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[Honey Bunny]

T-ara's Breaking Heart is indeed the best k-pop girl group album ever. Not really a contest.

Preach.

 

[Alta1r]

Hot damn!

But 2ne1 is awful.

Just give em T-ara's Breaking Heart. Ez.

T-ara's Breaking Heart is indeed the best k-pop girl group album ever. Not really a contest.

Amen. Breaking Heart sooo good.

 

[(._.)]

I don't like the idea of just having songs. I think it's much harder to release a good album. If you want anybody taking this collage seriously it's going to need to be composed of albums.

 

[oc]

I don't like the idea of just having songs. I think it's much harder to release a good album. If you want anybody taking this collage seriously it's going to need to be composed of albums.

What's wrong with songs? It's easily accessible compared to albums.

Anyways, Breaking Heart is amazing. Fuck the haters.

 

[Chesskid1]

something like kpopgaf recommends at the top of the OP is a great idea for any randoms clicking the thread and not being overwhelmed. will be very annoying to organize however.

 

[milkham]

something like kpopgaf recommends at the top of the OP is a great idea for any randoms clicking the thread and not being overwhelmed. will be very annoying to organize however.

no one is going to agree on anything, just leave it to our benevolent dictator (only guy who can edit the fp) OC

 

[oc]

no one is going to agree on anything, just leave it to our benevolent dictator (only guy who can edit the fp) OC

We can agree. Just have everyone suggest their favorite song from a set list of artists. And they can include an artist if it's not listed.

 

[Phonomezer]

Hopefully Yurithra will have garnered some courage from Ms. Foster today~

 

[AgentChris]

 

[Ashhong]

Considering you just put forward breaking heart, that's fairly flawed.

If you want better albums, I'd say look at 4Minute. Their Volume Up album is great all the way through.

Or Wonder Girls - Wonder World.

Both are much better than Breaking Heart.

Breaking Heart is fucking fantastic. You are smoking crack.

^ LOL i love how the MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM scrolls over

 

[giri]

We can agree. Just have everyone suggest their favorite song from a set list of artists. And they can include an artist if it's not listed.

I'll throw up a poll shall i?

 

[neoism]

Hopefully Yurithra will have garnered some courage from Ms. Foster today~

is this 100 percent or still rumor

 

[GrizzNKev]

Only because I don't know where else to post this...

My close group of friends (about 10ish people) has been slowly infected by K-Pop fandom over the last year or so, to the point where I can no longer escape it. I don't know a damn thing about K-Pop aside from the fact that Sunny is mai waifu, and I don't even like pop in general, but for some reason I've been listening to I Got A Boy like 10 times a day since I first heard it. I don't know why, since generally I am snobby about my tastes in music, but I cannot put this song down. It is simply too good.

I hate admitting this. Kill me.

 

[vanty]

I hate admitting this. Kill me.

Jeez, IGAB isn't that bad.

 

[GrizzNKev]

Jeez, IGAB isn't that bad.

What? I'm saying I'm embarrassed because I'm a harsh critic of pop because of its simplistic nature and failure to entertain me, so it's difficult to admit that I actually like any of it.


My Asian fetish probably has something to do with it too.

 

[Peru]

I'm a snob - I only like good music. Pop isn't inherently any more simplistic and any other genre.

 

[RubyFaith]

Who has time for 4 minute?

And to think you were becoming my favorite.

 

[Phonomezer]

And to think you were becoming my favorite.

 

[Hellix]

What? I'm saying I'm embarrassed because I'm a harsh critic of pop because of its simplistic nature and failure to entertain me, so it's difficult to admit that I actually like any of it.


My Asian fetish probably has something to do with it too.

I felt weird when I first got into K-pop too, since I use to pretty much listen to rock/metal. Now I am into pop music. Go figure.

 

[RubyFaith]

mmk, I c how it is.

Gaaahhhh, the days I stanned him.

+ Jiyoon

Her hair is pink now. She pulled a fucking GD/Sunny on us.
D:

 

[giri]

What? I'm saying I'm embarrassed because I'm a harsh critic of pop because of its simplistic nature and failure to entertain me, so it's difficult to admit that I actually like any of it.


My Asian fetish probably has something to do with it too.

f(x) Nu Abo
F(x) Electric Shock

Just Do it.

 

[Phonomezer]

Only because I don't know where else to post this...

My close group of friends (about 10ish people) has been slowly infected by K-Pop fandom over the last year or so, to the point where I can no longer escape it.

I don't know a damn thing about K-Pop aside from the fact that Sunny is mai waifu

and I don't even like pop in general, but for some reason I've been listening to I Got A Boy

like 10 times a day since I first heard it.

I don't know why, since generally I am snobby about my tastes in music, but I cannot put this song down. It is simply too good.

I hate admitting this. Kill me.

 

[Hellix]

+ Jiyoon

Her hair is pink now. She pulled a fucking GD/Sunny on us.
D:

I wish she would grow her hair out. She looked good with it on Immortal Song.

 

[RubyFaith]

I wish she would grow her hair out. She looked good with it on Immortal Song.

She had it long, for like two seconds, when they did their First mv.

She said she has really thin hair which, I'm guessing, is one of the reasons why she won't get extensions. All the more reasons to, I'd say.

 

[broadwayrock]

CNBlue release their music video for 'I'm Sorry' which was shot in London:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p3cKsDCA0Y

Its their best single in a while and surprisingly FNC allowed CNBlue's leader Yonghwa to write the title track (instead of that songwriter who kept remaking the same song)

 

[spink]

I'm a snob - I only like good music. Pop isn't inherently any more simplistic and any other genre.

define good

 

[No No Eul]

We can agree. Just have everyone suggest their favorite song from a set list of artists. And they can include an artist if it's not listed.

OC, the voice of reason.

My attempt at a K-Pop GAF logo:

I feel it could be a bit more K-pop-y somehow. Also, it's a bit bland compared to Milkham's Interstellar K-Pop Hype Train. I was thinking of replacing the yin-yang with some sort of iconic silhouette that's representative of K-pop as a whole, but I couldn't come with anything particularly satisfactory.

 

[Phonomezer]

 

[No No Eul]

lol

Perfect.

 

[Conceptor]

not on my watch

Good luck with that face :lol

Just give em T-ara's Breaking Heart. Ez.

T-ara's Breaking Heart is indeed the best k-pop girl group album ever. Not really a contest.

Amen.

It's really damn good.

Anyways, Breaking Heart is amazing. Fuck the haters.

I think giri's the only hater around here anyway.

papa yg approves

solid list/albums too!!

Park Shin Hye's new drama is only two eps in but I'm enjoying it, she's so good :>. tVN with another solid show so far

 

[JustinBB7]

Oh god.

 

[Niks]

I'll throw up a poll shall i?

Please do.

 

[luso]

@flag -> lol

Über cute rookie group BPPOP
After watching the teaser, check top comments.

 

[llehuty]

Über cute rookie group BPPOP
After watching the teaser, check top comments.

Spoiler

Two Tiffanys better than one, I guess

 

[jongkookie]

I hate admitting this. Kill me.

Lol. Some of us in here are in professions/areas of study where if the people found out we listen to such simplistic music, we'd be labeled as heretics and stoned to death by our elitist peers. But if you let that stop you from doing stuff, then you're probably not gonna get anywhere if such trivial thing matter.

Pop isn't inherently any more simplistic and any other genre.

I disagree. Pop music when laid down at it's core is pretty simple, the problem is most producers/artists these days tend to keep the music at it's core so it starts to sound very simplistic. Pentatonic scales, seventh chords, same chord progressions... when you stick with these basic ideas then it starts to ruin the song. But if you use these basic ideas and expand on them, it's gonna be totally different.

Check out this Axis of Awesome video where they lay down the music at it's basic core. All of the songs in their own original form are actually pretty amazing, but this makes them sound like a piece of crap lol.

 

[Pendulum]

Some Twitter updates:

 

[Peru]

I disagree. Pop music when laid down at it's core is pretty simple, the problem is most producers/artists these days tend to keep the music at it's core so it starts to sound very simplistic. Pentatonic scales, seventh chords, same chord progressions... when you stick with these basic ideas then it starts to ruin the song. But if you use these basic ideas and expand on them, it's gonna be totally different.

That's a pretty damn limited view of variation. It's also too generalized. Now we're talking about all popular genres, rock, soul, blues, country, etc - not 'pop'. People who wrote 'this is music - not that bieber crap' on Bach youtubes were never very insightful. Unfortunately some of them hold degrees.

If you work in a place where people would stone you for liking certain genres then it probably proves my theory that some of the most simple-minded people dominate fields where music theory is studied. Robots.

I've worked in a field with people who live and breathe music and luckily aren't prone to judge music on its craft and function alone as if they'd judge an architectural work on the number of different bricks used to build it. Unfortunately some people sneak across the border now and then. In a way these guys would be both at the top and the very bottom of Bourdieu's cultural hegemony - rich in cultural capital but with "function=value" as their ideology.

I know you're not saying this conclusion equals poor quality, but god damn am I sick of music theory mixing with attempts at cultural criticism of taste, and you built my strawmen for me with your elitist superiors.

At least some people have fun with it, while remaining very silly still

But here’s what it is. You listen to the first verse of “RIVER.” It starts in the key of C# minor (SAD), a.k.a. the “Moonlight Sonata,” a.k.a. “Kanashimi Twilight,” which is pretty dark except without being forcibly emo about it. But in the space of just eight measures, it has moved to the chord of B major, which can mean a lot of things but in this particular situation implies most strongly the dominant of E major, meaning that it’s about to modulate to relative major (HAPPY) of C# minor. A glimmer of hope, right? SAD goes to HAPPY.

EXCEPT IT DOESN’T.

Instead, it drops the floor out from under you. You don’t get E major. The chorus of “RIVER” is in bloody E minor!!

The PARALLEL MINOR of the RELATIVE MAJOR of the original key!

Yabyaaaa~~~!!!

But so here comes the chorus. And it sounds a lot like Inoue’s other AKB48 choruses, I mean the bastard pretty much used the same progression in “Oogoe Diamond” and “10nenzakura” and did little to hide the fact, and again you’re getting the same thing here where you move via stepwise chord motion to get to the relative major of the key you’re in. Except “RIVER” is less obvious about it, although perceptive ears will still catch the hints in the tune: the lowest notes in each phrase of the first strain move downward from E to D to C to B. This song can’t help but move somewhere—moving where?—crossing the river, perhaps. And then, at the last line, you get … a glimmer of hope.

It moves to the most stable position in that key signature: the tonic major, G.

AND THEN IT DROPS THE FLOOR OUT FROM UNDER YOU AGAIN!

Because right after the last note of the chorus it jumps RIGHT BACK TO C# MINOR!! A frigging tritone interval! It is the most dramatic harmonic leap in all of Western music theory and “RIVER” fucking shoves it IN YOUR FACE!!!

And you start to realize what “RIVER” is totally about. It uses all these dark, minor tonalities to reflect the struggles of life but moves irrevocably toward the major key, always reaching toward the shining light of hope—only to have it ripped away at the last moment, at the end of the first verse, at the end of the first chorus, the end of the second verse, the end of the second chorus, even after the bridge (which is written in E major), because the struggles of life are never-ending. Only on that abrupt last chord does the song finally rest and say: “YOU CAN DO IT!!”

 

[JKTrix]

I would give a K-Pop GAF music list some serious attention in an attempt to elevate my rather low level of interest in the musical side of K-Pop.

 

[oc]

I'll throw up a poll shall i?

How many songs should we keep it at? 40? I can do a huge section at the very top of the first post.

 

[spink]

I've worked in a field with people who live and breathe music and luckily aren't prone to judge music on its craft and function alone as if they'd judge an architectural work on the number of different bricks used to build it.

I don't know what point you're trying to highlight with this analogy?

all contemporary pop is the most simplistic music being made. why? because it's primary audience is the masses. the masses do not have the musical aptitude to be able to appreciate a piece of music that doesn't rely on the instant gratification of a catchy hook or chorus line.

pop is fun to listen to, but when looked at from an objective level it is rudimentary and does not require much talent to write.
it is nowhere near as rewarding as listening to something which is more engaging and challenging.

 

[Peru]

I don't know what point you're trying to highlight with this analogy?

all contemporary pop is the most simplistic music being made. why? because it's primary audience is the masses. the masses do not have the musical aptitude to be able to appreciate a piece of music that doesn't rely on the instant gratification of a catchy hook or chorus line.

pop is fun to listen to, but when looked at from an objective level it is rudimentary and does not require much talent to write.
it is nowhere near as rewarding as listening to something which is more engaging and challenging.

lol 'objective level'. You're fucking ridiculous, dude.

Give me some examples of this engaging music not written for the masses. Let's hear it and tear you apart.

 

[dokish]

lol 'objective level'. You're fucking ridiculous, dude.

Give me some examples of this engaging music not written for the masses. Let's hear it and tear you apart.

Jazz? (Don't fight me)

 

[Wendel Clark]

op op op oppa gangnam style

 

[ryan-ts]

Song list sounds like a lot of fun.

 

[spink]

lol 'objective level'. You're fucking ridiculous, dude.

Give me some examples of this engaging music not written for the masses. Let's hear it and tear you apart.

why so mad?

here you go, cockhead. do your worst

 

[Clipse]

we should make something like this

Hyori's 1st album at the top? Really? 10 Minutes was an okay song, but the rest was forgettable. Might have to dig up the CD and have another listen..

 

[llehuty]

Due to my disjointed approach to k-pop music, I have mostly listened to singles and didn't pay much attention to albums.

Well, after listening Breaking Heart, it seems that it contains the only T-ara songs that I like. Very solid album IMO. Now I get why they were(are?) considered top-tier. I had listened to their singles before, but somehow, all the ones I like come from this album.

I was scratching my head with all the T-ara love but now I get it.

Spoiler

Groups I still don't "get": A pink, Crayon Pop.

I watched yesterday Running Man's Grasshopper Hunting episode. (Ep. 69). Just when I thought I had seen everything...

The scripts and editing of the show are superb. Entertainment at its best.

 

[GrizzNKev]

You are all hilarious. But yes pop is most often the simplest form of music due to its audience.

 

[jongkookie]

That's a pretty damn limited view of variation. It's also too generalized. Now we're talking about all popular genres, rock, soul, blues, country, etc - not 'pop'. People who wrote 'this is music - not that bieber crap' on Bach youtubes were never very insightful. Unfortunately some of them hold degrees.

If you work in a place where people would stone you for liking certain genres then it probably proves my theory that some of the most simple-minded people dominate fields where music theory is studied. Robots.

I've worked in a field with people who live and breathe music and luckily aren't prone to judge music on its craft and function alone as if they'd judge an architectural work on the number of different bricks used to build it. Unfortunately some people sneak across the border now and then. In a way these guys would be both at the top and the very bottom of Bourdieu's cultural hegemony - rich in cultural capital but with "function=value" as their ideology.

I know you're not saying this conclusion equals poor quality, but god damn am I sick of music theory mixing with attempts at cultural criticism of taste, and you built my strawmen for me with your elitist superiors.

At least some people have fun with it, while remaining very silly still

It's limited mainly because those 3 are the basic cores of pop music. Pentatonic scales may be interchangeable with the major/minor scales, but for the most part you really can't write pop music that would deviate from those 3 cores. Sure you can write pop music that include only one or two of the cores or maybe none at all, but good luck trying to get some radio air time with that.

For example, have you heard Bruno Mars' "Unorthodox Jukebox" album? The entire album is a pretty much a collection of songs that encompass a bunch of different genre's that pretty much all sound decent at the very least. Now here's a choice quote from a Billboard interview about the album back in September:

"I've had big record label presidents look me in the face and say, 'Your music sucks, you don't know who you are, your music is all over the place, and we don't know how to market this stuff. Pick a lane and come back to us,'" he says. "That was disgusting to me, because I'm not trying to be a circus act." Source.

With that said, I definitely agree with you about the musical elitists. And the elitists seem to be the people who are trapped/based in academia young and old but the recording industry(which is where I'm in at) don't really have these kind of people. We all pretty much appreciate anything and will sometimes even offer ways to make the music better.

Also, I'm gonna have to partially agree with spink. Engaging music is everywhere, even pop music. But for the most part, the most engaging pieces are the ones that really strike a chord within us and that's something most of pop music doesn't really offer. But this all goes beyond the basic level of music appreciation, and that's totally another topic that I'm not really interested in talking about.

I'm just glad that I actually can listen to a bunch of shit and not easily get bored. I could be totally listening to Holst's Planet suite especially Mars and my next song would be IGaB and I wouldn't be complaining at all lol.

 

[Dice]

Bruno Mars is a douche.