mermaidinstereo

[mermaidinstereo]

Kim Jonghyun, One Week Later

I had to ask my mother recently if it was weird to mourn celebrities. She said it wasn't, and that she still feels sorrow for Glenn Frey, almost a year to his death. I asked her if it was weird to feel strangely close to someone I've never met. That was met with a reaction of confusion. I asked her if it was weird that I wished I could have saved this celebrity who's passed on, that I'd never met before. That she found weird.

I guess it says a lot about the state of fandom nowadays, that the Internet really does draw us closer. K-Pop fandom outside of Korea (or Asia in general) thrives on it. Without it, there's no YouTube to see all their videos, there's no Instagram to follow all their cute snaps, there's no Twitter, LINE, or KakaoTalk to keep tabs on them, there's no Tumblr or Amino to meet other fans and connect.

It was through the Internet that I was able to hear the stories of Kim Jonghyun. It was hard for me to really listen to him when he hosted MBC's Blue Night radio program, since I don't speak Korean. Through translations made by dedicated fans, I was able to really understand his words. They were the stories that were not always clear in SHINee's lyrics (to be fair, it took a few years for SHINee to actually use lyrics he wrote). Stories about his love life, or lack thereof. His mother and sister, who he was impossibly close to. His love of music, but disappointment with the industry. His adorable dachshund, Roo, who was like a daughter to him. But the ones that struck me, more than anything, were his odes to mental health.

Like Chester Bennington before him, Jonghyun never made a secret of his depression. If anything, Blue Night was the perfect venue for him to discuss it. Blue Night felt like a release for him, like a diary, that millions around the world were listening to. But perhaps he felt secure with us, like we have felt with him. It felt like he was telling us secrets that could only be entrusted to close friends. It felt nice, for a lot of us, knowing that someone felt the same ways we did. By speaking up about it, Jonghyun validated us, and we could not be more thankful.

It's because of that, is the reason why the loss of Jonghyun is so devastating. Because he felt like that close friend who entrusted you with everything--and even then, felt like something of a confidant in himself--it's the same feeling as losing that friend. It's more than just losing a talented artist, singer, songwriter, composer, novelist, radio show host, dancer. For SHINee fans like myself, who were helped immensely by SHINee when going through tough times, it's like something was ripped away from inside us, even if we had never met him.

It's even more painful knowing that he decided, in the end, to remove himself from this world. Like I said, SHINee has been a source of light for many K-Pop fans, and now it feels like that light has dimmed, or gone out entirely. In my experience, I've been made happier with SHINee, during the past four or five years I've spent with them. So many fans have almost taken their own lives as well, but even used SHINee as a reason to press forward. Now, for some, it seems hopeless.

For me, too, the day I learned of his passing, it was like there was a heavy weight pressing over me all day. I couldn't function during my day job, just remembering and remembering, but hoping it would be a hoax in the end. A week later, here I am, still writing an obituary, months after I had written one about Chester Bennington, who had also taken his own life in July. He's still gone. There's been a funeral. The tributes have been made. I saw SHINee members in states I wish I had not seen. The reality has slowly set in--my friend, who I have never met, is gone.

I mentioned on Twitter that, the night before he passed, I wanted to die as well. But I remembered that there are people on this planet who still depend on me and want me here. Even my mom tells me my sister wouldn't know what to do without me, so I stay mostly for her. (Also, I can't apologize enough if I alarmed anyone by saying that.) There's a tiny little evil voice in my head that tells me that's not true. But part of dealing with mental illness is learning to silence that voice. It's harder to control for some people. In the case of Jonghyun, perhaps he felt that death was the only thing he could take control over anymore. That's not impossible. That's how many people decide to die, simply because of a lack of control over their own lives, except that one aspect. I think he really tried to stay afloat, for the sake of his family, his friends, and his members. But one can only take so much.

I'd like to think I've done my crying. I spent a week mourning him, only yesterday did I manage to not shed any tears since Monday (even Friday, which was the beginning of my personal issue). Now I wish to celebrate him. I remember him not for how he died, but for what he did when he was alive: the art he created, the stories he shared, the love he gave, and the friend we had in him--even if we had never met him.

Thank you, Kim Jonghyun. You did well.

#shinee #jonghyun #kim jonghyun #kpop #mermaid speaks her mind #dammit i cant write another obituary

[mermaidinstereo]

Mermaid Speaks Her Mind: The Sun Will Set For You

For my entire life, I found refuge in singing. It was always something I could use as an emotional release, regardless of whether I was any good or not (fact: ten years of choir and three years of voice lessons does not exactly make you a great vocalist, especially if you don't put the practice in). Perhaps it was just the soothing sensation of the vibration in my throat that eased my aching mind (like my first trip to Epcot, where humming Avicii's "Wake Me Up" through the Japan pavilion helped me calm down after temporarily losing my debit card before dinner) Perhaps it was just knowing what I was saying and knowing someone else had written those words, knowing what I was going through, because someone else understood.

When I was about thirteen I discovered Linkin Park. Like, really discovered them. I knew of them in my final years of elementary school, but I don't think they were really my thing at the time. I'd actually discovered Evanescence prior, so I lurked all the music channels looking for them to see if they were on. In the process, Linkin Park popped up. Fuse (back when they were, like, a music channel) aired half-hour marathons of all their music videos. So I would just sit upstairs in my parents' room, while they weren't home, and watch. Eventually, I'd know all the words to those songs, and sing them, all alone, where no one (except maybe my sister) could hear me.

It's the genesis of many a singer, somewhere maybe then they branch out and perform at local clubs and bars, or maybe pop up on YouTube (like that shitty Jem "remake"), then get discovered, and it all goes downhill from there. Perhaps the same could be said for Chester Bennington. Bennington played in bands from the early 90s, leading up to a fateful audition for a band then called Xero. That band would eventually sign with Warner Bros. Records under the name Linkin Park.

For years, Linkin Park would endure jokes and memes regarding their lyrical content. "Crawling" was always used to mock teenage "misfits" and "edgy" kids. But those kids gravitated toward the band because they seemed to get it. Not once did they say, "hey, whatever you're feeling isn't real, so just get over it!" Instead, they said "we know what you're dealing with, and it's okay to not be okay. You're not alone."

It was Bennington who knew that all too well. As a survivor of the classic childhood trauma cocktail--parental divorce, drugs and alcohol, sexual abuse, bullying--he understood perfectly that so many people went through the same things he did. He could've gone through more extreme means of dealing with his anguish, very early on. Instead, he turned to art, and through that, found an entire audience of people who understood him as well.

The mocking comes from a culture that has always devalued or dismissed mental illness as a cry for attention, or as an excuse, or just a joke. It continues now, even in this new PC age where we're a bit more understanding of what it is to be mentally ill. Even in fandom culture, where the "moody" or "edgy"-looking characters are characterized by those lyrics to "Crawling." It's dehumanizing to those who suffer from it, to demean them to nothing more than a meme.

Linkin Park were never a group to make the same album twice. The 2001 nu-metal staple Hybrid Theory provided the base for what they would continue to develop, leading up to their last album, this year's experimental One More Light. One thing that evolved with it was Bennington (and rapper Mike Shinoda)'s lyricism, which became slightly more abstract (but still easy to interpret), and in some cases, gentler. Two contrasting examples: Theory's "One Step Closer" includes the infamous "shut up when I'm talking to you" shriek that launched a billion memes, but the titular track from Light reaches out a hand to someone on the brink of self-destruction: "if they say/who cares if one more light goes out/in a sky of a million stars? ... well, I do." Basically saying, "if no one else, I am here for you." Bennington always conveyed exactly what he was trying to say through his unique vocal tone: you always know when he's angry, or when he's grieving, or optimistic, or comforting. 

But one constant remained: they always wrote from the heart, in hopes that someone else was listening, that maybe could be saved, even if just for one more day. Because of that, people are alive today. Not just because of a band. But because someone else out there reminded them that they're not alone. And sometimes, that alone is enough.

The reactions in the wake of his death speak volumes on the impact that he had on people around the world. The millions and billions of reactions  on the internet from literally everyone demonstrate just how Chester affected their lives in some way. Maybe he was a collaborator (such as with System of a Down's Daron Malakian, or "Heavy" collaborator Kiiara) who left a lasting impression. Everyone from Rihanna to Jimmy Kimmel to WWE's Bayley to Ohio governor John Kasich left their tributes (Kimmel's show band even played all LP songs on the night of his death). Even if you weren't following them closely like I was in my early teens, you were affected by them in some way. For me, it felt like hearing about the death of an old childhood friend I’d lost contact with before it was too late. But it seems like so many others feel the same way. Which is exactly what Linkin Park have been about for so long.

So the question comes up again, who cares if one more light goes out? Well, we do. Thank you for everything.

Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK Crisis Text Line: Text HELLO to 741741 or message facebook.com/crisistextline (free service, great if you have phone anxiety) Outside the United States: http://suicide.org/international-suicide-hotlines.html

#mermaid speaks her mind #linkin park #chester bennington #dear god i never thought i would have to write this

[mermaidinstereo]

tikxy replied to your post “Mermaid Speaks Her Mind: SM, WTF???”

f(x) had concerts throughout 2016...

I guess I meant release-wise. I’ll edit it to include this, thank you.

#tikxy

[mermaidinstereo]

Mermaid Speaks Her Mind: SM, WTF???

This is a question I’ve been asking for years now, but even more so lately. We all know that there is no perfect K-Pop music company. We all know they’re corrupt in some way or another. But then you have SM, who are so dumb Red Velvet made a song about it. (Not really, I just really like “Dumb Dumb.”) With that said, here are my gripes with SM for the week.

1. Suddenly, EXO So immediately after Red Velvet drops THE song of the summer--not to mention one of the best singles of their career--SM decides RV’s promo period has already ended, so they drop EXO teasers. SM has made it clear that if they’re going to promote a girl group, it’s going to be Red Velvet (since SNSD are now cougars by fanboy standards, and I’ll get into f(x) in a minute). So why cut that short in favor of EXO? Oh, yeah...it’s EXO. Listen, SM. Don’t worry about EXO ever becoming irrelevant. They’re a boy group, they’ll be fine, especially if Sechs Kies and Shinhwa are any indication. Feed your girl groups well, because your fanboys won’t for very long. Even more disappointing? The fresh, exciting new sound of “Red Flavor” will likely be overshadowed by what I’m expecting to be more tired tropical house in EXO’s “Ko Ko Bop.” That’s what all of the album teasers have sounded like so far, and given the way their EX’ACT album went, I don’t see much changing.

2. f(1) Yes. I get it. f(x) as a whole group hasn’t been heard from since last year’s string of solo concerts (which feel so long ago to me that I, admittedly, had forgotten they happened. Also because I am an idiot). I know. And I firmly believe Sulli killed the group by leaving (no Top Visual Sulli = no fanboys = no sales). But what is the point in sending Luna to the SMTOWN concerts on her own? How hard is it to bring together a group you have under contract and say “Hey, get your asses to Tokyo right now or no more CFs for you?” Because Krystal is phoning it in at this point? Because Victoria and Amber can’t bear to leave a country that cares about them? Just say it: Red Velvet is replacing them. At least YG was transparent.

3. Station to Station I’m gonna come out and say it. SM’s idea to bring in more international acts for their STATION program is an awful idea. It’s not bringing them anything. SM fans don’t care about American jazz quartets or indie singer-songwriters. SM fans’ biggest investment is in their oppas and noonas. So that’s why a lot of non-SM artists don’t really log sales on STATION like SM’s in-house talent does. To date, Xiumin and Mark’s “Young and Free” track boasts nearly 50,000+ sales after about a week. Compare that to Astrid Holiday’s “New Beginning”....I can’t find anything on it. In all fairness to Ms. Holiday (btw, give that one a listen, it really is a gem), SM is not the best place for her to promote, since, like I said, SM’s fans are more invested in their in-house talent, any anything else is crap. So from a marketing standpoint, it doesn’t work, and it’s a waste of money for both parties. (This also says a lot about some western K-Pop fans, too, who treat anything not Korean as less than. Which is funny, because...yeah.)

4. Station to (Same) Station Nearly a week after Mark and Xiumin dropped “Young and Free,” SM sees it fit to put him back in the studio with Parc Jae Jung for “Lemonade Love,” which would be the NCT rapper’s second STATION track in a row. Just. Let the kid rest. And give someone else a chance. And by “someone” I mean a SHINee member that’s not Taemin, Jonghyun, or Onew, or maybe drop that track Yunho performed at SMTOWN in Seoul last week?

#sm entertainment #smtown #mermaid speaks her mind #y'all kpop fans are a trip

[mermaidinstereo]

Programming note

Hey. So.

Music Video Monday is now Music Video Minute because I can’t commit to Mondays.

Happy 4th!

[mermaidinstereo]

Music Video Monday (Wednesday): Plain White T’s - “Land of the Living”

(Or, Alex's First Disney World Celebrity Encounter)

So...this is a week late and I’m sorry. Life comes at you fast, I guess.

If either A) you're not a Warped Tour veteran or B) haven't attended an Epcot festival over the past year or so, the Plain White T's have probably understandably fallen off your radar. They have yet to mimic the success of their megahit "Hey There Delilah," even as sweet as subsequent singles "1, 2, 3, 4" and "Rhythm of Love" were. "Delilah" shifted the T's from the early pop-punk sound that made them Warped Tour faves as they explored the Wonderful World of Adult Top 40. "Delilah"'s successors, similarly, followed suit, while unable to reach the lofty heights "Delilah" did, atop what I can only assume was her 15th floor studio apartment in New York City.

Struggling to find a niche for themselves amidst Hollywood labelmates as Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato, the T's rightfully bid their Disney-owned label farewell in search of a new chapter. They say you can't go home again, but that's exactly what they did, returning to former label, Fearless Records, the one who gave the T's a platform in the first place.

"Land of the Living" marks their first single release upon their return to Fearless. The quintet have officially come full circle as Top 40 vets in a relatively short amount of time, returning to their home label. They return with new experiences and sounds to draw from under their belts. For "Living," it errs a bit more toward the T's pop-punk roots than some of their bigger recent hits. Back in my Songs of the Week post from this past weekend, I compared it to some kind of cross between the Beach Boys and Bloc Party. I still stand by that. Is it as groundbreaking as anything Brian Wilson or Kele Okereke have given us? Nah. Is it still enjoyable? Yes. After all, these guys know their way around a good pop song, as the past couple of years have shown. Also, try getting that guitar riff out of your head.

I had the pleasure of hearing the T's perform this song twice while I caught them at the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival this year. Funny story: I'd watched Simple Plan there just two nights before with friends and when I got up to get some water, I swore, for a second, I locked eyes with singer Tom Higgenson along the World Showcase promenade. At first I brushed it off, remembering that I went to high school with a dude that looked -just- like him. But after Simple Plan finished their last set of the festival and broke down all their equipment--and as I am telling my friend and her mother who I thought I saw--there he is, chatting up a group of girls behind us. Not only that, but there's a small group of his bandmates (I distinctly remember seeing guitarist/sometimes-singer Tim Lopez and drummer De'Mar Hamilton among them) directly to my left. So, confirmed: it was Tom that I locked eyes with on the promenade. I just didn't want to be that person to stop him like that. One, because I'm not as outgoing as the internet makes me seem, and two, I just thought it'd be rude. 

We would return two days later to watch their final two sets of Flower and Garden. During that first set we watched, one girl walked out of the amphitheater for whatever reason, which Higgenson playfully(?) called her out on, saying, "Bye...you're gonna miss the song you came for." (Referring to "Delilah," obviously). During the second, Higgenson brought out his little son Lennon to dance around on stage and be generally adorable (don't believe me? Watch him be precious in the video for "American Nights"). Later I saw him take a pair of Winnie the Pooh ears from two girls in front of the stage, and when he tried to return them after the set, they told him to keep them. They said they've been asked by Disney to return for this year's Epcot Food and Wine Festival (which I missed out on last year due to Hurricane Matthew), but if they're making their way back here again, I'd be happy to catch them, because they're some of the coolest dudes in rock right now. (Speaking from experience.)

Enough about me, let's check out that video.

Directed by Melanie D'Andrea (who won the T's contest with Project Greenlight for a chance to helm the video), "Living" explores the Brand New World of Virtual Reality in ways that haven't been tapped on in music videos lately. It's somehow the one trend that hasn't been omnipresent in the pop music video pantheon, yet this video executes it without trying to look desperately trendy (that said, I'd call it about as timeless as Wreck-It Ralph). As elderly folk go through the motions in what appears to be some kind of hospital or retirement home, they are given VR goggles in an attempt to live out their fantasies. This, much like the pills they're given, seems eerily routine (and almost dystopian?) as the orderlies distribute goggles. Among these fantasies:

dancer!

~Golden Drag~ 

Be the Band--that is, the Plain White T's, specifically.

This is the frame I find the most fascinating. As this man's goggles start to malfunction, his drag queen fantasy starts yelling the line, "but I wouldn't push your luck" before the goggles stop working altogether. It's a bit off-putting, as if to say, "never in a million years, bucko."

Clearly he's had enough, so he starts viciously unplugging everyone's goggles. The patients start freaking out, as the orderlies chase the man down the street...

...Where he meets a group of queens to help him live out his drag fantasy in real life.

No goggles required. Shantay, you stay.

The T's look on at our new queen friend, clearly enjoying herself and encouraging others to do the same. And her lip sync game is already better than a few that I saw this season, but in the interest of not igniting Stan Wars, I won't say who those were charlieandvalentina.

So now there's a big party with drag queens, old peeps, and T's. Our dancer fantasy is even getting in on the action:

This is the future liberals want.

And look, the orderlies are here too!

There's something to be said in this video about creating your own reality: instead of just living in fantasies and wishing on stars, being proactive and working toward making the dream a reality. Now that's the kind of all-inclusive party I'd like to go to, but with where I stand on the social ladder, I may need some VR goggles myself to experience that. (Please invite me to your parties. I'll gladly bring chips.)

#music video monday #plain white t's #land of the living #melanie d'andrea

[mermaidinstereo]

Songs of the Week: 6/12-6/18/17

Can I make this a weekly thing? Goddamnit, I’m gonna try to.

Selena Gomez, “Bad Liar” Never in a million years did I think that Selena Gomez would drop The Single to possibly change the course of Top 40 as we know it. She bucks nearly every single current trend on this Talking Heads-sampling earworm. It’s almost minimalist compared to the urban/EDM-leaning (and male-dominated) Top 40 at the moment. Gone are the overdone synths and bass drops. Instead, Gomez’s vocals do all the walking, layered over and over into a parfait of harmony, and nearly bassless percussion. It’s that “Psycho Killer” bassline that really does it for me. This girl’s been holding out on me.

Plain White T’s, “Land of the Living” These guys have been away for a while, and are on deck to be this week’s Music Video Monday feature (spoiler alert?). “Living” comes off...well, okay, we don’t have any album details yet, but if we get more of this modern-day Beach Boys-meets-Bloc Party realness, then I am totally game. (Also, these are some of the coolest dudes in rock music, period.)

Lorde, “Writer in the Dark” Coming off her piping-hot new LP Melodrama is this minimalist piano-driven ballad that really reveals what this girl can do with her voice. There is a versatility and skill here that I wish I had known about before I passed on her debut. And I feel bad. I am sorry, Lorde. That was my mistake. Are we cool now? Because this makes me feel All The Things.

Gorillaz ft. Grace Jones, “Charger” Filed under “Things I Didn’t Know I Wanted Until They Happened,” this standout track from Gorillaz’ most recent effort, Humanz. I love the contrast of Damon Albarn’s whispery moan against the fiery shout of the goddess Grace Jones. GRACE JONES! This song is about as electric as the title suggests. Hooooly crap.

The Killers, “The Man” My friend described this to me as “disco western,” which is possibly the most apt description of The Killers’ music I’ve ever heard. It’s the first single off their upcoming fifth LP Wonderful Wonderful, the band’s first in five years. The rhythm section churns out this borderline Bee Gees groove while frontman Brandon Flowers offers an almost goofy croon that really just...works. Also I swear there’s the teeniest homage to David Bowie’s “Fame” in there (you’ll know it when you hear it). It’s not a song to be taken seriously, but at the same time, it totally is. But I gotta know: when he’s singing about “USDA certified lean” what could he be....oh. Yeah, nevermind. I get it. Yeah, thanks.

What do you think I should check out for next week? Shoot me a message and give me some recs. Or you can complain about this week’s picks if you want.

#songs of the week #gorillaz #selena gomez #the killers #plain white t's #lorde #shocker: no kpop this week? #let's be real i've been listening to gugudan's wonderland for two straight months

[mermaidinstereo]

Music Video Monday: G-Dragon’s “Untitled, 2014″

Amid a mass of chaotic headlines surrounding BIGBANG’s members over the past few weeks, let’s take a minute to focus on the positives. 1. Kang Daesung exists. 2. G-Dragon just came back with his second solo EP, Kwon Ji Yong. It’s his first solo release since 2013′s risk-taking Coup D’Etat, and his first EP since 2012′s iconic One of a Kind EP. It’s an important time for the K-Pop superstar. BIGBANG celebrated 10 years together last year, a unique feat for any group these days, especially one that can maintain its original lineup for that entire period. (Also this may or may not be his last release before his mandatory military enlistment, but I think I said something like that three times about JYJ’s Junsu, so I guess your mileage may vary.)

This release comes to us after bandmate T.O.P.’s marijuana scandal, and even closer to his subsequent sedative overdose in early June (as of press time, he is conscious and receiving treatment--and this writer could not be more relieved). As a result, YG pulled all promotion for the EP (much to the dismay of patient VIPs who longed for their boys’ return to the music show stages), and the original title song “Bullshit” was swapped for the plaintive ballad “Untitled, 2014.”

With GD, you have to learn to expect the unexpected, whether it’s the sleek boyband vibe of “Heartbreaker,” or the brightly-colored edge of “Crayon,” or the disturbing decay (and rebirth) of “Coup D’Etat.” “Untitled, 2014″ is no exception. Instead of the brash, firebreathing MC we’ve become used to, we meet a G-Dragon--or perhaps this is Kwon Ji Yong himself--in a subdued state. Singing alone amidst color-changing backdrops, it might be easy to recall his bandmate Taeyang’s 2014 megahit “Eyes, Nose, Lips,” but he puts a uniquely GD twist on it, because of course he does. It’s the kind of song that makes you ask, “Who hurt you?” And with what he’s actually saying, you really have to wonder:

It might be easier to die Than to receive your forgiveness I’m singing this song But I don’t know if my true feelings will reach you 

“Untitled, 2014,” as with nearly any G-Dragon release, is one that catches you off-guard, but in a refreshingly sobering way. No wonder he used his birth name for the title of his EP--maybe this is his way of introducing us to Kwon Ji Yong.

#kpop #bigbang #gdragon #kwon ji yong #untitled 2014 #music video monday

[mermaidinstereo]

Mermaid Speaks Her Mind: Let’s All Quit Kissing BTS’ Asses Already

Any ARMYs here?

That's a question that's become something of a meme amongst K-Pop fans on the internet. It stems from the phenomenon of BTS stans completely derailing the comments section on nearly any YouTube video, even if it's not even remotely related to the group. Even if you just comment on a YouTube video, saying anything at all, with BTS referred to in your username or icon, expect to have about a billion replies in your notification box screaming about Jimin's jams, or lack thereof.

It's part of the phenomenon that has risen around BTS--or Bangtan Sonyeondan, or Bulletproof Boy Scouts, or whatever it is you may call them. In just four years, the septet have risen from a group of nugus on a no-name label to one of the biggest names in K-Pop. That is, if you ask their fans.

Sure, there's a lot that BTS can be proud of. Their second full album Wings holds the record for the highest chart peak for a K-Pop album on the Billboard 200. They're the only K-Pop group to ever win a Billboard Music Award. They're the incumbent winner for Mnet's Asian Music Award for Artist of the Year. They even ranked at #5 on Forbes Korea's Power Celebrity List, which isn't bad for a group of dudes averaging around 22 years old. Their international fanbase is one that many groups can only dream of (and takes up a rather large portion of western K-Pop fans). There is no undermining the fact that they've made great strides in such a short amount of time.

But for one second, can we stop acting like BTS invented the very concept of K-Pop as we know it? Can we stop pretending that the 2008-2011 era of peak Hallyu never existed? Can we stop acting like BTS were responsible for bringing K-Pop to the forefront in the west? Please?

We seem to forget BTS' forefathers (and mothers) in hallyu. The roots of K-Ppo can be traced back to traditional Korean trot music of the early 20th century. K-Pop as we know it started to take shape in the early 1990s as groups like H.O.T., g.o.d., S.E.S., and Baby VOX rose to prominence. K-Pop, and  hallyu in general, began to make its presence known in the west in the early 2010s. Around that time, Girls' Generation, Super Junior, and SHINee began going viral for their stylish videos, catchy hooks, and breathtaking choreography. The wave moved even further as groups began doing one-off shows in New York and L.A., and in 2011, S.M. Entertainment held its first SM Town Live concert at Madison Square Garden. From there, groups began scheduling regular tour dates in the States, and in 2012, Los Angeles hosted the inaugural KCON, a convention dedicated to all things hallyu. (BTS themselves would be guests of the convention two years later.)

Since charts seem to be super important to Stan Culture, I'll lay some knowledge down on that, too. BoA actually holds the record for being the first K-Pop artist to chart on the Billboard 200 with her self-titled English debut, but BIGBANG's Alive EP is the first album to chart on the Billboard 200 that's actually fully in Korean. Before BTS, 2NE1 held the title for the highest Billboard 200 peak, for 2014's Crush. As far as Korean charts go, they still can't hold a candle to first-generation groups like H.O.T., Seo Taiji and Boys, and Shinhwa (who are still around today!).

And don't even try to tell me that BTS were the first group to try to crack the Western market. Many groups have tried, with, admittedly, not a great deal of success. BoA's aforementioned self-titled US debut never seemed to make it out of the lower reaches of the Billboard 200. Girls' Generation's US debut bombed as well, unheard of for a group touted as The Nation's Girl Group. The Wonder Girls' stints with the English-speaking market didn't really stick either--from a touring stint with the Jonas Brothers, to a made-for-TV movie on Nickelodeon, to an actual English-language single featuring Akon. It greatly affected the Wonder Girls' presence in Korea, which may have been a factor in their disbandment. Something similar could be said for 2NE1, who got locked in the basement laid low after Park Bom's drug smuggling scandal. As 2NE1 lay in wait, CL sprung for the US of A in search of her big break as a soloist. Even under the wing of Justin Bieber/Ariana Grande impresario Scooter Braun, and despite collabs with Skrillex, Diplo, and Lil Yachty, she still hasn’t quite made it. But hey, she got James Corden dancing at least.

Sure, PSY was successful, but only in the way that he's perceived by Americans as a novelty. We don't get him the way Koreans do (FYI--"Gangnam Style" was a satire, and a damn brilliant one at that). Plus, the fat old Asian man doing the silly dance is no threat to the vaguely attractive young white boys on the charts already. We enjoyed PSY for what we thought him to be. Can a foreign language song top American charts? If "Despacito" is any proof, it probably helps if a white guy is singing. (And that’s a remix! I didn’t even know that there was a version without Bieber, which says a lot, I think.) Zayn might be the most high-profile Asian pop star we have now (he’s half Pakistani, which is still Asian, y’all), but I’m thinking there’s a reason why he’s not up there with Bieber and Shawn Mendes. Hmm.

“But their YouTube views!” This is only something western fans seem to care about. Every year there’s some fandom trying to get their artist to break the record for the most-viewed video on YouTube. YouTube views are only a small factor into what charts on the Billboard Hot 100, and I don’t believe it plays a part in the Gaon or Hanteo charts at all. Sure, PSY holds the record for the most-viewed video of all time, but again, we don’t treat him like the serious pop star that he is. The truth is that it’s really just western fans who put stock in YouTube views. It’s really not as big a deal in the Korean industry. It’s not extremely detrimental, but I wouldn’t really call it significantly helpful either. Let’s take my girl Christina Aguilera for example. Her music video views pale in comparison to most current artists like Ariana Grande. But it’s Xtina who Ariana considers one of her biggest influences, and not just Ariana, but many of her contemporaries as well. In fact, most girls who can sing (and a lot who think they can) consider her an influence, as well as Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, who made their mark in a time before YouTube existed. (Also, YouTube views are easily manipulated by auto-refreshers, so I really couldn’t call that a good indicator of success, with a good conscience.)

While BTS are an extremely hardworking group of good dudes who have a lot of accomplishments to be proud of, gassing them up like a lot of stans tend to do erases the work of the first and second-generation acts that paved the way for them. Remember that you can be a "stan" and still be objective. I'm reminded of a quote by Key of SHINee: "My goal is not to be 'the best,' it's to be someone that I'm not ashamed to be." Your fave doesn't have to be the best. Who cares? At the end of the day they're your fave for a reason. They probably saved your life. That's what matters, right there. If charts and sales figures are what attract an artist to you, then I can safely assume you may be in it for the wrong reasons and will probably bounce once they stop racking up Perfect All-Kills or Billboard No. 1s.

That said, if one more person tries to tell me something BTS apparently invented, I might have to write another angry blog about it. Until then, I guess I’ll just keep stanning flops.

#mermaid speaks her mind #bts #kpop #oh my god i'm going to get roasted #not even roasted #more like straight up flame broiled whopper

[mermaidinstereo]

Programming note

Just so you know, Mermaid in Stereo is now on Twitter, so you can take me and read me wherever you go. That is, when you’re not playing Disney Tsum Tsum.

Oh, wait, that’s me. Whoops.

[mermaidinstereo]

LIST: 10 of My Favorite Dark Music Videos

What you probably couldn't tell from my ongoing Christina Aguilera project is that I love dark shit. No, you probably won't find me at the local goth club nights (in suburban Florida, we don't have those), or crying to Sisters of Mercy, or blowing an entire week's paycheck at M.A.C. just for eyeliner (because ya girl is broke). Still, I enjoy a good vampire flick (and a lot of bad ones), prefer to rock a good dark lip, and one time blew $50 at Hot Topic on a coat that makes me feel like a tragic Edgar Allan Poe heroine. I guess you could say I'm barely a low-budget goth, but that's okay. That's just my vibe, I guess.

So today, I thought I'd count down 10 of my favorite music videos, that are all at once super totally goth and not at all. In no particular order, of course. (Because of Tumblr’s rules, I can’t embed more than five videos at once. So I’ll link to the bottom five, and embed the top five.)

10. "Mine" - Kim Jae Joong If the former TVXQ member was looking to make a name for himself, other than being just a K-pop prettyboy, well, he did it right. He was already a bankable actor, racking up views on both the big and small screens. And even after departing from TVXQ, with fellow ex-members Park Yoochun and Kim Junsu, formed the group JYJ, also successful in their own right. However, Jaejoong was not content with staying the course of K-pop typicality. In response, Jaejoong tapped into his inner rocker, unleashing "Mine," off his first solo mini album I. In this video, he runs through dark forests, plays with snakes, and struggles to break free from a wall, before appearing at the end of the video as a vampire that looks straight out of a J-rock band. One can only argue that this is Jaejoong's final form. Or is it?

9. "Hyde" - VIXX While VIXX started playing with darkness in "On and On," it was "Hyde" where they really hit their stride. Telling the story of a man struggling with a Jekyll-and-Hyde-esque duality in a relationship, images of the band's six members are juxtaposed--wearing white as cute, loving, boyfriend material, and black as horrifying, nightmarish, even abusive monsters. I gotta give an award to Leo for looking a little too into it when he strangles his lovely lady, shortly before black angel wings burst from his back. Dude is scary. And so is the setting of this video! It appears to be a vaguely decrepit mansion crawling with macabre decor...and some classic creepy crawlies. It's no wonder VIXX are pegged for K-pop's go-to goths. (For more creepy craziness from VIXX, there are a lot of videos to choose from, but perhaps nothing is more terrifying than “Voodoo Doll,” a video so gory it was banned from TV! Don’t worry, though--there is a clean version.)

8. "Election Day" - Arcadia When Duran Duran temporarily split in 1985, they birthed two side projects. On one side, the pop-friendly Power Station, led by powerhouse vocalist Robert Palmer, along with drummer Tony Thompson of Chic, and Duran's own John and Andy Taylor. Then there was Arcadia, the artsier goth-influenced group, comprised of Nick Rhodes, Simon Le Bon, and for a short period, Roger Taylor. In this video, Le Bon just looks like he got a nice dark dye job, but it's Nick Rhodes who got the full goth makeover, because of course Nick Rhodes did. I'm not exactly sure what's even happening in this video--leave that to anything Simon Le Bon did in the 80s--but the image of Nick Rhodes dancing around with a candelabra is pretty goth, if I do say so myself. Also, it's just a damn good song. And album.

7. "Married to the Music" - SHINee As K-pop acts go, SHINee have not always been the group that goes with the flow. Instead of ripping off T-shirts in music videos, they play with unusual concepts, sometimes freaky ones. Among those was 2015's "Married to the Music." While not exactly elegant, "Married" boasted a quirky, camp-horror concept, inspired equally by Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Michael Jackson's "Thriller." In the video, the five members visit a wacky house party in which, throughout the night, they find themselves having various body parts removed in bizarre methods. Key gets his head hacked off while spinning on a giant roulette wheel. Taemin's eyes pop out when he gets smacked in the back of the head by a baseball bat. A phantom hand in the sink rips off Onew's nose. Jonghyun's mouth comes off after some kind of kiss of death. Then, Minho's entire body is sacrificed in a birthday cake incident gone wrong. All this culminates at the end, where our mystery woman uses the discarded parts to build the perfect FrankenSHINee. Like Mary Shelley, but with more BB cream and an Off the Wall beat.

6. "Beast and the Harlot" - Avenged Sevenfold Unlike SHINee, A7X have always toyed with the darkness, but in a similar manner, do it their own way. This cut from 2005's City of Evil is actually a track describing the fall of Babylon, in incredible detail. The video, however, tells of a Faustian tale, through a lens of rock 'n roll excess. A visually striking video, and I'm not just talking about Zacky Vengeance's eyeshadow. Careful what y'all are getting into when signing contracts, guys.

5. "Call Me When You're Sober" - Evanescence I could list nearly any Evanescence video, really. In fact, I kind of owe a lot to Evanescence, since they kind of helped me discover my artistic identity a bit. That said, I picked this cut from 2006's The Open Door. In it, Amy plays Red Riding Hood, on a pretty bad date with the Big Bad Wolf, played by dashing British actor Oliver Goodwill. He cuddles up to the plaid-clad Amy, who is clearly uncomfortable with his advances. Somewhere there is an awesome scene with Amy surrounded by black-clad dancers as they float above the ground, and this is honestly the coolest thing I've seen in an Evanescence video (though, truthfully, "Good Enough" was pretty cool, too). But nothing tops Amy walking toward her douchey wolf--across the table, as dining utensils go flying off the table. Very Once Upon a Time. Regina would be proud.

4. "Out of My Mind" - Duran Duran

This is an obscure cut from their 1997 album Medazzaland, a period in which the beloved New Romantics got suuuuuper experimental. It's hard to find this video in HD on YouTube, so you kinda take what you get. The then-trio of Rhodes/Le Bon/Warren Cuccurullo traipse around a creepy house, are sometimes ghosts haunting a library, or sometimes--in the case of Rhodes--are Rococo gothic drag queens. Also, Simon rocks a choker at some point. Totes 90s. Also, the setting and cinematography recall Marilyn Manson's "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)." Hey, wasn't that by an 80s band, too?

3. "Frozen" - Madonna

I was maybe around seven or eight when Ray of Light was released. Maybe. But I vividly remember seeing this video on VH1 when my mom left it on. I was freaked out by it at the time, but of course, I was a child, of course I would be. A solitary, black-clad Madge dances around a barren wasteland, cuddling nothing but her flowing gown as ravens surround her. I think she was playing with Indian motifs at the time, considering her hand gestures and tattoos (also, Ray of Light boasted "Shanti/Ashtangi," never forget). This was probably the beginning of the Kabbalah thing, too, but it wasn't quite as big a story as it would become years later.

2. "Within Me" - Lacuna Coil

I'd be betraying myself if I didn't include a Lacuna Coil video in all this, another group that, with Evanescence, led me down an aesthetically dark path. A mellower cut from 2006's Karmacode has vocalists Andrea Ferro and Cristina Scabbia at odds, with Andrea sitting lonely in some kind of elaborate chair or throne, as Cristina crawls the desert, producing these creepy black tendrils for some reason. It's just a pretty video and song.

1. "Sayonara Hitori" - Taemin

For his first Japanese solo single, SHINee's Taemin pulled out all the stops. None of the cutesy image that was cultivated during SHINee's early period, instead, Taemin fully embraced his darkness, portraying several different characters. The first looks like he walked out of Inuyasha, dancing around a piano (no, I don't know why either) as blue flowers grow around him. The next scene finds him clad in the edgiest black garb possible as samurai spar behind him. Perhaps the most goth thing, however, is Taemin laying in a black coffin as very fabulous mourners lay blue flowers down. Not bad for a kid who somehow loses nearly everything he touches. Gotta keep it relatable. Of course, I subscribe to the belief that Taemin couldn’t have gothed it up without Jaejoong paving the way. 

Now, a few honorable mentions. Okay, a lot of honorable mentions:

Stone Temple Pilots, "Sour Girl"

Sunmi, "Full Moon"

4Minute, "Volume Up"

XIA, "Tarantallegra"

Rihanna, "Disturbia"

Taeyang, "I'll Be There"

Depeche Mode, "Walk in My Shoes"

30 Seconds to Mars, "The Kill"

Christina Aguilera, "Fighter" (I wanted to save this for the Xtina project, whenever I manage to get to this video)

Keane, "Disconnected"

FT Island, “Pray”

INFINITE, “Bad”

2NE1, “It Hurts (Slow)”

#kim jaejoong #shinee #taemin #evanescence #lacuna coil #avenged sevenfold #arcadia #madonna #vixx #duran duran #list

[mermaidinstereo]

Mermaid Speaks Her Mind: Living Fearlessly

Let’s just get this out of the way. This is probably going to be the 20th thinkpiece you read today about the devastating attacks at Manchester Arena on Monday night. Yeah, some of you probably find me opportunist by using this tragedy to write a blog post. But goddamnit, I’m going to write.

I could go into the specifics of Monday night’s attack. I could tell you what major news outlets have already discussed. I could tell you that yes, Ariana Grande is safe, but understandably shaken, and likely never to be the same again. But you’ve heard it before. So why write?

Because there’s so much more to say, and I feel an overwhelming need to say it.

Let’s begin by remembering why anyone was there in the first place. Those kids were there to see their idol perform and have an amazing story to tell their classmates the next day. The parents were there to make sure their kids were safe. And Ariana, she was there just to perform. That's a girl who only wants to sing. Ariana was there to bring joy to these kids and that is exactly what she did. An act of heartless cowardice ripped that joy away from everyone that night. Ariana had nothing to apologize for, yet still, she tweeted:

"broken. from the bottom of my heart, i am so so sorry. i don't have words."

To be honest, though, who could blame her? In that kind of situation, you can't help but feel some kind of guilt. You want to be able to help, but you just can't. Maybe you're physically unable, or even emotionally. Nobody was prepared for a nail gun to detonate in the foyer of Manchester Arena as people were filing out after Ariana's concert finished. Things suddenly take a turn for the worst, nobody's prepared, and all anyone can say is "sorry." Yes, you can tweet her all you want and tell her it's not her fault. And it's not. But what else can she say?

The situation is a very fearful one right now. The city of Manchester is still in a kind of chaos, even after the streets have cleared. It's understandable. But life will go on as usual in Manchester, just as it did in Paris, in Orlando, in New York City.

Why? Because living is an act of fearlessness in itself. The whole point of terror is just that, terror. To scare you into hiding. It's a form of control. They scare you into never wanting to go to concerts, or movies, or the mall, or the grocery store, or out of your house in general, because you never know where or when the next big attack is gonna be, and whether or not you may be involved. So now they have control over you. Pressing on in the face of adversity is the biggest middle finger you could possibly give, because they don't want to see you happy, or prosperous.

I live an hour away from Orlando, and woke up two days in a row to news of violence in the city. The first was the murder of Christina Grimmie at the Plaza Live, blocks away from where I would have seen Brandon Flowers at The Beacham, had he not cancelled. For a minute I thought, had that show still happened, could that have been me and my friends? I haven't been to a show since Lady Gaga in Ft. Lauderdale in 2014. Of course, it's not that I was intimidated into never going to shows again, it's just that the pickings in Orlando since the tragedy have been slim. I'm kind of wondering if there's a connection, but that's another blog for another day. 

Then just a day later (if that), the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, taking place just an hour away from my home, roughly 20 minutes away from Walt Disney World. For a brief time following the tragedy, attendance at the theme parks slipped. Again, there may have been a connection. How do I know this? I was at Epcot maybe a month or two after. Epcot was nearly barren. Still, people chose to continue with their family vacations, or with their passholder escapades, and live and enjoy themselves in the Most Magical Place on Earth. AKA, the most family-friendly way to say, "fuck you" in the face of terror.\

Another important thing to remember is that there will always be good people. In the midst of all the chaos that unfolded after the explosion, the people of Manchester opened their hearts and their doors for people who needed shelter. Some offered extra beds, sofas, phone chargers, tea, and most importantly, comfort. Already, the bad guys are outnumbered. That's what you have to look out for, because they are always there. This Mr. Rogers quote has been floating around in the hours since the attack: "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping." And if you can, be a helper. 

Hours after the Pulse attacks, people were lined up nine(!) hours at blood banks to donate blood. There are the helpers, right there. I was never more proud of the city of Orlando than I was in that moment. Today, Orlando thrives, just like it always has, through the love and the spirit of its people. When I saw the outpouring of love in Manchester on Monday night, that's what I was reminded of. And in that moment, I was reassured that humanity still exists, in spite of political or societal division.

In this day and age, living is the most fearless thing you can do. So go to that concert. Buy those tickets for that movie. Go out for drinks with your friends (but please don't drive drunk). Go grocery shopping. Write that novel. Or that blog post. (Okay, that was directed at me.) Never let fear control you. You have one life--live it fearlessly.

#mermaid speaks her mind #ariana grande #manchester #pulse #orlando #semi-music related post but i had to say things #regular programming will resume momentarily

[mermaidinstereo]

LIST: A Definitive-ish Ranking of One Direction Soloists

I was a Directioner. A bad one. Okay, maybe not that bad. While I didn’t subscribe to Larry Stylinson conspiracy theories, I do admit to going out of my way at Walmart to buy myself a tiny Liam Payne figurine. I even went as far as tagging all my Liam pics as “my sun and stars” on my personal Tumblr, which to this day, hasn’t been reappropriated to anyone else. I had posters. I went to see the movie (twice). I own the movie, still. I bought all the yearbook editions of albums (until after Midnight Memories, that was when I kinda dropped off).

But old habits die hard. Even after the five members of One Direction go their separate ways and begin their solo careers, of course, I am intrigued. Then again, I still listen to Top 40 radio so some of these guys are still inescapable. With the arrival of Liam Payne’s single last night, he completes the One Direction Soloist Pentagram, which means it’s time for me to inevitably rank them.

For the audio selections, if he has multiple songs to choose from, I simply chose my favorite, because this is my blog and what I say goes.

5. Liam Payne In One Direction, Payne always boasted the best vocal technique and laid down a stable vocal foundation on the lower end, while still sounding kind of unremarkable. Payne is a student of the School of Sinatra, as evidenced from his two(!) X Factor auditions. It's disappointing, then, to see Payne go for a painfully generic trap-influenced club track like "Strip That Down." The single has zero personality, very obviously pandering to the hip-hop leaning Top 40. Payne's always hung around the bottom of the 1D Popularity Pyramid, which I always thought disheartening considering his talent. But his debut solo effort reeks of desperation and white boy cringe. If there were anything memorable about the single (except that cringeworthy “I used to be in 1D” lyric), then maybe I could forgive him, but nothing is saving Payne here. I almost kind of want him to deliver a ballad that shows off his stable tone and technique, but until then, we're left with the so-called Walmart to Bieber's Chanel. (I can't believe I'm using that to describe Bieber.)

4. Louis Tomlinson

Let's be honest with ourselves. Louis Tomlinson has never been the shining star of One Direction. Not even close. Yeah, he was one-half of Larry Stylinson, the ship that launched a billion conspiracy theories (and apparently drove him apart from one-time bestie, Harry Styles). But, to put it bluntly, he's not exactly the most attractive member, or really the best singer. Perhaps his one-time collab with Steve Aoki, "Just Hold On," was a step in the right direction, as EDM takes a liking to less-polished voices like Tomlinson's. That said, could Tomlinson essentially become the next Matthew Koma, a sought-after EDM collaborator? Maybe, if he feels like it. It's not out of the realm of possibility for him to be Ryan Tedder-like figure either, seeing as he was always 1D's principal songwriter. Or, you know, he could always be an ITV presenter.

3. Niall Horan

As with Tomlinson, Horan boasted a remarkably unpolished voice, but it suits the kind of singer-songwriter acoustic style that he works with. Debut single "This Town" is a sleepy yet soothing acoustic ballad in the vein of his bestie Ed Sheeran, while second single "Slow Hands" has a bit more of a lo-fi pseudo-indie groove. Horan is still trying to prove his versatility, and he has it (if 1D was any indication). We have yet to get any details about an album from him, so will this spacing-out process help or hurt him? Fortunately for Horan, there's always room for white guys with acoustic guitars on the radio. He’s just gonna have to find a way to make himself more distinguishable.

2.  Harry Styles

The world waited with bated breath for 1D's most visible member to finally forge his own path as a soloist, yet somehow nobody expected teen heartthrob Styles to churn out a pure rock 'n roll album like his self-titled debut. With tunes ranging from swaggering lo-fi garage rock jams ("Kiwi"), grandiose Britpop ballads (lead single "Sign of the Times"), and harmony-rich middle-of-the-road rockers ("Ever Since New York"), Styles' debut took critics off-guard (you expected maybe Niall Horan?). If this is what Styles is giving us at the beginning, it's gonna be hard to top this.

1.  Zayn (Malik) The Artist Formerly Known as Zayn Malik, The Artist Formerly Known as Zain Malik. 1D's first to fly the coop claimed he'd take time on his first solo effort, even though he ended up releasing his debut album Mind of Mine nearly a year after his departure from the group. On Mine, Malik properly separated the artist Zayn from One Direction's Zayn Malik, laying his skillful voice over trippy R&B (lead single "Pillowtalk") and dance tracks ("Like I Would") over tracks in the vein of Frank Ocean and The Weeknd. Mine was the kind of music Malik wanted to make while he was in 1D, though the majority ruled to continue moving in a rock direction (which was apparently one of many reasons why Malik peaced out). With his newfound freedom, Malik kinda dropped off the promotional circuit, surfacing to release a Fifty Shades Darker track with Taylor Swift ("I Don't Wanna Live Forever"), and attend fancy red carpet events with main squeeze Gigi Hadid. The talent is there for Malik, but the motivation is not. To his credit, he has stated struggles with anxiety, so maybe this is the path that's best for Malik: working purely on his own terms, like he said he would. Now that's true freedom. In fact, it’s that spirit of freedom and experimentation that lands him squarely at the top of this list. 

So until the members return to the fold like they promised they would, they’re giving us a great variety of music to tide us over. What do you think? Whose albums are you most looking forward to? Or would you just rather pop in your One Direction: This Is Us: Ultimate Fan Edition Blu-ray and cry? (If so, it’s OK. I’ve been there. I get it.)

#one direction #harry styles #liam payne #zayn malik #zayn #niall horan #louis tomlinson #steve aoki #quavo #oh my god what happened to the formatting

[mermaidinstereo]

Programming note

The Christina Aguilera live blog project is postponed indefinitely. By that I mean I miiiiiiight come back to it soonish, but right now Real Life is catching up with me and also no one is reading the posts. So in the meantime I will be focusing on other content that isn't quite as time consuming. Plus, hooooly crap, all that screencapping? That's a lot of work. Stay tuned while I figure out where to go next...

[mermaidinstereo]

Alex’s Christina Aguilera Liveblogathon: “Come On Over Baby”

I’m not putting that whole title in there. I’m already pushing it.

Now, where were we? We're at the point, I think, where things start getting remotely interesting. Either that, or we won't come to that point until "Lady Marmalade" (and we gotta get through "Pero Mi Acuerdo de Ti" before that). But to be totally honest...this is possibly my favorite debut-era Xtina video. Even despite the skintight leather dresses and stickstraight hair of "I Turn to You," "Come On Over Baby (All I Want is You)" is the one that delivers Y2K aesthetic at its finest (shoutout to my fav blog y2k-aesthetic-institute for, like...existing). These styles are kind of ignored in fashion, probably because they haven't reached the point where they're cool enough to formally revive, like we've been doing with the 90s since maybe the early 2010s (seriously, when will we get tired of the 90s again?). But it had a look for sure: hyperfuturistic, hyperstylized, blobby shapes, bright and pastel colors, metallics...all because we thought this was the year we'd start getting those hoverboards. (We did only a decade later, but at what cost?)

A little bit of history on "Come on Over Baby" for you. The original version was simply called "Come on Over" and was decidedly less sexual than the single version. That original version still exists on Christina's self titled album, along with the original, pitched-down version of "What a Girl Wants." Midway through the single version she actually references "What a Girl Wants," but only because Cheryl Lynn didn't allow her to reference her hit "Got to Be Real" as she had been doing live at the time. Also, you bet your ass Radio Disney banned this shit! The cleaner album version was played in its stead. (Another fun fact: "Genie" was banned altogether, but that didn't stop Disney's current hot thing Dove Cameron from cleaning it up for that Descendants promo!) Getting ahead of myself. Onwards and upwards!

The only way this could be more early 2000s is if there were an inflatable chair in the immediate area. Is that a Nokia? Also note the silver bubbles on the wall. These kind of served as Christina's ~symbol, of sorts, up until Stripped. It's present on all of her album artwork until that point, even for My Kind of Christmas and Mi Reflejo. Kind of a generic-looking symbol, but Britney's was a butterfly at the time, if I remember correctly, as was Mariah’s. Your move, Brit stans/Lambs.

Aesthetics.

More aesthetics.

We're about to go into this boom box. ::Zenyatta voice:: PASS INTO THE IRIS...

And a blue Christina waits inside.

Remember in Frozen when Kristoff gets emotional over seeing Elsa's ice castle? Yeah, that's me right now. LOOK AT THAT CD CASE!!!! 

The bedroom wall opens to reveal where the real party is.

I was kinda wondering where her boyfriends went (WON'T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE BOYFRIENDS?????). I remember when Lady Gaga started out she had only two backup dancers, both female. I don't know what happened to them. But as her career started taking off, the two females were replaced by...almost exclusively male dancers. Christina Aguilera, equal opportunity employer.

I want name necklaces back in style.

This 2001 TEENick realness! Rather, it even reminds me of Nickelodeon's short-lived Nickel-O-Zone block. 'Member the Nickel-O-Zone? Cousin Skeeter? Animorphs? The Journey of Allen Strange? Yeah, I 'member.

Every girl's got a guy, every guy's got a girl. Nice day for a green, and blue, and yellow wedding.

Subtle. (Also what was it with the early 2000s and these flowing sheet backdrops?)

There's a "Cell Block Tango" joke in here somewhere. (Also reeks a bit of the "Express" number from Burlesque...starring, of course, Christina Aguilera.)

This is literally a CD single cover. No, really, I think she released a set of singles exclusively for Sears (there's a "you could try Sears" joke somewhere in there). 

Back then, that wasn't a career-killing move. More than 15 years later you start shilling Oreos alongside Shaquille O'Neal and people are already writing obituaries for your career...

And now, ladies and gentlemen...WE HAVE A DANCE BREAK! The pinnacle of the early 2000s teen pop music video. Despite the fact that, you know...Christina Aguilera has never been a dancer.

Mid-2000s Target commercial aesthetic.

She starts rapping. And there is some vaguely sexual whispering on top of it (we know this because at one point she actually whispers the word "sexual," since she has to spell it out for us). Then we see an Eminem lookalike? The shade of it all...

Further adding to the Christina-Aguilera-is-not-a-dancer fire, these guys are doing all the work. But it's okay, because...

We're not quite at the GNP yet, but we're at the Bonus Melisma Stage!

THIS is the GNP, at 3 minutes 16 seconds. And she hits the same one at 3:20.

Between this and the passing through the boom box scene, did Christina Aguilera predict Zenyatta from Overwatch? Probably not. (The Police probably did that when they released 1980′s Zenyatta Mondatta, but that’s another anecdote for another day.) Did she predict the weird orbs that sit outside of Target stores? Possibly.

ALL THESE DANCERS PUTTING IN MORE THAN THE STAR

The ending shot makes her look weirdly like Sarah Michelle Gellar, I think because there's some distortion in the way the individual images are cut. But I guess that was a good thing at the time. 

Now the red vinyl curtains close on the debut era. That's right, we did it folks. It's in the books. Now we just have a Spanish single to deal with before the party REALLY starts. (The Spanish single is a ballad, that's why I say that.) Join me next time when I actually watch "Pero Mi Acuerdo de Ti" for the first time, because, well, I've put it off this long.

Time to GNP: 3 minutes, 16 seconds Amount of time I spent procrastinating on this: 3 months, 14 days

#christina aguilera #liveblog #come on over baby #music video #lbxtina

[mermaidinstereo]

LIST: 10 of My Favorite Movie Songs

I'm an idiot. On Oscar Night, I decided to wrap up a draft I was writing for a list going up soon. The theme was dark videos, again, it will be going up soon. Also, I worked a terrible work day for about 6-8 hours, so that was a huuuuuge damper on my mood that kept me from doing anything until about 4 or 5. So I was too dumb to come up with a list of movie songs on Oscar Night. Yeah. I'm that kind of idiot.

But here I am, doing it. Right now.

For this list, I have a few criteria. These songs were released solely for these films. That means that they were not picked from an artist's pre-existing album, or a cover of another song recorded for a movie, or a musical selection from a Broadway adaptation. These songs may have appeared on an artist's album after release (such as a greatest hits release), but not before. So, sorry to "Lady Marmalade," "Cell Block Tango," and "Hooked on a Feeling." Oh, that goes for you, too, "Elephant Love Medley" from Moulin Rouge. That's a mashup. You're not slick.

10. "Kiss from a Rose" - Seal (Batman Forever, 1994) Call it hokey. Call it what you want. But I better not catch you talking shit about Seal. In what is possibly his signature song, Seal's incomparable voice soars over a haunting melody and epic orchestration. Is it the best song to ever come out of a DC Comics film? Oh, hell yes it is.

9. "The World is Not Enough" - Garbage (The World is Not Enough, 1999) When you ask a group like Garbage to write a Bond theme, you probably don't expect them to deliver Shirley Bassey or Paul McCartney. Spoiler alert: they don't, but damn, do they deliver. Shirley Manson puts on the dangerous seduction worthy of a Bond girl over a smoldering orchestra, arranged by Don Black and David Arnold. It just feels so sexy, and so sinister. So of course I'm into it. The few times I actually play Overwatch with Widowmaker, I like to imagine her slinking around to this song before she snipes Genji in his tracks. Fuck Genji.

8. "Over the Rainbow" - Judy Garland (The Wizard of Oz, 1939) I felt wrong not including this song, partly because when I was a very little girl, my grandmother--a jazz singer back in the day--would sing it to me and my sister. Listening to it now as an adult effortlessly brings a tear to my eye, thanks to Judy Garland's mournful, yet optimistic vocals. That's the kind of thing that makes you want to root for a character like Dorothy. Not just that, but that's the kind of thing that makes characters and movies iconic. Yeah, there's yellow brick roads and little dogs and munchkins, but, in the way "Let It Go" defined Frozen's Queen Elsa, Dorothy Gale is synonymous with "Over the Rainbow." And that's not a bad thing to be associated with.

7. "I Don't Want To Miss a Thing" - Aerosmith (Armageddon, 1998) I was coerced to go on the Rock 'n Roller Coaster at Disney's Hollywood Studios once. I hated it. I hate coasters. It didn't necessarily affect my opinion of Aerosmith, but I don't remember hearing this classic Aerosmith track on the ride. Probably because I was busy screaming to get me off this crazy thing and into the Voyage of the Little Mermaid show. Sounds about right. But in a park that celebrates films--and on a ride themed around Aerosmith--the omission of this song feels wrong. Is Armageddon an iconic film? Nah, not really. Is this song timeless? Yeah. In fact it's one of Aerosmith's most well-known tracks. For good reason--it's Steven Tyler at his vocal best. And who'da thunk that they'd go so well with an orchestra? Tyler's emotion is remarkably raw. Not bad for a song so obviously made to sell a movie. I guess they just did it differently in the 90s.

6. "Young and Beautiful" - Lana Del Rey (The Great Gatsby, 2013) I never saw this movie, because I hated the book. It was one of those books where you were forced to read it in high school English. Hence, I hated it. Lana Del Rey was also an acquired taste for me. However, "Young and Beautiful" is Lana at her finest. Her simmering alto flies above a lush orchestra as she croons, lamenting over a love she's not sure will last. In true Lana Del Rey style, the girl just can't do happiness. But hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. She doesn't fix it--she enhances it, to dazzling effect

5. "Audition (The Fools Who Dream)" - Emma Stone (La La Land, 2016) Sometimes things don't work. Dreams fall short. So you have to regroup and figure out a new plan. That's exactly what Emma Stone's aspiring actress Mia did in La La Land, when she becomes discouraged and downtrodden after a series of flops. However, a glimmer of hope arrives in an audition, where, as she recounts the story of her grandmother swimming through the freezing Seine. What results is a truly impassioned, from-the-heart performance from Emma, as she honors "the fools who dream, crazy as they may seem." Where would we be without "the rebels, the ripples from pebbles, the painters, the poets, and plays?" Well, this film wouldn't exist, for one. As a supporter of the arts and a daughter of a music teacher, this lyric speaks to me. In general, I resonated with the character of Mia, often discouraged, waiting on that one person to take a chance on me and let me show what I can do. If La La Land did anything for me, it told me that if you never try, you never know. (Also, "City of Stars" be damned.)

4. "Beauty and the Beast" - Angela Lansbury/Peabo Bryson and Celine Dion (Beauty and the Beast, 1992) You know that song that no matter where or when you hear it, you immediately begin tearing up? This is one of those songs for me. I remember when I saw Moana last year and they showed the trailer for the upcoming (unnecessary) live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast, being unimpressed, until that "tale as old as time..." melody kicked in. Beauty is regarded as one of Disney's greatest animated features, with a timeless soundtrack to show for it. Its title song is appropriately timeless, and is the jewel in the crown of the Disney Renaissance. Suddenly I don't know an Ariana Grande or a John Legend.

3. "There You'll Be" - Faith Hill (Pearl Harbor, 2002) I've always dismissed Faith Hill has being "lifetimecore," that is, music made specifically for suburban white moms who spend their time on Pinterest and at Scentsy parties. Working in retail, especially, has made me resent her, being subject to her music as often as I am. That said, "There You'll Be" is so incredibly poignant and emotional, and her strong voice is perfectly suited for it. This one is another instant tearjerker. You got me this time, Faith. Just once.

2. "If You Want Me" - Marketa Irglova (Once, 2007) While not the most memorable song from this unforgettable indie gem, "If You Want Me" is remarkable in its vulnerability. In the film, Marketa's unnamed character walks down a lonely Irish street, having just bought batteries for her Walkman. She's really just kind of rehearsing the song to herself, but there is this heartbreaking vulnerability in her softspoken delivery. There's something behind that sad, sad voice, and you know it. It should've got an Oscar nod, but you know what, "Falling Slowly" is still pretty damn good.

1. "Part of Your World" - Jodi Benson (The Little Mermaid, 1989) Let's just be honest with ourselves here. My blog title is "Mermaid in Stereo." Perhaps my attraction to mermaids can be attributed to the story of Ariel, a struggle that is told in her signature song, "Part of Your World." It's not necessarily the story of a mermaid wanting to live on the land--okay, it is. But it's more than that. It's the story of someone fed up with being held down in her home life by overbearing parents, with a burning desire to get out of her bubble and see an unfamiliar world. Fun fact: Ariel did not wish to become human for Eric! No, in fact it's this song--which she sings before she ever sees Eric--that proves it. And you have to believe her. It's no wonder only Jodi Benson has voiced the character since her introduction--no one else can do it justice.

And now...my honorable mentions.

"Go the Distance" - Roger Bart (Hercules, 1997)

"You Haven't Seen the Last of Me" - Cher (Burlesque, 2010)

"Her Portrait in Black" - Atreyu (Underworld: Evolution, 2006)

"A View to a Kill" - Duran Duran (A View to a Kill, 1984)

"Chim Chim Cher-ee" - Dick Van Dyke (Mary Poppins, 1964)

"Heathens" - Twenty One Pilots (Suicide Squad, 2016)

#list #batman forever #the world is not enough #la la land #the little mermaid #beauty and the beast #once #pearl harbor #the great gatsby #armageddon #the wizard of oz #oh there is no way i am tagging all those artists #fuck you i liked burlesque

[mermaidinstereo]

Alex’s Christina Aguilera Liveblogathon: “I Turn To You”

Here it is! We finally made it out of the 90s! Well, in terms of this liveblog, we have, but for some reason fashion continues to think the 90s are still cool. Give it another decade, Alex, soon the blobby electronics and futuristic styles of the early 2000s will make a comeback and the annoying black ribbon chokers will go back to the Very Special Blossom from whence they came.

Keep reading

#christina aguilera