History holds a special place in my heart for having seen them in person last year when I got to watch them warm up to perform Psycho on Music Bank. That release was one I wasn't initially thrilled about, but eventually came around to adoring. This one is similar for a lot of reasons. There's the black & white start-off for one thing, and the tracks' common theme of being obsessed with a particular girl who seems to be spurning the narrator's affections. There's one really important difference however, and that difference makes me squint uncomfortably at this release: Psycho admits that this obsessive characteristic in the narrators displayed desire is really frickin creepy, it acknowledges that this sort of thing can be expected to make people uncomfortable and that it's NOT A GOOD OR HEALTHY RESPONSE TO 'ROMANTIC' FEELINGS. Also, the narrator in Psycho has been locked up in a psych ward where he's forced to project his feelings onto his fellow inmates, meaning that no real portrayals of viable relationships with obsessive abuse are depicted... Might Just Die doesn't acknowledge that the obsession is bad, or wrong, or even very creepy. And worst of all, it uses emotional BLACKMAIL to attempt to bully the girl into staying in the abusive relationship, which basically is the lowest of the low in terms of responses. It's far too common in the real world for me to accept it in the fantasy of music, so unfortunately this release has been taken off the table for any score higher than a 4 at best. ABUSE IS NOT SEXY. ABUSE IS NOT OKAY. THE ABUSER IS NOT SAD OR UNFORTUNATE OR WORTHY OF PITY OR EMPATHY. NOT EVER. And I simply cannot support something that depicts an abuser as the wronged party in an abuse scenario. The way the History members hold the girl against her will, despite obvious attempts to fight them off, is rape or at the very least assault; the way the lyrics discuss 'if you leave me like this I might just die', is not sweet, it's sick, and it's blackmail / extortion; and the way she leaves them is not something SAD to cry over, it's something STRONG to celebrate. JiYeong might have been aiming for sadness and regret and whatnot when he wrote it, but he missed the mark by FAR.

          There are a few other things I have to quibble over. While the track is undeniably catchy, it doesn't really go anywhere over the course of the piece, and there really isn't all that much in it to begin with: 2-3 lines per member, and then 15 repetitions of the main line in the chorus... not much depth there. It does effectively represent the mind-set of a man in the throws of obsession, I'll give it that much, but it doesn't elaborate on anything, which makes the blackmail bit stand front and center... Also the saw-tooth synth-waves add a lot of complexity and interesting aural value in some ways, but the over use of them leads to a roughening of the vocal lines that does History's incredible vocalists very little credit. All in all, while I find myself enjoying the drama and getting the earworm of a track caught in my head... this release is really quite disastrous. And with how much I adore History, I find that fact really rather tragic.

          For the most part, I found the mask thing to be pretty cool, how each member left their mask on until they had a line to sing. Unfortunately that did highlight the imbalance of roles and it forced some members to get dramatically less screen time than others in a way that wasn't really amenable to creating a sense of a successful debut. Also, the lack of names at the unmasking feels like a very tragically missed opportunity to me. Still, I do enjoy the aesthetic and the idea behind it.
           The voices are strong enough to be worth watching carefully in the future, and the track is catchy enough to make their debut rewarding to come across. The MV is very simple, but it doesn't feel cheap or cliche. The camera work, editing, and choreography all suit the track perfectly and feel like they've had an expert's touch involved. The puppetry concept is fantastic and it suits the energetic slide of the song very well. The dubstep break felt a bit unnecessary to me, but I've seen worse versions of something similar, so even though it may impact what playlists I put the track in, it's not a deal breaker for ruining a debut. Overall, it's a solid debut for a group that's worth watching. It's not my favorite, but it's really still filled with an impressive use of limited resources and great potential.

          UNIQ has been having a great year so far and their follow-up to EOEO is just another thing to love! Following the patter of EOEO, it's another dramatic departure from their previous release, swinging their image back towards the suave and sweet idea from their debut. It stands apart from anything else they've done because of it's relax, coffee-shop casual atmosphere and sweetly smooth acoustic elements. What I like most about it is the fact that the track manages to capture the relax coffee-shop acoustic vibe without losing the delightful melodic energy that is quickly becoming UNIQ's trademark sound. The setting and styling is all gorgeous and the video has a great mix of real-time cuteness and slo-mo glamour-shots. Over all, it's an adorable addition to UNIQ's MV list and I love it.

          Right off the bat I have to say that the thing I find most interesting here is that law enforcement is involved, and legal penalties are as well. Neither of those things make it into most music videos, particularly those depicting the stereotypical gangsta bad boy crew. The other interesting point is that they actually have a 'real' weapon. In most MVs the idea of a gun is alluded to through miming motions rather than a prop, and I've seen dramas where even knives are blurred out by the Censors... Those details made this a very interesting release, aside from the fact that it was an anticipated debut.
          Over all it lived up to my expectations. It is my firm belief that ALL debuts should have names attached to the members in the MV, so that was a tick in the right column. The track is catchy and well-produced, with an aggressive slide of energy bridging between the backing track and both the melodic-vocal and rap-vocal sections. The MV mixes generalized adorable tom-foolery in the drama-scenes with aggressive bad-assery in the Choreo, giving the new group a perfectly balanced image right from the get-go. The parkour was pretty sweet, though it was very clearly just to be impressive rather than to actually facilitate an escape. Most of it would have actually slowed a would-be escapee down... it was still pretty cool to watch though. Most of the Styling is gorgeous, there's a few outfits the gave me pause, but they're only on-screen for a few seconds, so it's nothing to be concerned about. The only other thing I have worries about is the fact that their voices aren't terribly strong in this. It could just be how this track frames their voices, but it really feels like their vocals are rather weak over all. They have potential, certainly, and I'll be keeping an eye on them, but the fact stand that I was definitely rather less than impressed with their vocals. I haven't listened to the rest of their release, so I may rescind my statement, but for now...
           The 'Special Cut' version was not my favorite bonus feature. It was very simple and all it really showed off was the fact that none of their cover-alls actually FIT them... But it was a unique extra I suppose.

        With their fantastic So Too Very Much release in February, and their March activities in Japan, I wasn't expecting anything new from these guys for a while yet. I've been pleasantly surprised by their Korean return and the release in question is itself absolutely fantastic. In direct contract to So Too Very Much, the focus of Just Tell Me is one the smoothe melodic vocals rather than on the rap sections. It makes the two releases balance well together. Also practically polar opposite is the styling theme. From the industrial daydream bright of STVM, this release explores the dark and sultry underworld of the hiphop clubbing scene. It makes the two MVs balance out and excuses the fact that this particular style set is being wrung out to flood the market this summer... In the past two weeks alone I count at least 5 boy group releases with the same theme. Any yet, nothing about this release is even remotely ordinary. It's SO epic that I've put most of my review over on the Editorials page. It's a massive post, but I could have easily gone on for another 10 pages. Check out the analysis HERE.
         Seriously, this is one of the best tracks released this year and it's certainly the most impressive thing that MYNAME's ever produced. There are rhythmic elements in this that are analogous to what makes Uptown Funk zing, there are melodic elements that use the same tactics as NyanCat to generate an unbelievably energetic earworm, and it employs harmonic elements comparable to what makes WannaBe the 'catchiest song ever'. It even as RickRolling levels of hilariously and intentionally misleading surface elements. 
         Beyond that, the lyrical story, and the visual exploration of that story, goes above and beyond anything that I would have expected from this release. It's really quite the incredible feat and I'm THRILLED about it.

          BoA is one of the undisputed QUEENS of Kpop, and she's been leading the industry into brave new waters for fifteen years. Kiss My Lips is the title track on her 8th studio album and it is a visual extravaganza! Honestly, BoA has never been responsible for too many of my favorite musical releases, but I admire her as a person far beyond the ability of words to express. Kiss My Lips is not my favorite track of the season, nor is the MV made for it on I consider to be anything terribly spectacular. It is however, still pretty awesome.
         The massive feather fans make the perfect unusual accessory for a fanfare to the Queen. BoA looks absolutely gorgeous in every single shot, the hair and make-up styling is incredible and her outfits are all beautifully dramatic. I'm not a huge fan of the choreography, it just seems a bit choppy and honestly rather awkward.The track itself is pretty fabulous, catchy and smooth and arranged to show off BoA's strong vocals while sustaining a whispery seductive mystique. It's a lovely song and I'm sure that it'll make it into my personal playlist. The MV is an artsy sort of beautiful. It's not really my cup of tea but it's very well done and it plays off BoA's image very well.
          Over all I think it's quite fabulous. It's not my favorite, but I can acknowledge when something is done well even if I don't particularly like it. BoA is an undeniably fantastic artist and SM always does well with her.

          BESTie debuted as my favorite new girl group for their year, and I've enjoyed a lot of their releases since then, but this one is definitely not my favorite. The track is actually hella catchy. The bright brassy notes of the instrumental play well with the sass in the girls' voices. It's well-spatialized and beautifully energized and it moves well over the beat. I really do like it. And I LOVE the styling and the set aesthetics of the music video. It really is quite gorgeous. Which makes the fact that I don't really like the message a bit tragic.
           Admittedly, I usually try not to say that political or social standpoints are 'wrong' per se. I only make a big deal about things if what's perceived as an 'opinion' is actually an attack. The difference being fairly simple: a basic opinion is something like I don't like cats, a politicized opinion is something like I hate people who don't like cats, and an attack is I think it's okay to kick people who don't like cats. Both are technically opinions, but can you see how one's a problem? Things like JYP's recent awful MV are attacks, promoting Rape Culture. Things like this are just opinions, but politicized opinions. The lyrics themselves are saying that the narrator is straightforward in being entirely dismissive of people who like her because of her appearance, and that such shallow attraction isn't worth her time. The lyrics make the statement softer, by explaining that this opinion has come about after a long string of empty relationships where appearance was everything. The lyrics depict a frustrated girl with an unfortunate track record with romance so that now all she sees is the sort of thing she doesn't want.
           The MV is not quite so forgivable. The MV takes the idea of dismissing people for their base-attraction to the narrator and takes it one step further to actively rejecting them. The girls are in search of true love and the glasses they find show them the lecherous fantasies of all the men that they encounter. I find fault with this for two reasons, first of all, the glasses are showing fantasies, internal wants and inappropriate yearnings that DO NOT SURFACE IN THE BOYS' EXTERNAL BEHAVIOR. Punishing someone for their thoughts is bridging into Brave New World or 1984 type dystopian insanity. The second reason I'm not a fan is that it shows literally every male presence as having such fantasies, and absolutely none of the female ones, because obviously all men are pigs and all women are pure and innocent. Yeah, Sexism might still be a thing... just maybe. --_--'
            Women, believe it or not, can like and want sex. And men are not horrible, inhuman creatures with purely lecherous intentions, not even the ones that indulge in daydreaming about putting their hands all over a pretty girl they just met. Fantasy is not something that should be policed. No one is a bad person for wanting sex. It becomes inappropriate if that desire for sex leads to the doling out of unwanted attentions. The ONLY guy that behaves even remotely like that is the blue-suit dude that buys them drinks. That could make someone uncomfortable and could genuinely be considered a breach of personal space. Unfortunately for people who are made uncomfortable by it, buying a drink for the person you're interested in is a basically universal flirting convention... Of course, refusing a drink that someone's bought for you is becoming more acceptable. Every other guy in the MV is just going about their lives, being generally decent people for what limited context we see of them.
             Other than that, I love the choreo, if fabulously fun and playful. I've already mentioned that the styling is gorgeous, but it's just so true that have to bring it up again. The track is incredibly catchy and very well-produced. Additionally, I enjoy that the gay couple is represented just like any other set of guys save for the fact that their fantasies are focused on each other instead of on the girls. My final comment is just a small thing, the menu in the outdoor cafe is selling hot dogs for more than 8 bucks... so either that is a DAMN good hot dog, or that's one hella over-priced processed-meat-product. Maybe it'd be okay if you got a few of them in one order, because even 3 bucks is already pushing it for a wiener in my opinion.
            Back on point: I want to like this release. I REALLY want to like it. But I just vehemently disagree with the main message being conveyed. I'm knocking it back at least two points. It's kind of tragic, honestly. Also, I really want to see a straight choreography video! The choreo looks like a TON of fun, but it's hard to get a good look at the whole of it in the MV and when the only practice video released so far is the Eye Contact Ver (which I don't approve of as a whole... that sort of sexiness fantasy is better left to the MV dance-versions, when I get I practice video, I expect it to be a straight shot of the practice session... that's not BESTie's fault, and they are certainly not alone in having this sort of release, but still...).

          Following up last month's collab with Giriboy, MoonShine is back with Temperature Difference and it is pretty dang adorable. The play on words with the pink and blue lighting for a slide between Hot and Cold is charming and it creates a uniquely bright and playful set aesthetic. The track is hella catchy and very well produced. There's a great funky fresh beat pounding below a delightfully energetic vocal line and entertaining instrumental decorations.
          The choreography is simple to the point of being a bit lacking, but the song itself is simple enough to support the decision to keep complicated choreo out of the MV. The girls are charming and the adorable interactions between everyone on set makes me smile. The track is just plain perfect, a fabulously fun summertime flirty. There's no real intensity to it, but that's the real charm of it. The track is a very casual, delightfully playful sort of thing, the perfect addition to any summer time backyard BBQ party playlist.

          HyunSeung has long been one of my very favorite human beings in show business, dating back to his time as a potential member of Big Bang. His work with BEAST and as a part of Trouble Maker has been fantastic, so I was totally hyped for his Solo. I wasn't disappointed. The track is hella catchy, the music video's styling is gorgeous, the choreo's killer... right up front there's so much awesomeness that I didn't know where to start when dissecting it. So I just watched it again, and then again, just to drink in the colors and the chic style. 
        That's when things began to get a bit iffy. The chorus is catchy, but it's really simple. That's not necessarily a negative, but the simplicity of the chorus allowed me to focus on they lyrics and more importantly on their translation. The first thing that confused me is the fact that 처음이야 translates to 'being first' but not as in 1st Place, instead it means something more like 1st Crush. Which I guess is applicable, based on the overly devoted reaction and the day-dreaming histrionics in the rest of the song, but personally I found the phrasing to lend itself to a different meaning: rather than "you're the first girl I've ever had a crush on" it seems more like the lyrics want to say "you're first among all women, best of the best", but I'm pretty sure the word for that kind of first is 먼저이야... That could just be my inexperience in Korea with either winning things or with being anyone's first, but it still confused me. Again, that could just be me.
          There were a few other things that confused me about the release, this time though it was the MV that was confusing. The order of events is really unclear and I couldn't really tell what was a dream and what was really happening... My final interpretation is that NOTHING actually happened. The suave slick style of the flirty HyunSeung seems to me more of an idealized sort of imaginary play-by-play, something like a shower scenario where you rehearse what you're going to say to the pretty girl that, in reality, you're never actually going to talk to. The psychosis HyunSeung displays in his apartment (the writing on the walls, the erratic behavior, the crazy hair) seems to support that theory. Nothing at all that happens in HyunSeung's apartment is plausibly real, other than the fact that he's going more than a bit crazy. It is possible, I suppose, that it's all real, since the girl appears in his apartment at the end, seemingly wearing the shirt he wore to the club, but its much more likely that none of it's real. The fact that HyunSeung wants her so much makes it more plausible that he doesn't get her.
           The choreo is powerful and impressive. It's not my favorite aesthetic, but it's suitable for the vibe that the sets and styling provide. The fact that it's full of abrupt and jarring movements plays off the confusion in the rest of the MV as well as with the sharp spins in the track. As for the track itself, the beat is energetic and HyunSeung's smooth vocals slide through the mix with an edgy attitude that's as catching as the track. If you can listen to this  as you walk and not strut down the street, I'd be impressed. Giriboy's rap is an addition I didn't initially like (simply because I always love when JunHyung helps out his bandmates) but having seen JunHyung get a LOT of focus in 2014 for being just a bit too omnipresent in Beast's releases and in those of other bands... it was nice to see HyungSeung on his own with a rapper from a different source providing the necessary featured appearance.
            Over all I really do enjoy this release. The chorus does become a bit grating after a dozen listens right in a row, but still, over all, it's a fabulous track. The MV is pretty awesome too, being aesthetically gorgeous and deeply interesting in terms of story lines. Also, HyunSeung was adorable in the BTS reel.

          The thing that this whole concept reminds me of most is Infinite's Last Romeo and their whole Season 2 Album condensed into a single release. In some ways, that's fantastic. There's a beautiful mix of bright, synthy instrumental and piano lines, a fantastic chorus of vocal harmonies, and visuals that flip easily between bright and soft with a twist of aegyo to a dark drama of genuine angst; all of which definitely go on the plus side of things. Unfortunately, drawing on such an incredibly well-developed release by a group that's matured significantly from their debut means that there's inevitably, a sense of hollowed-out immaturity hugging the vocal lines of the members of Romeo. For a debut, this is pretty impressive, but it's not the strongest sound I've ever heard from rookies, which unfortunately reflects a bit poorly on them. These kids have great potential, but they're not power-house singers in the way that it feels like they should be for this concept to be pulled off.
        One thing that really bugs me about the MV is that it's in super-widescreen, so there's two lines of white around the active scenes in frame. The choreo is cute and it's well executed, but with so many glamour shots interrupting the choreo demonstrations... it's hard to tell if it's as frighteningly perfectly-in-sync as Infinite's. There's no real story in the visuals, so that's another tick-mark in the 'could be better column'. I love the track, even though it's not the profoundly impactful track it could be. The Chorus is fabulous and the raps and the bridge punch through with a great sense of intensity. It's well built, the mix and spatialization are lovely, keeping the vocals squarely in focus while the instrumental decorations bounce around without being too distracting. And over all it's a solid debut.