San-E is typically known for his comedic MVs. His unique vocal quality lends itself easily toward humorous and lighthearted raps with chill vocals. This release is a dramatic departure from his norm. Even last summer's Body Language wasn't nearly the change that this. While Body Language gave us a new sort of visual for San-E and darker aesthetic than we'd seen previously, and it even had more sultry and sophisticated vocal variations, that most of his previous work. #LuvUHater is still in its own league. Body Language was still more of a comically sultry satire rather than an actual leap into the angsty abyss. 
        This new release is not my favorite song by San-E... It's not even in the running really. I'm just not a fan of it, which is not to say that it's poorly done. It's just not my genre. This minimalist straight rap thing is not my style, but San-E's pulled it off incredibly well. At it's most basic, rap is beat-poetry with a solid instrumental backing and the nebulous tones in this track blur that line dramatically. The move well and vary enough to carry the track though, and the visuals are  poignant and relevant: artistically captured, without being overly hipster-fake-artsy-chic. It's the visuals that make this for me, they carry the vocals well, delineating the separate lines and putting an emphatic curve on all the words that need it without requiring repeated a vocal push that could get quite tiresome to hear. It leaves the vocal inflections in reserve for the moments when that can be truly effective. The message is strong and worth saying and it comes across perfectly through both the lyrics and the visuals and the instrumental adds tone.
          It's not my favorite, but it is very well done.

           Don't get me wrong, they've got skill and I've got a few members I particularly enjoy, but SM has rarely used any of Exo's talent well and their releases are usually just plain blah. I've been waiting to review this MV in case another one came out to make it tie into the whole #pathcode thing of awesome teasers that seem to have turned out to be nothing more that promises of false hope... I might go though the #pathcode videos and explain their individual awesomeness, and why their lack of tie-in to the MV is just so disappointing, but that seems like a lot of effort considering the fact that I'd be discussing a disappointment rather than praising something I'm actually excited about... In related news, I'm regretting the fact that I waited so long to make this review because I had a beautifully summational quip about how this release is both lovely and epically disappointing at once, and now I can't recall it.
           The track itself is catchy, and quite delightful over all. It's pretty well balanced and spatialized, and it moves well as the melody progresses. There's enough variance in the lyrics to keep it interesting and yet enough consistency to make it easy to sing along to; it really is a fairly well crafted pop piece. There's no deeper meaning or underlying current of power to keep it resonating after it ends. Other than the catchiness there's nothing in it to demand attention. If I wasn't paying attention and it came on shuffle, it wouldn't be enough to register distinctly, whereas others (even others made by Exo) make you look up for a moment at pay attention.
            The styling is great, beautifully keyed in to both the settings and to the personalities presented by each member. 13 people is a lot to keep track of and despite the fans' ease with it, carefully delineating outfits are a welcome aid to casual observers. The choreography is less suited to... well anything. The movements are awkward and stilted, not because Exo is, but because the movements are too sharp to take shape and because they move outside the lyrics and too on-point to the rhythms (seriously, pausing for a beat so that a crotch-grab is an isolated on-beat occurrence seems just in bad taste). Sometimes movements that are unrelated to the rhythms or words works, but here it just feels awkward: just random whacking and hand-waving for the sake of being impressive rather than relevant. The gratuitous crotch-grabbing is just annoying, and the gratuitous hip-bump/crotch-rolls are worthy of an eye-roll. There are aspects of the choero that I do enjoy, when the members of the group are utilized as effects (I'm mostly thinking of the bit around 2:40 as the bridge rolls). Over all though, it's just there, impressive but not in a way that makes it instantly recognizable...
            Still, the over all MV is pretty good. Catchy song, gorgeous guys, neat camera tricks; it's just not enough.

          Miss A has had a career of absolutely incredible, industry redefining hits and this is not one of them. With the phenomenal "Hush" having been their last release, the standard they'd set up was impossible to live up to and it's no surprise that "Only You" isn't as good. That is not to say that this release isn't good on it's own merit, because the case is quite the opposite. "Only You" works off a bouncy energy with a unique undercurrent of energy that blends an upbeat smoothe melodic-pop track with a sort of Trap-twist framework, very synthy bright and yet flavored with the grittier edge of digital instrument music (without falling prey to the current standardized fallback of rap/hip-hop). The MV itself is full of gorgeous styling on gorgeous girls and interesting camera tricks that perfectly balance out the audio quirks. I'm a sucker form the pink outfits, the color gives the girls an edge of sweetness while the sharp lines of the actual clothing articles ensures that none of the classical Miss A attitude is lost.
          Over all, I really do like it. Even though it's still not nearly as good as "Hush".
          (Also, the 'screaming man' is a consonance trick. It connects the upbeat pop-push with the trap sections by creating a disruption point that is common to both sections. It begins about 2 seconds before every trap section ends and goes about 3-4 seconds into the pop-sections before your brain can't keep track of it anymore, it's there again in the transition back to trap for about half the time).

          "Crystal Clear" is an odd name to condense to CLC, but whatever, it's certainly not the strangest name in Kpop. CLC is a good, easy to remember, roll-off-the-tongue kind of name, so it works. I think this group has a great chance of success for many reasons, starting off with the fact that the classy-cute but full of attitude vibe suits the generalized production vibe of CUBE Entertainment. A-Pink deviates significantly from the party line expected from a CUBE artist so I'm not surprised that their cutesy debut came very close to flopping. They've since recovered beautifully, but it was a worrisome situation. BtoB was fell into line more with A-Pink than with Beast or 4 Minute and they've never been used to their full potential. CLC is much more what I would have expected from a Cute Concept Group from CUBE than anything else they've orchestrated.
           There's plenty of aegyo and innocence and high smoothe vocals, but there's also a lot of sass and synth overlay that add energy and interest to the whole release. It's pop-y and peppy and perfectly cute, while being sharp synthed and pumped with bright energy enough to show off an undercurrent of aggressive confidence, the sort that comes from a self-awareness of being awesome. The sassy-ass hair-flips are the prime example, being sudden sharp movements laced within the sugary-sweet oohs and aahs and smooth 'shy' shoulder shrugs. The track itself back up the attitude-but-adorable vibe, being filled with sweet high notes carried off by strong, full-bodied vocals that haven't been squished by cute-i-fication. The backing instrumentals are quirky and set at a nice mid-level that keeps the baseline feeling light, but still allows the high notes to shine as quite a stretch.
            The video is fabulous, on all counts. The visuals of the settings are unique and identifiable without being so bizarre that they don't mesh with the rest of the genre. The styling is classy and cutesy, the sports-wear being off-set by pastel pinks for cute-ness, and skin-tight elements in classic black that bring in the sexy and sensual while still being somewhat reserved and the non-coordinate sports-wear is off-set by the aegyo-acting. The classy little-black-dress outfits are off-set by the fluffy skirts, the pale-paneling, and the adorable cheerleader ponytails. The choreography is flawless, paired perfectly with the flow of the track, meshed well into the styling, and captured perfectly by the camera's movements. There's enough glamour shots to start learning the differences between the the members and then at the end the helpful snapshots allow us to put names to the faces we've begun to learn. I like how the names come at the end rather than the beginning (like in many debut MVs) because in the beginning, I don't know the differences in the faces well enough to able to identify them as the video progresses. But after watching them for a few minutes? The names actually stick.
              All in all, this is a fantastic release and a fabulous debut. I'm delighted with what they've got right now and I'm excited about their release prospects for the future.

           NS Yoon-G's provided a plethora of bright and distinct concepts over the years and this release certainly lives up to that reputation in a lot of ways. In terms of 2015 Kpop, the track's vaguely hollow vibe is rather unusual, but it brings up a deep nostalgia for mid-2000's western R&B. I enjoy the chill feel that the slower-paced and wider-spaced instrumental elements bring to the table (even despite their being uncomfortably close to those in Jennifer Lopez's "I'm Real"). Yoon-G's voice is light and airy, and more than fluid enough to make the chill track hum with a lowkey energy. The styling is lovely, though it's quite the standardized uniform of generic Kpop at the point with no particularly memorable elements.The choreography is simple and fun, suiting the song's movements quite well and providing for a lovely visual distinction from the glamour shots. The whole release is quite enjoyable.
            It's not particularly catching or revolutionary, but it's quite pleasant and a fairly solid release.

          I am not typically a huge fan of the indie genre, but sometimes gems like this are produced. It's an adorable video showing, with sugary-sweet lyrics, depicting a very cute story of an on-again-off-again relationship that is very easy to relate to for anyone who had ever been in any sort of relationship. They're aspects of the other that are just unbearable, pieces of them that are so frustrating you don't think you'll ever get over them, but having fallen in love for a reason, sometimes the important bits surface again, irresistibly. 
           The track is a relaxed jazzy thing with a perfect blend of low-key background instrumentation and complicated vocal rhythms. The voices complement well, and they use of each voice in their respective layers, splitting apart in moments of frustration and then coming together in moments of cute reconciliation, fleshes out the visual of the story in a wonderfully straightforward manner. It's a delightful little track, with an adorable and well-produced music video; a release that I'm very glad to have found.

           Girl's Day has been a great group, and it's fabulous to see Minah being allowed to hop on the Solo Debut band wagon. This track is not my favorite girl group release this season, but visually the MV makes up for a lot. The depiction of Minah dressed in glamorous, clean fashions while surrounded by settings of domestic decay give a visual breakdown of the relationship: Minah still values herself, even when her partner doesn't (which is important and unique in pre-break-up tracks). It seems for a moment, when the suitcase visual briefly comes into play, that Minah values herself enough to leave her partner, but unfortunately, the lyrics counteract that idea directly she essentially sells out to the rationales of an abusive relationship with a full blown sweep of battered woman syndrome: only remembering the good things, repeating the phrase 'I love You' until it's an ingrained habit, etc. It's especially unfortunate, because that terrible part of the lyrics corresponds to the best part of the track.
              Most of the song is bland. Minah's voice is gorgeous, but it's usage here is narrow (to the point of being more or less within the same octave even) and less than impressive, both in terms of flexibility and power (neither of which Minah's voice is lacking). Rhythmically, the track is quite impressive, and the catchiness is definitely in how the syllables fold neatly together and roll gently over themselves as they tumble along with the smooth progression of the backing track. The track doesn't evolve at all until the sudden change in the bridge, and it hardly move so much as circles until that point either. At the transition, Minah's voice gains a ton more power and picks up with energy far beyond anything else displayed in the song. It's kind of tragic that the worst lyrics get the best part of the song... And the choreography, is interesting, but it's pretty generic and rather less that suited to the lyrics, other than the few moments in the beginning with the counting on fingers bit. It's still a solid release and I'm even thought I'm not thrilled by it, I am satisfied.

           Automatic's base problems continue in Ice Cream Cake. This one has the additional problem of being achingly similar to B1A4's Solo Day... I wouldn't consider it truly plagiarized, but the aesthetic is just too similar to discount. They're not achieving the same effect, but with Solo Day only being a few seasons old... it just seems like another of SM's shortcuts. Which isn't criminal exactly, but is certainly not admirable.
          On it's own, Ice Cream Cake is quite lovely. I like the tie to the red velvet cake that comes up at the sound of the band's name, and the song itself is fairly good. There's a delightfully eerie cutesy-ness to it that I deeply enjoy. It's a nicely rounded song that moves fairly well and it's quite catchy. I like it much better than I do the Red Velvet tracks I've heard. The music-box element is especially delightful. I like the styling and the choreography, insofar as I can like anything generic. It has a cool twist of imagery though, juxtaposing the sweet charm of the visual against the track's eerie cant. The overt sexiness laced within the 'cute' imagery gives the visuals the same eerie feel as the track has. I enjoy that, though I'm not sure it's really what SM was going for. The only social comment I can pull out of it is that it's creepy as hell to sexualize little girls, and equally creepy to infantilize grown women, both of which are things that SM has never seemed to have any sort of problem with... So I'm at a loss.
          In short, the MV is full of recycled material and packed full of a vague, artsy ambiance that seems to be more akin to what SM has attempted to promote f(x) with (which is yet another slight against Red Velvet's sunbaes that SM is forcing them to commit). The ending is abrupt, and jarringly dissonant in a way that lacks a satisfying cadence. It's a catchy track with strong choreo, so I count it as a solid release.

           Red Velvet hasn't had the best series of first impressions on me. Their previous release was okay but the girls were startling in how similar they looked to each other. Having all of them go blonde for this release was definitely not a wise decision on SM's part (honestly, I think it would have been really cool if this 'group' was actually all one girl, just pretending to be four, now five, different people). Also, the addition of Yeri so recently after a debut... it's not something I approve of. They should have at least had a year as four before SM began messing with the dynamics. And on a similar note... it's atrociously unfair that Red Velvet has an official fanclub name while poor f(x) has been waiting for SIX YEARS. f(x) is a far superior group to Red Velvet on all counts, which should be a comment of no offense to the rookies. Red Velvet simply has done nothing to deserve the special treatment they're receiving and I disapprove. Highly.
           In regards to their recent release, Automatic is actually worthy of attention. It's a nice an jazzy low-key track with a smooth sweep of sounds that envelop the listener. It moves well and but it doesn't evolve over the course of the track, and none of the movement is profound or resonant in any way. It doesn't show off the girls' vocal capabilities, but I will admit to enjoying the whispery quality of the vocal lines in reference to the instrumental. Power vocals probably wouldn't sit nicely here anyway. 
          I like the music video, over all. Outside of the whole they're-all-blonde thing, the styling is gorgeous. The Choreography is fun and quite well-suited to the track. The vibe of the music video as a whole is awesome and quite unique, like a musical theater sort of aesthetic which is fantastic. I also like the visual ties to their next MV, Ice Cream Cake, via the car and such. It is a wonderful connection, but it's only a dressing rather than a significant basis for assessment. All in all, I do like it. I don't love it, but I do like it.

          Whitewashing is a chronic problem in Korea and it's very apparent here that over exposure and diluted levels of contrast are being put in play. There's so much opportunity for a release like this to be bright and colorful, and unfortunately it's been over exposed until the brightness overwhelms all other aspects. The first time I watched I I couldn't even pay attention to the track because the visuals were dull and lifeless, even though the girls were super cute. The dull visuals and the slow start to the music tricked my mind into thinking that the song itself was dull. Low saturation levels is one effect that I've always found tiresome and it's unfortunate that it's so popular.
          That aside, this is a fairly solid release. The song is slow but solid, it's well rounded and nice on the ears. It doesn't evolve very far, but it moves well enough. It's a nice jazzy tune that's got enough energy to be interesting but not so much that it demands attention; refreshing in some ways, certainly. The styling, other than the whitewashing is okay. They look very cute indeed, though I'm a bit put off by the fairly voyeuristic slides of sexiness that border on inappropriate observation... like staring at a sleeping girl's ass, or watching the stretch of impressive flexibility at 2:00 from quite that close up... it's jarring and certainly off-putting for me. I'm not against female sexuality, or of women being sexualized by observers, I'd just like it to be represented as something they're aware of... And the direct comment of how they know they get called out on over sexualization was interesting, and it made the rest of the sexiness make sense. And I love how it's literally the 200lbs Gorilla in the room, very clever. Still, it's just not my favorite. I do enjoy the choreography at the end and I love the projector of trying on clothes idea, that one's always fun. Overall, it's fairly good, but there is a lot I would change and I just don't like it terribly much.