I LOVE the camera tricks that result from the bifurcated set. The two utterly independent halves of the room were really well utilized for both the cuteness of separation and the hilarity of tricking the audience. The bright colors are all fun and the morph-suits are fabulous. I like how the invisible people are nearly as much a part of the MVs events as the visible ones are. You could go into a philosophical argument about how it means that the people in the background of a relationship, the flower shop guy or the waiter at a restaurant, have a huge impact on the success of building a relationship, but are almost never noticed or remembered for it . . . but honestly I don't think they're really meant to mean anything so deep. They're just meant to be fun and interesting, which they very much are.
        The styling is simple and clean and everyone looks fabulous. I wouldn't say I'd buy any of the fashion for myself or hypothetical boyfriend, but everyone in the video pulls their looks off perfectly.
        Song-wise, it's super cute. Honestly, the melodic range and that opening synth makes me think of Christmas songs, which I know this is not (seeing as it's not even Halloween yet . . .), but still it makes for a good "it's getting colder" sort of general Winter is Coming track. I like it. The parts are balanced, the voices all work beautifully together, the higher register makes the whole track light and airy while the beat grounds it and pushes it forward. The girls of OKDAL are adorable and their strong and very femme voices mesh well with VIXX, so all in all I really like this one, even though nothing really happens at all in it.

        I don't know, T-ara's managed to pull through some ridiculous scrapes over the past two years; all the bullying scandals and member shifts and public relations nightmares... Not to mention the fact that their main promotional strategy seems to be "release fifty-billion different versions" of the same song . . . Unfortunately, Number 9 seems to be following the same business plan. Admittedly, as much as it peeves me to have 15 versions of something, the marketing has apparently been successful, allowing T-ara to weather their recent storms of Netizen disapproval.
        Anyway, the song they've chosen to promote this time is more of their ultra-catchy techno-pop, in the same vein of "disappointing coulda-been-great" as LoveyDovey, RolyPoly, and Sexy Love, with rather nonsensical lyrics and a seeming deeper meaning to be teased out with lots of patience. They've given it their typical first-release video as well, a video with a generally uninteresting execution of a spectacular premise. The video's production quality is very high and all the girls are GORGEOUS as always. The sets and styling and glam and glorious and I love so many aspects of it that it's tragic to not adore the whole thing.
        Song-wise, it's been getting tons of praise and I'm just not seeing where that praise is coming from. Yes, it's catchy. Yes, from a technical standpoint, T-ara has managed to merge the emotional swoop of a ballad's tune into a catchy dance track and that's cool. Yes, the transitions between sections are fluid and beautifully produced. None of that makes it a really good song, though. None of that means that the track has the emotional power of a good ballad, it just has the melodic swoop of one. Really, I love the song, hot dang is it catchy and well produced, but it's just not very powerful. The harmonies are flat, more like a support track than a fill, and the lack of independence from the main melody of any melodic line leads it to feel like a group of girls singing along to a pop song rather than an original song itself. The only points at which a solo voice is raised above the hum of the chorus are the beginning with the guitar and humming and the "I'm addict" lines. The opening is lovely, but the addict bit break the flow of the song, sound jarringly out of place, and do nothing for the song but lead into the raps. The whole song has bits that could have been great and then were just dropped into a safe zone. Altogether, it's really just meh.
        The video is absolutely gorgeous. The production, the styling, the sets and scenery, the choreography . . . all of it's beautiful. However, it's being praised as an almost minimalist creation, people are saying the "simple set highlights how good T-ara is at performing" and that it "gets rid of the crazy flash and bang" of some other concepts. I'm all for giving praise where praise is due, T-ara is fantastic at performing, but there is nothing simple about their sets, nor is there any lack of flash and bang. In fact, one of my biggest criticisms is that it's literally so flashy the choreography is hard to see at times.
        Not to offend any QUEENs out there, but I really just don't get why T-ara's so popular. They have potential to be incredible, so maybe that's it, but there's only been glimpses of that potential released for public consumption so it can't be the real driving force behind their success. This album has a few great songs on it, but their promotional track is just blah. Still, it's a beautiful MV to watch.

        I didn't really have high hopes for this one, honestly. Something about it being SHINee's fifth major MV of the year just didn't seem like something SM would be willing to put effort into. In many ways, that idea is painfully accurate with the resulting MV, more of the dancing-in-weird-rooms thing, with obvious visual ties to Dream Girl and a few vague connections to the other MVs of 2013 tucked in there. Everybody's doubly familiar to SHAWOLS on a certain level as it was directed by the same guy who gave us Lucifer, which possibly explains why I like it so much.
        A lot of people have been reactin negatively to the dark-fantasy elements of the opening. I agree with a lot of the comments that it's unnecessary, that it's just SM trying once again to be 'artsy', and that it sets up the MV to be something much more epic than what it is. But at the same time, it sets an interesting tone for the MV that colors how the rest of it is viewed. I would have liked it better if they expanded the imagery, if they had really incorporated it into the body of the video, given the boys a bit of a storyline to work with, but still. I like it.
        Otherwise, I really like the MV. The styling is FLAWLESS. I LOVE the faux-military looks, first of all because I'm a sucker for a man in uniform, and because the dystopian edginess of it all ties together fabulously. The sharp pseudo-uniforms and the vaguely military paraphernalia gives the whole MV a look of dark drama with oppressive overtones. An they just look awesome. I love Taemin's secondary look too, the big fuzzy coat over straight up skin; I was meh on it in the teasers, but damn he looks good. Onew's hat is a little odd, and the leopard print scarf, but hey, and I've thoroughly decided that I greatly enjoy him as a blonde. JongHyun's whole psychotic professor thing is fantastic. Minho& Key's secondary looks are both meh for me; Minho looks great in his leopard print suit jacket, but I don't really think it's because the jacket is very cool. On a related note, I would like to raise a toast to whoever decided on Key's hair this time around. Pretty much in every release since RingDingDong, his hairstyle has been the outlier, cool in it's way, but not quite in line with the other four's looks. This time it's perfectly in place.
        The choreography is fantastic. They way they use each other as counterbalances and the lift for the slow-mo moon-walk-ish thing . . . fabulous. As a whole I like it almost as much as I like Lucifer's choreo, though even with the parts I can copy for fun as I walk to class, there's nothing in Everybody that's quite as iconic as the whole finger-pointing-Ls sort of thing. The Choreo in Everbody is much more integrated though, definitely better made; on a technical level, it's incredibly impressive as a part-for-whole thing, using the members not as individuals but as a part of a larger visual whole, which plays in well to the dystopian ideas of the MV (and even in the lyrics).
        Song-wise, I think it's my favorite release of SHINee's 2013 spread. It's easily high on my list of favorite songs that they've ever released. I wasn't sold on it for a while. It didn't feel awkward at all to me, the slides between melodic line and dubstep were flawless, incredibly smoothe to the point that I seriously wanted to question what wicked magic managed it (and whose soul did SM sell for it). I described it to a friend as distinctly 'not awkward, but odd' . . . She agreed. F(x) had been SM's test run for serious dubstep inclined tracks and they'd done really well with it, but having it come from SHINee, especially when considering the sort of genre most of their other releases this year have stuck to . . . I wasn't sold on it right away. But when they started their lives for it? Questions answered, problems solved, all things go for falling in hopelessly love with it.

        This whole release is very slick. The song is classy and smoothe, Kahi is styling and sexy and everything fabulous about everything. The suits and T-shirts thing is fantastic and she pulls it off in such a way that it looks classy and sassy in all the best ways; I'm digging the just-more-than-shoulder-length dirty blonde look, too.The Choreo makes her look even more fabulous than she usually does, strong and sexy and so perfectly Femme without giving an inch; especially with her heels on, she looks downright dangerous. I love it, and how it plays with the lyrics. The video's editing is cool too, especially her solo dances in direct comparison to her set-&-dancers cuts. The track is catchy as hell, it's well balanced and structured. On the technical side of things it's pretty plain, but it still rolls with this delightfully cool-toned smoothe vibe that lingers in your head well after the song finishes. The rap features in perfectly, pulling the register down and warming the whole song up, so that even with the synths' icy sine waves and Kahi's cool-tone vocals the track is warm and well rounded as a complete unit.

        IU is a fantastic artist, there is zero doubt of that. This is a great release for her, because it expands her image into the sexier side of things while still flitting about in a way that doesn't shatter the "Nation's Little Sister" image. All of the allusions tothe Red Shoes story are lovely. And the song is seriously catchy, especially the little post-chorus sections and all the vamps. The storytelling it is absolutely beautiful, and has already been dissected by multiple sources, my personal favorite of which is HERE.
        The MV starts off a little slowly, and the chords in the beginning are strikingly typical of IU. Actually ever since the song that really made her famous, the 2011 release Good Day, almost all of her songs have started with a slow intro to a story and some slow chords with a brassy tinge. Still this release is in a rather unique genre and it plays really well with her voice. Unfortunately the song doesn't display her maturing vocals in the same way it displays her maturing image. There are a few moments where her voice really sings but not many. For the most part it's an airy cuteness of a vocal track and honestly I like the credits' instrumental version better than I like the vocal version. It just feels a bit cluttered to me with her voice so airy, when she could be singing strongly enough to create her own warm fill, like take it down an octave and then throw in some really high sweeps or something to give the track as a whole more balance. There's an awful lot going on in that high register.
        I still think it's a fantastic release and I love that we get a full credits for the video.

        That Block B has made a comeback at all is spectacular (as explained HERE), but what they've come back with isn't something that needs to be bolstered by any extenuating circumstances to be considered awesome. It's a radical sound for Kpop, certainly, and it's opened new doors for the industry.
        Very Good has been facing criticisms of not being 'Korean' enough due to this brand-new-sound idea, but honestly, there are some very Kpop roots to this sort of song. A lot of (SS501) Kim HyunJoong's solo work from 2011 has similar instrumentation elements, in particular Do You Like That and Lucky Guy. (TVXQ) Kim JaeJoong's also done a few rock-style releases; so the sound really isn't entirely new. Nor is Very Good the first of this sound to be to be successful. Rather than not sounding very Korean, mostly I think it doesn't sound like past Korean music. It still very distinctly Korean, with a very unique song structure that fits Korean construction patterns (mainly in how the rap lines and melodic lines are woven together). The structure here looks like a washboard zig-zag that's set up in something like an M with a little tail, there's two main drops (in the MV @ ~2:00, & after the bridge @ 3:20), and each verse (singing) & subverse (rap & melodic rap) sections have their own tension levels, and internal tension transition. All the rises and falls of tension add to the melodic fluidity and the balance of the parts, both between people and between elements, means that the listener's attention is continually engaged and the song feels much shorter than it is. One of the best compliments to a musical composition anyone can give is that it was too short, at least that the listener wanted more & therefore is forced to immediately hit repeat (there is a limit to this however, obviously, if the song isn't a complete work, if it's so short it feels unfinished, and someone calls that out, it's not really a compliment). I'm not a huge fan of Kyung's high note there, though, I'm really hoping that the waiver in it is just the filter they put on it rather than vocal strain, because that cannot be good for his voice. I'm all for hitting the impressive notes and all, but I'd rather not have him get hurt for it.
        The video part of this music video clearly has ties to the Dark Knight. I was glad to see that they didn't just follow that line however, there were some nice twists in it. And I love Zico in some of the scenes (the blue-hair ones in particular), he has managed to condense the entirety of Big Bang's Fantastic Baby into a single fantastically ridiculous outfit. Aside from that section, my next favorite part starts at 2:20; the mask of epicness, the dog and the running away, U-Kwon's face is just priceless and the whole thing is hilarious. Other than that, I wasn't too keen on the MV really. It's visually spectacular and certainly funny, but I just wasn't drawn into it as much as I've been for past Block B releases.

        I really didn't like this when it came out, but in the time I've been delayed in posting about it, it's really grown  on me. It's really quite catchy the the choreography is fun on a number of levels. The styling's not my favorite. For one thing the cat t-shirts are too big for them and that just looks odd to me. For another the other outfits are all pretty prototypical. I will say the girls look cute in them, and that I'm a sucker for the wire kitty-cat ear headband, but yeah, not my favorite.
        Song wise, there's not much in it, but like I said, it's really quite catchy. I found myself humming it the other day in a midterm (which is part of why I've been so delayed in posting this week). I've seen better, I've seen worse.

        FTI has always made a big point of thanking the fans, which is absolutely wonderful, and this is no exception. They've given us a beautiful song for their 6th anniversary. The melody moves over the beat in a smoothe arc that shows off Hongki's vocal skills and also imparts his truly heartfelt feelings. It's nice and straightforward to sing along to in a way that doesn't restrict the words' meaning too much. The video is a lovely treat, giving us a gorgeous look at how human the members are while still romanticizing the whole crazy roller-coaster that makes up their lives. It has no visual story outside of the members' lives, but sometimes BTS footage works for a release and this is one of the ones that I think benefits from it. All in all I think it's quite lovely.

            First of all, I just have to say that this is already a fantastic comeback, regardless of anything. By nature of coming back at all, Block B have done something that has been more or less unheard of in all of Kpop history. Disputes with companies are pretty much par for the kpop course these days, but none quite so ridiculous as this one.  For a quick look at the whole situation for those unfamiliar with it, click here. Basically, Block B was being screwed over, an they fought back. They did it properly, mind you, in private and without throwing hissy fits that worried and confused the fans. They just disappeared for a little while. I could discuss JYJ, but I prefer not to jump into a string of cursing longer than my average editorial in the midst of an MV review.
        That I am aware of they are the first band to have successfully fought their company and made a even a moderately successful comeback as a single group (Shinhwa doesn't count here, their contracts ran out with SM, they didn't get them nullified by a court). And also, let's not forget the fact that this whole controversy has been stirred up, blown wildly out of the realm of the typically expected lawsuit scandal, and then more or less settled . . . in about a year. ONE YEAR. That is UNHEARD of. I was not expecting to hear anything from these boys until at least 2015, but no. Here they are, and just as epic as ever.
        Be the Light is their pre-release single and it's fantastic.
        Song-wise it has the intricate rhythmic and melodic elements that are a token part of Block B sound, but it also has some new things worth noting, like some seriously intense harmonies and a significantly slower bpm. It's distinctly not a ballad, but it exhibits a lot of the properties of Block B's past attempts to bridge into the pseudo-ballad genre: Did You or Didn't You had a few interesting harmonic moments, but not like the sweeping harmonic fill of Be the Light, and even earlier, U Hoo Hoo hinted at their ability. From BLOCKBUSTER, Movie's Over dug into melodic movement inside a harmonic fill, and 11:30 explores energy retention at lower bpms, so Be the Light hasn't popped out of nowhere, but it's a hundred times more sophisticated than any of the roots it comes from. The song's form is straightforward and allows for easy evolution. The Bridge slides in with a beautiful thematic subtlety; a held breath, a quiet sigh, silence, a deep breath, and then it's back to work. The raps are layered in with Block B's traditional mastery. Honestly, the elegance here, with which melody moves to rap and back, and how sometimes the rap IS melodic is just beyond words. And I love that Zico has singing lines, and that U-Kwon has a significant part too.
        As for the MV itself, my hat goes off to these boys. As many BBCs have rightly noticed, it's directed to us. It's also about us. The girl's a metaphoric incarnation of BBC, which is why she gets hurt when U-Kwon, standing in for all of our boys, gets hit; Block B knows that it hurts us when they get beat down on by the industry, by their company, by haters in general. And they also know that we'll be here for them forever. This MV is them saying that they are very much aware of that, and that they appreciate it more than they can ever articulate in words, her presence at the scene of the beatdown is likely a comment on the idea that even when we can't physically be there to support them, we're always with them and they know this. Even the end bit, where the members come in, they pick U-Kwon up and help him carry on. When he gets in the van at the end, it's symbolic of Block B getting back into the Kpop Industry's crazy game. The fact that in several shots the girl has some sort of Army helicopter in the background seems to hint at the idea that we're going to help them go to war with the world, which would be true in a heart beat if they ever asked us for it (or even if they don't ask but need us to anyway). The allusions to the Joker and Batman hint that Block B is fully aware of the fact that they are a controversial group, but that they think it's high time someone caused a little mayhem to mix things up and really get the party started. We'll see how it all works out in Very Good (which by my watch has less than two hours left before its release), and on their Mini-album as a whole, and then in an even wider net, the collective international music industry. Gears are shifting and things are starting to change.
        Honestly, the only reason that this one doesn't score a 10 is that the allusions are pretty time-specific, and the messages inside the MV are really targeted at BBCs. In a hundred years, the MV will still be poignant, but it won't have nearly the power it does today, when the sheer weight of the controversies they're facing are still looming directly over us all. Still, this release is fantastic an utterly game-changing for the industry (in a way that's different from how Bangtan Boys' latest MV has shifted things sideways). The fall season seems to be turning out pretty fabulously for Kpop and it's only just begun!