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~

Kim Sung Gyu - Another Me: First Solo Album

So if you're a fan of INFINITE and you constantly keep up with their activities, then you should probably know that Sung Gyu has recently released a solo album titled "Another Me". I really liked how his album turned out, all the songs sound completely different from what INFINITE usually releases, and it seems to show more of Sung Gyu as an individual and not just as the leader of INFINITE.

60 Seconds MV

So, starting off with the MV. This MV was so incredibly well done that I kept watching it for at least a week. It's really hard to come across a KPOP MV that actually fits the song. This MV did a great job of doing that. If you read the lyrics, you can see that almost every scene in this MV actually follows them. For example, in the beginning, the lyrics are something along the lines of "I was walking and looking around and I saw you" (sorry for the lousy translation, I don't remember the exact words and I'm too lazy to search the lyrics up) and we actually see Myung Soo doing this. And then Sung Gyu sings something along the lines of "widening eyes, slowly separating lips" and we get a few shots of Myung Soo's widened eyes and slightly opened mouth. Another example is when the lyrics are "You said you were in pain, so I let you go", and when Sung Gyu sings those lines, we see Myung Soo obviously unhappy with the idea of breaking up with his gf, but he doesn't stop her as she returns her ring and leaves him.

TL;DR: This MV is awesome.

And did anyone else love how Sung Gyu just seems like he's really into singing the song? It just made me love him even more  (´∀｀)♡ And Myung Soo crying...made me tear up. Ahhhhh.

The album

The album took SO LONG to actually get delivered - it took 2 weeks. I chose the 7 day shipping option and it turned out...it took another 7 days! Wow. I guess this is what I would have to deal with for living in the US, the country of where there is a huge lack of KPOP albums actually selling in a store. Meh.

And although I wasn't really expecting it, I didn't get the limited edition. Aww. Oh well.

Anyway, here's some pictures of what the album and the inside of it looks like, enjoy~  (＾▽＾)

This is the cover
Don't mind the boring physics notes the album is resting on top of

The inside
Ooh 2 stickers!

And on the back of the two stickers, we have the same picture of Sung Gyu on both stickers...
I think i will stick one on my laptop and use the other as a bookmark or something ahhaha

The songs

Okay, so there are a total of 7 tracks in the album, here's the track list:

1) Another Me
2) 60초 (60 Seconds)
3) I Need You
4) 눈물만 (Only Tears) - Acoustic Ver.
5) Shine
6) 41일 (41 Days)
7) Hidden Track - 60초 Acoustic Ver.

And to give a few comments on each track:

Another Me: It's just some majestic piano playing and Gyu's voice. It would've been nice if it was an actual 3 minute song though. Oh well. 

60 Seconds: This is my favorite track in the album. My favorite line in the song is: "60초로 충분한 스토리 내 삶에서 넌 사라졌어" which means "60 seconds is enough for this story, you disappeared from my life".

I Need You: I don't really like this one. :/ Maybe I'll start liking it once Sung Gyu starts follow-up promotions with this song and releases the MV for it, but right now, this isn't my cup of tea.

Only Tears - Acoustic Ver.: Sung Gyu's voice sounds really beautiful in this track. I wonder how nice it would've been to actually see him singing this song himself while playing the piano at the same time during the concert.

Shine: I didn't really like this track when it first came out, but now I'm kind of digging it.

41 Days: This is my second favorite track. I just love the way Sung Gyu sings in this song. I can't really describe it...it just sounds really...unique.

Hidden Track - 60 Seconds Acoustic Ver: I didn't really like this one, because of the longass moment of silence in the beginning that lasted for about 1 minute. Then Sung Gyu only sings for a minute and the track ends. Okayyyy.





To wrap my thoughts up on Sung Gyu's album, I overall really liked it. Although not every single song was my cup of tea, I still liked the fact that all these songs were very different from what we normally hear in KPOP. I'm happy that Sung Gyu was able to show a new side of himself, and I think through his promotions and recent interviews, I've been able to get to know him better. And from what I've heard, being a solo singer was what he originally wanted, but he had to take what Woolim could give to him at the time, i.e. the spot of the leader of INFINITE, an idol group. I'm happy that he worked hard and was able to earn himself the opportunity to release a solo album.

TL;DR: Sung Gyu, you're amazing.

And you've climbed up a lot of spots in my bias list in INFINITE. Be proud of yourself. Haha.

Edit: I just realized I kept referring to Sung Gyu's songs as KPOP...when they're in fact not close to pop at all. Sorry, but I guess I just really wanted to emphasize how different Sung Gyu's songs are from what we would usually hear from Korean idols. And I really appreciate Sung Gyu for doing what he really wanted - singing a song of the genre of modern rock - instead of falling victim to what the public would usually like (i.e. KPOP).