Okay, anyways, let's get start with the top 5 album releases of February (dated around the end of February)!
Youtube Playlist for February 2014
| Part 1 | Part 2 |
05. Arashi - Bittersweet Released: February 12, 2014 [105 Points]
In mid-February Arashi released their 42nd Single, Bittersweet. Bittersweet was the theme song for MatsuJun's drama Shitsuren Chocolatier. The "B-side" track to Bittersweet is Road to Glory, which was the theme song on NTV for the 2014 Winter Olypmics. The other two tracks on the single, beside instrumentals, are Sync and Motto, Ima Yori. Bittersweet is an upbeat track that has that classic Arashi sound and feel. Just listening to it makes me think, "Yes, this is Arashi." It actually is my second favorite song off the album however, my first being Sync. Sync is what I would classify as one of their "experimental" songs. It's a little different than most of the music they've released, but that doesn't really matter. The song starts off a little slow, but has a very strong metronome feel to me and I love the small plays they did with temp throughout the song. And even though I'm not the biggest fan of electronic manipulations, I feel it really suits the song and it's not 100% of the song. It's only at certain parts and really is blended well into the other pieces of the song. It's hard to explain how much I like this song since I'm not too knowledgeable about all of technology, but it's a great song! As for Bittersweet's PV, it's nothing too amazing. We see Arashi on a train in various places and at the platform, mostly looking deep in thought or melancholy. However, I love the scene when three members end up sitting together and the almost instant smiles and laugh they share. And the town that they are going through makes me think of the town from like Sleeping Beauty or Beauty and the Beast or some other fairy tale!
04. Lee Min Woo (M) - M+Ten Released: February 6, 2014 [107 Points]
February 2014 saw the return of Shinhwa's main dancer's 3rd Mini Album. The mini-album was long awaited, the last time Lee Min Woo releasing a solo album being in 2009. The promotion song for M+Ten is Taxi and features the leader of Shinhwa, Eric Mun. The mini album has five tracks on it, my favorite being the promotional song, Taxi. Taxi has such a fun, funky groove that you can't help but nod along, or shake your shoulders, or tap your foot. It's such a great groovy song! As for the MV, it's got some pretty funny scenes and basically follows Lee Min Woo as he drunkenly stumbles around an alley, a bathroom stall, and of course the back of a Taxi. The dancing is pretty cool too, though with Lee Min Woo I don't expect anything less! :) Also, we see a cameo of Sam Hammington, an entertainer from New Zealand working in South Korea! Definitely check out the fun video and funky song!
03. Sunmi - Full Moon Released: February 17, 2014 [108 Points]
Late February saw the debut mini album from return artist Sunmi! Sunmi was formerly a member of Wonder Girls, but in 2010 left the group for academic reasons. However she has reentered the lime-light, this time as a solo artist! The promotional song off of the album is Full Moon, and also includes her previously released single 24 Hours. Four other songs were included on the album, Off the album, my favorite songs are definitely Full Moon, Burn, and Who Am I featuring Yoobin (the current rapper of Wonder Girls). Of those three songs, it's hard to pick just one. All three songs are great and unique and something new to the Kpop industry I feel. Burn is a more electronic pop song with a great chorus that's just fun to sing out loud when driving, especially with the windows rolled down! :) As for Who Am I, it's a great chill song. What I mean when I say "chill song" is a song that you can put on and just listen to. It's faster tempo, so between the stages of a ballad and dance song. It's hard to explain, but definitely check it out! As for Full Moon, this song and MV is awesome! And fits today's timing! In the MV Sunmi is a vampire and is seducing a young man to be her lover and turn him. WoooooOOOOoooo~~, scary! Well, not really, but it's a great music video and doesn't go overboard with the Vampire theme. It's almost simple in that respect, but done masterfully. The song is awesome, another one of those songs with a faster tempo, not a ballad, but not quite the norm as far as pop music. If you check out any of these songs, I would definitely suggest Full Moon being at least one!
02. Super Junior Donghae & Eunhyuk - Ride Me Released: February 26, 2014 [112 Points]
Late February saw the release of Super Junior's Donghae & Eunhyuk's first full Japanese album Ride Me. Included in the 13 tracks are the previously released singles Oppa, Oppa (amazing song) and I Wanna Dance (also a great song). The promotional single off the album is the song Motorcycle. It's the same kind of dance pop song that one would expect from Donghae and Eunhyuk. It's a great fun song, and makes me giggle a lot at the double entendre English! :) However, my favorite songs (besides the previously released) are definitely Android Syndrome and Hello. Android Syndrome is along the same lines musically as Motorcycle, and just a fun song! "You're my adrenaline!" Hello is a little on a different pace, with a slower tempo and more of a pop-ballad. It's just a fun song in general and another great one to sing along too! As for the Motorcycle MV, you just need to watch it for yourself. And trust me the giggles will arise when watching them as "bikers." Plus we get a great surprise cameo from Siwon and a great dance complete with the backup dancers acting as motorcycles! I know I say this a lot, but this is definitely a must watch MV, if nothing else then for the lolz factors! :)
And as we have another Japanese release, here is a link to a good HD version of the Music Video! ;)
01. BAP - First Sensibility Released: February 3, 2014 [136 Points]
Early February saw the first full album release from popular Male Group BAP. The album, containing 13 tracks, has 1004 (Angel) as it's promotional song. Fun side note, for those that don't know Korean, how you pronounce 1004 is cheonsa, which is also the word for Angel. Hence the English name of the song! Okay, I'm going to say it, 1004 is my favorite BAP. This song is just magic for me and I really doubt that BAP can release something that will topple it from the top. It's just great with Zelo and Yong Guk's rapping through out and the great guitar riffs that really just kick the song up a notch! I just can't get over how great this song was for BAP, well at least how great it was in my book! :) And just for kicks since they've topped my chart, we'll go ahead and post a live video as well. The dance is pretty cool for the song. As for the rest of the album, I really liked Bang x2, a more rock style song that's really fun to sing along too and Save Me, a slower song that's a little more rock and uptempo than the normal kpop ballad but great. Actually, now that I think about it, these to songs are also in my top 5 of BAP's songs. They're both really great! Well back on track a little, the video is a little weird, and I really want to know where Yong Guk is with that giant bone formation. And why isn't he blocked off from just digging there? It makes no sense. But as I mentioned before, the song is awesome-sauce! :)
And there you have it folks! February is finally up! Stay tuned for March and soon after Quarter 1 of 2014! As always, here is the link once again to the Youtube Playlist.Questions, comments, concerns, and random scribbles are always welcome and highly encouraged!
Stasi ♫
