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loonarii · 9 months ago

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Ari's K-Pop Roundup: March 2024 (ILLIT, ARTMS, CHUNGHA, VCHA + MORE)

Check out last months installment here :) sidenote: sorry about this episode being a bit heavy on the smaller reviews - have been experiencing a cruel and unusual combination of illness and exam season lol - next month will hopefully be slightly better

Magnetic - ILLIT (SUPER REAL ME)

Whether you watched HYBE's 2023 idol survival show 'R U Next?' or you had the self preservation to skip it, if you were into k-pop at that time, you definitely heard about it. The show gained attention from the community originally because it was from HYBE, the newest, and arguably currently the most influential k-pop company goliath, and because HYBE's girl groups (notably Le Sserafim and NewJeans) are famous for influencing the kpop scene instantly upon debut, and maintaining their spots in the top 10s of the charts for many months. This was HYBE giving us a look behind the curtain at the making of the next big girl group, and letting us call a lot of the shots along the way. Or at least that's what it was supposed to be. Rigging in these type of idol shows is practically expected, but HYBE was a new offender, and their crimes weren't only frequent, but pretty obvious. The fans protested, but nothing changed. ILLIT, the group that emerged on the other side, was a group that was hardly a showcase of the talent on display on the show, nor a reflection of the fans and their biases. It was a reflection of who the producers felt fit their pre-established concept for the group, an influencing factor that wasn't made clear to the fans watching, nor potentially, to the idols participating. Ironically, since the whole point of a survival show is to drum up support and build a fanbase for a group's upcoming debut, ILLIT has arguably started off on a worse foot than if they had just dropped 'Magnetic' on YouTube out of nowhere, NewJeans 'Attention' style.

However, regardless of their rocky start, ILLIT is here, with their debut mini album 'SUPER REAL ME', featuring the title track 'Magnetic' - let's talk about it. 'Magnetic' capitalizes on that glitchy, 8-bit, distorted, bedroom pop sound that's been blowing up recently, both in the k-pop industry by NewJeans, LOONA, and tripleS, and in the western space by Pinkpantheress. It's easily catchy, and highly danceable, and the members sound amazing on it - I felt especially drawn to Minju's delivery, her vocal tone is beautifully unique, and Wonhee did a stellar job as the centric member of the choruses. Magnetic's allusions to NewJeans are undeniable, if only lacking that certain NewJeans je ne sais quoi. I don't really have a problem with this, if I get more fun songs out of groups allegedly 'copying' NewJeans then it's a win for me, my only fear is that if ILLIT doesn't find their own niche they will be called knock-off NewJeans for the rest of their careers, which isn't fair to the girls. TripleS got accused of something similar back with AAA's 'Generation', but since then they have carved out a space for themselves in the industry, making music and exploring aesthetics others aren't.

As for the b-sides, I was kind of obsessed with 'My World', even though it is functionally an intro; it's such an unexpected earworm. 'Midnight Fiction' is cute, even if I think it needed another hook or layer of production to elevate it more. 'Lucky Girl Syndrome' is slightly better than 'Midnight Fiction', but a bit worse than 'Magnetic'. It's very obvious that the title came before the track, and it bizarrely sounds kind of like 'Sensitive' by Loossemble? The chorus is slightly weak, but I am obsessed with the instrumentation and the production choices - this song sounds nothing like NewJeans, I really hope they draw from this vibe in their future releases.

Overall, a pretty decent debut. You will definitely catch me streaming 'Magnetic' over the next few weeks, whether it will have the longevity to stick around in my playlist for longer remains to be seen. Good luck ILLIT, you've had a rough start in the industry, but it's clear that they have a big career ahead of them, and I for one, am seated.

Pre1: Birth - ARTMS [LOONA] (Dall)

After an iconic run of Haseul and Heejin's solo projects, as well as ODD EYE CIRCLE's first release out of BBC, 5/12 of the LOONA girls are here as ARTMS. 'Birth' is a song that operates outside of the conventions of kpop formulae; its experimental, confrontational, melancholy and bears an undercurrent of rage. Tonally and structurally it is unique from anything being released right now, and lyrically its compelling and mysterious. If this is a taste of what the upcoming album is going to sound like, I am extremely excited.

The music video is one of the best kpop has to offer - its so unlike anything else I have seen. I heavily encourage you all to go check out the theories the orbits/ouriis have been cooking up because LOONA LORE IS BACK!! I am very curious if the loossemble lore will link to this in any way, but that remains to be seen.

EENIE MEENIE - CHUNG HA, feat. HONGJOONG

Chungha is back, with a new company and an old concept. I'm not sure how to feel about this track, its clear she feels very confident in this style and it does suit her more than 'Sparkling', but I think 'Sparkling' was overall a better song. The production of 'Eenie Meenie' is very high quality and I especially loved that guitar layer in the chorus, and bringing Hongjoong in for a verse was a great call, he fits the song and matches Chungha's vibe perfectly. Unfortunately however, I don't find the chorus to be very catchy, which is clearly what the song is banking on in order to chart. The whole 'eenie meenie minie mo' thing is odd, but honestly could have been worse if this song had been given to anyone other than Chungha, the real death sentence for this song was the lack of interesting melody. I'm happy that Chungha is now making the kind of music she wants to, I just hope that the quality of releases go up in the future.

Only One - VCHA

Who knew that when Fifty Fifty crumbled due to their (allegedly) god awful company, it would be VCHA of all groups to successfully pick up the retro girlpop gauntlet?? 'Only One' is genuinely so fun, that post chorus is a killer, and even the mildly awkward writing clears up after the first verse. The girls have such great chemistry, and they are all genuinely improving their skills every comeback, and although I may have questioned JYP's decision to debut girls who had barely been in training, seeing the girls improve in real time is lowkey actually a selling point - like now I want to pay attention to them to see how good they are going to get?? JYP making an intelligent marketing decision?? In this economy?? Congratulations VCHA, you have officially established yourself as a force to be reckoned with, KATSEYE had better bring the heat when they debut to compete with this.

MINI REVIEWS:

Get Goin' - aespa: did you know this song existed? no! Is it surprisingly really fun? well yes! not sure what aespa has to do with fraggle rock, but if it takes Apple TV spamming SM Entertianment's dms to get aespa to release more music, then that's what must be done.

The knight who can't die and the silk cradle - LUCY: (req. by @a-moth-to-the-light) I've always been mildly aware of LUCY, but until my moot requested I review their latest release, I had never heard any of their songs. Needless to say, I was severely impressed. This song is so cinematic and heartfelt - to my knowledge it isn't part of an OST to a particularly cinematic kdrama, but it might as well be. I heavily encourage you all to go watch the mv with subtitles on, or read the translation, because lyrically this is a masterpiece. LUCY, you have officially caught my attention, I will be checking out future releases.

Paths to home - 문채원, HOWUS: The music video for this song, at time of writing, currently has 147 views, I have no clue how I stumbled across it, but I am so glad I did. 'Paths to home' is a beautifully constructed and performed citypop inspired track that to me evokes LOONA's early discography, especially those from Hyunjin's solo project. It is so perfectly constructed to my tastes, I love it to death. I have no idea how 'HOWUS' as a project works, I don't know if it's a group, a company, a subunit, or apparently even when it was released because according to some websites it came out in 2022 (the struggles of extremely nugu kpop cannot be understated), but what I do know is that this song deserves more attention, and I adore it. This is one for the NewJeans, LOONA yyxy, tripleS +(KR)ystal Eyes girlies.

Wish You Hell - WENDY (Red Velvet): SM finally gave Wendy a song that isn't a ballad!!! This song is pretty fun, but I wish it bit more oomph. The lyrics leave much to be desired, but Wendy's vocal performance is naturally very high quality, although I wish she went a bit harder in some sections - she's singing about wishing someone hell, but tonally it sounds like she's serenading them lol. A fun song, could have been better with another few drafts. Seulgi's 'best Red Velvet solo project' crown is yet to slip.

BBB - Purple Kiss: I will never shut the fuck up about how good 'Zombie' is, so seeing them explore similar sounds is so exciting for me!! 'BBB' is a very easy going listen, never awkward, never unpleasant, and although I think it needed a little something more to elevate it, it's a fun song I could easily see myself loving this summer. Swan absolutely ate up this comeback btw.

XXL - YOUNG POSSE: Bizarre sfx aside, I am very glad young posse is attempting to bring back 2000s hip hop into kpop, even if the execution is mildly clunky.

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hoshidaes · 6 years ago

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missing parts

pairing : soonhoon!! (later), slight verkwan & junhao

warnings : angst, character death, gore (will add as story continues)

summary : jihoon centered zombie!au with some reminiscing about university life

“It goes without saying that they would want to be friends with the only person that has more than one braincell, Jihoon supposes. He had practically kept them alive singlehandedly for the last four months. It amazed him that out of the twelve of them – now eleven – that he had been the only one to have a half decent strategy pre-planned in the event of an apocalypse.

But, his strategies hadn’t been perfect.”

CHAPTER ONE : READY SET GO

“Don’t touch me.”

It was a common enough phrase to be heard falling from the lips of the smallest of the group. Standing a whole five foot four inches, Jihoon wasn’t one for much physical contact. When you’re surrounded by ten other boys with only each other for company, that made it kind of difficult; one begins to crave the comfort of another person when it’s the end of the world, after all. However, Jihoon just wasn’t a big fan of the idea, especially when he was presently occupied with checking the situation outside the main doors. He had been peering through a tiny gap in the makeshift screen of newspaper that they'd stuck to the glass when he'd sensed a hand hovering above his shoulder.

“Sorry Jihoon," Seungkwan hesitated as he saw Jihoon stiffen at the sound of his voice. He decided to continue anyway. "I was just wondering if," Jihoon's hand flew over Seungkwan's mouth, silencing him. Seungkwan noticed that despite this, Jihoon's eyes had never strayed from their previous target.

Jihoon held his breath as he watched a couple of shadows shamble past the doorway, outlined against the newspapers by the morning sun. He caught a glimpse of their sunken features and sallow skin, and he had to stop himself from looking away. A few moments passed and Jihoon relaxed, turning to Seungkwan with an indeterminate look in his eyes.

“I was just wondering, if there was anything I could do to help. That’s all.” Seungkwan stated, now in a more hushed tone. Seungkwan was always eager to lend a helping hand (even more so, Jihoon had decided, when it was clear that a helping hand was unwanted and unnecessary) and make up for the mistake that was still ever-present in his mind.

“No, you’re good. Go check on Seungcheol and Hansol, see if they need anything.”

Despite Jihoon’s cold exterior that was so often found on early mornings, and most times really, Seungkwan and a couple of the others knew that there was something underneath that. Something he was keeping hidden for whatever reason. Not in a ‘he’s going to smother us all as we sleep’ sort of way, just something that Jihoon didn’t want to discuss. Seungkwan desperately wanted to find out what it was – partly out of sheer curiosity, but also because he knew that Jihoon could do with a reason to stop looking at him like he was a stranger.

So Seungkwan went, quietly, out of the doors he’d come in through, and back into the courtyard. Seungcheol and Hansol were on guard duty that morning, so he knew he could find them just inside their block. Seungkwan was set on finding out what he could do to help Jihoon, and so he went with the goal of getting Seungcheol to offer him some guidance. The fact that his best friend Hansol was there was just an added bonus.

Jihoon sat in what was the reception building for a long time that morning. Unable to find it in himself to get up and join his friends. He often wondered if they were even friends, or rather, if they would have been friends if the circumstances were different. It goes without saying that they would want to be friends with the only person that has more than one braincell, Jihoon supposes. He had practically kept them alive singlehandedly for the last four months. It amazed him that out of the twelve of them – now eleven – that he had been the only one to have a half decent strategy pre-planned in the event of an apocalypse.

But, his strategies hadn’t been perfect.

And that’s why Jihoon found himself making sure there was a reasonable distance between him and the rest of the boys most of the time. He knew it could end in disaster, being so separated from the group, but he’d rather be the budgie than one of the miners.

It was around midday when Jihoon finally got to his feet, and he did another quick check of the glass panels of the doorway and the front of the building (modern architecture isn’t the most ideal for keeping out unwanted guests at this point, but they make do with what they have), making sure that the sheets of newspapers that they had spread across the panes were securely blocking out any direct line of sight. Jihoon was just about to close the rear door of the reception behind him when he heard a faint noise, getting louder. It at first sounded like water rolling down the road that went past the main doors, moving heavy and sluggish as it congealed with the layer of mud and ichor on the concrete. Maybe a pipe burst somewhere? It definitely hadn’t rained anywhere nearby in the last two weeks, so it couldn’t be a flash flood. Jihoon stopped, holding the door to the courtyard open, watching with unseeing eyes as Seungcheol and Seungkwan walked out of their block, deep in conversation, and Chan was sat atop the laundry room roof, eyes closed and head back as he enjoyed the unseasonal April sun.

Jihoon listened. He could hear it draw nearer, and nearer. It was coming down the road, that was undeniable, churning against the concrete, maybe fifty feet away. And then he heard it, the faint echo of dozens of jaws snapping open and closed, teeth chattering together as their mindless owners stumbled and lurched ever forward.

Several things then happened at once:

Chan, momentarily breaking from his reverie, noticed the sound and snapped his head in its direction. From his vantage point he could see at least twenty biters, some fresh and some not so much, shambling in their direction. He glanced down as he saw Jihoon tense and panic spread across his face before it was replaced with his characteristic calm determination. Chan got low on the roof and pressed his body as far as he could into it, aiming to avoid detection.

Jihoon let the door he was holding swing shut, ever grateful for the soft-close mechanism it had and stepped behind the wall to his right. He was hidden from view. He closed his eyes and listened.

Seungcheol and Seungkwan were sat at the far side of the courtyard, and hadn’t heard the approaching threat as they had been deep in conversation. Seungcheol said something that Seungkwan unfortunately considered funny, as he barked out a loud ringing laugh. The chattering of teeth from the herd erupted into a cacophony of moans and damp snarls. The pair of them froze for what felt like too long to be considered appropriate, before they flew from their seats and began running to the tall building on their left.

masterlist

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