i felt bad for being so down on the korean music scene in my last post so i'm going to make up for it by posting another k-pop review, and, as promised, this time is going to be focused on the girl group 2NE1. 2NE1, which if it isn't obvious enough is supposed to sound like twenty-one, is comprised of CL, bom, dara and minzy.
i think 2NE1 is marketed as a korean hip hop group? maybe? there's definitely some kind of rhyming going on. i guess they have swagger. they have some kind of hip hop style maybe. sometimes. they're also known for their unique/edgy style. according to their wikipedia page their official color is hot pink, which when chosen as a cast color by an 8 year old boy after fallling off the monkey bars could possiby be considered unique or edgy, but for an all girl group im not entirely convinced. it's also maybe revealing of their roots to mention that their first single, "lollipop", was created for an LG phone advertisement.
i'm not trying to discredit 2NE1 and their supposed raw hip hop persona. i'm just trying to illustrate what it means to have a raw hip hop persona in korea. to 2NE1's credit they at least seem to have some pretty good influences, citing the likes of michael jackson, lauryn hill, beyonce and madonna (as well as some korean artists i'm sure).
but on to the song itself, can't nobody. so what's going on here? we have a video that features spaceships (more importantly, space slides), hot pink (hey it's their color!) armored vans with killer sound systems, padded dance rooms, hallways, robots, space yoga...you name it. some favorite moments: the switch blade comb (edgy!), that punk-rock studded hoodie, the space slide obviously...who am i kidding, the whole video!
they're definitely on hip hop trend, making ample use of vocoder and auto-tune. they tend to sneer a lot. so i guess thats hip hop too. i feel like its watching a missy eliot video pumped up TO THE EXTREME! which is saying a lot if you've seen missy elliott videos. and i have. several of them in fact.
so, in no particular order, here's what i like about this song. it's cocky. at least they have the right attitude to pull this off, regardless of how manufactured it is. there's a lot of english so i can sing along if i want to, especially the intro to the refrain which goes "i'm so bad, bad, bad. i'm so good, good. i'm so bad, bad, bad. im so hood, hood." another reference to their edgy hip hop roots no doubt, still, i wonder, where exactly is the hood of korea? is there some seedy part of seoul i've yet to encounter? are there back alleys where stud-hooded girls with skeleton masks are holding up people with switch-blade combs? i'm also a huge sucker for the synth/electro heavy part that overlays the "im so bad, bad..." part. it makes for a great build up to the "can't nobody" part. and can we talk about that crotch grab that replaces the muted out fuck? amazing! who was doubting their rawness before? was it me? obviously i had not watched this video enough.
all of this tongue-in-cheek commentary aside, i do actually like this song. its catchy and the electro elements are pretty on point with whats going on with american pop music these days. i can't decide who my favorite is...its either the one with the dark hair and heavy eye-liner (studded-hoodie, minzy maybe) or the one in the beginning with the super-dyed blonde hair (i think CL). anyways, check the vid below (and sorry about the bad cropping - i like my narrow dimensions).
Thursday, January 13, 2011
♫: vitalic - repair machines (2005)
there's a typical flow to any given weekend night here in south korea. it generally starts in the early evening as dinner with friends, which segues nicely, and with ease, into drinks with friends. this period lasts for some time until someone's foot starts to itch and those who remain shuffle over to one of the few clubs daegu has to offer. in new york i would occassionally go dancing with friends (good as time as any to shout out the nyc crew: saki, jeff, addie, jenifer, 3d, laura - am i forgetting someone?), but never has clubbing been such a staple of my nightlife since moving to korea. what can i say, i guess i like to dance.
the problem i have with the korean club scene is the lack of diversity in its music. every night may be a different dj but they're all using the same components in their setlists. i guess its just another example of the collectivist nature of korea - they know what everyone likes so why mess with a good thing? i think it's because of this i've grown used to the typical pacing and expected climaxes of your standard club-ready electronic music and hungry for something even a little bit different.
enter vitalic's 2005 album ok cowboy. i picked it up shortly after reading pitchfork's top overlooked albums of the aughts (im sure it had a catchier title than that) and wasn't disappointed, but due to my greedy music habits i tend to acquire and set aside at a rapid pace, leaving the album to settle on the shelf for awhile. that is until recently, when listening to my ipod while stuck on the korean transit system, ok cowboy crept back up again. it was exactly what i was looking for to counteract this feeling of electronic malaise.
although there are several standout tracks, many of which are more dance-floor accessible, my favorite on the album is repair machines. what starts out as a simple, punchy bass-line soon gets overtaken by blips of a broken robotic castrato. this vocal element builds on itself like the drums and synths that make up the back beat, and by the time the big climax hits around the 1:50 mark, everything has come to a haunting and dramatic, although distorted, resolution. while the track is perfectly dance-able, there's still an overwhelming feeling that something isn't quite right, where you can't lose yourself perfectly in the music because it's not just a good beat, but something kind of human and tragic in those metallic echoes. the closest comparison that comes to mind is the knife's challenging opera soundtrack from last year.
so here's the challenge to you korean dj's out there: go out on a limb with those setlists. variety is good. maybe even necessary. just because the song is called "one more time" doesn't mean you have to follow it as instruction (to be fair i dont think they ever play that song).
the problem i have with the korean club scene is the lack of diversity in its music. every night may be a different dj but they're all using the same components in their setlists. i guess its just another example of the collectivist nature of korea - they know what everyone likes so why mess with a good thing? i think it's because of this i've grown used to the typical pacing and expected climaxes of your standard club-ready electronic music and hungry for something even a little bit different.
enter vitalic's 2005 album ok cowboy. i picked it up shortly after reading pitchfork's top overlooked albums of the aughts (im sure it had a catchier title than that) and wasn't disappointed, but due to my greedy music habits i tend to acquire and set aside at a rapid pace, leaving the album to settle on the shelf for awhile. that is until recently, when listening to my ipod while stuck on the korean transit system, ok cowboy crept back up again. it was exactly what i was looking for to counteract this feeling of electronic malaise.
although there are several standout tracks, many of which are more dance-floor accessible, my favorite on the album is repair machines. what starts out as a simple, punchy bass-line soon gets overtaken by blips of a broken robotic castrato. this vocal element builds on itself like the drums and synths that make up the back beat, and by the time the big climax hits around the 1:50 mark, everything has come to a haunting and dramatic, although distorted, resolution. while the track is perfectly dance-able, there's still an overwhelming feeling that something isn't quite right, where you can't lose yourself perfectly in the music because it's not just a good beat, but something kind of human and tragic in those metallic echoes. the closest comparison that comes to mind is the knife's challenging opera soundtrack from last year.
so here's the challenge to you korean dj's out there: go out on a limb with those setlists. variety is good. maybe even necessary. just because the song is called "one more time" doesn't mean you have to follow it as instruction (to be fair i dont think they ever play that song).
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