MVOTD: U-KISS (Day 240)

U-KISS. Simon and Martina. Together. Kpop Music Monday this week blew my mind, and maybe it blew your mind too. The song, Stop Girl, that was reviewed turned out to be a great song, just like they said. It's smooth. It's danceable. It doesn't need a music video to be appreciated. But it does have a music video, and a pretty good one at that. Not only do they dance in colour, but they also dance in Black & White....Yes, like a title. It's good marketing, because it's pretty much the same music video, but different. Here's the black and white version.

The dancing is pretty okay. I actually appreciate the female back-up dancers for once, because they're respectable and I saw making-of footage. Also, as Felicia pointed out, they have thighs. Maybe we're reading into it too much, but Simon and Martina might have some influence with the U-KISS. *Eyebrow wiggle*. Fun times ahead? Here's the colour version.

Personally, I think the still photo for the Black & White version is better. Maybe you agree with me. Maybe not. Maybe you want me to spell black and white consistently.

MVOTD: Julia & Andrew (Day 239)

Today's MVOTD comes to you curtesy of Facebook. Yes, it's artsy. It's funny. It's catchy. It's Julia Bentley and Andrew Gunadie's Canadian, Please. Otherwise known as the Canadian Dance Moves Youtube video. It's full of Canadian references, catchy beats, and smooth jazzy voices.

My favourite part is the song, but a lot of the dance moves have merit. Such moves include the Friendly Backpacker, the Beaver, Pile the Poutine, and Cold as Ice. Also, I appreciate how many outfits they make out of a very limited wardrobe. They've only got about 3 hats all told, and that tiny tie gets used over and over. Very impressive, and quite distracting, er, entertaining. Yes, Quite.

The original music video is pretty much just as good as the dance moves one. Sweet Mountie costumes too.

The original version also has handy subtitles so that you can tell what they're singing in the chorus. How handy.

MVOTD: C-Real (Day 238)

If Joma Joma is anything to go by, C-Real is trying to be the purist cutesy girl group in Kpopdom. Just check out their outfits.

Picture credits to the Youtube video of course.

That's right, not only do they wear more clothes than the average Kpop girl group, they also do all the cute aigoo actions. Yes. That means index finger bouncing, bwing bwing paws, puzzled looks, and the ever popular innocent fighter stance. C-Real does an amazingly good job of being aigoo and are kind of respectable.

More than their appearance and aigoo factor though, C-Real is respectable because they sing well and have enjoyable songs. Joma Joma was catchy and fun. That one about love was also really nice.

Here's Joma Joma.



MVOTD: Willow (Day 237)

Willow. Art film music video. I think this music video speaks for itself with its cool concept, artistic flare, Doctor Who-esque tunnel scene, good acting, and rock music. It succeeds with a simple set, some props, acting, and a lot of complexely figured out projections. That's right, it's Willow's Sweater.

Now that's class.

MVOTD: Jang Woo Young and Friends (Day 236)

Cue video with extensive name list. Song title, Classic. Who sings it, ...a bunch of people, most notably that blonde guy who does the owl move. That's right, Woo Young.

Picture credit to http://www.nautiljon.com/people/jang+woo+young.html.

Every time I see him with that blonde coiffe, I think, "Owl! Owl!" because of his music video Sexy Lady where he does the owl move.

Classic's real title is [M/V] Classic [J.Y. Park 박진영, Taecyeon 택연, Wooyoung 우영, Suzy 수지] , but I think that's a little too long to use as my own title. Needless to say, all four celebrities named appear in the music video and may or may not have a singing part. J.Y.Park's appearance is no surprise because he shows up in all JYP videos. The real mystery is Taecyeon, who I personally think shows up just to be attractive and tall. The scene where he and Woo Young play basketball in a parking garage certainly does nothing for the music video. All it does is establish that they are gangsta friends who do no real talking.

Cue the masquerade prom engagement party where it should be obvious the lady (Suzy) does not like her suitor. No one notices though, until she runs off, meets owl Woo Young and they flirt a bit. Mr. J.Y.Park notices though, which leads to...nothing. Therefore, they secretly meet on rootop balconies for more flirting. J.Y.Park menacingly hands another guy an envelope. Is that Taecyeon? Oh no! Their friendship is broken because Woo Young flirted with Suzy at a party where Taecyeon was employed as the DJ! Then J.Y.Park waits at the altar with the fiance man, while Taecyeon gives wedding dress Suzy a giant pair of men's sneakers. Oh wait. It was a ruse! Woo Young shows up to run off with Suzy, while Taecyeon raps with a gorgeous english accent (oh the proper pronounciation of "L's"). Then Taecyeon beats up the goons J.Y.Park sends after Woo Young while Woo Young and Suzy escape in an empty bus. Amazing. Just amazing. The storyline makes sense if you add in some details, like J.Y.Park really being Suzy's mafia father and Taecyeon being a martial artist champion working as a DJ for the mob. ...Or maybe not the mob part. Either way it was good for at least one view. I challenge SM to do a better job with their next Super Junior video.

MVOTD: Cross Gene (Day 235)

Cross Gene. New group. Most interesting thing about them? They do static dancing. Their music video improves with views, although their red jackets never quite stop looking like the carpeting in that one room where the pink guy pretends to lay down but is really standing up (which bothers me because we can all tell that he's standing).

The beginning is really cute in a way. You know how sometimes foreign accents sound cute with certain phrases? They achieve that cuteness with, "eyes off of you". Also, I wonder what a "rotic diet" is. I guess I will never know.

Kpop, it seems, has come to a place where sets look reminiscent of each other. Thanks to Felicia and the 'U' shaped set of DOOM I was reminded of EXO, 2NE1, and TVXQ in the first 30 seconds alone. It was fortunate that they danced sitting down, so that there was something new happening. That, the set made of of lit umbrella type things, and the set made of microphones, kept the interest until Cross Gene did the classic line-up dance moves of hallucination hands, right turn, and left turn with a twist. With the addition of a head nod, they could win any teen group dance competition. They then take it up a notch and whip out their static dance moves. These are actually really interesting because they chose one area of their bodies to be static and move the rest of themselves. The concept is so simple but functional. It's kind of fascinating.

I think I kind of like them. Here's hoping that they put out another music video.

MVOTD: VIXX (Day 234)

Vixx. One the first view of Super Hero I kept on thinking about the sets. One looks a lot like Super Junior's 4 sided stage for Sorry Sorry live and the other looks like the tube from U-KISS's Bingeul Bingeul. The best sets were the VIXX originals, which had attractive lines and appealing and interesting colour combinations. I also noticed that they say, "Face", a lot, and I thought Face was a NU'EST song. Huh. Actually, I realize that there is no 'V' sound in Korean, so they are probably doing an approximation.

Branding on Kpop idol outfits is really big these days, but VIXX does a good job of it, incorporating the VIXX symbol in different ways and colour combinations. I mean, VIXX is really branded with the VIXX symbol, which, being a robot, is kind of cool but overplayed. They also have lots of continuity in each member's costumes, so that you can figure out which one is which easier. Let's see, there's Fringe Guy, Sleeveless Guy, Mesh-Shirt Guy, and Gelled-up Hair Guy. As a newbie, I could definitely tell them apart. Good planning wardrobe. Good planning.
As for ingenuity or differentiation, VIXX is a little low on it, looking and sounding like a generic boyband. On the one hand, that's good because that means their dancing and song are pretty good, but on the other hand that is bad because they will have a hard time finding their place in an already saturated market. Fortunately they do a better job in Rock Ur Body with the video game theme. Differentiation people. Differentiation.

MVOTD: Xia Junsu (Day 233B)

You've seen Geromino's No One Like You (or have you?), now it's time for Xia Junsu's Tarantellegra. I've been waiting to review this music video for almost two weeks because editing photos together takes so long (not two weeks long, just an hour or so, but even that was clearly not possible).

According to report, Xia Junsu has had every solo music video of his banned in South Korea for being too sexy. ...I really like Korea's standards being so high. Normally, Junsu feeling free to be sensual in a music video would bother me, except in Tarantellegra I choose to ignore it because the costumes are too amazing. I personally, was left breathless at the beginning the first time I watched it, mezmerized by the sheer goodness of costuming and make-up. Who ever made his costumes should get a grammy...or whatever they give costumers. They did such a good job. Such a good job! ...except for the glittery neck cardigan, but still. The costumes!

The blue jacket with spiky sleeves combined with the very long Spanish (open), black shirt, blue slacks, and riding boots was such a good look for Junsu. It accentuated his skinnyness, while making your eyes follow his arms and feet. That said, the dancing is worth watching. It is energetic and interesting...for the first half.

The shoulder jacket with the red stripped tails and leatherish pants are gorgeous too, although maybe a touch too feminine. They give movement to his every step, give him curves, and accentuate the fashion walk/dance. Plus his blond swoosh made the whole outfit look like it was cascading down on him, which is just like a costume designer to aim for. 

Also pretty epic was the Dr. Horrible outfit, but it was in such a wide frame that it couldn't be fully appreciated. Here are some shots of these gorgeous outfits, from the Youtube of course.

Cinematically, Tarantellegra was great. The shots were well done with interesting colour pallettes (sic), angles, and depths of field. The dancing was broken up by still shots, people, or other things like everyone videotaping Junsu. Junsu was also not in every frame, which is great because it gives a break from him before going back for more. He also changed hair colour and styles several times within the music video, which gave variety of look. Cinematically, it was a strong music video. The biggest issue (for me) was all the sexy dancing, sexy groping, sexy holding up of random guys shirts, sexy plastic tube dancing, etc. etc. Sexy isn't substance. It's like icing. It's supposed to go on something more substantial. Too much of it gives you a belly ache and a visit to the dentist.
Originally I had wanted to say, "The costumes, the sets, the dance, the song... it's intoxication.", and make a Junsu pun, but instead I shall say that Junsu had all the makings of a great music video, and made it less than it could have been by overplaying the sexiness. Too bad Junsu.

MVOTD: Geronimo (Day 233A)

Today's Music Video Of The Day comes in two parts, or should I say two videos, both drastically different from each other. The first is Geronimo's No One is Like You, which is honestly not a music video, but that doesn't matter, right? The second will be Xia Junsu's costuming amazingness Tarantellegra, which takes sexiness to a very North American place. 

I have to be honest. I know Geromino. He loves God and rap and the people of Northern Manitoba. He's a respectable guy. He wrote a respectable song with respectable sound. I've listened to this song three times since I woke up and I think it's my favourite song of his. It would go well in any playlist. I think it's way more respectable than Xia Junsu's Tarantellegra for sure, and definitely says more about the person who wrote it but the music video is most assuredly on the weak side. This is one of those Youtube videos that you listen to and don't watch. I look forward to see if he'll write any more "rap worship songs". On the whole, good job Geromino.

Day. Life. Of.

It feels like it has been a very long time, but I suppose it has been only a few weeks, that I have been rather busy. In a rare moment alone and at rest, I find time to blog and post up a music video. Preferably either one I like or one that is interesting.

I realized today, even though it is only a third into the month, that UKISS, as the only group posted thus far for Music Video Of The Day in September, has a very good chance of winning the Month End Review. I thought to myself, "I hope Super Junior comes out with a good music video this month, so I can post it and they can finally have a chance at winning", since they have not won the Month End Review yet and they are my most favourite group. Then I thought, "I should let my dear readers know what I am up to each day, not that they care, but so they'll know what is going on." So that is what I will do. Here is a generic daily schedule.

10:00 AM, Wake-up, eat, check Facebook.
Hour Later, Prepare for work, make lunch/dinner, eat lunch, etc. etc.
Half Hour After That, Leave for work.
Half Hour After That, Arrive at work and do database things.
Mid Afternoon, Leave database job, change, snack, and drive to second job.
Half Hour After That, Start second job which entails folding lots of laundry.
12:00 AM, Get off of work, drive home, snack, do devos and get to bed around 1:30.

One could almost say it is a list. Needless to say, I work a whole lot more than I used to. However, it definitely puts a crimp in my style; my blogging style. Have no fears though, time is opening up and fun shall be had again. Oh the music videos we shall enjoy together.

MVOTD: UKISS (Day 232)

UKISS...has a "clean" version of one of their songs. Since the very notion of clean Kpop music videos itself is funny (them being so much cleaner than North American stuff), the music video demanded to be reviewed.

UKISS's 시끄러!!, or something close to Shikuera, apparently has a dirty version...where you see UKISS's nipples. ...I heart South Korea. Banning man nipples from daytime tv. Stuff like this is why Kpop fans think of South Korea as pure and innocent. You just keep on being that way South Korea. We love you for it.

Back on topic, UKISS gives a stellar performance in 시끄러!!, first creeping on a Caucasian woman whilst riding a motor cycle realllllly slowly and talking in English...while using a distortion pedal. And the English is amazing too. "Hello. Hello. Do you know me? Dis is more than a pressant." I always thought that "Dis is more than a pressant" was a SS501 line, but apparently it's the lyricist telling everybody who he is.

Cue the distortion pedal. They are caressing the woman's face, but wait, now they are caressing each other's faces. Oh the cheap shots at the fangirls! Now they are slowly slicing velveeta cheese with their hands and preparing to do hydokin...Hidokin...that thing that Goku does on Dragon Ball Z. Conclusion from all these hand motions; they are all benders from the land of Avatar: The Last Air Bender. Then they are injured. Clearly they have just battled the Fire Nation. But then they are healed and drop their hankerchiefs. Magic hankerchiefs?

Okay, joking aside, I really did enjoy this music video. It was fun and high energy, with pretty solid costumes, decent sets, and cute English sentences. Plus the idea that they look like they are bending like Avatar is not that far off. My cousins were really into Avatar at one point and their attempts at bending didn't look too different. UKISS gets top marks for their music video 시끄러!! (clean ver.). 

MVOTD End of the Month Review

Once again, August was a month of music videos. Disappointing ones, cheesetastically bad ones, and well polished ones. Here's the list.

4Minute	Hot Issue
Andrews Sisters	Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
Chi Chi	Love is Energy
Chi Chi	Don't Play Around
C-Real	Sorry But I
DA PUMP	Rhapsody in Blue
Dalmation	ER
G-Dragon	One of a Kind
GP Basic	Jelly Pop
Hangeng	Clown Mask
Hangeng	Betrayal of the Soul
Infinite	The Chaser (Dance Version)
JYJ	Ayy Girl
Super Junior	Spy
Super Junior	Mr. Simple (LG Commercial)
U-KISS	Doradora
U-KISS	Believe
U-KISS	One of You
U-KISS	A Shared Dream
Wonder Girls	Like Money
Wonder Girls	Like This
Wonder Girls	The DJ Is Mine

Top awards go to JYJ's Ayy Girl, Dalmation's ER, DA PUMP's Rhapsody in Blue, G-Dragon's One of a Kind, Hangeng's Clown Mask, and Wonder Girls' Like This. Obviously, those last three were the well polished ones, where the first three were cheesetastically bad. Yup.
Even though I really wanted DA PUMP to win for their incredibly fun, high energy song and dance with the Japanese version of David Tenant, it can't happen because G-Dragon came out with a genuinely well done music video and song. That means that Super Junior needs to come out with a music video that will blow my mind in order to restore my ELF honour. SM, that means you. Do your job better.