simple and oh-so sexy, and very well put together. B&W for classic style, a stage for the idea of persona and acting one way while thinking another, steamy yet still innocent cuts... the transition timing is just fabulous and DAMN do they look GOOD. ^_~ All it's lacking is a fully cinematic story, and honestly I don't think it really needs one.

And the song itself is beautiful; a powerful, energized, lament that's angsty and romantic at the same time. The interplay of styles from the different instrumental features gives it this great, distinctive flavor that gets more and more intense as the song progresses (particularly in the distance between the highest note and the lowest note heard in a given phrase). It's fantastic! Hands-down my favorite 2PM mv!

9.5/10: DIVINE!

Swings - Would You (MV Review)

5/15/2013

Would You? YES.

The artsy simplicity in this is fabulous. The lighting, the angles, it's all kept very low key and engaging. The use of reflections and subtle hints to direct the viewers' eyes are brilliantly done. Swings and Seo InGuk look FANTASTIC in this, snazzy suits are always a good way to go after all. The pair of them are fantastic at knowing just how much to move in their shots to keep it funny and interesting without making the movement distracting from the story or song. NS YoonJi looks fabulous too, but she's definitely overshadowed by the boys. The Story's pretty simple and not terribly deep, but it's definitely easy to relate to.

6/10: Great Job.

C-Clown - Shaking Heart (Music Review)

5/15/2013

Release Date: April, 2013

Top Track: It was Like That Then

Final Score: 6/10

Title Track:

It's good, nice and smooth and full of the classy glamor of Jazzy Lounge music. It moves really well, the balance between sections is good. It really is a solid track. The ostinato . . . everything bothered me. All of the instrumental elements have extraordinarily little variation. It's not just the underlying beat, that continually repeats, it's everything. They make it work pretty well, but still.

I give it a 5/10.

Other:

Hell Yeah is great. It's got a unique flair to it, and I really like it's style. Again, the ostinato elements are a little tiring, but in this they're not overwhelming. It's a great intro and shows off their skills well.
Go Away is another very solid song. This whole release from C-Clown has this great energy like the classic Jazz Lounge has been updated for modern media.The melodic curves of the track are really lovely. The apparently chronic issue C-Clown has with ostinato elements is still there, but only barely. The ending comes up all of a sudden, but it's not too ridiculous.
It Was Like That Then starts off as my easy favorite, with that nice high energy synth. It then settles into this chill semi-acoustic sounding thing that I quite enjoy. ALi's voice fits in nicely too. It just rolls along pleasantly.
So Pretty sounds very nighttime cafe BGM. The piano and the guitar underneath the vocals is quite lovely, there's one part that feels a bit weird (around 2:24) but other than that it evolves beautifully. The ending just appears and drops you, which does bother me, but over all I like it.

I give them a 7/10.

Wonder Boyz - Tarzan (Mv Review)

5/15/2013

Very Cute!

I LOVE how the Tarzan traditions are acknowledged through all the magazines and HyeRi's yellow apron! These boys are pretty under-rated, but they're very well produced even though they aren't CJ's big revenue generators. The CG tree set is the only thing that looks remotely out of place, even the comic book flashes and the appearances on VHS tapes and magazine covers look good. The choreography is powerful and fluid, and it plays into the song. I also love the Tarzan-ape-yell that's made it's way into both the song and the MV. The styling's not very visible, but it's also not offensive or anything so I've got no complaint.

Also, the MV's not just abut Tarzan, it's about anyone who lives outside the normal bounds of Society, or feels like they do, which broadens the meaning significantly. The different things the members appear in that are NOT Tarzan related indicate that much. Sometimes, living outside society means you get the girls (the 007 reference), but he doesn't want 'the girls', he wants HyeRi and for that he has to go out and talk to her like a normal human being, which is scarey but worth it.

My only downsides are the fact that the track itself it kind of dull, the story's a little convoluted, and there's no real spark in it.

I like it. 6/10: Great Job.

Sleeping with Sirens - Low (Music review)

5/13/2013

WOW.

Really, this is absolutely GORGEOUS. This is the sort of song that gives me a little bit of faith back in the American Music Industry. So beautiful; I had to listen to it for a few days before I could stop rocking out long enough to review it. Lyrically, it's not terribly complicated, but it does evolve subtly throughout and it the evolution is greatly meaningful. Beyond that, the vocal harmonic doubling is gorgeous, breathtaking. The Sampling is superb, used for both rhythmic and harmonic purposes. The guitar lines cross with the vocals' overtones with this beautiful echo effect that strengthens both lines perfectly. The guitars' upbeats land perfectly on the drums' downbeats and the baseline pushes a fabulously energetic rhythm (the high tones overlay against it perfectly creating this sense of stretch and distance within the piece itself).
It's absolutely fantastically done, and I adore it.

I am very excited for June and the Album's release!

And as an added bonus, the PV is pretty spectacular too. Simple, clean, & elegant, it moves with the song, gives out every possible bit of information one could reasonably ask for, and it's perfectly timed. I have serious tech-envy for the program that was used to create it!

I give it 9.5/10: DIVINE.

Z.Hera - Peacock (MV Review)

5/13/2013

Cute!

Very solid debut, great track. The story in the MV is a little confusing, but I like it. It's not a drama MV, which I thought it might be from the first 30 seconds, but it's still got enough story in it to be interesting, The styling is a pretty standard look for the naturally cute vibe The balloons are fun, and they actually make sense to be included for once. A house party is a reasonable place for balloons, many MVs aiming for a natural cute look miss that mark completely, so I approve. The choreography's fun, it looks enjoyable and it shows off Z.Hera's skills. The transitions into and out of the rain-scene dance-break-bridge were flawless, beautifully done. And I've got no complaints about the rest of it.

7/10: Me Gusta.