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

2NE1 - Do You Love Me (MV Review)

8/8/2013

0 Comments

 

It's nice to see this side of these girls. Really Nice.

I like how this one starts at night and moves into day light. I'd have preferred if we got a sunrise shot to the vamp in the intro, but still, starting in darkness and moving to light is an underused technique in kpop, while its reverse is way over used. I also like how this MV shows the softer & incredibly funny side of 2NE1 in a way that used to be relegated to 2NE1 TV and BTS things. It's not the typical vacation-shot MV for a few reasons: first of all, they're playing off the song the whole time, it's very obviously a video that couldn't just be put to another song for the heck of it (a recent example of the typical vaca-MV would be Lunafly's Yeowooya, this MV is a bit more like Sistar's Loving U, but it's neatly settled in the middle).

Also, it's especially nice to see this side of 2NE1 from these girls because of what they stand for. They've stated on multiple occasions that they want to be an inspiration for girls, to grow up and be kick ass powerful and every inch  as awesome as they can be. It's a great message, but it doesn't sound like much fun. Aside from the special releases showing how they are BTS, 2NE1 hasn't officially promoted something that shows that being a strong & capable adult woman, running around all day like a bad-ass, still leaves room to just be an idiot and goof off. I think that the fact that they are showing that here, that they are using that as part of their continuing commentary on  female fabulosity, is fantastic.

In terms of the stylings, they all look spectacular, as always. Their usual MV styles reflect their personal styles, so I could easily see these outfits dressed down on the street or dressed up in another MV. And their hair and make-up is also keyed nicely of their personalities. And since 2NE1 has 4 such vibrant personalities, watching the MV is just a fun treat.

Song-wise, it's leagues ahead of I Love You. At least in terms of song construction and consistency. It's a pretty safe song for them, fit snugly into their usual genre. They carry it well, the harmonics are beautiful, the spatialization is soiid . . . lyrically, it's pretty simple, at least in the vamps and a bit in the chorus, but it's a standard (and acceptable) 2NE1 tactic because their complicated verses do not lend well to singing along.

I really do like this release from them, I think it more than completely makes up for any less-than-impressed feelings I had about I Love You. Unfortunately, because it is mostly a Vaca-MV, it can't score too high...

I Give it an 8/10: Fabulous!

And the choreography is pretty sweet too:
0 Comments

2NE1 - Falling in Love

7/8/2013

0 Comments

 

It's certainly Interesting.

The styling is fabulous. First thing I noticed was that dang they look good. It's quirky and interesting but not so outrageous that it wouldn't fly in the real world and I love it! I'm not a huge fan of blonde-Dara, and especially not of blonde-pigtail-Dara, but she still looks good.

The second thing I noticed was the interesting mix of reggae and hiphop. I wish they'd pushed it more towards the reggae side, the hiphop is cool and all, but they've done it before and it feels more like they've just mashed the genres together rather than giving one an interesting twist. Bom and Minzy's voices are fantastically well suited to reggae, & I would LOVE to see a duet track from them in the genre! CL's rap is definitely linking back to the Baddest Female, which I can understand, but still, it's unnecessary. She hasn't been gone long enough to warrant such a strong link to an 'old' promotion and it almost felt like Falling in Love was just a continuation of her solo promo and the other girls just happened to be there. What prevented that is her complete lack of singing lines. The throw to Fire was good, that is an old promotion that really is fun to pull back up, the Baddest Female doesn't have that nostalgia yet. The song itself is pretty good, the verses are actually pretty fabulous, but the rap breaks are a bit too much. Dara's raps are actually better than CL's because they suit the atmosphere of the song whereas CL are definite breaks. Also, the bass is WAY too heavy, it muddles the higher lines because of harmonic interference. It suits CL's raps, but that's it and those should be tossed or changed anyway.

My one other problem with it is that the choreography feels completely unrelated to the the track. I like the touch me sections, those make sense, and Minzy's second verse (around 1:50-ish) almost does too (and CL's 2nd separate rap), but for the most part it felt like I was watching an MV on mute with itunes running a different song. It just doesn't mesh well at all.

I still like the song and the concept and we've been promised more 2NE1 tracks in the near future, so I'm hopeful.

I give it a 5/10: pretty Good.

0 Comments

CL - The Baddest Female (MV Review)

5/30/2013

0 Comments

 

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!

0 Comments
    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.