A-STYLE | MEDIA MATTERS
  • News & Updates
  • For Patrons!
  • Editorials
  • Reviews
    • My Grading Scale
    • Top Lists
  • Behind the Scenes
    • About
    • FAQ
  • Fan-Works

BigStar - Hang Out (Music Review)

8/10/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
Notes:  I love these boys. I really wish they were more popular, because they have a really unique sound in the kpop world, it's a sort of Aegyo-high sound, but keyed towards an apparent aggression and very rap-focus. I like it. They're also hyper-masculine goofballs in their promotions & MVs which is a unique image in kpop. Usually, it's that the members just goofy BTS & hyper-masc onscreen, BIGSTAR has managed to seamlessly merge the two styles into one. And then, about this album on it's own, I was surprised by it. There's a ton of new sounds for BIGSTAR, which shows great style / concept flexibility, and most of the tracks are pretty well done, but I just didn't like most of them all that much. Run & Run is easily my favorite, with Shake It in second place and Hooligan in 3rd.

Top Track: Run & Run

Final Score: 7/10

Promotional Track:

Run & Run is a fantastic track. They've got a very high synthy-ness that has BraveSound's signature sound laced inside of it, but is still completely unique. The song is well constructed, balanced and spatialized, making fantastic use of harmonics and ear-attention to draw the feel of the song about the listener without needing to make sweeping gestures of music, all of their songs really are. This song in particular mainly uses the lower harmonics and the high sound effects to spatialize. The vocals are remarkably crisp, held inside a bubble of sound that's not hit with interference by any of the other elements, which is unfortunately rare for kpop. A lot of kpop tracks have 'fuzzy' vocals, that sound rough because other parts of the song's sound overlap destructively with them.

I give it a 8/10: Fabulous!

Other Tracks:

Be Brave works well as an Intro because it's dramatically different than anything else they've released. Of course, we all know there's a few interesting lines in it. I'm cool with the porn star reference, sexuality is something that Korea, and the rest of the world for that matter, really need to develop a healthier relationship with . . .The notion two lines later does bother me however, the 'kill the girl' notion. I'm pretty sure that he means kill as in make fall in love, but still, not my favorite notion. *shrugs* Other than that, I'm okay with the arrogance vibe. Arrogance is fine in my book as long as there's respect for the fans. Musically speaking, it's a unique sound for them, much deeper, with much more typical rap-star sort of vocals and has a much more straight-up aggressive style than the songs BIGSTAR has released previously. I like the genre expansion for them, especially with the element of the electric guitar, but I would worry that they might fall into proto-typically dull American rap. The song's form is pretty simple, but there's a few really great rhythmic surprises, and some really strong style experiments. I like this song, & I'd like to hear more like it from them in the future, but I'd be sad to see it become their usual.
Hooligan has a great vibe. Lyrically, it's a nice F the world, I'm awesome sort of thing. Agian, it's not at all like anything they've released before. It's another genre-expansion, though this one is a bit closer to their norm, with even the rap sections being focused more on the upper range than not. The chorus is catchy and the verses demonstrate fabulous rap-skills, but over all the song doesn't seem to take a listener anywhere but around in small circles. Still, I like hearing this from BIGSTAR, there are a few moments of really good harmonic expansion, and some neat, sidestepping movements of rhythm & melody. It's not my favorite song from BIGSTAR, but it's still a pretty good track and it would be nice to have them give this genre another shot in the future.
Shake It is another completely unique song, but this one has been done fabulously. It has an utterly unique sound, but not at the expense of style or sophistication. The sections are all very specifically defined and evolve as the song progresses, there's elements that are a bit too repetitive, but the lyrics are made use of thematically. It's well spatialized and the harmonic elements are well placed for emphasis. It's much closer to their usual style than the first two non-title-tracks, and the crisp vocals sit nicely in the bubble that exists most of their songs.
Poisonous Girl has a similar feel to what you would get by squishing the previous three non-title-tracks together to make a single song. Lyrically it's fine, if a bit repetitive, and melodically it has interest and harmonic counterpoint, and there's some good rhythmic transitions... It's decently balanced and spatialized. I particularly don't like the ultra-deep voice, but honestly I just don't really like this song as a whole. Technically speaking it's a solid track, but I'm really not feelin' much love for it. I don't have any specific reason, I mean it has a neat flair to it and it's well executed; and with the exception of the dying-frog voice, everything in the song is necessary and used well. I just don't like it.

Over all i give them a 6/10: Good Job.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    If you have Questions about my Terminology, Bias Bands, or any other FAQ click HERE.

    Categories

    All
    100%
    1 The K (Loen Ent)
    2ne1
    2pm
    4 Minute
    9muses
    A6P
    AA (Double A)
    Academic
    A Ent Korea
    After School
    Ailee
    A-Jax
    Alice Nine
    AlphaBAT
    Amber
    Amie Kaufman
    AMUSE Inc
    Ann Pachett
    AoA (Ace Of Angels)
    AOMG
    Apink
    Art History
    * Artist Review *
    A-Sketch Ent
    Attack
    Audience: Adult
    Audience: New Adult
    Audience: Young Adult
    Audience: Young Reader
    B1a4
    B2m Ent
    Bangtan Boys
    B.A.P
    Bastarz
    Beast
    Believe Records
    Ben
    Benedict Carey
    Bestie
    B.I.G
    Big Bang
    Big Hit Ent
    Bigstar
    Block B
    BoA
    * Book Review *
    Boyfriend
    Boys Republic
    Brandnewmusic Korea
    Bravesound
    Brown Eyed Girls
    BTL (Beyond The Limit)
    Bugs! Korea
    Bumkey
    C2k Ent
    Can Ent
    C Clown
    C-Clown
    Chrome Ent
    CJ E&M
    CJes
    C-Jes Ent
    Cl
    CLC
    Collabodadi
    Core Contents Media
    *Cover Review*
    Crayon Pop
    CT Ent
    Cube Ent
    Cultural Studies
    Danal Ent
    Debut
    Diaura
    Donghae
    DS Ent
    Dsp Ent
    Dynamic Duo
    Equal Rep: LGBTQ+
    Equal Rep: Varied Gender Presentations
    ESNa
    Eunhyuk
    EXID
    Exo
    F.cuz
    Fiestar
    Fluxus Music
    Flying Dog Ent
    Fnc Ent
    Ft Island
    F(x)
    GaIn
    Galaxy Inc
    G Dragon
    G-Dragon
    General
    Genre: Cultural Studies
    Genre: Dark Fantasy
    Genre: Dystopia
    Genre: Epic Fantasy
    Genre: Fantasy
    Genre: Historical Fiction
    Genre: Literary Fiction
    Genre: Mythology
    Genre: Physics
    Genre: Plain Fiction
    Genre: Realistic Fiction
    Genre: Revisionary History
    Genre: Romance
    Genre: Science
    Genre: SciFi
    Genre: Space Opera
    Genre: Speculative Fiction
    GH Entertainment
    Giriboy
    Girls Day
    Girls Generation (SNSD)
    G.NA
    Gng Productions
    * Graphic Novel / Manga Review *
    Grisha Verse
    H2 Ent
    Happy Tribe Ent
    Henry
    Heo Youngsaeng
    High4
    History
    Hotshot
    House & Home Goods
    Imagine Dragons
    Infinite
    Information
    Instant Records
    Iu
    James Kakalios
    Jang HyunSeung
    Jay Park
    Jellyfish Ent
    Jennifer Armentrout
    Jimin N J.Don
    JinYoung Park (JYP)
    JMS Ent
    Js Ent
    JTM Ent
    J Tune Camp
    Jun HyoSung
    Jyj
    Jyp Ent
    Kahi
    Kang Seungyoon
    Kara
    Key East Ent
    Kim Hyungjun
    Kim Hyunjoong
    Kim Jaejoong
    KO Sound
    Kota
    KT Music
    K.Will
    Lc9
    Led Apple
    Lee Junghyun
    Leigh Bardugo
    Lim Kim
    Lindsey Stirling
    Lion Mascot (สิงโต นำโชค)
    Lunafly
    Madtown
    Mamamoo
    Marie Lu
    Marie Rutkoski
    Mblaq
    Meagan Spooner
    M.I.B
    Minah
    Miss A
    MMO Ent
    Mnet
    Monsta X
    Moonshine
    * Movie / Drama / TV Show Review *
    M.Pire
    Mr. Mr.
    Music K Ent
    * Music Review *
    My First Story
    Myname
    Mystic89 Music
    Nano
    Naomi Novik
    N.A.P Ent
    Neal Stephenson
    Nega Network
    N.Flying
    Nh Media
    Nine Muses
    Non Fiction
    Non-Fiction
    N-Sonic
    NS Yoon G
    NS Yoon-G
    NU'EST
    Odd Eye
    Oh Yeri
    Okdal
    One OK Rock
    Park BoRam
    Pentatonix
    Personal
    Phantom
    Pledis Ent
    Pocket Girls
    Pony Canyon Ent
    Prepix
    * Product Review *
    Psc Ent
    Queen B'z
    Rainbow
    Red Velvet
    Rex. D
    Rise Records
    Romeo
    ~Rookie Debut~
    Sabaa Tahir
    San-E
    Sarah J Maas
    Sean Carroll
    Secret
    Seo InGuk
    Series: Keeper Of The Lost Cities
    Series: Science Comics
    Seungri
    Seven Seasons Ent
    Seventeen
    Shannon Messenger
    Shinee
    SidusHQ
    Simtong Ent
    Sistar
    Skarf
    Sleeping With Sirens
    Sm Ent
    Sony Music & Ent
    Soulights
    Speed
    Spica
    S-Plus Ent
    Ss501
    Stardom Ent
    Star Empire Ent
    Starkim Ent
    Starship Ent
    Star Wars
    Stellar
    Sugarbowl
    SuJu D&E
    Sunmi
    Sunny Hill
    Super Junior
    Swings
    Taeyang
    Tahiti
    T-ARA
    Tasty
    The Ark
    *Theater & Stage Drama Review*
    The Benjamin Ent
    The British Royal Family
    The VIBE Ent
    Timothy Zahn
    Tiny G
    Tnc Ent
    Togeworl
    Top Class Ent
    Top Media
    Topp Dogg
    Toxic
    Ts Ent
    Tvn
    Tvxq
    U-Kiss
    Ulala Session
    UNIQ
    Universal Music
    UP10TION
    Urban Zakapa
    Various Artists
    Vibe: Aeronauts & Punk Diaspora
    * Video Review *
    Vixx
    WA Ent
    Warner Ent
    Wonder Boyz
    Wonder Girls
    Woolim Ent
    Xiah / Junsu
    Xiran Jay Zhao
    Year End Review
    Yedang Ent
    Yg Ent
    Ymc Ent
    YNB Ent.
    YNM Company
    Yuehua Ent
    ZE:A[제국의아이들]
    Z.Hera
    Zico

    Email Me!

    Archives

    December 2022
    November 2022
    July 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    May 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013

    My Tumblr

    RSS Feed

    The name, layout, opinions, analysis, and original media displayed on the Music Matters® website belongs to A-style® and are the intellectual property of Alexandra Swords. 2013©
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.