seoulbeats

On the Front Line of the Forgotten War

Rob — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 02:01:32 +0000

In America, we’re not all that used to films about the Korean War. There were some films in the 50s and 60s, like The Bridges at Toko-ri and The Steel Helmet, and of course M*A*S*H as both a film and a long-running television show in the 70s and 80s, but for some reason it never hooked on with the Hollywood machine in the same way that World War II or Vietnam did. For some families, like mine, the Korean War is the only war that was fought in by relatives, so a gap exists between the horror stories you got to hear after a few too many sips of Jameson, and the movies you got to watch late at night with the sound down low.(...)
Read the rest of On the Front Line of the Forgotten War (688 words)

K-Pop Indie Gem: Misty Blue

Nabeela — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 20:00:46 +0000

Misty Blue is a trio consisting of vocalist Jung Woon Soo, bassist Choi Kyong Hoon, and guitarist Lee Jeong Woo from small-time music label Pastel Music. This soft rock and alternative group has been putting out music since 2005, some of their early works including OST’s like Comfort for the timeless drama Coffee Prince and other singles for Pastel Music compilation albums.

Misty Blue’s first full album Your Star’s Name Is Sirius B, released in June of 2005, features 14 tracks of self-written and self-composed indie and alternative jingles. In 2009 and 2010, Misty Blue also released the four-part “Sentimental” EP, which is comprised of four separate EPs titled Sentimental Con.Troller, Sentimental StoryTell (h)er, Sentimental Steady Stellar, and finally Sentimental Painkiller. Check out some selections from the Sentimental series!

Apart from their colorful and unique album covers, Misty Blue also has a unique sound. Their melodies are very calming and soft-spoken, and their instruments blend together seamlessly to create a fluid harmony between music and lyrics. Balancing strings and vocals, Misty Blue is a dose of different even for the indie scene. They have managed to stay afloat for several years now despite the difficult path to making it as an indie artist, but are able to hold their own with their creative endeavors in both their album artwork and distinct music.

(Last FM, MistyBlue Official)

“The Wonder Girls”: The Right Career Move?

Alyssa — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 14:00:01 +0000

As odd as it may be, I had no idea of who the Wonder Girls were until their venture out into the U.S. market in 2009. Wanting to be a loyal K-pop fan I dug into their endeavors and hoped to support them. After all, if one comes many will follow. However, the U.S. proved to be one tough nut to crack and worldwide success was miles away. My patience ran thin as I heard “Nobody”, with all of its variations, played to death; and “2 Different Tears” was far from a hit. I put them to the side and moved on with my life. Then came 2011, and with a bang and a boom the girls came back to South Korea, dominating the charts with an instant hit, “Be My Baby”. Back on the wagon, I proudly put their music on my playlist. Unfortunately, JYP had yet to cease his plans for the American market and the movie “The Wonder Girls” was announced. Knowing that it would premiere on TeenNick, my expectations weren’t high, and I am still in awe over how the producers managed to slide right under them. It was bad — I mean it, BAD.

Since the movie only lasted about 45 minutes, it is hard to explore its faults too much without giving things away. As advertised, the story revolves around the girls coming to America with high hopes. During their stay they perform at the Apollo, becoming instant rivals with the “School Gyrls”; they are determined to prove themselves a worthy opponent.

Acting:
I don’t know if it was the English barrier or the movie’s overall “half-assed” vibe, but the girls’ performances were wooden. After all of my hype with Sohee and her stint in “Hellcats”, I was hoping that she would have some headway with her experience; it didn’t happen. Instead Yenny was given the lead role with plenty of screen time, to the point in which I contemplated the movie being renamed to “Yenny and the Wonder Girls”.

Story:
Imagine every cliché related to the underdog story. Now take that, compress it into 45 minutes, and you, my friend, might as well have seen the movie. Again, I wasn’t expecting much, but at the very least I hoped for a semi-coherent plot and decent portrayal of the girls. The first was blown to pieces and the second barely passed. The girls were made 2-D and formed into a cheesy team that gives out “Wonder Hugs”, wanting nothing more than to have fun. Though this was done to raise the antics, I can’t help but imagine what things would have been like had the girls been portrayed as fierce, hardworking, and professional; who they are in real life.

Impact:
Near the halfway point, no, the first ten minutes, I wanted to stop watching, but as a fan I persevered. After all, I had already gone through the yearlong wave of “Nobody” and had nothing better to do. What amazes me is how they managed to stereotype Americans despite it being made in America. Shouldn’t they know better?! “Soul food” doesn’t instantly put people to sleep, and kisses aren’t equivalent to a promise. Since things were so wonky plot wise, I was left with nothing in the end. No distant memories, just a blank spot on my life.

Production:
I think that the producers came into this movie with the following mindset; ‘we got the fans so why try too hard?’, and as a result this movie bombed (in terms of execution). I am also guessing that they didn’t think that it would take much to please the younger audience (the demographic it was intended for). It must have slipped their mind that the millions of supporters out there would have standards. The opportunity that was missed bugged me the most. Since the movie focuses on the girls musically, I assumed that plenty of dance numbers and sing offs would be included, but the few that did occur lasted little over a minute; leaving the viewers that never heard of the group with little incentive to look into their work any further. This basically undermined the purpose of the movie, to draw in more American fans.

Rating:
Acting: 6/10
Story: 5/10
Impact: 5/10
Production: 6/10

Overall: 5.5/10

With the movie being as much of a disappointment as it was, it interests me to know whether or not this was a significant step in their American career. On one hand they are given some much needed attention, but on the other they were pretty much made out to be a joke. In some ways it feels as though Girls’ Generation has gained the same amount of spotlight with nothing other than their performances on “The Late Show with David Letterman” and “Live! with Kelly”

What do you think? Was this movie necessary?

Read All About It: SNSD in the US

Natalie — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 08:00:58 +0000

With SNSD’s two performances on Letterman and Live! with Kelly came a little media attention as well. Not one, but two American media organizations turned their attention onto SNSD and K-pop: The Wall Street Journal and The Atlantic. Both written before SNSD’s performances, neither have anything to do with how well the girls did. Instead, the articles focus on SNSD’s and K-pop’s popularity in Asia and growing popularity globally.

Wall street journal

The Wall Street Journal’s article, titled “A K-Pop Sensation Plays Letterman,” provides a small article, video, and slideshow about SNSD. This editorial is featured in the Scene Asia section of WSJ’s blog. I won’t lie – I was largely amused by this, mostly because of how the interviewer and Korean journal portrayed SNSD. “They all have a different act. One of them is a really good dancer. One of them can sing really well. A few of them are, I think, there for their good looks,” and “They have a different fanbase locally and abroad, maybe they can collide a little bit. Locally they have a big fan base of older guys, for obvious reasons, and abroad we see all of these K-pop lovers, teenagers who want to follow K-pop stars, love these girls as well,” were the highlights for me. The validity of those statements depends on who you ask – some people say that only one-third of SNSD can dance and only four can sing and Yoona is there because she’s pretty. SONEs would argue that they’re all nine flawless angels. We all know that SNSD has a huge male fanbase. But whatever you personally see SNSD as, they are never depicted as this by the media. I don’t get the feeling that the reporter is a big fan of SNSD, or even that the interview cares a whole lot about them. I’m surprised that the reporter didn’t mention Wonder Girls’ Teen Nick movie – that’s progress, isn’t it? Certainly more progress than a five or six minute performance at the end of Letterman and Live! with Kelly.

The article itself isn’t entirely atypical. It provides a short amount of information about SNSD and K-pop’s growing global success, citing Big Bang’s EMA and 2NE1′s “Best Band in the World” wins as well as YouTube hits. It even quotes Rob Schwatz, an East Asia Billboard correspondent, as saying, “These girls are sexy enough to open the floodgates for the Korean wave with this performance.” Maybe I’m a horrible pessimist but I think K-pop fans are hoping for too much with these performances. Having seen them, I thought they were good, but judging from people’s reactions and the fact that people perform on Letterman every night, I’m seeing this to be a lot of hot air. I don’t think SNSD’s performances sparked as much an interest as K-pop fans think. It was a foot in the door but they’re not running New York or even close to making K-pop in the US anything more than a niche market.

The Atlantic’s article is better by far. In fact, it’s probably the most detailed article about K-pop that I’ve seen from a Western source. As reflected by the title, “Does Korean Pop Actually Have a Shot at Success in the US?” is about just that subject. The article provides a brief history on Asian acts in the US, discussing Wonder Girls’ ventures and even calling way back to 1963 when Kyu Sakamoto’s “Ue o Muite Aruko,” known as “Sukiyaki” in the West, claimed the number one spot on Billboard charts for three weeks.

“Yet the Asian artists following Sakamoto never approached his surprise success,” says author Patrick St. Michel. He acknowledges the crushing failure of Pink Lady and Jeff, Hikaru Utada’s unsuccessful attempts, the brief popularity of Puffy AmiYumi (remember that show?), and short amount of publicity shined on Rain. Finally, at the end of his article, St. Michel turns his attention on SNSD, 2NE1, and Wonder Girls’.

The forecast is more favorable for Wonder Girls, who mirror Pink Lady’s appropriateness for the time, as their new American single “The DJ Is Mine” features several dubstep-aping portions. Although watching the trailer for their movie can prompt cringes, their TeenNick flick shows that the folks marketing the group know how to zero in on a demographic. Whereas Utada and BoA just showed up in America and presumed being big in Asia would equal sales abroad, Wonder Girls is being introduced—or, for those who saw them open for The Jonas Brothers, further developed—specifically for the teen and tween markets. Given the music industry’s hyper-segmentation, it’s a smart move to focus on the same audience that turned artists like Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato into household names.

Girls’ Generation, meanwhile, seem poised to repeat the mistakes of previous Asian artists. They released “The Boys” virtually void of promotion, and now will have to hope an established American rapper can give them a boost—although, to be sure, “featuring Snoop Dogg” trumps “featuring Flo Rida” any day. As for 2NE1, they just started their U.S. push, so their stateside shelf life remains unknown.

While all of these groups could wind up footnotes like the Asian acts before them, the smart money seems to be on Wonder Girls to have the best chance yet to finally break through and sustain success in the America. Even if that outcome doesn’t materialize, becoming the Korean Cheetah Girls wouldn’t be a bad gig either.”

I gotta hand it to this guy; he did his research and I can entirely understand his argument. I agree that Wonder Girls’ have the best chance at success so far while my hopes for SNSD aren’t high. SNSD is supposed to be busy in South Korea this year, with Sunny to MC SBS MTV’s “Music Island” and do a musical, Taeyeon and Seohyun to join Tiffany as MCs on Music Core, Yuri, Jessica, Yoona, and Sooyoung to be busy with dramas, Sunny and Hyoyeon still on Invisible Youth, and goodness knows what else. Maybe more promotions for other songs on “The Boys”? I hope SM doesn’t fly the girls around the globe every week. My instincts tell me that SM is going to focus its attention on EXO Planet and SHINee’s comeback this year, allowing SNSD to get somewhat of a break. But I can never understand half the things SM decides to do so go figure.

Read the full The Atlantic article here and the Wall Street Journal article here!

Photo Credit: Soshified

Easy Listening: Se7en’s New Mini Album

Jessie — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 03:00:24 +0000

A flurry of teasers over the last week culminated in a return to the K-pop scene for YG’s solo superstar Se7en. His EP, which is cleverly titled “New Mini Album” was released on February 1 featuring the lead single “When I Can’t Sing.” The involvement of JYP in his comeback fueled much of the hype and since its release the album has taken the #1 position on Korean charts, but the US iTunes Chart as well. The new MV which features a very brief cameo from labelmate G-Dragon also grabbed the top spot on Youtube’s Most Viewed Videos of the day in Korea. I was thrilled that Se7en was finally making a comeback because he is, in my opinion, one of the most talented vocalists in K-pop and a real pro when it comes to live performances. It is also nice to see a solo artist once and a while in the sea of idol groups. I wasted no time in snapping up this album on iTunes, and here is my take on the six tracks that make up this new release:

“Somebody Else,” the first song on this EP, is actually the Korean version of the title track from his recent Japanese single album. This light, electro-pop tune is infused with a simple electric guitar riff that mixes quietly behind Se7en’s strong vocals and a clap track. The tune is very repetetive and chorus heavy, which isn’t neccessarily a bad thing because half way through I was already singing along. At first listen, it had a very familiar feel to it, almost reminding me of the chorus of 2NE1′s “Go Away,” so it came as no surprise that both tracks were written and produced by Teddy.(...)
Read the rest of Easy Listening: Se7en’s New Mini Album (661 words)

Has F.T. Island Truly Grown Up?

Bethany — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:00:02 +0000

F.T. Island has been around the K-pop scene as a fully functional, instrument-playing band under FNC Music since 2007, but although it seems like they’ve definitely acquired “idol” status they have managed to somehow avoid the artificiality I have come to associate with many idol groups. To me, it seems like F.T. Island’s music is much less formulaic and more experimental than other idol groups’ music–a breath of fresh air in the world of K-pop. Instead of churning out songs that sound almost exactly alike one after another, F.T. Island’s songs have developed a distinct feel while deftly avoiding the trap of repetitiveness. With that being said, I had high expectations for their newest mini-album, Grown Up. (...)
Read the rest of Has F.T. Island Truly Grown Up? (993 words)

© Bethany for seoulbeats, 2012. | Permalink | 23 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Cobra Starship, F.T. Island, FNC Music, Jaejin, Lee Hongki

Roundtable: K-pop Origins

Patricia — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:00:52 +0000

Welcome to this week’s Roundtable!

A couple of weeks ago, a certain video of kids reacting to K-pop went viral and became a hot discussion topic among K-pop fans. In the midst of the debate, the children were criticized by quite a few of us for having attitudes that were racist, ignorant, or close-minded. Through it all, something that really struck me was that we often forget that as international fans of K-pop, we once stood in their very same shoes. At some point in our lives, we too came across K-pop for the first time, and saw it as something foreign, and I would imagine that some of our reactions weren’t really all that different. When thinking about K-pop and its successes and failures at finding new, global audiences, we often view non-K-pop-listeners as outsiders and try to understand them as such.

However, weren’t we once outsiders as well? What makes us so different now?

When and how were you first introduced to K-pop, and what was your initial reaction to it? In what ways have your perspectives on K-pop/society/culture changed?

(...)
Read the rest of Roundtable: K-pop Origins (2,962 words)

© Patricia for seoulbeats, 2012. | Permalink | 50 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Seoulbeats Roundtable

“You’re My Pet”: Jang Geun-seok Can’t Save This Sinking Ship

Alyssa — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:23:48 +0000

I will say it now: before viewing You’re My Pet, I had already seen and read both the Japanese drama and manga. Despite having a bias viewpoint, I decided to welcome the 2011 Korean remake with open arms. The movie opens with a career oriented woman (Eun-yi) seeking a pet. By coincidence she is introduced to a young man (Momo) who is willing to play the role in exchange for a place to stay. While he is living with her, she meets up with an old flame that intends to rekindle their love. Conflicted, she begins to wonder if she really sees Momo only as a pet.

(...)
Read the rest of “You’re My Pet”: Jang Geun-seok Can’t Save This Sinking Ship (702 words)

© Alyssa for seoulbeats, 2012. | Permalink | 18 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Jang Geun-suk, Kim Ha Neul, You're My Pet

And All that Jazz?

Justin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:23:59 +0000

It’s around 2AM in the Atlanta area, and what better to do then to put on some K-pop jazz and soul? I would normally add Amy Winehouse to any jazz and soul list, but since Seoulbeats deals with Korean entertainment, I’ll keep it Korean. Even though I am going to TRY to keep it K-pop, I may also add some outliers to the mix (yup, that’s right I used a math term).(...)
Read the rest of And All that Jazz? (598 words)

© Justin for seoulbeats, 2012. | Permalink | 14 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Alex, Big Mama, Daniel Henney, Kyuhyun, Um Jung Hwa

Plastic Fantastic: IU’s Face is Real, But Jessica’s May Not Be

Nabeela — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 04:18:09 +0000

Netizens have been buzzing about the plastic as well as the not-so plastic faces of female idols again, and this time they’re after Jessica and IU. A couple of days ago, fans unearthed an old picture of SNSD’s resident ice princess Jessica and compared it to a more recent profile of her face. The difference in her jawline is pretty obvious, but subtle enough to have never been noticed it at all had it not been for the help of persistent and eagle-eyed fans. A nice smooth chisel on a sharp corner, and Jessica goes on being as gorgeous as ever. Neither SM Entertainment nor Jessica have confirmed this observation; however, I don’t think any one of us need a confirmation for this one.

IU, however, has been trying to deny rumors of plastic surgery as of late. Fans have been picking up on her changing appearances, and point to the knife as the reason. At first, IU approached the rumors by explaining her face looked different due to weight loss and a crap load of make up, however it proved insufficient for stubborn netizens. IU recently released childhood photos to combat the rumors, revealing intimate shots a younger IU who looks pretty much the same as she does now.(...)
Read the rest of Plastic Fantastic: IU’s Face is Real, But Jessica’s May Not Be (505 words)

© Nabeela for seoulbeats, 2012. | Permalink | 59 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: IU, Jessica

seoulbeats

On the Front Line of the Forgotten War

K-Pop Indie Gem: Misty Blue

Related Posts

“The Wonder Girls”: The Right Career Move?

Related Posts

Read All About It: SNSD in the US

Related Posts

Easy Listening: Se7en’s New Mini Album

Has F.T. Island Truly Grown Up?

Roundtable: K-pop Origins

“You’re My Pet”: Jang Geun-seok Can’t Save This Sinking Ship

And All that Jazz?

Plastic Fantastic: IU’s Face is Real, But Jessica’s May Not Be