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Editorial Pick #1: Good Ol’ K-Pop

Ever wondered what the best K-Pop songs during the early years of the 00’s or maybe the late years of the 90’s were? Read on to hear what K-Pop sounded like when today’s current idols were still trainees, and to hear some good, never-aging K-Pop songs, as I introduce to you guys my personal favorites when it comes to K-Pop in the earlier days! 

SHUFFLE AND REPEAT 2K11.

INTRODUCING A NEW & IMPROVED SHUFFLE AND REPEAT!

I’ve been wanting to improve the blog for a long time now, but admittedly, I was too busy, and I kind of grew out of reviewing releases because I somehow got bored with the typical routine of reviewing this and that. I also found reviewing all the singles first before the studio album lifeless and too formal, which is why I am introducing a new version of Shuffle and Repeat!

If I was asked of what has changed since I first started to review in this blog, I would have to say that I’ve become a lot more mature now but my tastes haven’t changed overall, really. I guess it just expanded. I’ve become a lot more appreciative with other genres now, which is why I didn’t want to stick to the formal format. I’ll just go ahead and post whatever I want about music. After all, this is a music blog which I have opened to share my musical journeys and discoveries to my readers.

Basically, the new and improved Shuffle & Repeat will be limitless. I actually plan to post in this blog anything and everything I encounter when it comes to music. No language barriers, no formal formats to follow, just posts about good music.

I hope you guys all look forward to this new change in the blog.

I PROMISE THAT THIS TIME, I AM REALLY BACK. 🙂

Hate You

Hate You is 2NE1’s 8th digital single. It was released on July 21, 2011.

tracklist:
01. Hate You

Hate You has grown a lot on me, I can safely say. When I was listening to the teaser of the song and back to when I first heard it fully, I hated it. I thought it was a pretty boring song, and it doesn’t even show progress when talking about intensity in arrangement. Things have quite changed now because I actually like it. After a couple more listens, I think it’s a pretty decent song and I appreciate it despite it showing less progress in arrangement. What I liked most about the song is that it was upbeat, and yet the vocals of the 4 of them were clear, and were high quality. Dara has obviously improved her singing because there definitely is no autotune, as far as I can tell. Overall, this might also be growers for some of you, but just give it some more play counts and you’ll like just like me.

Favorable Track:
Hate You

Shuffle rating!

Shy Boy

Single Review
Secret – Shy Boy

Shy Boy is Secret’s 1st single. It was released on January 6, 2011.

tracklist:
01. Shy Boy
02. No. 1
03. Shy Boy (Inst.)
04. No. 1 (Inst.)

Secret really did a great 360 degree-change with their concept regarding Shy Boy. I didn’t really expect them to make a comeback with a very upbeat concept because of how fierce they were with songs like Magic and Madonna, but I have to say that I fell in love with this track and their concept as well. I think it was time to let the audience see a softer and more jolly side of them, so I really think that their change was very clever. Anyways, talking about the song itself, I’d say that Shy Boy is very catchy. It starts off with a plain beat with some guitar samples which were mixed with the “doo roo wap doo bap doo bap” lines that is enough to get you interested in listening. It’s good from the start, but it gets excellent as it reaches the highlight, which is the chorus. The English lines “You are my Shy Shy Shy Boy” was very infectious. Seriously. Especially when it gets accompanied by the heavy beat and dynamic arrangement, it just sounds so great. I don’t really need to talk about the girls’ vocals since they were great (as always). So yeah. Definitely, this was a pretty refreshing song. Simple. Heavy. Catchy.

No. 1 was cool. It took a more aggressive path than Shy Boy, but it doesn’t get too aggressive. Just like Shy Boy, it was catchy. Especially the chorus, where they blabber a few lines and go back to singing normal words such as “Music makes me high”. I thought the arrangement during the verses needed a little more “mmph” in them, but it doesn’t ruin the song, really. It’s still a very good track.

Favorable Tracks:
Shy Boy, No. 1

Shuffle rating!

Pass

Digital Single Review
Jewelry – Pass

Pass is Jewelry’s 5th digital single. It was released on May 16, 2011.

tracklist:
01. Pass
02. Pass (Inst.)

When I first heard Pass, I immediately remembered Rainbow‘s single, A. I don’t know why, but I really think they sound alike, arrangement-wise. The strong, progressive beats and the synths sounded like they were created by the same production team that did A. I don’t know if the producers were the same since that fact, I still have to look up but nevertheless, I can say that Pass is one catchy and amazing song, which is better than their previous single, Back It Up. It is pretty strong since there are heavy beats in the arrangement, but that helps make the song more livelier. Especially when you combine it with the pretty catchy melody and very infectious lines, you’ll hear something that’s very cool. Although, when you listen to it repetitively, it easily gets old, and you might even easily get tired with it. I don’t know if that’s just me, but really, other than that, Pass is one strong and amazing track.

Favorable Track:
Pass

Shuffle rating!

On Rainy Days

Digital Single Review
BEAST – On Rainy Days

On Rainy Days is BEAST’s sixth digital single. It was released on May 12, 2011, which served as a teaser for their first full-length album, Fiction and Fact.

tracklist:
01. On Rainy Days

I don’t know, but it feels like many of the major digital single releases for May were all softies, since you have 2NE1′s LONELY, and the quite slow Ma Boy by SISTAR19. But hey, I didn’t say I don’t like them. lol. Same with BEAST’s On Rainy Days. I really like this newly released track by BEAST. It’s pretty simple, and the chords created a pretty cool and relaxed melody, which was very very nice to hear, especially when combined with the harmonization created by the boys. It is also pretty catchy for a soft song, which is a reason why I really like this track. I can’t really point out anything bad about this track since it is pretty simple and they really have done nothing wrong with it. They crafted the song quite well, taking the simpler route and creating something different yet amazing. I have to say, I’m quite impressed with this group because of this song.

Favorable Track:
On Rainy Days

Shuffle rating!

LONELY

Digital Single Review
2NE1 – LONELY

LONELY is 2NE1’s 6th digital single. It was released on May 12, 2011.

tracklist:
01. LONELY

Considering the fact that 2NE1 is widely known by their fans as strong and fierce females in terms of style and in terms of music, there is no doubt that LONELY is very different. While majority of their previously released songs feature heavy beats, this track does not contain a single trace of beat, which makes it very refreshing, as well as amazing due to the fact that the girls’ voices are heard completely without autotune. Although, I must say that when I first heard LONELY, I was afraid it would be something super slow. When I first got a glimpse of how it officially sounded like, I was quite relieved to hear that it wasn’t as bad as I had imagined it to be. Well, actually, it’s not bad at all. Some 2NE1 fans who love their dance-y, and heavy music might be turned-off at first because it’s a soft track, but they would surely like it eventually. After all, it still features their signature “eh eh” phrases. Which is really reallyyyy catchy.

Favorable Tracks:
LONELY

Shuffle rating!