#when i was listening to the album and i got to lia's solo i was so :)))

[kpop]

K-Pop Spotlight: ITZY

ITZY is back on the scene with their new mini-album <CHESHIRE> and a message: there’s no need to overthink if you always trust your intuition. After all, we’re all mad here. To celebrate the new release, we caught up with ITZY to talk about their four new tracks and their favorite tour stages. And, as winter approaches, of course, their favorite snowy day activities. Check out our full interview below!

Tell us about your new mini-album <CHESHIRE> and what you hope fans take away from it.

Lia: This album <CHESHIRE> consists of four tracks. The title song, “Cheshire,” conveys a message of trusting your feelings because there is no right answer amid numerous unclear questions and concerns. “Snowy,” “Freaky,” and the single in English, “Boys Like You,” which was pre-released in October, are also included. We hope you show us a lot of love!

How does the sound and concept of <CHESHIRE> differ from your last release, CHECKMATE?

Chaeryeong: The biggest difference is in the mood of the title song. “SNEAKERS” was refreshing and energetic, while in the new title track, our message blends with a more mysterious vibe.

Congrats on your English single “Boys Like You”—tell us a little about what it’s been like to get to sing that song with your fans on tour!

Yeji: I’m glad we were able to produce a song in the spirit of Highteen as a gift to our fans. We were so happy that the reaction was even more positive than we had expected.

Lia: Thankfully, we were able to show the live performance on our tour. Because the entire text of the lyrics was in English, many more people could enjoy it. It was tons of fun.

What were your favorite tour stages? Are there any solo songs you wish you had gotten the chance to perform?

Yeji: I like “Free Fall,” and it’s very popular among our fans, too. So I’m glad we got to perform it during our tour. Being on stage is an unending source of joy. I would also like to try Yuna’s “Maniac.” The performance is beautiful, and the song itself is exciting. It just makes me want to feel it firsthand. Of course, Yuna’s performance is just amazing.

Yuna: I personally really like “Free Fall.” 

One of the new songs on your mini-album is called “Snowy”—what are some of your favorite snowy day activities?

Ryujin: I like to go for a slow walk when it snows. I also enjoy looking at the Han river when it freezes!

Lia: If there’s enough snow, I always try to make a snowman!

Yuna: I really enjoy riding on a sled. I always have had since I was a kid.

What are your must-have items when you’re on the road/abroad?

Chaeryeong: I usually watch videos or listen to some songs, so headphones are a must!

Ryujin: I really like ramyeon. So I take a cup of ramyeon with me wherever I go.

As we approach 2023, what are your biggest goals for next year?

Lia: I hope that next year, we will have the opportunity to take another step forward and grow and present our music to more people.

Chaeryeong: In 2023, we want to show that ITZY still has a lot to give, and our goal is to deliver our positive energy to more people.

Want more ITZY? Check out their new mini-album <CHESHIRE> and the music video for the title track “Cheshire,” both out now!

#itzy #itzy kpop spotlight #kpop spotlight

[redpiperfox]

another Itzy album, another Red review, so hi, welcome, buckle up for--

Born To Be Album Review

Born To Be

Starting off the album with a loud, brash, gut-punching anthem. Fanfares to herald their arrival, and explosive vocals to as boots hit the ground.

I'm going to be honest, before this album, I was going to have a bone to pick with how Itzy arranged an album. Kpop in general had me nitpicking people who tastefully put together and arranged their songs on an album so I could enjoy them from start to finish without shuffling, and those who just made good songs and threw them together. (Note to the reader: my general standard has become Stray Kids in the kpop world of album arranging) But then! Itzy released this! And this is how you open an album-- comparable to Megaverse and Hall of Fame and Cheese by Skz opening up and setting the stage for what to expect from an album, Born To Be boldly and powerfully sets Itzy's standard of self-confidence and power. Lyrically, the first listen had me a little critical of the English lyrics, but it's grown on me in the way Itzy has always been upfront and blunt about who they are and the message they're trying to send. I will listen to "aespa concept copying" only to say that this is reminiscent of their debut era choreo, that's grown and modified styling from an era that aespa has left. Itzy's dance styles have always caught my attention, because individually they've got such complex skills and talents, and they sacrifice that individuality (like most members in a group do-- we hear more often about artists having a "group" vocal tone and an individual vocal tone) for a strict, angular, stiffer group movement. Watching the interview done with the choreographer, it was satisfying to hear him say that he often makes choreos and then has to modify them for the group's skills, but Itzy has such a strong dance base that he was able to flush the choreo out to his contentment. Do I love the choreo? For a dance on it's own, not particularly, but as a performance? Damn, I watched every stage, it was larger than life and powerful, and those high kicks O.O XD

Untouchable

She took the sultry beat of I Want That by gidle and made it a Boots Are Made For Walking, chin held high backtrack, while also maintaining a cladenstine spy operation, that's the only way I can describe this track.

One complaint before I begin-- why do all my favorite titles from Itzy feel like they have the least amount of plot T-T Cheshire and Untouchable, my loves, I LOVE YOU MORE.

NOW COMPLAINT ASIDE-- WHAT A BOP. This is Itzy listening to "Aw, I miss the old Itzy" and smashing them in the face with power concepts. I was worried they might just re-hash a Japanese release, and take from that musical plot they were developing, but no, they took their darker concept and made it sound like it was coming from a matured Itzy. The vocals, the harmonies (that they sing live *chefs kiss), and production, all lean into a dance group that's confident in what they're doing. A note to "I miss the old Itzy"-- the back and forth between the summer fun concepts and the darker mature winter concepts are precisely the "Old Itzy" for a developed group. They can't go back to making fun kids dance songs, because this wave of kpop standom wouldn't stand for it (I say as I look over at my lovely StayC, going strong in releasing music for the fun enjoyers. keep at it girls T-T). They've separated their image into the two fundamental pillars that make them up, and honestly, they're doing it well. Even against my own complaint-- the mv highlights their stage presence and dance movement as a group, and focuses on cementing their confidence, both lyrically and visually. (Also. I adore their dresses in their solo sets and shots. *chefs kiss*) (Also also, cannot wait to see what Lia brings to the song when she returns!)

Mr. Vampire

[Inhales deeply] [Screams]

An afternoon high tea even in the 21st centry, off the shoulder dresses, straightened hair pinned up, winking over your shoulder, the siren luring the sailor in broad daylight.

I am discovering that I absolutely adore Itzy's growth in this genre they've carved for themselves, of softer, summer breeze type songs. Yes, Ryujin as a vocalist slays, absolutely, but also could hear Lia's fingerprints ghosting my mind in ever part of this. This track instantly became my None of my Business for the season, it's absolute perfection. Yeji mentioned how she didn't know how all their voices would meld cohesively in a track like this, and was surprised at how well it turned out and YES. There's something about this that highlights their voices and even cheeky, alluring tones individually, and together make it sound like an even richer track. Love! Adore! Claimed! (This is mine, everyone else back off, I own this track now XD)

Dynamite

Itzy's debut era b-sides reborn! "What I want" has a sister! My "noisy" music enjoyers, this is a stage sparkler, a flare you dance with at a night party, neons at a party. And all the way through, an Itzy club and workout bop.

Crown On My Head (Yeji)

"Someone said I'm like a leopard / Hell yeah, I'm untameable, I'm born to be wild."

Crawling, pouncing, claws, but also gritty in wiping the blood from your cheek with the back of your hand, tying your sweaty hair from your face, and cackling in the middle of a volcano.

Yeji and a rock song are just fitting. Her voice and vocal style just complement a harder song so well, and this track really leaned into her strengths. Lyrically and visually, this felt like Itzy Yeji meeting a middle ground with all her solo projects, and feeling the firey core she has an artist. Lyrically it definitely felt like a template Itzy song in just stating what it is and wants to tell you and accomplish, but it lends itself to the image and message Yeji puts forward.

"Even though I hit a barrier / I'm not afraid, be bold, ay / I know my way / Got no limit, I go straight, ay"

Blossom (Lia)

"How was I like? / How was I like? / How was I, How was I, How was I like? / We weren't alike / We weren't alik / We weren't a- We weren't a- We weren't alike"

A spring greenhouse, dewy and sparkling in the morning, where a young heiress hides and talks to the little creatures that give her the time of day to dream.

"Hunched up, curled up / Even if I endure everything without blooming / It's not late, not late to give me love / I'd love to be a flower too"

Going to be honest, lyrically, this made me so sad when I first heard it. Maybe because it was fresh off Lia announcing her hiatus personally, but there was something raw and crying out in the lyrics, that made me think she could use this hiatus as a way to leave the group, and if she did, I would have been happy for her and her freedom of being held under the critical microscope that's followed Itzy and burned her for not fitting an image of the group that people have come to expect. But since the album's release and the firm assurance of her return from the Itzy members, it's felt hopeful and quietly reflective. It's lyrically soaked in doubt that's given way to patience, and the imagery it brings is so fitting to the image Lia puts for herself vocally and visually in her collab and cover projects. I was expecting more of an RnB track, but as the only track with her voice on this album in an era she's completely hidden from public speculation, it's a little like gems hewn into stone, and a soft breeze on a wild field, and makes me await her return all the more hopefully. The vocalist solo album of a group always holds the highest expectations for me, and I think Lia will not only exceed them, but bring a sound to kpop that we don't hear enough. Girly's set to be on the same level as Taeyeon in my head, idk yall.

"Cause I really want, I really want / I truly want to be blooming"

"Actually the words I wanted to hear / 'You're beautiful'"

Run Away (Ryujin)

"It flew like the cigarette smoke / There will be nothing left, as if it was a dream."

The anti-hero to her own story, the grey morally complex character who spirals into a descent of madness that everyone sees coming, a trainwreck no one looks away from, because despite it all, you're still rooting for her.

It wouldn't have been a Ryujin solo without her actress side bursting through, as it does in everything she does, and it burst through in an array of splattering oil paints. While the English lyrics it opens with come off a little cringey, she follows in the shoes of several western artists and through her lyrics, paints a very distinct and vivid picture. The complicated story of taking the fall for a relationship that's doomed, but also making the main character all the more soaked into the image of a "bad" girlfriend-- Ryujin nailed it. The track also draws out the absolute best in her voice. We don't hear the lower voices sing much in kpop, and to hear her range and the emotions she's able to trill between in the bridge is absolutely skillful. While she lacks the refinement of experience, she pulls powerfully from the getgo, and makes me excited about where she'll take her solo projects as they unfurl.

"If you're afraid, I will be the villain / If you really can't say it, you can blame it on me"

Mine (Chaeryeong)

"I've been looking for somebody / like you / I circle around you again and again / All of my attention / will always find you / I circle around you again and again"

A doomed and haunted mansion, candelabras and crystal chandeliers, and a playful corpse bride laughing at you through ornate mirrors and little hand watches.

The people have spoken that Chaeryeong is Sunmi's daughter, and I'm inclined to agree. I was expecting something a little cutesier for Chaeryeong voice and taste (hello number one SNSD fangirl XD), so the sound of this track came out unexpected and out of left field to me, but then paired with her AOTM image and the alluring innocence of her voice, the track brings out something in her character that still feels like the Chaeryeong we've known and watched grow from Kpop star. The quality of her voice and the way it melds and echoes off itself are enchanting and charming. Cute, in an unexpected way.

"Forever mine, already mine / Just say it / du-du-bi, du-bi, da / Forever mine, already mine / Not a secret, du-du-bi-di, du-bi-di, du, la-la"

Yet, But (Yuna)

"Nothing matters, it's all about ya / Flawless, that's what you are / I mean, maybe you don't know yet, but / Not yet, huh"

Bursting bubble pop, a bright encouraging fairy in the mirror, skipping through the mall in a cute outfit and a pep band behind your back, and glittering diamonds in your hair, eyes, and smile.

" After passing through the painful times / (No matter, no matter what they say) / I’m waiting for your perfect time, ooh / Oh, hot like a fever!"

I want to know if Yuna had creative direction for her mv. I need to know. Because from first watch, girlie is READY for a solo career, I swear-- and I'm sorry, but she was the last person I expected, but she really burst in and filled the space! We already knew she was Nayeon's baby, but HOT DAMN POP! DIED AND WAS REBORN IN YET, BUT XD This solo preserves everything we know and love about Yuna and bursts out in confident joy I was afraid kpop standom had killed in her. It's talking into the mirror to herself, and to all the girlies who are stumbling in doubt in the places she's been already. Learning "not yet but" was a wordplay, on korean "I'm pretty," and then the fifty-eight cuts of a diamond-- lyricism was just the cherry on top. Everything, from her pop voice, to her cute and fun visual aethetic, to the simply complex lyrics themselves, everything is bubble pop perfection! I love! Well done Shin Yuna!

"Fifty-eight ways to shine / For you who will meet your most perfect time / Not, not yet, but"

Escalator

Another debut era and Checkmate bside cousin, we're literally riding the Dalla Dalla escalator in darker leather and those big kpop stomper boots. And maybe some nice big shades. With the cute sparkles on the sides. Leveling up in a video game, the popular trendy girl winking as she passes by.

On a whole, the promoted three songs absolutely hit expectations, and the solos exceeded and made me excited for their upcoming touring schedule and whatever lies ahead of them. I wished they would've pulled a Twice in the way they handled Lia's hiatus, but I can imagine the strain was truly too much for her to not even record her voice in the title and bsides and not have a small feature in the mvs. I wonder if they'll perhaps recosider their promotion schedule and not go back to back to back (Korean-Japanese-Korean comebacks, it was mentioned they prepared for Born to Be right after Cake promotions ended) in the second half of the year like they have been, and perhaps pacing themselves out a little more? But however they do it, I am listening, and await their growth musically as individual artists and a group as a whole.

Lingering final thoughts on Itzy-- I have been hearing a lot of hate for JYP and Div 2 and whatever people and the girls say about management, the thought hasn't left me about how much less protection and promotion they would get if they left, and how they would probably not be signed together anyway, and Got7 hasn't taught me much, but they've made me hope Itzy doesn't get discouraged and scared off to leave the company. Not renewing is as good as disbandment, it seems. Like with Twice, I hope they're able to get themselves more satisfactory contracts, maybe... but we'll see!

Anywho, if anyone listens or has thoughts on the album, I would love to chat! January is looking to be Quite the comeback month, and I eagerly all the music for the upcoming semester :3

#Youtube #Spotify #red's week in music #red's thoughts #red's album dissections #red's album listen-thru #itzy born to be

[drvirgus]

Commitment & Responsibility

Yeji X Fem! Reader

Description: The life of Yeji and her Girlfriend Yn

Warnings: G!P Yeji, Smut, Angst

Chapter 13:

Yeji POV

"Midzy, thank you so much for tuning in. To all those who have been following us since our debut and all those who joined us later, we love you all. Without your support, we wouldn't be where we are today," Chaeryeong said with a smile, waving her hands.

I chuckled as I looked into the camera. Several comments appeared on the screen. Ryujin, next to me, had our stream running on her phone to better see the comments. Lia clapped her hands once.

"Today, we have some news for you. Our next album will be released soon, and Midzy will love it. Thanks to you and your support, we put in extra effort for the music videos that will be released soon," Lia said with a smile. Yuna simply smiled into the camera.

"How many songs will the next album have?" Ryujin asked, apparently reading a comment. She looked at the camera, "Our next album has 8 songs," she said, but I couldn't help but laugh as I playfully nudged her with my hand, "No. It's 10 new songs," I finally said. A small laugh escaped my throat.

Ryujin chuckled and shook her head, "You're right," she said, laughing lightly. She then looked back at the phone while Chaeryeong continued to talk about the album. She also mentioned the exact release date. I nodded several times as I listened to Chaeryeong.

Ryujin laughed a little. She would now ask some questions from the Midzy. "The first question is whether we consider going solo," Ryujin asked, and Yuna was the first to decline, "Never. It's not the same without my sisters here. Besides, we already have a few solo songs," the youngest of us answered.

"Compared to five years ago, your English is almost fluent. How did you learn English so quickly?" Ryujin asked, and I almost immediately smiled. Y/N taught me English... She spoke only English with me for a whole month, forcing me to speak English. She only responded when I spoke in English.

"As most of you know, I was learning English so intensively that I got nosebleeds twice. Also... English is all about confidence," I replied, and we all laughed. We all knew that those words had gone viral.

"Do you want to get married?" Ryujin read a question. Chaeryeong was the only one who shook her head. But my eyes automatically fell on the ring on my finger... I was really ready to marry her... "If I'm rich," Ryujin answered, and we all laughed at her response.

Ryujin's forehead creased slightly. She turned her phone towards me and pointed at a specific viewer. I was surprised that IU Unnie was watching our stream. I glanced briefly at Ryujin.

IU... one of Y/N's closest friends... a sad smile appeared on my face. Ryujin's jaw tensed automatically. Her hand rested on my thigh to comfort me. I smiled a little wider because of it.

Ryujin paused as she read one of the comments. Almost immediately, she seemed to delete a comment. Now more panicked, she sat up, as she had been leaning against the couch until then. Lia noticed her tension but continued talking about the album together with Chaeryeong.

I furrowed my brow in confusion and looked at the woman next to me with concern. She laughed a little, remembering the camera again. She clicked on her phone several times and seemed to block a user from commenting. I saw who it was. She blocked IU from commenting... but why?

I pushed the situation aside and focused on the conversation again. I joined in as well. Although I was still confused about Ryujin's behavior, I didn't say anything. Not in front of the camera... Ryujin must have her reasons.

The live stream ended after an hour, and we all let out a sigh of relief. Each of us automatically relaxed. "So... Shall we go for a drink?" Chaeryeong asked with a smile, looking at each one of us. Lia agreed, "Sure. I don't think any of us have plans, right?" she asked, looking at all of us.

I chuckled, "I'm up for 1 or 2 drinks," I replied, and almost immediately, I found myself thinking about the 7/11 store. Was she working? Every time I went there, she was there. So beautiful as ever...

————————————————————————————

Feeling a bit tipsy with rosy cheeks, I made my way to the store. I used the excuse that I needed to buy more soju bottles and beer. Ryujin wanted to come with me, but I declined. If I was going to see her... then I wanted to see her alone. Even if she wasn't mine anymore, I just wanted to see her.

My mouth slightly open as I looked through the window into the store. There she was... She looked stressed... I had never seen her like this before... She was talking to another employee, probably her replacement, and took off her vest. She grabbed her bag and seemed to say something with a smile.

My eyes narrowed as the blond-dyed woman touched my ex-girlfriend's arm. Clearly, she was flirting with Y/N. My jaw tensed automatically. I saw Y/N taking a pack of cigarettes and paying for it.

She... started smoking again...

The unfamiliar woman was still flirting with Y/N. The latter, however, didn't seem to notice. Some things never changed...

I stepped into the store. My cap pulled down over my face. I adjusted my mask as well. I grabbed a basket and went to the fridge. I put several bottles of soju and beer in the basket. Then I headed to the cashier.

Y/N looked at me. She smiled, but her breath caught when our eyes met this time. Her mouth opened slightly, and she automatically hid the pack behind her back. I fought against my mouth, as it wanted to lift up into a smile.

"Do you need a bag?" the blond-dyed woman asked. I looked at her and nodded my head. Y/N seemed to look away. She took a deep breath and said her goodbyes. Then she left the store.

But I didn't even try to hurry. Y/N was walking very slowly. She was the epitome of calmness... She never walked fast, even if her life depended on it.

I was right. I could easily catch up to her, but I stayed a few steps behind. My eyes fixed on the back of her head... She hadn't changed a bit...

Y/N stopped, and I did the same. She turned around. She licked her lips. Our eyes met. My heart rate accelerated as she walked towards me. Nervously, I started to laugh. Y/N observed me.

"Where do you live?" Y/N asked. My eyes widened as I looked at the slightly smaller woman. My breath caught. Stuttering, I gave her my address. She nodded her head. Her eyes then fell on her wristwatch. My heart raced as she looked at me with those beautiful, slightly tired eyes.

She nodded her head. "I'll accompany you," she said, and my mouth opened in shock. "Why?" I asked, and Y/N swallowed. She looked at the bag and then back at me, but she could only see my eyes as I still wore the mask. Y/N sighed slightly, "You... have been drinking," she simply stated as she started walking again.

My eyes widened in surprise. How did she find out? Even though my face was a bit flushed... she could only see my eyes...

I quickened my pace to walk beside her. Once I was next to her, I slowed down again. "Give me the bag," she said while walking. She held her hand out to me. But I refused, "It's too heavy," I replied simply.

Y/N chuckled, "Believe me... I've been able to do some training," she murmured softly. She took the bag and kept walking. My eyes widened a bit. She... wasn't avoiding me...

It remained silent between us. Neither of us said anything. I just looked at her as she avoided my gaze. I bit my lip, trying to hold back several remarks and questions...

When we reached my front door, Y/N turned to face me. Her eyes shimmered as she handed me the bag. "Thank you... for bringing me home," I said, almost whispering. I swallowed as I looked straight into her eyes. I had already removed my mask. My lips parted slightly as I just looked at her.

Y/N looked up at me, a small smile on her lips. She nodded slightly. "Go inside, Yeji," she said. It was strange... hearing my real name from her mouth. I nodded. Y/N then turned around, apparently wanting to go back the way we had come.

My free hand gripped her wrist. "Wait."

Y/N swallowed. Her eyes widened slightly as she turned to face me. I hesitated for a moment. Y/N didn't say anything about my grip still holding her wrist. I opened my mouth. God... she was still so beautiful... even more beautiful than before.

"Let's go on a date," I said, and Y/N's eyes widened. My grip on her wrist tightened slightly. "I know... you're in a relationship, but I..." "-I'm not in a relationship," she interrupted me. My eyes widened as I realized her words. A smile formed on my lips.

"Does that mean-" I started, but she interrupted me again. "-But that doesn't mean we can go on a date," she said. My smile faded. Her eyes fell on my hand, more specifically, the ring. She swallowed.

"I hurt you, Yeji... I will hurt you again," she said, and almost immediately, I shook my head. My eyes looked straight into hers. "I don't care... I want you. I want what we had, Y/N... I miss you," I replied. Tears shimmered in my eyes as I looked at the younger woman.

Y/N hesitated. I could see her mind racing. She sighed, her body relaxing, as if she had given up the fight. She licked her lips. Our hands lost their height, and I let go of her. "I have to tell you something... something important," the younger one said. I took a step closer to her.

Y/N hesitated. She looked down at the floor and bit her lip. She took a deep breath, and I noticed her shoulders starting to tremble. I swallowed nervously. What did she have to tell me? What... made her react like this? "I was-"

"-There you are! We've all been waiting.... Y/N?!" I heard someone almost scream. Immediately, we moved apart. My eyes widened as I now saw Chaeryeong approaching us quickly. Her whole face was red from alcohol. With fast steps, she came up to us and pulled Y/N into her arms, hugging her tightly.

"God... I've missssssed you so much," the drunken woman said. She let go of Y/N and looked her straight in the eyes, a joyful grin on her lips. "Come on! Have a drink with us," she said, and Y/N smiled. She shook her head, declining the offer.

I, however, remained silent...

What did she want to tell me? She was what?

I just watched as Y/N kept declining and eventually said goodbye to us. I just waved, lost in thought.

She was what?...

#itzy x you #itzy x reader #itzy x yn #yeji x reader #yeji x you

[studio-orchid]

my opinion about itzys new album (disclaimer my ult gg group is itzy)

born to be

i love this song and the mv for it. the girls voices and lines are fun to sing along to and definitely something that i think “noise” music enjoyers would like! i was definitely sad when itzy started getting hate for “copying” aespa when both groups are friends.

untouchable

I LOVE THIS!! the music video was super fun to watch and seeing the girls have such a excellent album drop with no skips is amazing (i think they have no skips in general) once again disappointed seeing people complain about the mv because it was more focused on the choreography than the scenery shots.

mr. vampire

i’m not going to lie it wasn’t what i was expecting when i first heard the song. i think i was expecting something similar to born to be and untouchable instrumental wise, but saying that it grew on me and i love it and the choreography looks so fun!

dynamite

i think if you’ve read this far you can see i’m extremely biased and hope you weren’t expecting an actual in-depth talk about the album with that being said i really like this song. it was definitely a switch up vibe wise since mr. vampire is before it and this instrumental fits more with the two first songs.

crown on my head (yeji)

the solos were the main thing i was looking forward to for this comeback if i’m being completely honest. i loved the music video for yejis solo and really liked how she used the “hey” from dalla dalla. also it was nice to just hear how her music would be if she was a soloist or just hear how the music she wrote sounds like!

blossom (lia)

i love lia and i wish her a speedy recovery! i hope when she’s better we get a music for her (if that’s something she wishes to do). i love how unique all their voices are and can definitely see lia making music that has a similar vibe to laufey and rocco. i really like how soft lia sounds when she sings if that makes sense.

also side note i really want itzy to do what twice is doing so far in the since that they get their own solo album i think it would be super fun to hear and would be something new for the girls

run away (ryujin)

run away mv was interesting i loved the scenes used for the songs and feels like it adds to the song instead of just giving pretty shots that kinda have nothing to do with the song (if that makes sense). i really like all the girls solos and want more.

bringing it back to wanting them to drop solo albums while still doing group activities since i know the girls prefer to focus more on their groups than solos

mine (chaeryeong)

time to be super bias because chaeryeong is my bias. i really like hearing her voice and was super excited to listen to her solo. the music video was super fun to watch and i was paying attention to every scene. i really want an english translation of all the solos so i can better understand and connect to their solos more.

also do we think they have dance moves to their solos if they were to be preformed?? because i think it would be fun to see how the dance style would be for each solo. we got to see the dance style of yeji, ryujin and chaeryeong since they were artists of the month but i’m really curios how yuna and lia would be.

yet, but (yuna)

my first thought was “woah pink” it was the first thing that stuck out for the mv, but i think it fits yuna. also the song?? it’s going to be in my head and i just know i’ll start humming random parts of the song. yet, but is super fun to listen to and i don’t think i’ll trust someone who hates on it without listening to it first (it’s valid if they listen to it and it wasn’t their vibe but also being respectful about it).

this song could’ve definitely been in barbie don’t try to convince me otherwise.

escalator

itzy will always keep me on my toes when it comes to vibe changes in this album. escalator is super catchy, but i can also understand why it might not be people’s favorite compared the other songs. it reminds me of an older itzy song but i’m not sure which one. either way i do like this song even if i wasn’t expecting how it was going to sound.

i do think it makes a perfect cycle if you have the album on repeat. i like how it ends on a slower and fade out sound and then quickly jumps to the speed and sound of born to be.

#itzy #itzy yuna #itzy ryujin #itzy yeji #itzy chaeryeong #itzy lia #itzy born to be #pls dont come at me #my opinion

[jafreitag]

Grateful Dead Monthly: Academy of Music – New York, NY 3/28/72

Before Europe ’72, there was Academy of Music ’72. Between March 21 and 28, 1972, the Grateful Dead played seven concerts at the Academy of Music in New York City.

That’s the original Academy of Music. It opened in 1854 as a 4,000 seat opera house on the northeast corner of East 14th Street and Irving Place in Manhattan. The Dead didn’t play there. They played across the street at a 3,400 seat movie palace also named the Academy of Music, which opened in 1927.

That’s the latter Academy of Music. It shifted from a cinema toward a concert venue in the mid-60s. The Rolling Stones played there on their first U.S. tour in 1965. Around the closing of the Fillmore East, some eight blocks south and east (if my dodgy NYC geography is correct), the former movie palace was a full-on rock palace, hosting the Allman Brothers Band (8/15/71), Aerosmith opening for Humble Pie and Edgar Winter (12/2-3-71), and the Band (12/28-31/71 – those shows were excerpted for the 1972 live album Rock of Ages and featured in their entirety for the 2013 box set Live at the Academy of Music 1971).

The Academy of Music was renamed the Palladium in 1976. And on 9/20/79, this happened there.

The guitar smash, not the album, obv. #paulsimononftw The venue was converted to a nightclub by Studio 54 guys Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager in 1985. In 1992, they sold it to Peter Gatien, who kept it open until 1997. The last concert at the Palladium was Fugazi on 5/1/97 (Red Medicine tour, I think). It’s now an NYU dorm with a gym in the basement.

The Dead visited the Academy/Palladium twice – once in 1972 and once in 1977. In ’72, they were workshopping material that they would soon take across the pond. In ’77, they were solidifying material that they would soon take upstate for the ne plus ultra. Fun fact, the fourth night of the ’72 run was presented by Hells Angels. Here’s the full poster.

[The lessons of Altamont ’69 apparently had been learned, then put to rest. Quick replay, tho, from less than three years earlier.]

The New York Daily News summarized the run like this: “Seven concerts in one week at the Academy of Music, every one of them sold out within hours, more by ESP than advertising… The week’s series will help finance the Dead’s traveling expenses for a two-month, seven-country tour of Europe beginning Saturday.” That quote appears in an excellent and exhaustive recap of all the shows (and their recordings) by someone called “Light Into Ashes” on the Grateful Dead Guide blog. There, LIA posits:

“Musically, this run falls midway between the honky-tonk vibe of the fall ’71 shows, and the smoother Europe ’72 tour. Probably one of the Dead’s plans for the run, aside from raising money for the Europe tour, was to hone their performances for the upcoming live-album recording – after a two-month break from playing shows together, they would need to get back in the groove! 

People who saw them at the time were probably struck by the changes in repertoire. (They only played two songs that had been on Live/Dead, one time each; few songs from Workingman’s Dead or American Beauty were played at all; and many of their newer songs were not on any albums yet.) Pigpen was also singing and playing more than he had in ’71 (singing five or six songs a night); a new piano player had altered the band’s sound quite a bit; and some unknown longhaired lady would come onstage to sing for a song or two. New Yorkers would also have noticed that the Dead no longer played til dawn, as they had done so often at the Fillmore East!

The average show length was three and a half hours, as they played through most of their repertoire each night. (Any audience members who went to several shows in the run would hear most of the same songs a LOT of times.)”

The Grateful Dead Sources blog has a 1972 newspaper review from Toronto’s Grapevine. Pretty funny, it’s worth a look.

Betty Cantor-Jackson recorded the shows, but the tapes disappeared until some guy from Northern California bought them at an auction in 1987. The tapes sat in his barn deteriorating. When Jerry died in 1995, one of the guy’s friends, who must’ve known a thing or two about the Dead, contacted Dark Star Orchestra’s Rob Eaton. Eaton cleaned and restored the tapes at his own expense, and returned them to the guy.

(^ Rob Eaton)

From LIA’s post, which quotes Eaton from an interview with Katie Harvey:

“‘The collection was really unique. Half of it was Garcia-Saunders from ’73, 74, 75. It was just nothing anybody had ever seen. And all the Academy of Music tapes from the Dead in ’72, which no one had ever heard a tape of: really bad audience tapes were the only thing [from that run], nothing was in the Vault. So I knew it was really important.’

Eaton kept DAT copies of the reels, although the buyer made him sign a contract not to copy or distribute the recordings. ‘He drew up this contract that I was liable for $100,000 in liquefied damages if I released the contents of the collection without his written authorization. And I wasn’t allowed to keep a copy according to this thing. All the copies had to be in his possession. Of course I’m keeping a DAT master of everything I’m doing. I’m not that stupid. I was a deadhead and protecting the music was my first and foremost thought. Legally, I wasn’t really that concerned with it. Because I was sort of in with the Dead office at the time, they found out that I had these. They wanted to get a hold of the guy. So I got them in touch with this guy who wanted a million dollars. They just told him to fuck himself. They came back to me and they go, “Look, we know you’re smart. We know you probably kept a set of DATs. What would it take to get that set of DATs from you?” And I said, “Well, first of all, I signed this contract.”’

But according to Hal Kantor, the Dead’s attorney, ‘He can’t claim rights to what’s on the tape. He has rights to the actual physical tapes, but what’s on the tape is our rights, not his.’ So Eaton copied his DATs (including Dead shows from 1971-76) and gave them to the Vault. And as Harvey writes: ‘They prohibited him from distributing copies because they planned to commercially release the material.'”

Parts of all seven nights in 1972 are scattered across various official releases, but the archivists have unloosed only two complete shows – 3/26 (Dave’s Picks #14) and 3/28 (Dick’s Picks #30). The latter also contains the Bo Diddley sit-in from 3/25, so ECM and I decided to focus on that one.

According to the DP#30 Wiki, the 3/25 show was a “semi-private party” billed as Jerry Garcia & Friends. In reality, it was a GD with the band backing Bo Diddley for the first set, then playing its own second set. The entire show has sound quality issues, but the first set is quite poor. The “jam” is the most notable part. It’s essentially a slower version of the “Hard to Handle” wig-out, and not super interesting.

The Dead opened their set with a couple rarities – How Sweet It is (To Be Loved by You), on which Donna Jean reaches a truly wicked level of caterwaul, and Are You Lonely for Me Baby?, from which Bobby must’ve gotten inspiration for Black-Throated Wind. Are You Lonely was later a staple of Garcia/Merl Saunders sets in ’72-74.

3/28 is better, and offers more typical Dead fare. The first set features an extremely hot China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider duo, and some funny stage banter from Phil Lesh. After the band played Mexicali Blues, some audience members chanted for Alligator. Phil responded, “Hey, for all you Alligator fans out there, we done – ah alright alright alright. We understand that there’s a lot of Alligator fans out there, but we done forgot it, see. And so ah, we’re gonna have to remember it sometime later, you know.” The second set showpiece is an extended version of The Other One that offers a preview of what the band would do in Europe.

Ed reminded me that this show was Pigpen’s last in NYC. And he added that it contains Donna’s first Playing in the Band wail. Awesome. His listening notes are more robust than mine, as usual:

The Europe ’72 tour began on April 7th, but the boys played a preparatory seven-night run at the Academy of Music in NYC in the days leading up to their flight across the pond. 

The festivities open with a rockin Truckin.’ All the first set songs are played with gusto and feeling especially the “new” songs such as Tennessee Jed, Chinatown Shuffle, BT Wind, Mr. Charlie, You Win Again and Mexicali Blues.  After Mexicali, the audience is calling out for “Alligator” and Phil tells them that “we done forgot it.” A rare, mid-set Brokedown follows and it is a pure joy. It just might be my favorite song from the entire first set. Next Time You See Me is perfectly executed. The band tears up Cumberland. Bobby is high in the mix and it is exciting to hear his guitar part. Next, Bobby introduces LLR as a “cryin’ song.” It’s a gorgeous version that has Jerry on pedal steel and Phil on backing vocals.  and China->Rider really stands out. The segue jam in China->Rider is especially interesting as the band seems to struggle at first to find the groove behind Bobby’s solo, then they just roll with it, and then Jerry locks into a cool riff before diving into Rider. The only minor complaint is that after 6 shows, Garcia’s voice is beginning to show signs of strain (You Win Again, Big Railroad Blues and China Cat). 

The setlist for Set II pretty much speaks for itself. Playing in the Band continues to progress. This performance marks the the first time that Donna lends her vocal contributions. The jam section starts off drifty like Veneta with that big psychedelic bubble. By the 6-minute mark Jerry is in full guitar psychosis mode. They cool down into drifting, mournful ribbons of sound only to bring it to another peak around the 10-minute mark before entering the reprise. A few songs later we get a high-energy Sugar Magnolia. Jerry goes nuts on the wah pedal during the coda. Donna has not yet found her way into the arrangement yet). This segues directly into a brief drum intro that leads into a 28-minute version of The Other One. The entry is surprisingly laid back as is the entire performance. By the 7-minute mark there are no traces of the song. The band has entered uncharted territory…deep space. This is pretty experimental stuff…atonal notes and peals of feedback. Things begin to become melodic again at about the 14-minute mark as the band prepares to deliver the first verse but it takes them 2 more minutes to eventually get there and after dispensing with it they return to the same misty pastures where they once were. The concert ends in fine form with their standby crowd pleasing closer of NFA>GDTRFB>NFA. The jam at the end of NFA leading into GDTRFB especially shines. 

The only version of the Sidewalks of New York is just a half-minute tuning.

Here’s the Spotify widget.

I’ll add LMA links at some point.

More soon.

JF

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[httpetras]

2020 for me - K-pop songs edition

2020 was a... tough year. Personally, globally. But for kpop? It was one of the most successfull years and instead of talking all the achievements and breakthroughs, I wanted to share my thoughts on some songs and artists I liked this year

LONG POST (and bad english sksksks)

- no japanese releases

- title tracks mostly

- personal opinion

Favorite albums of 2020 (one album/artist)

Some thoughts:

TWICE

More & More, I Can’t Stop Me, Cry for me

A lot of people disliked the song and TWICE got many hate from various of fandom to the point where the girls were insecure just by standing on the stage and perform. I never understood the senseless fanwars anyway, but this time I truly didn’t understand why everyone was hating on this song? It was definitely among the best summer releases, the album was perfect for the season and TWICE showed a new side of their artistry. There were many releases this year which followed the generic trend, but More&More managed to stand out and show something new among summer songs.

Their next comeback was just p.e.r.f.e.c.t. Okay, first and foremost, I’m a sucket for retro concepts so 2020 was a bless for me from this perspective sksksk. Besides my bias I’m literally in love with this song.

Also with the whole album, I can’t stop myself from listening it. TWICE as always tried something new, showed a different side of them, was not afraid to discover new sounds and concepts. One of the reasons that I’m still with them after 4 years is the fact that TWICE grew up and matured along with their music. This album was their fifth year destination. I just can’t express how much I love not just the concept, but all the songs are so unique in their own way that you can never get tired of listening them.

TWICE being one of the most unique girl groups out there (along with Red Velvet, hope they comeback soon), and I’m just so happy for them and so proud I could be with them for four years seeing them growing as artists.

A.C.E - Favorite boys

Hands down, this was definitely one of my favorire comebacks of 2020. The way I thought they could never do a song like “undercover” again....I was so naive. From the first second till the last you can’t look away from the aesthetically pleasing MV where traditional mixes with modern, gender is a non-existent, meanwhile the song so effortlessly goes from a very strong rap to high notes wigh catchy beats and chorus.

Also the dance and the outfits, don’t forget to mention the teaser photos... it was one of the strongest comeback of the year.

However, I feel like their releases were among the most underrated songs of 2020. I just can’t help but think what if they were a bigger company especially that nowadays when stan twt is all about numbers, groups from smaller company get less and less attention. All I can hope that A.C.E getting the hype they deserve will be one of the positive changes 2021 will bring.

(A million thank you for TATE for introducing me to them!)

ITZY

Wannabe, Not shy

There are some songs from ITZY I really like but their title tracks were really not my style (they are not bad in any way, but felt too much for my taste). But this year!

Wannabe and Not Shy was just *chef’s kiss*.

I felt the same with them as with skz - in their first year they were looking for their sound, trying to find the best sytle for them. In this second year, they seemed to be more confident in themselves and their concept as a group. (And also, finally these songs fit into Lia’s range!). Every member could shine in these eras, show off their singing (and dancing) skills. All together these two songs (and albums) were something I could enjoy very much.

AKMU - Happening

The nation’s siblings came back and created another masterpiece! If I wasn’t in love with the song itself, the MV would have made it fall for it. Something comforting, something melodic, a song you didn’t know you need until you hear it... Recommend it 1010292725282920/10

STRAY KIDS

Too much releases sksksk all of them are amazing obvi

I can’t choose one song from them, they released something new in every month and I’d have so much to talk about sksksks so a short-summary:

2020 was their year. Eventhough I felt like stray kids could not surprise me anymore, I would have never been able to prepare mysef for this year when they came back with full power. Starting with SKZ2020, followed by anime openings and on track, then the iconic God’s menu and Back door - they evolved and said FU to the industry who still rejects them. And I don’t know how to explain, but they seemed much more confident in themselves and in the music they put out, and that was definitely something which helped them to make 2020 theirs. All the concepts, all the song genres while staying unique and not following trends? Every. Comeback. They. Had. This. Year. Just blown my mind. I literally just... I’d show you the songs they released this year and I’m 100% sure even a non-stay would agree with me saying that they deserve so-so-so much more for their songs alone

ONEWE - End of spring

As lovesick girls gave me 2010’s summer song vibe End of Spring gave me the same vibe, something bands such as imagine dragons would release back in around 2015. I LOVE IT. It has such a nice fun energy, whenever it comes up on my playlist, it’s an instant adrenalin boost. It does remind me of summer camps and just having fun with people there

DAY6

I wrote about them in my 30-day Day6 challenge back in september-october

Lee Hi - HOLO

Lee Hi is one of those idols I feel for the most as she’s been through more than enough hardships in her life. She seriously deserves the best from this cruel world.

This year a company change happened and she released a comforting, yet, heartbreaking song about depression and self-worth most likely reflecting on her own struggles. Tissues recommended because this is a song everyone can relate to in some ways and also be prepared for the MV.

SUNMI - pporappippam

The queen of retro is back with another masterpiece because she’s Sunmi, she can’t make bad songs! I love the vibe of the song, the aesthetic MV with purple as the dominant color... it truly felt like a song from 80’s with an unique sound none can master but Sunmi. Kpop would be not kpop without her!

Also, on a totally unrelated note: even though I’m not a fan of her, just a casual listener, I want to state how fcking proud I am of her. I can’t even imagine how difficult it was for Sunmi to be this open about her borderline-disorder especially as an idol. I truly hope she’s healthy and doing alright, wishing her the best for the future

Chungha - Play

As much as I loved every releases from her in this year, Play was the song which was on repeat. Like, this song is full of energy, has such a fun vibe which makes you want to dance along with it! Also, also, the MV was super colorful, her stylist did a great job and the tango was well incorporated into the choreo, it was creative and entertaining to watch her performances of this song.

And let me add how happy I am for Chungha, this year she released songs always trying out something new and participated in many different projects. I also loved her collaborations! They were super underrated even within the fandom.

Gfriend - Mago

Retro. Disco. 80’s. Love the MV. Love the song! Such a different concept from what we are used to see from them, but again, this year Gfriend was not afraid to deviate from their usual sound and try out new things.

As much as I’m in love with this song (and Apple as well!), just as much I appreciate the visible artistic growth they have shown in this year. Wish them many luck for their future!

BTS

Okay, let me tell you quickly a little story. Before the first lockdown happened, in the beginning of the year in school we had this agreement in french class. If we don’t want to take a french exam, we can sit in the back and studying or doing something silently. This was around the time when Mots7 was released and so, during every french class I listened to this album on repeat while studying chemistry. Then quarantine came, classmates got sick, drama happened, took exams, a lonely summer, then university... the world was burning. For me, this album was the “last” normal thing before pandemic hit europe; whenever I listened to it, it takes me back to me our french classes, my friend sitting next to me doing her make up, me reading my chemistry book, windows are open, you can hear a class having PE class, the teacher explains something for those few students sitting in the first row... seems peaceful? Maybe too nostalgic. But Mots7 became that album for me which was there for us before the world fell, which reminded me of the “normal” life throughout this year, and helped me a lot. And I’ll be forever thankful for that. Dynmite: Retro, english, fun, we need it. Hungarians hated it so much? But hungarian kpop fans are edgy they hate everything popular because they “appreciate talent” *eye roll* Life goes on: This song for me is the new spring day in a way - calming, nostalgic, comforting, something we really needed after this hectic year. A perfect song to end 2020. “Life goes on“ = “This too, shall pass”

Taemin

HAVE YOU SEEN A MAN SO PERFECT?

Okay, but seriously. Taemin owned this year! 3 comebacks with SuperM and 3 comebacks as a solo act, multiply MVs and performances, not letting anyone forget about him nor SHINEE. Whenever I thought that okay, this is his peak, he can’t do better than this - Taemin came back and proved me wrong again. Never Dance Again act 1 and 2 were among the best releases this year

Somi - What you waiting for

As much as I didn’t like birthday, I found myself enjoying this song a lot! Nothing astonishingly new or different, but has a catchy beat and chorus, suits to Somi’s range and she even looked more confident while performing on music shows (naturally, she got more used to being a soloist after a year or so, but still. It was good to see her owning that stage and being happy there). Similar to BP, it also has a western pop feeling especially with the full-english chorus, but somehow worked better for me personally here!

Oneus

Such an underrated group which I got to know through one of my moots on twitter, otherwise I would have never heard of them. And what a mistake it’d be!

Alone the concepts stole my heart, I adored the whole prince, vampires, kinght theme going on in a fantasy world vibes of the MVs. Besides that, I love how they sound together as a group, it’s so pleasing to hear how all those different voices comes after each other and somehow makes it work, resulting in an amazing song.

TXT

This year, when the debut hype is long gone, TXT proved that they are much more than just a boy group next to BTS. Their success is thanks to their hardwork and magical, unique style which made millions of people fall in love with them. (Big3 privilige is still a thing tho, but their hardwork should not be underestimated. Because of their privileged situation, they were offered oppurtunities, had a financial background other artists don’t - but it doesn’t make them less than others. Just shows the faults in the unfair music system).

Despite my worries that after Run Away it’d be hard for them coming back with another song, they managed to release a no-skip mini album with an awesome music video “Can’t you see me”. One moment they are laughing, and in the next one they’re killing eachother while singing about growing up and losing touch with friends once they were inseparable with.

Their journey of growing up with its pros and cons are portrayed through their songs, using mystical themes such as a fatal game and a long forgotten magical promise. They enforced this concept furthermore in this year by their next songs, Drama, Blue Hour and We lost the summer which about the impact of the pandemic on teenagers (side note: such a creative MV! They’re truly part ofour generation sksksk).

And I haven’t even mentioned the anime openings and OST they made this year, capturing such a familiar feeling of the magic of our daily lives and fights.

They make music for us, for our generation, about issues and feelings we all face with every day in our daily life. And gosh, we needed TXT in 2020 so bad, I’m grateful for them

Red Velvet - Psycho

(Okay, so psycho is technically was released in 2019, but like only few days before new year’s eve so... I count it as a 2020 release)

RV had only one comeback this year as a whole group, they still made it iconic and served a song which quickly becamone of of THAT songs of 2020. I may say this too many times, but I’m in love with groups with unique concepts and sounds whoch can only be done by them. It’s especially true for RV: they always serve and never miss.

And I could go into details how perfect this song is and that I could spent a whole day just watching the MV, but I think everyone knows what I think exactly. It’s a masterpiece.

(Side note: though it’s not quite my style, I surprisingly like Irene and Seulgi’s song “Monster” too! One of the most iconic songs of this year)

Ateez

Answer, Inception

This was THAT year for 4th groups!

As I mentioned at Itzy and briefly touched on it at skz, i do feel like groups which debuted 1-2 years ago found their own sound, own style, own concept now and more confident and better in the music they put out. Don’t get me wrong, these groups were never bad - but now the improvement comparing to their debut days are so visible. You could feel ATEEZ are going hard, wild yet keeping it elegant and never losing their own style. I’m literally unable to tell you how much I loved their songs in this year and I’m more than excited to see what 2021 will bring for them and for us!

LUCY

Flowering, Jogging, Snooze

Definitely one of the best debuts of 2020. After all, you can’t see many korean bands with a violinist (if I’m correct, there’s only LUCY out there). I am absolutely in love with their uniqe style. It’s so different yet, it’s so needed, especially in this crazy times.

They sound like spring. Hopeful with the re-born nature around them. They sound like summer, july. Full of fantasy, and childish dreams of adventures in the backyard. They sound like early autumn. Something changed, something passed, a little grief in the begging of “please stay a child for a bit longer”.

3YE - yessir

Girl crush conceot is running high, kpop is full of powerful anthems for girls (and I love that!), but completely different what we were used to hear from 2nd generation groups. Music evolved throughout the time so there’s nothing surprising in this. Yet, 3YE was able to release a song which gives me off second generation vibes, it was impossible for me to not fall in love with it. It’s powerful, and catchy... deserved more attention from the gp.

Songs I liked and recommend but lazy to write more mini-essays:

Seventeen - Homerun, Left & right

Iz*one - The secret story of a swan, Panorama

Berrygood - Accio

Wjsn - Butterfly

G-Idle - Oh my god

Pentagon - Daisy

Loona - Star, So what

Blackpink - Lovesick girls

IU - Eight

KARD - Gunshot

Hoppipolla - Let’s

Hwasa - Maria

Weekly - Tag me

StayC - So bad

CLC - Helicopter

Everglow - La di da

Astro - knock

Dreamcatcher - boca

April - lalalilala

Apink - dumhdrum

BAE173 - crush on u

E’LAST - Tears of chaos

Oh my girl - secret garden

fromis9 - feel good

p1harmony - butterfly

HA:TFELT - Life Sucks

Sunmi x JYP - When we disco

Yukika - Soul Lady

Eric Nam - Paradise

Stella Jang - Villain

Zico - Any song

DPR LIVE - Jam & Butterfly (ft. Crush, eaJ)

Got7 - Last piece, Not by the moon

Weekly - tag me

Lacuna - Dancing in the rain

Cignature - Arisong

Jessi - Nununana

Blackswan - Tonight

N.flying - Oh really

Brave Girls - We ride

DreamNote - Wish

Natty - 19

#kpop #personal #sorry for my english

[fluidsf]

Fluid Sonic Fluctuation 113

Síria: Boa-Língua

as kindly provided to me as a review copy by Crónica

released March 17, 2020

Catalogue number: 155

Welcome to review number 113 on Fluid Sonic Fluctuations in which today I’m featuring the fairly recently released album by Síria titled Boa-Língua. I received this album as a review copy linking to a Bandcamp download code from the Crónica label. Crónica is the label which actually inspired me to start this blog and over the last two years I’ve often featured and reviewed various Crónica releases both new and old on this blog. Just like I did with Quantum Natives I’ll give a bit of a description of Crónica both for people who haven’t checked out the previous reviews as well as keeping in line with my now even more expanded review style. Crónica is a Portuguese mixed media label founded by a group of sound artists, experimental musicians and audiovisual artists that include Miguel Carvalhais (who’s most in charge of the label nowadays and has mastered and designed many of its releases), Pedro Tudela, who both form the duo @c, an immersive sound art and abstract experimental music project that often utilises field recordings and collaged abstract musical and non-musical sounds to create immersive cinematic experiences based on a philosophical attitude to sound as well as deep listening into various sonic environments. I’ve reviewed various @c works on this blog before. Other founding members of Crónica include experimental musician Pedro Almeida (Pal) and visual artist Lia who uses custom programming to create her moving and captured abstract visuals. Quite matching in spirit to @c’s sound works Crónica’s releases form an ever-continuing chronology of sound, music and noise on various formats including cassette tape, free download, CD and limited edition vinyl releases. Crónica’s discography is a mixture of Sound Art pieces, often conceptual and free-spirited experimental music and Electro-Acoustic Improvisation as well as inventive and often enjoyable forays into composed field recordings and the more arty side of Noise. Now let’s have a look at the contents of the review copy of Boa-Língua by Síria that I received. The download I received includes the album cover artwork in good resolution, the 9 album tracks in 24-bit/44.1kHz high resolution audio as well as a PDF file that contains the album’s tracklist, credits, release description and liner notes. The liner notes by Síria herself give a good impression of the concept and sonic approach Síria used when she recorded the 9 pieces that feature on the album with improvisation that goes beyond simply performing and an element of deep introspection being key elements to this album’s development. A nice short text that you can read alongside checking out the music. What is of interest for now is the background of Síria and the other artists who contributed to the music or whose music Síria sampled / manipulated to create her music. First of all, Síria herself, is a solo project by Portuguese sound artist and experimental musician Diana Combo. As also introduced by the PDF files, Síria is an extension of Diana’s other music project EOSIN, a project that mixes Turntable Music style experimentation, field recordings and other sound sources to create at times eerie and mysterious abstract sonic images, Síria mixes this approach with Diana’s vocals which in the case of Boa-Língua she doesn’t manipulate that much but mostly works as a main thread carrying the pieces of music, often using (traditional) Folk songs or as in some pieces on this album rather expressive (wordless) vocals sometimes using an invented language. Under the name Síria Diana has released two albums on Crónica, has appeared on compilations on Tropical Twista Records and Discrepant and has created a remix for Sontag Shogun released on Youngbloods. Tiago Martins has done “post-production” of the album at his own Fisgastudio, which as I could hear it on the album consists of the connecting the songs together as well as nicely balancing out Síria’s vocals with the instrumentation of her pieces. Miguel Carvalhais did the mastering for this album, which like other masters he did for releases I previously reviewed is rather crisp and clear sounding, a notch compressed in this case perhaps though, but it does keep the vocals quite on the foreground and it’s not reducing the balance of the instrumentation of the music too much and indeed Miguel also created the artwork for this release which features photos by Síria herself of this subtly painted statue of a nude woman which is not quite matching my own interpretation of the music as you will soon notice but does form nice striking imagery that does encompass the general surreal ambience of the album quite well. Amongst the sources of songwriting, samples and recordings Síria used in her pieces we find that first song Canção do Gato is a version of a song that Tiago Pereira recorded for his continuing project A Música Portuguesa a Gostar Dela Própria which documents Portuguese folk songs as sung by local citizens through his audio and video recordings. Nos Montes was remixed by @c who have released albums on labels like Variz, Crónica, Fuga Discos and Grain Of Sound, have been featured on albums and compilation released by labels like Loop, AntmanuvMicro and Variz and are also credited on releases on Dead Motion Records, Ilse and a free Edition Der Standard release. Senhora dos Remédios is a version of a song sang by Portuguese singer Catarina Chitas and features a sample from Portuguese mixed media artist Maile Colbert. Belgian Shepherd is a remix of a track of the same title by Portuguese experimental music artist Rui P. Andrade of his 2017 album All Lovers Go To Heaven, originally released on ACR. Rui has released albums using his own name on labels such as BRØQN, Etched Traumas, Haze and Colectivo Casa Amarela, has appeared on releases on Darker Days Ahead, a compilation by Indie Rock Mag, a split EP on Enough Records. Rui’s credits includes musical work on releases on Zigur Artists, Pale Blue and Warm Winters Ltd. Rui nowadays makes music under his alias Canadian Rifles which he mostly releases on his own Eastern Nurseries tape label. Through Síria’s remix (originally released on the Island Fever compilation by Portuguese experimental music label Colectivo Casa Amarela) I’ve already caught some glimpses of Rui’s sound work and based on the strong bassy resonant noisy drone elements I heard I can tell his solo works and label output will definitely be worth checking out too. Ay Işığında is a version of a song as originally sung by Azerbaijani singer Nərminə Məmmədova. Finally, For Ghédalia and Boa-Lingua feature recordings made by Los Niños Muertos which is a duo made up of Portuguese electric guitar improviser and experimentalist André Tasso (who's also part of the big Ensemble MIA, an international collective of experimental musicians and improvisers who participated in the Encontro de Música Improvisada de Atouguia da Baleia organised in May 2016) and Bruno Humberto (a conceptual artist in a wide array of fields in contemporary arts whose works often use the location of the installation or performance as part of the artwork and who also utilised absurdism in interesting manners as part of the Gazpacho Unlimited theatre group). Now let’s dive into Boa-Língua’s music and sonic imagery.

Boa-Língua starts with the piece Canção do Gato which quite perfectly introduces the sonic imagery that this album conjured up in my mind which is that of a wandering soul on a mysterious journey who encounters all kinds of strange rituals and at times dystopian Industrial environments. The piece feels like we’re inside a circle watching an eerie entrancing ritual happen, with Síria’s vocals working as if they’re the chant forming the ritual itself, combined with the gong like percussion which emits a bassy and resonant but also quite wavy continuous droning and helps to create that nocturnal mysterious atmosphere. The song itself sounds more uplifting than the eerie gong drones suggests which makes for a great intriguing juxtaposition of musical elements and the filtered walkie-talkie noise like rhythm in the first half of the piece adds a bit of surrealism to the piece as it feels quite like a small undefined cloud drifting by, momentarily obscuring the ritual. Síria’s vocal performance itself also got some great details in it too, as she holds the notes of each repeated melodic phrase as if they’re looped and also giving the song a bit of sharp resonant edge, very nice to hear. Afterwards we travel into darker, more dystopian territory with Nos Montes which features Síria’s wordless vocals and various layers of (field recording) manipulations, loose percussion, warbled pitch adjusted vinyl records as well as eerie glassy crystallised textured and choppy fluttering bits of Noise swirling around in the centre of the stereo image as well as as between the left and right channels in a subtle manner. Our aforementioned wandering soul has now arrived in an Industrial landscape in which alien machinery seems to be ever whirring, squeaking and clicking, with the workers in this factory or perhaps even simply a workshop appear to be processing glimmering minerals which radiate vivid blue-tinted rainbows. Warbled voices and strangely dropping tones feel like the wandering soul is slowly getting both frightened and confused by her surroundings, her wordless singing feeling like a soft lullaby like song she sings to comfort herself. Her voice distorts and repeats as the environment changes and while the music follows more of a slow evolution of texture rather than reaching a real climax, the various details and new sounds fading in through the layers of Industrial sound make the immersive sonic experiments that much richer. Like many of the pieces on this album, Nos Montes is connected quite directly to its following piece with the jester like tambourine pattern at the end smoothly moving into the beginning of the following track Senhora dos Remédios. @c’s (remix) contribution to Nos Montes sounds a bit more metallic than I heard before from the Portuguese duo and is a bit more subtle in this case with many of the sonic layers sounding like directly from Síria herself. The depth, panning and immersive acoustic effects definitely make me think of @c’s work in a more direct manner, but I can say that this mixture of contributions to one piece of music definitely works quite seamless instead of being a piece where you can clearly hear “another artist joined as a collaborator” so excellent work in here indeed. Following track Senhora dos Remédios uses a sample by Maile Colbert (possibly a field recording) sounding like hissy wind and we can hear the return of the gong percussion from Canção do Gato at the start of the piece, blending with jester tambourine rhythm. This piece feels quite like our wandering soul has reached a more quiet part of the factory / workshop where we can only hear the hiss of pipes leading to the machinery in the main hall. Síria’s way of singing the song makes it sound quite ghostly and a bit like a lament, the stereo panned delay effect also adds this feeling of being inside the mind of the wandering soul. The second voice in the song feels like the wandering soul is imagining this second voice as a memory from a time long ago. A sweet introspective piece of music which does retain that nice Industrial edge the album has in a great manner. Belgian Shepherd then follows, a quite minimalist piece in which Síria’s vocals feature in a more subtle manner than other the other tracks on Boa-Língua. Now it feels like the wandering soul has moved to another spot in the factory, one in which distant sounds of machinery can be heard. Featuring distorted rhythmic glitch bass, a scraping mechanical resonant metallic drone, as well as burst of dust-laden steam and distant clanging metal poles and racks the Industrial landscape where our wandering soul finds herself has become a bit less archaic and morphed into a more efficient, cold and high-tech sci fi type of gears. Additional excellent details to the piece are the entrance in which high pitched glitched tones as well as a metallic violin like glassy screeches seem to introduce the wandering soul’s desperation as she’s trying to find a way out of this dark landscape, her warm wordless vocals being both cries for help and again a means to try to calm herself down and focus. A great mixture of contemporary minimalist Glitch elements and classic Industrial textures from what I can hear in the piece, Rui P. Andrade’s original version of this piece of which we’re now hearing Síria’s remix must be a fine entrancing piece of Drone / Noise work as all the textures as well as rich manipulations of the elements suggest the source material (which Síria also added on in this remix, which should be noted) definitely has some great creativity and an inspired personal touch to it too. Great work. Afterwards in Yarın the wandering soul has finally got out of the factory and returned to the mysterious ritual we saw before which has now progressed. Featuring long long resonating and decaying cymbal droning which is rich in many eerie and filtered sounding overtones as well as an additional layer of low (synth) frequencies which create a brooding rumbling foundation of the piece the ritual like nature of this piece is much darker. Yet Síria’s vocals are quite uplifting and positive sounding, with her voice overtaking the darkness more in this case than becoming encompassed within it. The double tracking of her vocals does create these curious sonic phenomena however, like her voice detaches itself from her as a separate second “out of body” entity and swirls around within the diffuse flowing liquid tonal mass of the ritual music. A few rays of sunlight are shining through the clouds of the morning to come for the wandering soul but the water drops at the end of the piece predict that the ominous events she encounters aren’t over yet, with the room acoustic of the field recording suggesting a narrow hollow space she soon finds herself in, perhaps a dungeon. Danse Macabre, the piece that follows is quite self-explanatory based on the titled. Indeed the piece feels quite like the sonic depiction of ghosts dancing around in a circle in the dark night. In this case however, it’s obviously the wandering soul who’s growing more and more confused and frightened by feelings that she can’t escape this strange world of mysterious ancient rituals and dystopian cold Industry all that easily. The piece feels quite “classic” in that it has a mostly pure Ritual Ambient sound with a lot of eerie resonant slow percussion rhythms, droning vocals and strange mouth sounds with which she creates strange laughing and screeching noises and spooky wails. However there are also little bits of crackling Noise hidden in the background as well with which Síria does underline her signature sound in this piece, they’re equally eerie in that they’re so “light” in the sonic imagery that you might even mistake them for rustling leaves or tree branches outside your house (this is especially the case on headphones). Further details that are particularly great about this piece are the highly resonant droning overtones mixed with the hollow water drops in the beginning of the piece creating some extra eerie gloom as well as the way Síria’s vocals form their own texture and intensely droning tone at the end of the piece, a very immersive listening experience once again. Ay Işığında follows with a similar kind of Ritual Ambient kind of ambience fading through the water drop sounds into nicely rising and falling waves of gong resonances backed by tinkling cymbals. Our wandering soul appears to have escaped her gloom and is now walking towards a beach with the aforementioned gong resonances feeling like the eerie gloom still surrounding her until the point that some lovely hollow, wooden like turntable needle and mechanism manipulations enter sounding a bit like rowing pans for that nice notch of surrealism in the mix. Síria performs the song Ay Işığında (as originally sung by Nərminə Məmmədova) with much positive emotion and there’s some lovely spacey delay effect on her vocals again but what I like even more about this piece is the way the piece’s subtly moving drone moves into sonic imagery involving soft “caressing” vinyl crackles and the sound of the sea, the swirling waves of water carrying our wandering soul to what appears to be an exit of the fever dream like landscapes she find herself in. The vinyl crackles also appear to hint at the subconscious meaning of “this is all just memories, you’re not actually experiencing this in real life”. Very intriguing. For Ghédalia then is a piece which is a bit more abrasive for its first half featuring screechy high pitched feedback tones but does flow into a more subtle kind of ambience afterwards. Dedicated to the cult Avant-Garde Folk experimentalist Ghédalia Tazartes the piece does indeed recall the curious kind of mixture of Noise, Folk and Tribal like elements I remember from listening to one of his albums a long time ago. This is also a piece which does move a bit out of the flow of the pieces that came before it as it features some more abstract experimentation within it. Síria is performing ornamental wordless vocals in this piece mixed with additional filtered vocal drones making for curious swirling drone around her. She also creates clicky bass drum like percussion using her mouth (though this seems to be more like a layering of two elements in fact). Curious are also the organ like tones in the first half of the piece. Whilst moving into a different kind of textural style, I can still apply my imagined imagery of the wandering soul to this piece as being a ritual she created and is performing on her own. This piece uses recordings by André Tasso and Bruno Humberto and I can definitely say that based on what I found about André, the guitar Noise elements are created by him and add some great rawness in terms of texture to the piece, very nice. Final piece Boa-Língua puts more focus on the recordings of guitar feedback manipulation as well as some sweet woodblock / stick percussion courtesy of André Tasso and Bruno Humberto in terms of instrumentation with Síria’s vocals being more like chanted mantras. The instrumental backing has a great physical touch to it in terms of texture, with the guitar also sounding a bit like an alarm; Síria’s calm vocals give the impression of our wandering soul slowly waking up in her bed in the morning with her thoughts still going through a bit of a confusing haze (the feedback instrumentation) and her wake up alarm having an oddly harsh sound to her ears. Still, she’s safe and sound and thereby we also come to our listening journey of Síria’s excellent Boa-Língua. I awards Boa-Língua a Polar Vision at the frequency of a wandering soul travelling through possibly imagined landscapes full of mysterious rituals, dystopian Industrial landscapes and a surreal experience of past memories. The album’s consistent flow of often vocal lead pieces of rich experimental music make for a great listening experience in Síria’s personal, inspired sonic world that blends “physical” Noise experimentation, Ritual Ambient influences, an inventive approach to using her voice in her music and a great feel for the cinematic side of Sound Art and texture based ambiences. This is a great recommended listen for fans of the more musical side of Sound Art, experimental approaches to Ritual Ambient, Turntable Music as well as a more varied approach to using Noise and Free Improvisation in more subtle manners. Síria’s song based approach also makes the music more accessible for listeners who aren’t very familiar with experimental music in general. Definitely get this album.

You can order Boa-Língua by Síria as a limited edition cassette tape and download from the Crónica Bandcamp page here: https://cronica.bandcamp.com/album/boa-l-ngua

#fluid sonic fluctuation #polar vision #113 #síria #Boa-Língua #crónica #march 17 #2020 #155 #diana combo #tiago martins #Fisgastudio #miguel carvalhais #tiago pereira #@c #pedro tudela #Catarina Chitas #maile colbert #rui p. andrade #nərminə məmmədova #los niños muertos #andré tasso #bruno humberto #sound art #experimental music #underground music #ritual ambient #noise #turntable music #avant-folk

[spencerreidsmiles]

Get To Know Me! (lol another one)

I was tagged by @spxcxrrxid! Thanks babe 

Rules: answer 30 questions and then tag 20 blogs you would like to know better.

1. Nicknames: Mar 2. Gender: female 3. Star sign: Gemini 4. Height: 5′4″ 5. Time: 11:12 PM 6. Birthday: June 6 7. Favourite bands: Panic! At the Disco, Pentatonix, Superfruit 8. Favourite solo artists: Dodie, Stevie Nicks, Stromae, Lia Marie Johnson, Sara Bareilles  9. Song stuck in my head: Would You Be So Kind from Dodie’s new album you [give it a listen my dudes] 10. Last movie watched: War for the Planet of the Apes [tbh don’t really recommend tho] 11. Last show watched: Big Brother 12. When did I create my blog: Sept. 25 of last year 13. What do I post: anything related to Spencer Reid or Criminal Minds 14. Last thing I googled: lyrics to Would You Be So Kind lol 15. Do you have other blogs: yah follow my main @theatricalgeminifangirl​ 16. Do you get asks: occasionally, usually requests  17. Why did you choose your url: i was just going through options and settled on this one cause it wasn’t claimed 18. Following: on my main, I’m following 453 19. Followers: 2,629 20. Favourite colours: mint, lavender, pastel pink 21. Average hours of sleep: seven-ish 22. Lucky number: 6 23. Instruments: formerly clarinet, recorder, and hand bells; currently piano and voice 24. What am I wearing: navy blue pajama set 25. How many blankets I sleep with: four in the summer and like five billion in the winter 26. Dream job: writer or bookstore owner 27. Dream trip: anywhere but specifically Italy, Spain, and Japan 28. Favourite food: if its got carbs, I’ll probably eat it tbh 29. Nationality: Chinese-American 30. Favourite song now: take a guess guys [yeah it’s Would You Be So Kind]

Tagging whoever wants to do this!

#tag #spencerreidsmiles

[bellaloona]

My Top 19 K-Pop songs of 2019

(No one asked, but I’ll tell you anyway :) )

19. LOL - Taeyeon: I waited so long for Taeyeon’s new solo album to come out because her solo work has always really resonated with me, and I love the vibe she went for for Purpose. This is my favorite song from the album (along with Love You Like Crazy) because I love how soft the “ha, ha, ha” part in the prechorus is before louder, dramatic, sassy chorus comes in. It’s like an evil character’s song in a movie. 18. The Fifth Season (SSFWL) - Oh My Girl: It just sounds so pretty. Oh My Girl always sounds so pretty but something about this title track takes off when that chorus hits and makes you feel like you’re flying away in the true, whimsical, Oh My Girl fashion. They release nothing but good music, always. 17. Valkyrie - ONEUS: My favorite debut this year! Fun fact, Hwanwoong was my original one-pick in Produce 101 Season 2 and I was pissed he got eliminated so early and I was waiting for his debut ever since. Honestly, all of ONEUS’s stuff is pretty solid but this song is my favorite from them and definitely gave them a different sound than a lot of k-pop groups at the moment. Love the dance, love the guitar in the minimalistic part of the chorus into the EDM drop, and love my little man Hwanwoong :) 16. Baby You Are - EXO: This album took so long to come out that a lot of other groups caught my attention during the year and I wasn’t as hyped for their comeback as I usually would be, but immediately on first listen, this was my favorite song. ChanKai leading the chorus *chefs kiss*  and I love the groovy vibe they went for and how this album went from intense songs to these lighter songs to the ballads.  15. Fun! - fromis_9: Exactly what you’d expect from the title of the song. They all looked great, sounded great, the choreo is cute, and I adore the spunky sound. The music video is really cheeky too! 14. Chronosaurus - Stray Kids: I was really unsure whether I would like Stray Kids because something about their debut stuff didn’t vibe with me at first but them Miroh came out and I was like oh??? And then I listened to this mini album and I was like OH???? THAT CHORUS! anyway we stan now 13. Dumb - BVNDIT: I was not expecting to like this song! I wasn’t the biggest fan of their debut because I was worried that they were going to have this group do the exact same style as Chungha, and while this comeback still has some of those vibes, I think the edginess of this song made it stand out to me. The choreography is one of my faves this year, simple and elegant at the same time and the girl that starts the second verse (Yiyeon?) has such a stunning vocal tone that really caught my attention. 12. Bing Bing - Red Velvet: not Red Velvet’s strongest year but this song and Parade stood out to me because it has that wacky classic “red” style that I like. The live performance is what pushed this song ahead of Parade for me, because they all look so sassy and confident and their runways walks ended ANTM’s career. 11. Happy Ending (JPN ver.) - Seventeen: is technically not a Korean song, and I know there’s a Korean version to it, but I’ve listened to this way too much for me not to include it. This song and Hit have my favorite choreographies of the year but I prefer how laid-back and acoustic parts of this song are despite how hard this dance goes. 10. Icy - ITZY: I wish I had just an ounce of the confidence these girls exude, especially Yuna when she gets her center time. Everything about this song is so strange yet done so right, and ITZY gets bonus points for being choreographed by my favorite choreographer on Youtube at the moment, Brian Friedman. 9. Lion - (G)I-DLE: I don’t want to like (G)I-DLE, because I hate how their concept is just cultural appropriation and the girls think it’s okay to use other cultures as an aesthetic or a costume they can put on whenever they want, and call it something like “ethnic hip.” But credit where credit is due, this group puts out some of the most creative, best quality music out there right now and Soyeon sure knows how to write a song. The power this song exudes.... amazing. Special shout-out to Blow Your Mind and Put it Straight from the Senorita album as well! 8. Spring Snow - Pentagon: Kino just knows what kind of music I like, and it is unfair that his song in every album is my favorite but here we are. This song just makes me feel endlessly happy, like the ending theme of a coming of age movie? They’re another group that put out nothing but quality music all year, and I also want to mention Sha La La which I feel deserved more love than it ever got. @ cube bring back Yanan please thank you 7. Highway to Heaven (Korean ver.) - NCT: I think I mentioned this in my concert recap but everyone was looking forward to Superhuman when the VCR for this song came out I immediately knew it was my new favorite NCT song.The MVs (for both versions actually!) are so simple and pretty and the song is so hopeful (in Korean......) and Haechan finally got his deserved high note, bless this song 6. We Must Love - ONF: my fatal mistake is not discovering ONF sooner, and it is also the mistake of literally everyone else who has not heard of them. because their viewcount is so LOW The melody in this song is so pretty and so dramatic and I LOVE THEIR MAIN VOCAL??? also this song made me fall in love with Laun literally 2 months before he left but I digress-- 5. LALALAY - Sunmi: I got so excited about this song that I learned the dance within the first week and that’s dedication right there. I love a good Lia Kim choreo, and I love the attitude and the energy Sunmi exuded. Also the stage outfits and makeup 11/10. 4. Devil - CLC: I want to put every song CLC put out this year on this list but I have no space so I picked my favorite. While I like CLC when they decide to go badass, I have a soft spot in my heart for songs like Pepe and No Oh Oh so having them give us that retro sound again was really refreshing. Sorn got lines! This was also another song I immediately learned the dance to. This was their BEST year by far and I’m looking forward to their album (hopefully, I’m tired of minis and singles) 3. You Calling My Name - GOT7: In all honesty, I haven’t fully liked a GOT7 comeback since 2015 (If You Do <3) which I feel awful about because they were one of the first songs I got into when I started liking k-pop that year. I kept up with their variety work and still liked the members and was waiting for another title track to catch my attention again and this one punched me in the face. I’ve listened to this song every day since it came out. Styling, on point, production, on point, and especially the CHOREO is on point. also jinyoung.....is very powerful..... 2. Rooftop - N.flying: I’M SO HAPPY FOR THEM!! I grew really attached to this group after subscribing to Jaehyun and Hun’s youtube channel (2idiots, best content out there lol) and I’ve been waiting for their big break because they’re all so nice and work so hard and it finally came! It amazes me how big this song got in Korea, and it’s so refreshing to hear. Hweseung’s vocals, ugghhhhh <3 1. DAY6′s entire discography Wanna Go Back - DAY6: wow I’m incredibly predictable aren’t I. I’ve been incredibly stressed with studying this year, and most kpop is too distracting for me to listen to while doing school work, but DAY6′s music has been really comforting and helping me to stay focused, which makes them my most listened to artist of the year. I struggled to pick a favorite song because they all are, but I settled on Wanna Go Back because it’s one of the only songs I know of that have made me cry on first listen. The lyrics hit too close to home, and it’s really meaningful to me that they put into words so eloquently.

Honorable mentions - %% - APINK, Hala Hala - ATEEZ, Satellite - LOONA, Colors - LOONA, Violeta - IZ*ONE, Mikrokosmos - BTS, Boy With Luv - BTS, Bloom Bloom - The Boyz, Picky Picky - Weki Meki, Movie Star (and the entire album that came with it) - CIX, 119 - NCT Dream, Bbyong! - Saturday, Blueming - IU, What Are You Waiting For - Anda, Get Loud -TWICE, Fancy - TWICE, Love Foolish - TWICE, Breakthrough (JPN ver.) -TWICE

In general, while I don’t think this is musically the strongest year for kpop, I feel like a lot of groups released music that was more true to their authentic selves and a lot of the songs that stood out to me are songs that just make me happy. As someone who loves kpop dances, the choreo this year was also impeccable. Here’s to more great music to come, and I hope everyone takes care of themselves into the new year!

#fun stuff