As Such? (Top Singles, First Quarter 2013 [and a few albs])

[koganbot]

Not sure if any themes are developing in this year's list. I've got some Korean hip-hop "as such" at 1 and 13 ("as such" as opposed to K-pop that employs hip-hop, though the latter is usually way better and is also on my list, D-Unit's "Stay Alive" being especially rappy). In general, "real" Korean hip-hop is either too dogged and serious or too jokey. (Is it not peculiar that if I were to describe a human being (e.g., myself) as dogged and serious it would be a compliment, and "tells jokes" would often be a positive attribute as well; but sounding dogged and serious in song is generally negative, as is coming off as a joke act?) I've been listening to the back catalog of Gaeko's group Dynamic Duo, who are inventive and all that but, you know, dogged and serious. Unfortunately, at the moment my analytic and adjectival wellsprings are producing nothing to help describe any of this. I'm not saying I dislike Dynamic Duo; last year's 6th Digilog 2/2 gets a definite head nod from me. But nothing on it immediately arrests my attention like the first five seconds of "난리good!!!" with its combination of severity and flamboyance. Wise of Gaeko to grab onto the electronic dance. Of course, hip-hop's often willing to grab.

1. Gaeko & Choiza & Simon D & Primary "난리good!!! (AIR)"
2. GLAM "I Like That"
3. Baauer "Harlem Shake"
4. Margaret Berger "I Feed You My Love"
5. will.i.am ft. Britney Spears "Scream & Shout"
6. G-Dragon ft. Jenova "Crayon (Lam Suet Remix)"
7. Sistar19 "Gone Not Around Any Longer"
8. Kate Nash "Death Proof (CSS Remix)"
9. 2YOON "24/7"
10. Tiny-G "Minimanimo"
11. D-Unit ft. Vasco "Stay Alive"
12. Yelle "L'Amour Parfait"
13. Gaeko "Rhythm Is Life"
14. Baek Ji Young "I Hate It"
15. D-Unit ft. Zico "Talk To My Face"
16. GLAM "In Front Of The Mirror"
17. SHINee "Dream Girl"
18. A$AP Rocky ft. 2 Chainz, Drake, Kendrick Lamar "Fuckin' Problems"
19. MYNAME "Just That Little Thing"
20. Miranda Lambert "Mama's Broken Heart"
21. Baek Ji Young "Acacia"

The following albums are fairly listenable:

1. D-Unit Affirmative Chapter.1 (D-Business Entertainment/Windmill Media)
2. The Cataracs Loud Xmas EP (Universal Republic)
3. Ashley Monroe Like A Rose (Warner Brothers Nashville)

"Sistar19 - Gone Not Around Any Longer [Audio]" (Watch on YouTube)

Comments

First Quarter

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

Can't keep track of singles. Here are the albums:

Keepers:
Tegan and Sara - Heartthrob
Kitty - D.A.I.S.Y. Rage
Ashley Monroe - Like a Rose
Cast of Nashville - The Music of Nashville Season One
Kacey Musgraves - Same Trailer, Different Park
Kate Nash - Girl Power
Le1f - Fly Zone
Yo La Tengo - Fade
Waxahatchee - Cerulean Salt
Justin Timberlake - The 20/20 Experience
Adrian Younge & the Delfonics - Adrian Young Presents the Delfonics
Flume - s/t

Subjects for future research:
--Spring Breakers OST
--Pretty much any K-pop :(
--Somebody named Neal Torres that someone recommended
--

Right now my #1 could just as easily be a #10.

Singles or whatever that I can actually keep track of:

A*M*E - Play the Game Boy
Baauer - Harlem Shake
Tweenchronic - Skip Rope
Little Mix f. Missy Elliott - How Ya Doin'
Ciara - Body Party
Kacey Musgraves - Follow Your Arrow
Ashley Monroe - Two Weeks Late
Cast of Nashville - Undermine (2012)
Margaret Berger - If I Feed You My Love
RuPaul f. Big Freedia - Peanut Butter
Kat Dahlia - Gangsta

Re: First Quarter

[koganbot]

A small package of value will arrive when I get around to sending it.

Have you had a chance to think about Orange Caramel's Japanese album? Prompted by azacab, I'm listening more and believing that it does hold together as an album more than Lipstick does, though of course "hold together" is only one criterion.