A man picks up a film reel entitled “The Red Shoes.” He splices film stock and sticks it together. Viewing his edited footage he sees black and white images of a woman walking onto a stage and a pair of red shoes followed by a title card that reads: “Would you take me there?” A […]
At what stage do we stop considering pop groups as lesser artists and allow them to be considered amongst the pantheon of great modern artists? The distinction between pop and art consistently clouds how we consider pop acts in a critical vein. This means that the possibility of truly great pop groups does not really […]
2016 rumbles on even longer with still little to show for itself, but that’s okay! The year is still young. What it does however, is lead me back to 2015 to continue remembering what a great year it was for K-pop. The multiple top songs of the year lists that were put out (including ours) […]
One of the first things we notice when becoming K-pop fans is the influence of western pop. Musically, K-pop blends a whole host of genres otherwise unheard of in the east. These influences give K-pop an international edge allowing it to cater to a lot more fans than their Japanese and Chinese counterparts. This fusion […]
First things first: Who is Jean Vigo and what does he have to do with Block B’s subunit Bastarz? Jean Vigo was a French director in the 1930s who made only four films in his lifetime due to bad health. Knowing that he had only a short time to live had an obvious impact on his […]
Purfles, the K-pop group with the worst name (and in the world of K-pop that’s really saying something) have comeback for the first time since their debut. That debut in October last year was the vastly underrated banger “1, 2, 3,” and the group as a complete package was just as overlooked. Based on pure […]
As another month comes to an end we can safely clock August as another great month for K-pop. To celebrate I’m going to look back at some b-sides that might have unfortunately gone unnoticed. With another slew of high profile releases there’s plenty to discover. This month we have lots of retro goodness, with influences […]
I don’t know if it’s just me but Girls’ Generation seem to have been slightly forgotten this year. Maybe off the back of Jessica leaving and other controversies people don’t see them as the sweetest girls in Korea anymore. Maybe people are just bored of them being sweet. This is all despite releasing some great […]
Picture this. You walk the halls and grounds of KCON LA 2015. You see thousands of devoted K-pop fans giving some sort of tribute to their favourite groups. They wear full costumes from music videos, print out full body cutouts of their bias, they perform perfect renditions of their favourite dances. The attention to detail […]
Sometimes I think I’m not harsh enough on K-pop releases. Nearly every one of my reviews has been overwhelmingly positive. Those were all genuinely great releases, though, and I don’t think any differently now. Maybe K-pop is not as perfect as I thought it was, and I was adjusting my opinions to fit that. Then […]