KPOP Spotlight: PHANTOM and BOYFRIEND

So one day I was incredibly bored and in need of new songs on my iPod, so I went through all the newest KPOP vids I could find, and here are the two songs that really got my attention: Burning - PHANTOM, and Janus - BOYFRIEND.


PHANTOM

^Burning - PHANTOM MV

The first time I heard their debut song, Burning, I thought it was pretty decent. Then I started playing it again and again, and now I have that song on my iPod and I've been listening to it every day. I really love Sanchez's voice. I guess I have a thing for high-pitched and smooth voices (does that make sense? "Smooth voices"? Well it makes sense in Korean...yay for Conglish). The rapping is also pretty impressive. Overall, this is a really nice song to debut with.

Another thing about PHANTOM that caught my eye is that they're different in that they only have 3 members in the group, and they don't release dance tracks. According to Loen Ent's description on the video, they're a "hybrid hip-hop group." Hmm. Interesting. I don't usually follow hip hop, but since PHANTOM is not THAT hip hoppy, I'm willing to wait for their next release. Actually, I'm looking forward to their new releases.

The thing about the MV though...it's not that pleasant to watch. Well in the beginning it's alright, not too bad yet not too good, then there are all these fire fighters spraying water at the boys and you can barely see their faces. The most memorable thing from this MV was the fire fighter's facial expression.

I'm talking about this dude

If you really want to appreciate the song, then I suggest searching up their live performances. They sound pretty good live.

BOYFRIEND

^Janus - BOYFRIEND MV

I've never really paid attention to BOYFRIEND until I came across this song. There's quite a contrast between this song and the other songs they've released (e.g. their debut song, "Boyfriend") - this one leans more towards the dramatic and serious side while their other songs are cute and cheerful. While their other songs I've heard on TV were not my cup of tea, this one - Janus - is definitely my cup of tea.

Maybe it's because all the songs by Sweetune always sound good? I can't really say for sure. All I know is that I am really digging this song. This has been on replay everyday along with PHANTOM's Burning. I really do have a thing for dramatic and serious songs - cutesy songs are hardly my cup of tea. 

About the MV - hmm well I always feel awkward when it comes around to those scenes that apparently imply that there is a story yet you're not sure what the storyline is. There are those scenes in this MV, so I don't really like it. But I would definitely appreciate a dance version though. The dance moves look pretty awesome in the MV, and they enhance the quality of the song. Plus, another reason for me to still appreciate this MV even with the awkward "story" scenes, is that music show cameramen are not very good at capturing both the dance moves and the members' faces well in one video. I've watched a couple of live performances of this song, and none of them did I think were worth putting in my iPod. Not because BOYFRIEND sucks at singing live, but because the camera angles and all just don't make the performance visually nice to watch.

I do like this song, but I doubt that I will get into BOYFRIEND. Maybe because their image of a cutesy boy band is too strong that I doubt that they will release another song like this again. I have a feeling they're probably gonna go back to sticking to that image their next comeback. Which would be a bit of a shame if it actually happens, but I guess I will find other songs like this one.

So yeah, these two groups recently caught my attention with their respective songs. If you're in need of some new music, I suggest checking these two songs out. Alright, adios for now~