Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Loverholic, robotronic

Thanks to Nikki and LeAnna for being the reasons this post exists.



Korean boy band SHINee just released their new album. It's their second full album, but, due to the number of rereleases and EPs Korean record labels tend to put out, the group is responsible for a lot more material than your average American act by the time of their sophomore release.

The title track and lead single, "Lucifer," is like a ravier version of the dirty electro sound of some Remee/Troelsen productions (Sarah Connor's "Under Your Skin," for example, which has been covered by another Korean boy band), though it's by Yoo Young-jin, the writer of SHINee's earlier hit "Ring Ding Dong" and Super Junior's "Sorry Sorry." "Lucifer" is from that futuristic, piecey strain of Kpop, a mosaic made from the smashed windows of a spaceship. Its irregular pieces jut together to form a whole that lacks fluidity but which is almost more impressive because you can see how its parts fit together. If an artist from another country released this song, it would probably be more vocally melodic and less rat-a-tat machine gun-fire, but that's no complaint.

With Darin apparently too busy making (admittedly very good) '80s ballads to give us the sharp, edgy male-sung urban pop the music scene needs, someone had to step up.

Someone has.

(Also, on a personal note, I'd just like to say how much I've missed seeing choreographed group dancing in music videos. I'm a child of the late '90s pop boom--I can't help it.)

SHINee's new album, Lucifer, can be purchased here (physical).

7 comments:

John said...

If 5ive was still together, they would have already recorded the English version of this. Catchy!

Poster Girl said...

It's a comparison I hadn't thought of, but now that you say it...yes! That's a good thought, even if it totally reframes the track.

It's definitely catchy--a little light on the melody, but it makes up for it with all those hooks.

Myfizzypop said...

i really really like this. And i was resistant because I'm not sure I haven the time to be sucked into KPop world (how ridiculous - oh i don't have time to listen to music I might enjoy; my wallet is too full; and my golden shoes are too tight!!)

There are some new boybands in the UK trying to break through (Boybanned, inju5tice, frixion, kixx, the wanted, etc). but none are doing this sort of pleasing dance routine and music - well there is JLS but they are so vocoder heavy with Club that i fear for how much I will like them in the future... So either SHINee releasing this in UK or a UK boyband cover would be aces.

Unknown said...

*faints* The day you write about kpop is the day I declare this a mission accomplished.

The day PAUL writes about kpop is the day I start thinking the world must be freaking out! LOL!

It just hit me when I read this that Darin could've very well sung parts of the song. :D Well I guess the "market" I cater to mostly now won't really understand me if I say "this sounds like Darin" so it works.

On a side note, you can't call DBSK "another Korean boyband"!! Mel and I are appalled!

Joking. :D

Mel said...

Seconded to Nikki's last comment. ;) That aside --

It really blows me away that so many from our blogging circle are taking an interest -- it couldn't have happened with a better song. Thanks for the mention, BTW! It's very kind of you -- you have no idea how much I respect your opinion!

And toward John -- the thought of 5ive recording this has inspired me to completely re-devour 5ive's entire catalogue. Ah, the memories. No wonder I like this so much! ;)

Poster Girl said...

Paul, it's pretty close to how I'd been hoping boy bands would sound in this day and age. I love your self-aware teasing ;)

Nikki, the past few days have been hardly anything else for me! I wondered if you and Mel might want to have a few words with me about that ;) It felt like it might be going off too far into tangent-land to get into them here, but also: you all need to sell me on DBSK. Well, OK, you don't need to since it's not as if my thoughts on them affect you one way or the other, but, though "Mirotic" is obviously amazing (though I think someone else releasing it first might have detracted a little from the excitement for me) and I like "Rising Sun" and...umm...what's the other song? Oh, right, "Survivor"--anyway, despite appreciating all those songs and thinking the fangirl commentary from you and Mel was hilariously amazing, I need just a little nudging on them still to totally fall in love. Nothing that won't be fixed in a month or two, though, I imagine ;)

Mel, the mention for you two was just deserved. It's always incredible when a song from an artist or scene you follow but others usually pass by suddenly experiences a "break out(!)" (OK, yeah, I like that song, too).

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