Diana Vickers - Once EP

I'd love to say "holy crap" again like how I started my Robyn review, but that would be too redundant on my part. So how about "OMG I THINK I'M IN LOVE" this time? OMG I THINK I'M IN LOVE.

OK so kill me now for writing a review after listening to the track on the music video, because damn I don't think I did it any justice. That and this EP has successfully sent me into hysterics - brilliance. Downright, unmistakeable brilliance.

Read More

2PM - Without U

To be completely honest, I'm not the biggest 2PM fan in the world. I acknowledge that they have their own niche in kpop and that Wild Bunny was so damn funny but apart from liking maybe 2 or 3 songs from 1:59PM, 2PM is just another Korean boyband for me - nothing special, nothing bad.

It took me time to write up my review for this, mainly because I'm honestly really uninterested in 2PM at the moment. Not because of all the Jaebeom drama or whatever but because I don't think they're giving us songs worth listening to.

Read More

Gummy - 사랑은 없다

During my kpop special (almost a year ago, actually. time flies.) I didn't really delve into Gummy. I knew her and all, came across some of her songs a couple of times, but I never really freaked out over her. The songs were OK, some were good, and her vocals are impressive, but she just wasn't my taste. Until this.

Gummy has a gorgeous voice, if I may say so. It's smooth but it's got punch/kick/whatever. I wouldn't say it has a nice deep timbre, but it is a bit deep. She has technique, and she sounds like a seasoned pro on the song.

Read More

Robyn - Dancing On My Own

Holy crap. OK that wasn't exactly the best way to start a review but it's been a while since I've properly reviewed something that isn't Korean or Asian so yeah. Cut me some slack.

As you all probably know, I'm really out of the European pop loop at the moment and I haven't really made the best effort to try and catch up for lost time. I'm just really lazy, OK? But anyway, by some stroke of luck (and a little persuasion from Mel) I managed to not only get a hold of Robyn's new EP but also listen to it and actually adore the heck out of it.

Read More

DBSK - Darkness Eyes

I don't know if you guys have noticed, but I don't usually write single/song/album reviews of my favorite boyband of the year/moment for the simple reason that most of the time my fandom takes over my train of thought and I end up gushing throughout the entire song - it was like that with Westlife, it still is with DBSK. Have you noticed? Even if I know practically everything about DBSK and more the stuff I write about DBSK are either not reviews or basically me gushing over performances or songs, which I don't wanna do too often.

But I guess I'll have to make an exception for this song.

Read More

IT'S THE POP REVIEWS NOW ANNIVERSARY GIVEAWAY!

Yes, you've got it right, I'll be doing a BIG giveaway in celebration of 2 years worth of music and writing. I've gone all-out for this and I've been teasing you guys via Twitter, so for crap's sake let's get right to it! wahahah. OK, OK, I know it's late, but would you rather I don't do this?

Read More

Japanese vs. Korean production

I start this post with a long, heavy *sigh*. Why, you ask? Because this post has been on my mind for ages now and I've had the theory constantly circling my mind but I've only actually sat down to write it now. Oh well, here we go.

Read More

5-2=0

Lemme just briefly explain the equation above - it's my own 'modification' so to say, of a slogan DBSK fans came up with to go with Always Keep the Faith. When times get tough for a kpop group - someone leaves, someone joins or whatever, fans make up equations that kinda show their desire for the original group to stick together and whatnot. Because Jaejoong, Yoochun and Junsu were in limbo with SME due to the lawsuit and fans were scared that they might leave, the equation for DBSK is:

5 (the entire band) - 3 (JaeChunSu) = 0, meaning if the 3 left, there would be no DBSK.

Read More

Lee Ryan - Secret Love

*sigh* I'm disappointed, I really am. I liked Lee Ryan back then - he was blonde, in Blue, he had a nice voice with a gorgeous timbre and he crooned mid-tempo verging on slow pop songs. He was pretty good at it too. Now that he's actually back, we get THIS piece of trash? Can I puke now?

I understand if he's trying catch on to the techno/eurocrap fad and all because it sells right now and let's face it, the guy hasn't really sold that much as a solo artist but he could've at least put some effort into making it a decent song? Lack of creativity is a pretty mild offense for me compared to being a bad copy.

Read my full review on Virgin Music. weehee!

Read More

Lee Hyori - H-Logic

I'm backkkkkkkkkkk! *waves* I was planning on writing something when I got home last Saturday but I was too sleepy, then I was gonna write yesterday but I was still so sleepy - coming home from 4 days without sleep singing your head off for 8 hours a day isn't exactly the most ideal situation. Camp was fine, for those who are asking (if I haven't already answered you on Twitter. wahahah) and I'm back to civilization now, only I think I'm getting a cold. Hopefully I don't, or you'll have to live without me for a few days again. hahahah. AAAAAAANYWAY.

Hyori Hyori Hyori, oh Hyori.

To be completely honest with you, as I was listening over to the album for the first time earlier this morning, I had a very hard time formulating an opinion about it - mainly because all this rap confuses my concepts of good songs and I have a lot of issues to take up before I discuss each song individually that I don't know where to start.

*sigh* Here we go, I hope I don't confuse anyone along the way.

Read More

Secret - Magic

I'm trying a different approach with these reviews - I've listened to this song for days but it's only now that I'm writing it. Hmm.

When I first heard of Secret last year, I thought yes, they could sing but I Want You Back was one of the most boring, generic, uncreative songs I'd heard all year. The vocals were there at times and it was decent but I'd heard everything before - the loop, the melody - it didn't interest me. So like numerous other kpop groups I've heard over the course of a year, I left their first EP safely nestled in my iTunes library until the day I'd write this review.

Read More

2 Years of Pop Reviews Now

As this is published, I'm most probably on a bus with a choir of 30+ and another 10+ adult staff, pulling my hair out because I'm part of a group of junior staff - on the way to a 5-day intensive choir camp. Oh well, I gotta do what I gotta do. *sigh*

Two years ago on this very day, at the age of 13, I published my first review - Westlife's Everybody Knows. I've matured so much since that review but to be honest with you, I never thought this day would come - NEVER.

Read More

[important edit] Always keep the faith

I remember the night #tvxqhwaiting was the top trending topic on Twitter, so vividly that I remember not only the date, but when I found out, how I found out, where I was when I read that tweet, what I had just done hours ago, what I had for dinner, where I had it, how many times I listened to Proud, and how many times I almost cried my eyes red after pulling my hair out. I remember that night like it was today, not yesterday, but little did I know that the events of that night would be nothing compared to what happened last night.

Read More