Confessions of an Uncle Fan: The Series (episode 23)
Happy Tuesday K-pop fans. I love this time of year when the weather starts to cool down (hoodie weather is the best), football season kicks off (although the Redskins are horrifyingly bad), and when all the K-pop girl groups inevitably flood the internet with their 'hanbok' pictures during Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving). While Autumn doesn't technically start until next Sunday, it's never too early to enjoy the best season of the year. But first…
Cool Things of the Week
The T-ara Comeback
T-ara as a full group hasn't been promoting in Korea but they've certainly been in the news with constant accusations of bullying, members additions and subtractions (what was that whole Ahreum thing), and logic-defying partnerships withChris Brown(Yeah, I know it wasT-ara N4but it's all the same thing). There is no other group in K-pop with as much drama surrounding them and frankly, they could use a little good news right now. I've read that the new mini-album is dropping October 10th and will feature the classic T-ara sound but better. I liked a lot of of T-ara's earlier music, especially the more mellow, electric sound, so I hope this is the start of not being the punching bag of K-pop any more.
IU Teaser Pics
The first teaser images are out for IU's new album and they're pretty interesting. The entire look & feel seem to suggest that IU is going with a more mature, I'm-a-big-girl look and that concept will probably extend to her music. Last week I went into a bit of a diatribe about how I was hoping that IU's next album would be more stripped down and a return to just her voice and guitar. I doubt it'll go that far but either way, but I think the days of mammoth pop orchestrations are gone. I'm definitely ready for some IU.
'WIN: Who is Next' is the Best New Show on TV
The newYG Entertainment show'WIN: Who is Next' featuring two teams of guys vying to be the next YG boy group is just good. This past week's episode featured the YG boys taking a trip toJYP Entertainmentfor a good old fashioned battle. The episode discussed this but the two previous YG vs. JYP battles are legendary. The first one wasRainagainstSe7enand the second2PMvs.Big Bang. How cool would it have been to be in that room? YG has struck gold with the concept so while the show is unrelated to girl groups, I think that this model can easily be translated to introduce the perpetually pushed back new YG girl group.
Reply 1994 Promo Pics!
One of the most anticipated dramas in recent memory (well, maybe just for me) has to betvN's 'Reply 1994'and last week we got our first look at the cast in their early 90's gear. Following up on the massive success of 'Reply 1997' (among my favorite dramas of all-time), 'Reply 1994' will follow an earlier generation of K-pop fans during theSeo Taiji and Boysera. That age of Korean music was the birth of what became modern K-pop and it will be a great chance to take a look back at such an influential and fun time in K-pop. I'm going to have look through my stuff and bust out the CD's and Discman with the sponge headphones… How many of you have no idea what I'm talking about?
Girl Group Variety Show Round-Up
A list of all the girl group appearances on variety shows (that I saw) this week.
- 'Incarnation' -UEE,Seungyeon(SeeTop 5 Favorite Girl Groupers Right Now)
- 'Yoo Hee Yeol'sSketchbook' -SPICA
- 'Immortal Classics 2' -Ailee, Ivy
- 'Star King' -Jewelry,Jin Bora(pianist),KARA
- 'Mamma Mia' -Minzy, Ailee, Gyuri
- 'Taxi' - Brown Eyed Girls
- 'Beatles Code 2' - Girls' Generation Tiffany, Yuri, Seohyun, TAEYEON!