I highly recommend you double-click to view on youtube. Full screen. Sound up.
Ok, this post falls entirely into the guilty pleasures category. Or perhaps confessions.
Yeah, both.
Remember this post I made, about a video I stumbled upon on youtube while researching for our homeschool "Korea camp" last Spring? I had never seen ANYTHING like it, and was mesmerized by the crazy outfitting, the Asian eye-candy, and everything about the video that boldly declared its Epicness.
Um.
I found myself going back and watching it again. And again. And clicking on other songs by this band (and its many spin-off bands!). And realizing that this song and video are excellent representations of a whole genre of music that a large percentage of the world listens to, that I never knew existed.
It's called "k-pop," and I am sure you can wiki that if you really want to know more. I'm not here to enlighten you, just to tell you it is highly addictive. Once you start, you can't stop. Now, I don't spend hours watching k-pop on youtube, but let's just say I have spend at least a handful of evenings browsing. And I don't like all of the k-pop out there, but I have watched a good sampling of it, and really like Super Junior, the band at which I was first poking fun in my earlier post.
I was totally wrong--they ARE really good dancers; the heavy, chopping editing in that first "A-cha" video just made it hard to tell. They are really good singers; the video I have linked above uses some auto-tuning for effect, but these guys don't need it, because they sound fabulous live. (Or at least in live recordings on the web. ; ) The guy I mentioned thinking was the cutest in the "A-cha" video has the most gorgeous voice, and I now have a little crush:
Kyuhyun! (dreamy sigh)
(And while he's the youngest member of the group, none of them are as young as they look--he's 24 I think I read somewhere. This may be a weird 40-year-old mom crush, but I'm not robbing the cradle!)
If you want to hear more of his voice, he has some solo songs on youtube. They are in Korean and Mandarin, so I have no clue what he is saying, but I don't care--the sound of his voice melts me.
(I'm embarassedly grinning the whole time writing this, just so you know. And humming "Super Girl.")
Ok, so I did look up some English subbed versions of their songs, just to see if they were as harmless as I imagined, and yes, they are. They are just as pointless as every teenage pop song, so I think I might enjoy them more for just being able to listen to the sounds of the singing and music and not be distracted by the lyrics. But if you want to find the lyrics, they are easy enough to find--for example, here is an impressive English version of the first linked song, "Super Girl."
Go ahead. If you like contemporary pop, you must listen to that first video. And tell me it's not one of the most catchy songs you have ever heard. It's become one of my favorite cleaning songs--gets my feet moving! Only downside is that the girls beg to watch the video whenever I play it, which slows us all down. ; )
Another very cute and catchy song I get in my head is from an all-female k-pop group called Girls' Generation--Here's "Gee":
Tell me you don't want to bob around with a dustcloth with that song going!
The girls' dancing in the video is suggestive, but somehow innocently so, and just so over the top adorable that I don't mind my girls watching.
(If you want an English subbed version just to see what bubble-gum teenage love lyrics they are, here you go.)
So there you have it--confessions from a new k-pop fan.
And now you are more than welcome to tell me you have a secret crush on Justin Bieber or something.
These videos crack me up more than anything. But even American pop music is like that for me.
ReplyDeleteThey do put a smile on my face though, so thank you for sharing :)
I still remember the last one you posted!
I tried to listen :)
ReplyDeleteI think my guilty pleasures would still be the pop songs of the 80's as terrible as some of them really are.
I think the fact that I am dragging on day 3 of terrible allergies makes the peppiness almost painful. I will have to try to listen again when I have more energy!
p.s. let's see if this comment actually posts
My dear Susan posted:
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I tried to listen :)
I think my guilty pleasures would still be the pop songs of the 80's as terrible as some of them really are.
I think the fact that I am dragging on day 3 of terrible allergies makes the peppiness almost painful. I will have to try to listen again when I have more energy!
p.s. let's see if this comment actually posts
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My response:
Oh, so sorry about the allergies! Nothing peppy is appealing when you feel like that. : (
Apparently bogger is snubbing still snubbing you, but I'm posting your comments because it's most fun to see them here. : )
As for 80's music--Susan, the more I listen to the "fluff" of our generation, the more I realize it was actually really good stuff! Ok, there are still plenty of bombs, but the typical "top 40" were great. I have been listening to it a lot this summer while doing projects, and it doesn't get old. I've even been thinking of starting a "friday flashback" either here or on fb--posting one great song now and then. There are just so many I still enjoy!
Maybe that's why I enjoy k-pop--it has the energy and inventiveness of the 80's. I never got into the boy-bands that came out of the states because they seemed lame. Somehow Super Junior is way more fun!
Jessica, I'm glad they made you smile--that's what they do for me!
ReplyDeleteI stopped listening to American radio back in the early 90's. It just stopped sounding interesting to me. So as I was saying to Susan, I usually listen to old stuff, although there are still "new" songs I'll stumble upon and like (like when I discovered those three "Two Door Cinema Club" songs, although intrestingly enough I have not had the urge to go hunt down more of their songs)
So I always like hearing what my friends are currently enjoying--that's one of the only ways I ever hear new music!
P.S. I was so surprised to see that I never responded to your comment to that "a-cha" post--I know I did in my head, and just never actually wrote it out, I guess! So I did now. : )
trying to comment again..hoping I have fixed my problem.
ReplyDeleteYay! It worked. Love to see your face there. : )
ReplyDeletePersonally, I'm still down with boy bands. I *love* 1 Direction. It doesn't hurt that the youngest in the group has had an affair with an older (30something!) woman. LOL
ReplyDeleteMina, I am so out of current music (and have never been a boy band fan anyway, til now) that I don't know that group. I'll go look them up on youtube!
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