MusicUtopia: Nine Muses - Gun

Annyeong..

*cleans off dust on the blog*

Before I forget, Happy Aidiladha everyone!

I’m sorry guys for being missing for a while. I’ve been SUPER BUSY with all my classes and whatnot, so I don’t have time to search for interesting facts for you guys. I’m having a mid-semester break right now (in conjunction with Aidiladha holiday), so here I am, updating my blog back.

This week MusicUtopia is the hitting a boy like a boss edition with Nine Muses ‘Gun’.

Overview

Nine Muses is back! IMO, Nine Muses is a very underrated girl group, and that’s make me sad since I liked them so much. They have the best songs, very catchy and easily followed even for a non-Korean speaker like me. However, as they are a nine-member group, people has classified them as the ‘second Girl Generation’, making them ‘second-class’ and ‘a group trying to copy Girl Generation’. And Nine Muses has an anti group even before they debuted (mostly made up of SONEs, Girl Generation fanclub). For me, it is not fair to hate a group just because of the same number of members. Nine Muses brings a different music compared to Girl Generation, so it is not fair to say that 9M is trying to copy GG.

I liked most of 9M songs, especially Ticket (and No Playboy, eventhough that song received so much negative comments). I think they have the catchiest songs, and 9M is one of the groups that I don’t really mind being sexy since most of them are a bit older, so they fit to be sexy, not some underage girl with super short skirts prancing around. I usually hates idols (usually underage) to be sexy, I think being cute is better while they are still young. The only groups that I don’t mind being sexy are 9M and Brown Eyed Girl, since they are older, and being sexy for them means more than just wearing a super short miniskirt. I watched BEG promotions on Kill Bill, and I think they looked really great and sexy, eventhough they are wearing a long pants and a long sleeve blouse.

Songs&Videos

One word for this song, AWESOME!! I liked it the first time I heard it, and I still loved Gun. (Yay for my new ringtone!) This song is catchy, and I really liked the trumpet sounds. It provided the retro feel  to this song. The chorus makes a great repetitive, and hearing them will make you want to sing along, eventhough you don’t know what the heck they’re saying. (manjijak,manjijak~~)

The song is about a girl, who sensed a boy liked her, and she was telling him to be a gentleman and just tell her. So here’s a chance, grab it or just forget it. I really liked the meaning of this song. Sometimes it is embarrassing for a girl to confess a love. And sometimes the girl somehow sensed that a guy is actually liked her, so she pretends to know nothing, hoping that the guy finally gather up some courage to tell her so.

I was a bit unimpressed by the video, though. All 9 members of 9M are trying to hit on the same guy! I get it that the guy is super handsome, he is even more handsome than most of the idols (is it just me, or just to match 9M age, that guy is not an idol, since idols age are lower than 9M), but why did you guys hitting the same guy?

And the plot is just..*smirks* 9M, for some reason, are the owner/worker of a petrol station. All of them works there, from the attendant to the mechanic, car washer, drink models (seriously though, why do you guys sit at a petrol station while drinking something so prettily?), bicycle model to the owner of the petrol station, who sits there hugging a cat. And for some reason, that hunk is constantly walks around the petrol station (tawaf?) and smiled to the girls. I don’t think any of the girls scored the guy, and at the end, they play around with a trolley, with fireworks and drinks (lost their mind? Probably rejected by that hunk give a blow to their head..). Whatever happened, I don’t know..

Talking about the video, did you guys notice the signboards in the video?

Ahem, if you can’t read them, let me point it out for you.

For use as a motor fuel only. Contains lead.Washing greasing, steam cleanerMechanic on duty, wheel balncing, tune-up, branke work, pick up and delivery

What does that means? I don’t really know..

Conclusion

Yay for this song. Nine Muses have yet to disappoint me. Lately I have been hearing lots of ballads from Korea, and I’m not a fan of ballads (MYNAME’s Day by Day is good, though). So I’m really happy that now I have a new catchy song for my playlist. I just hope that 9M received more attention, they deserved it.

MusicUtopia: Piggy Dolls - Ordinary Girl

Annyeong...

Whew.. It’s been a while. I finally started my semester after TWO MONTH holiday! Let me tell you, the hardest part of starting studying back is SLEEP AND WAKE UP EARLY!!! 2AM is the earliest time I went to bed in these two months and I woke up at 11AM, and now I have to rush about on 7AM to avoid traffic. FFUUUU!! (Seriously though, I rarely cussed/swearing, but now I’m back behind wheels in Shah Alam/Klang, all these words come out through my mouth like tap water)

I’m still working out on reviews on Korean products that I bought. My camera broke down this holiday, and I have to use my phone to take pictures, and for some reason, the pictures are blurry (and it makes me boiling, and wants to swear a LOT more). So, I save them up for later. Let’s talk about the latest song I heard and liked.

The song title is ‘Ordinary Girl’ by Piggy Dolls. Yep, that’s the group name, no jokes.

Overview

Piggy Dolls have been around in K-pop Industries for quite some time, but for some reason, they are not very well known, probably because of the group concept. FYI, Piggy Dolls is a group consisting of 3 beautiful women that are..overweight. Their concept is something like talents are not depending on looks. I’m not saying that they are ugly, but compared to K-pop idols that are usually super slim and super beautiful, Piggy Dolls are less depending on their look. However, their voice is super something, and that is something that is usually lacking from idols.

The original Piggy Dolls when they debuted

They lost some weight on their album promotion.. cuter and still awesome!

However, I was pretty sad when I watch this music video. And that is caused by PIGGY DOLLS HAVE BEEN REPLACED!!! I was wondering why the girls looked so very different since their last MV that I watched, The Girl I Know. It turns out that their company decided to make a complete change of the group, ditched the current members, and get new girls with a slim figure and beautiful face to replace them. And the sadder thing is that Piggy Dolls is usually recognized by their voice, and now when I heard this song, my first feeling is this song is pretty much the same with other idols. There is no difference at all. And the part which I hate the most is the company decided to keep the name ‘Piggy Dolls’, said to continue the legacy of the old Piggy Dolls. WHAT THE? The old Piggy Dolls is great. If your new girls are greater, let them create they own legacy, not piggy back on others success.

The new Piggy Dolls.. There's no difference between them and other idols anymore *sigh*

Video & Song

I guess the video is trying to be creative, instead of showing a story line, or some girls dancing somewhere (in an odd box, for instance), this video showing one of Piggy Dolls members sitting in a cafe, drinking coffee with a guy who supposedly her boyfriend. On the table there are some magazines, and instead of focusing on the people drinking coffee, the focus of the camera is on the magazines, which showing Piggy Dolls members on the covers. I think the concept is cute and quite fresh, since I don’t usually see K-pop MVs that are creative. And there are even storyline that are shown with just several magazines covers. Good job.

However, I have a clash of opinions on this song. I don’t usually like ballads, slow songs. Of course there are some ballad songs in my personal playlist, but they are very, very few, something like 1 in every 100 songs (so consider yourself lucky if your ballads make it through my playlist!). I really like the opening of this song, I think it is a very good slow part, but for some reason I think the chorus is too catchy to be compared to the opening. And I hate it.

It’s like combining 2 songs together, and combining a ballad and a dance song is not a very good idea. If it ballad, make it ballad all the way and if you want a super catchy song, make a super catchy song all the way. Seriously though, who started this trend of combining mismatched songs together? I think I heard it first from SNSD’s ‘I got a boy’ and after that almost ALL SME songs are something like combination of several songs. And for some reason I HATE IT, because a perfectly good song can be ruined, just like this song.

Conclusion

My conclusion is, this song is great, although it mismatch a bit. I even cut the opening part for my message tones (since I hate super catchy bombastic song for messages. It’s only messages, why would you have message tones that can be heard from 500 meters away?). 

And no, I’m not falling out of love, if you’re wondering. I know some people will think I’m heartbroken since all of the sudden I’m listening to ballad, titled Ordinary Girl, which showing a girl thinks she’s too ordinary for the guy and broke up with him since she thinks he better off without her.

Check out Piggy Dolls - Ordinary Girl if you haven't done it yet^^

MusicUtopia: F(x) - Rumpumpumpum

Annyeong...

Today’s MusicUtopia is the clash between the oldest and the maknae edition with F(x)’s Rumpumpumpum. No, I didn’t spell it wrong. It’s Rum with 3 Pums. So, it’s Rumpumpumpum.

General opinion

What’s the meaning? I don’t know. I searched over the internet if I find anything to describe the song’s title, but I don’t find anything. In my opinion, F(x) usually has the super bizarre song title, such as La Cha Ta, Chu, and Karakkabana. I feel sorry for them since I read comments about F(x) being the ‘bench warmer’ for other SMEs artists, and I do agree to that. F(x) is a great artist, both in singing and dancing, but usually stuck with super bizarre songs with super bizarre outfits. I am happy though that this video has quite normal outfits, with exception of Amber, whose often has the most bizarrest outfit in the planet.

Come on SME, I get it that you really want to maintain Amber boyish image, but at least please give her a better outfit and while you’re at it, do give her a better hairstyle too. Other F(x) members are looking cute and sexy, and Amber stuck with something like a baggy outfits, with blonde hair parted in the middle. She reminded me of Nick Carter of Backstreet Boys from somewhere 15 years ago. I am also thinking of the era of H.O.T, SechsKies and even before that where parted hair in the middle and comfortable baggy outfits was in, but this is 2013 where idols are super glamorous with pastel colors hairs.

So why is Amber stuck with that style? I guess I have the answer to that question. Usually, in idols groups, there is a LUCKY member, who’s selected to be the ‘face’ of the group, even though she is lacking in singing or dancing (or in most cases, BOTH), usually gets the best outfits and hairstyles, and the chance being in the middle of everything despite having less talents. And other members, especially the ‘voice’ of the groups, usually pushed to the side to give the ‘face’ more media attention. In F(x) case, I considered Luna is the ‘voice’ (as well as Amber since she is the rapper). However, more attention is given to Sulli since she is the ‘face’ of F(x) even though she has less powerful vocal and her dancing is so-so. Ever wonder why Sulli gets more variety shows and drama offers compared to the others? And try listen to F(x) full albums, there are a lot of Luna’s songs. This is the reality to the entertainment industry, and does not only affecting F(x). There are a LOT of groups suffering from this situation (I’m looking at you, Hyuna >_>).

Song and video

For starters, let me say that this is a so-so song. The chorus is super catchy but for the other part, it’s just...meh. I read comments about how this song’s teaser is great and how the whole song is.. not that great. For me, I really liked the chorus, as well as the rapping. I even cut the chorus part to be my phone’s notification tones. However, the other parts are..boring. To be honest, while I listened to this song, 8 times out of 10 I will be jump to the chorus part and that 2 times that I didn’t skip is the times that I wanted to hear the ‘Aaa’ part (probably by Victoria). 

So, final verdict: 6/10

I was speechless by this video. Not because it was so bad, not because it was so good, but by that super short dress on Krystal. I don’t know if SME new concept is to promote Krystal as F(x) second face, but wow! Those super short dress and that flaming red hair really stands out in this video. I was really concerned by that dress which even shorter than Victoria’s skirt. Don’t try to tell me otherwise, because I have proofs.

Krystal is supposed to be the maknae (youngest) of the group, but why her dress is is so very short is beyond me. I remembered watching an episode of Happy Together in which several members of F(x) come as guests. Krystal blamed her stylists for giving her a shirt/dress that is too easy to reveal her body especially in NuABO song where they have to lift their shirt a bit and Krystal usually ended up with revealing too much of her body. And now I don’t think that the problem starts from the stylists, but from Krystal herself. While they are trying to make Krystal sexier, SME makes Victoria cuter day to day.

Let me tell you that Victoria is the oldest among F(x) members (she is born in 1987), and if someone needs to be sexier, it’s Victoria, not Krystal. However, I do notice that Victoria is usually stuck with a cute outfit which doesn’t match her age. Seriously guys, Victoria in that red outfit (tartans? I don’t remember the outfit names..sorry) looks super cute, and her other outfit with the small hat also looks cute. I do remember an article saying that SME purposely dress Vic in cute outfits to match the group concept, but now they dress Krystal the maknae so sexily and Vic the oldest so cutely? I don’t understand..

To up the ante of sexiness, SME does not only provide super shorts on Sulli and Krystal, they also provide an easier method for all perverts out there. Do you have an urge to see what’s under idols skirts? Introducing...

THE BRAND NEW 360 DEGREE PERVERT CAMERA!!!!

Yes, you can see several F(x) members spinning in this video, showing every perfect side of them, including what’s under their skirt. I used the term ‘several’ in this context since there are no Amber or Luna spinning 360 degree in this video (they do spin for a bit), and Victoria is sitting on the floor while spinning. Spare me no nonsense that they are wearing shorts under their skirts, because that shorts is literally an undergarments, something like boxers, to cover women panties when wearing a skirt. Dear SME, I know that Sulli and Krystal are now reached an adult age in Korea, but to make them dress scantily and showing their underwear are not the way to celebrate their adulthood.

Conclusion

I might sounded like I hate F(x), but honestly I don’t. I was just not happy with this song and video. I also hate that SME always put the ‘face’ of the group in front compared to the other. Come on, the others needs some love too. For some reason, I feel that this is more of Sulli and Krystal’s song rather than F(x). Also, dear SME, I beg you, do give F(x) more love and give them better songs and outfits. Don’t waste all your money only on EXO and SNSD (I do like them, but I also need some of the other SM artists, not just them) and FOR GOD’S SAKE, PLEASE STOP PUTTING F(X) IN BOXES SETS. From La Cha Ta to Chu to Pinocchio, Hot Summer till Electric Shock, they all dancing in boxes. They even debuted in boxes! Please at least make F(x) next video without boxes. You can spend huge bucks for EXO MVs as well as their DRAMA version, so why not spend a little bit of that money to keep F(x) outside boxes?

For you guys who still haven't see this music video, here's F(x)'s Rumpumpumpum.

MusicUtopia: Xiah Junsu - Incredible

Annyeong..

Who doesn't enjoy music? As for me, my favorite band is Linkin Park (and my favorite Linkin Park member is Mike Shinoda) and I also enjoyed a lot of K-POP songs. Since I lived in Asia, K-POP songs are easier to find compared to English songs, so if you are not Asians, do tell me whatever songs that is 'in' right now at your place. And speaking about Linkin Park, they will make a concert in Malaysia soon (in August 19) and the bad news is I CAN'T GO because:

• I just received the news so got no time to raise money for the event
• I would be still celebrating Raya with my friends

*rolling around in tears TT.TT*

So today I'm going to talk about this awesome song I've just heard. I'm sorry to Junsu's fans because I know that this song was probably released last week, but since I don't really listen to Junsu's song before this, so I just heard this song last night *running full speed to hide under the blanket from the wrath of Junsu's fans*. And I watch this song on YouTube just because it was included in Simon and Martina's K-POP Music Monday (they are SUPER AWESOME people from EatYourKimchi. Check out their website here) since I watch Simon and Martina often and they usually have a great review of a great song.

AND I WAS NOT DISAPPOINTED!!!

Dear Xiah Junsu, let me tell you that you have a new fan here. 'Incredible' is one of Junsu's new songs and this is a very great song (and a very great video). There are a lot K-POP videos that are picturing summer time, but none of them are attracting me like Incredible does. I have to say sorry to 2NE1's 'Falling in Love'. Although I like most of 2NE1's songs, but for some reason, Falling in Love is not one of them. I was just thinking that 2NE1 does not matching to Reggae song and the video looks so fake, in term of the beach scenes.

Incredible is a very catchy song, great for summer. I can't really speak or understand Korean, but by just hearing this song, I feel happy and want to dance. And watching this video, I can really see that everyone in the video, from Junsu to all the dancers, are all dancing HAPPILY, thoroughly enjoying themselves, unlike some videos that I-would-rather-not-say-the-title with summer setting, beaches and whatnot, but only the artists are happy, while the dancers are being a Grumpy Cat right behind the artist.

The only thing that I really want to complain is that rap sequence.. What exactly is a 'spaceship candy'? A spaceship carrying candies? For some reason I remembered Aqua's (Aqua is a Danish-Norwegian group from my childhood) 'Lollipop (Candy Man)'.

If you haven't check it out yet, here's Xiah Junsu 'Incredible'.