Frank Kogan

Hoisted from the comments 2013-10-21; petronia writes:

Of the T-aras, Jiyeon interests me the most. She's one of those women who have never looked like an innocent young girl. I mean, Eunjung could be a terrible person for all I know, but Eunjung not smiling won't unnerve anyone: she parts her lips slightly and you know she's Snow White lost in the woods. Jiyeon's blankness reads as a lid pressing down on some simmering, potentially explosive unpleasantness — psychopathy, rage, hurt, who knows.

Jiyeon uses this quality very well when acting; like Natalie Dormer, she's born to play Anne Boleyns and Irene Adlers. She only needs a couple of seconds in this video to be vividly, genuinely scary, smiling unhinged through the flames. But also like Natalie Dormer, this villainess quality of hers is a by-product of the face she was born with, rather than an act per se. I think it's simply very easy for people to cast her as the villain in real life as well.

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The T-ara kissoff EP is okay enough, on and off, the only real standout track being "Diamond," a strangely deep and ethereal Qri solo chant that sounds like "I Want Candy" elongated and beautifully vaporized — though interestingly enough, it's the next cut, Hyomin's "Ooh La La," that uses a Bow-wow-wowish Bo Diddley beat and a melody reminiscent of the Temptations' "The Way You Do The Things You Do." Neither track sounds much like T-ara.

I feel emotionally battered by the election, feeling simultaneously vulnerable and malicious, as if I'll be attacked for anything and nothing and I run constant fantasies of going back and settling old scores.

I've been sitting on most of this list for a month now, wondering what to say. I don't know how this music "plays" among the people most affected by it. I'm also not completely sure whom I should consider the "people most affected by it," anyway: thirteen-year-olds uneasily trying to figure out who they are and what other people think of them, and being subjected to this music, to these vids? Kids who when they listen don't see or hear themselves and wonder what's wrong with themselves for not being like it, kids who do see themselves and don't like what they see, kids who like what they hear, like what they see, don't realize they're being set up, kids who are inspired to change themselves, kids who are just having a good time, um [trying to think of positive impacts], kids who grasp these as vehicles for love, for excitement, for conversation, for adventure? I don't know. Kids who like the way they look when they dance to this? Kids who hate the kids who dance to this?

—Why am I privileging "kids" here? ('Cause they're the ones for whom "who am I?" social choices are still fairly open, and influenced.) Why am I still listening to so much kids' stuff, anyway? (Well, other stuff I listen to isn't likely to produce singles.)

But, age 62, wondering why I'm not finding or particularly searching for good music fronted by people my age, two-thirds my age, three-fifths my age, even half my age; or fronted by male people; or explicitly political from the political Left.

I hardly ever visit the lyrics translation sites,* if the lyrics would provide much of a hint.

So I'm not doing much research, am I? Just sitting around wondering.

Locker room talk: I was molested (in a bullying, taunting way) in an actual locker room when I was a teenager. I recently dashed off a piece for my writers group about how if I imagined myself on the bus with Trump I'd think he was, among other things, challenging and bullying me. It didn't dawn on me to include what was done to me back in my track-and-field locker room. In my junior high bullying piece back in WMS #9 I said something like, "It was all over by ninth grade," but the molesting happened when I was in 9th grade, so clearly it wasn't all over. I don't know if I ever even brought up the locker room with a therapist (until last Wednesday, when I did). Maybe I thought (somewhat correctly) that it was relatively small cheese in comparison to the effect of the verbal teasing of a few years earlier. Anyway, songs in my life then were part of the soundtrack, whatever support or fear they provided.

From approximately 1963 through 1980 people more-or-less "socially" like me made great music that had a strong public presence. Afterwards, they didn't. ("People more-or-less socially like me" is vague enough.)

This is why I never post this. I'm just... not wanting to put thoughts together. Making excuses, it feels like.

Tension two paragraphs back between the phrase "people more-or-less socially like me" and the fact that one way of being "like me" is having a similar visceral response or aesthetic sensibility.

So, if I were to study old Mayan art and somewhat understand its world and be moved by it, does that make me more Mayan (if only marginally so) than I'd been before? (But do I have any idea whether my being "moved by it" is similar to how the Mayan's responded to it or what they did with it? Well, presumably if I'd done some research I'd have some idea about that, too.)

I get the sense that K-pop mostly comes from the mainstream and is geared towards cheerleader types and jocks more than to the freaks and the greasers (to use ancient terminology from a different part of the world). Also, duh, I don't know what I'm talking about it. Cheerleaders and jocks aren't necessarily more conservative than greasers, anyway, and are often less explicitly reactionary. Also, I assume (not necessarily correctly) that those who create K-pop are living in a Seoul version of Hollyweird, hence a bit more liberal than their audience. I think of particular performers, e.g. Brown Eyed Girls, and video director Hwang Soo Ah, as being vaguely on the "left." Whereas T-ara, for instance, traffic less in the need for some kind of breakout. But, e.g., T-ara's videos with director Cha Eun-taek hardly seem authoritarian or particularly traditionalist, and many of them are very good. (Cha Eun-taek is in the news right now in relation to an emerging government influence-peddling scandal, but not only do I truly know little about it, I'm wary even on my Blog That No One Reads of linking someone to the word "scandal" when I don't know what I'm talking about. I'm mindful of how the simple constant repetition of phrases like "T-ara bullying scandal" and "Clinton email scandal" creates the sense in the broad public that certain people MUST be in the wrong, even when most of the public has no idea whether or where there really is a scandal and what the alleged wrong is. Cha to his credit was one of the few industry people to tweet in support of T-ara (and Eunjung in particular) during their duress.)

"Songs in my life then were part of the soundtrack, whatever support or fear they provided." (Songs Implicated In Bullying Scandal!)

In the old days, when more people read my lj, at least a few people who knew more than I do would come along and help me out.

Here's a YouTube playlist of my Top Singles, 2016; will continue to be updated. Think I'm probably underrating the Mike Larry and overrating the will.i.am:

YouTube playlist: Ongoing Singles 2016


1. HyunA "How's This?"
2. Britney Spears ft. G-Eazy "Make Me..."
3. Crayon Pop "Vroom Vroom"
4. 4minute "Canvas"
5. FAMM'IN "Circle"



6. Tiffany ft. Simon Dominic "Heartbreak Hotel"
7. Era Istrefi "BonBon"
8. Aommy "Shake"
9. Serebro "Slomana"
10. NCT 127 "Fire Truck"
11. Wonder Girls "Why So Lonely"
12. DLOW "Do It Like Me"
13. Oh My Girl "Windy Day"
14. Serebro "Let Me Go"
15. Blackpink "Whistle"



16. Tiggs Da Author ft. Lady Leshurr "Run"
17. Britney Spears "Do You Wanna Come Over?"
18. NCT U "The 7th Sense"
19. Your Old Droog "42 (Forty Deuce)"
20. Serebro "Chocolate"
( 21 through 52 )

*Pop!gasa has a good reputation, though I forget who said so (which makes my use of "reputation" in this sentence a good example of what reputation is).

Don't know if I've ever embedded T-ara's "Roly-Poly" vid. YouTube killed the Eng Sub version,* so I'm testing to see if Dailymotion will still embed onto lj:



Well, Dailymotion killed that, but it's back up on YouTube:



What I keep pointing out, about this vid and about the first several live performances, is that Jiyeon** manages to be effervescent in the dance without once cracking a smile.***

*For some reason it was Tokyo Broadcasting System that put in the copyright claim, though this is the Korean video, not the Japanese.

**Jiyeon's the lead dancer here, the one in violet, with hair up, in the first of the live videos, in cut-off striped shirt in the MV.

***[UPDATE: Also, the visuals on the Eng Sub I've embedded aren't as good as the authorized but Korean-only version, which I strongly recommend that you look at; and I recommend that you make it the one you return to.]

I've been claiming that K-pop has a load of freestyle embedded in it, though I can't say how much of this is conscious, how much subliminal (e.g., GLAM knew they were sampling Chuli & Miae but seemed unaware that what they'd sampled was already a sample from the Cover Girls), and how much underived convergence (drawing on similar '80s and electronic sources, you can develop strategies and sounds that are similar to freestyle without their coming directly from freestyle). As far as I know, the word "freestyle" doesn't itself tend to pop up in K-pop as a reference to the NY-Miami '80s electronic dance style.*

Be that as it may, producer Shinsadong Tiger only sometimes delves into freestyle,** but there's a moment near the start of the regular mix*** of T-ara's "Sugar Free" where he's doing a fricassee chop and sugar toss right out of Mickey Garcia and Elvin Molina, for instance this from the Garcia-Molina production of Judy Torres' "Come Into My Arms" and this from their production of Cynthia's "Change On Me." Overall, "Sugar Free"'s hard four-four is far from freestyle, but "Sugar Free" has a recurring riff that also reminds me of Garcia and Molina in its bounce and its fast twistiness. Here are the three songs in full, which are very much worth your time:

T-ara "Sugar Free"


Judy Torres "Come Into My Arms"


Cynthia "Change On Me"


"Sugar Free" is the third consecutive riff-heavy throw-you-against-the-wall electronic dance track that Tiger's done for T-ara ("Sexy Love" and "Number 9" being the previous two), and once again I like it, all three being appropriately grimmer than the charming "Roly-Poly" and "Lovey-Dovey" he'd done for them pre-"scandal" (though I'm sure "Sexy Love" was conceived pre-scandal, so this likely is a coincidence). Still, I miss the charm. I have a bit of the same reaction to "Sugar Free" that I had to the Duble Sidekick–produced "Jeon Won Diary," which is that the track itself seems to be overwhelming the T-ara-ness. I feel this might have been more naturally a 4minute song, owing to the crescendo parts reminiscent of "Volume Up" and the way the title chant and the raps seem to be aching for HyunA's comically agressive pouting. These aren't criticisms. Having been thrown down a notch commercially, T-ara are still throwing down gripping music.

As for other recent T-ara product, the Jiyeon EP works very well for me while the Hyomin EP doesn't, though the latter has pretty good material. Hyomin may be the group's most emblematic singer, sounding sketchy yet strong in the higher register, so not quite "fierce" or "emphatic" but the one most defining of the high pitch, the one who makes it shred, even if her singing gets shredded a bit in the process. The shredding comes across as emotional commitment. But maybe she needs the other T-ara voices preceding and following her for everything to jell.

Jiyeon of course has been playing a role in my imagination that may have little to do with her. I cast her as the foil, perhaps? That may not be the right word. She's not counter to the bright T-ara sound, she's just not being the one to light it up. Stands off to the side in a way that draws her emotional attention anyway. On Never Ever her uninflected breathiness paradoxically gives gravity to the light sentimental material.

*As opposed to meaning raps that are off-the-cuff rather than entirely prewritten, this being an entirely different use of the word "freestyle."

**While 4minute's "Hot Issue" feels very freestyle to me, there's not a lot more from Tiger that does so — though in a brief moment in "Number 9," Jiyeon did manage to make me think of Brenda K. Starr's and Pajama Party's "Over And Over." And I feel

***Interestingly, it's not the regular mix but the tougher, bigger, and more spacious Big Room mix that's getting the big promo push from the label.

Tracks that stand out as being less like most of the others on this list:

Wa$$up "Wa$$up" and "Jingle Bell": Like a lot of K-pop, this music draws on American hip-hop. But unlike a lot of K-pop this doesn't sound like K-pop, but rather like American jumprope pop.

Tren-D "Candy Boy": Like a lot of K-pop, this music draws on Italodisco. But unlike a lot of K-pop this doesn't sound like K-pop; it sounds like Italodisco.

Qri "Do We Do We," Boram "Maybe Maybe," Lim Kim "All Right": Not that these three are that similar to each other, but each is from an interesting area of smooth, "All Right" more upmarket, "Do We Do We" and "Maybe Maybe" b-side fluff from T-ara's bench warmers.

After School "Heaven": Smoothly sashays atop the nonsmooth.

Stromae "Papaoutai": Belgian Afro-dance (and family drama).

Baauer "Harlem Shake" and Psy "Gentleman": Relentlessly nondevelopmental mindfucks.

Vick Allen "I'm Tired Of Being Grown": Southern soul.

The Civil Wars "The One That Got Away": Dinner-date folkies let loose with tasteful tears.

Within Temptation "Paradise (What About Us?)": Goth metal (if that's what it's called these days).

Tom Keifer "Solid Ground": Hair metal, which isn't considered metal these days, and fuck these days.

Omar Souleyman "Warni Warni": Syrian wedding music on a speed-racer track.

SNSD "I Got A Boy": Shifts forms, won't establish a plot, shoots its self-conscious audaciousness at us with awesome persistence.

Zhanar Dugalova "Kim Ushin?": A Kazakh grabs the rolling happy spirit of "Behind The Groove"–era Teena Marie, successfully disregarding the fact that Teena Marie was a virtuoso and she isn't.

Fidlar "Cheep Beer": Cheap beer.

1. Crayon Pop "Bar Bar Bar"
2. Baauer "Harlem Shake"
3. GLAM "I Like That"
4. will.i.am ft. Britney Spears "Scream & Shout"
5. MBLAQ "Smoky Girl"
6. EvoL "Get Up"
7. Cassie ft. Rick Ross "Numb"
8. Wa$$up "Wa$$up"
9. Tiny-G "Minimanimo"



10. Gaeko & Choiza & Simon D & Primary "난리good!!! (AIR)"
( 2YOON through Kacey Musgraves )
( Psy through Fidlar )
( Girl's Day through T.O.P )
( Ben Pearce through Ray Foxx )

( Flogging a live animal )

What's the name of the new T-ara single?

In aggregate it seems to be "Do You Know Me?" at least in translation. But the first track (ballad) and second (dance) have different Korean names, with the title "What Should I Do?" sometimes showing up on YouTube. Since the vid uses both versions, I'm not really separating out which is which. Maybe Wikipedia will eventually figure it out. In the meantime I'm going with "1977 Do You Know Me?" for the ballad and "What Should I Do?" for the dance. Google Translate is its usual pickled self, giving us "I Do Not Remember 1977" for "1977 기억 안나" and "I Cram" for "나 어떡해." [UPDATE: Melodically, the two parts are mostly, but not entirely, the same basic song. Combined version is off YouTube, so I've embedded the two parts separately. Google Translate now gives "What Should I Do? Chinese dance version" or "What To Do With Me MV Chinese dance version" as the second part's title, though notice the English caption on the vid is "Do You Know Me? M/V china dance ver"]

Also — the k-pop news 'n' entertainment sites are not clear on this — is there some 1977 input or origin for the song?





It seems to be a flop right out of the gate (fewer than 450,000 views for both streams after four full days), but I love it from the first instant. I still fear for the future of Jiyeon's unique aura and bearing if she continues to emote (her former uninflectedness and detachment being a form of evocative resistance, at least in my hopes), but nonetheless, in the present, I love how she and they — non-"impressive" singers — so easily brush every poignancy button, and then reprise it all as a romp.

Glad they're ending the year strong.

Song of the week is Lim Chang Jung's "Open The Door," a seemingly square, florid, impassioned trot that goes hilariously LMFAO in the chorus. The song's actual history runs opposite: was originally, last year, a forgettable would-be int'l-style dance track that I'd heard but forgotten by the Wonder Boyz (incl. LMFAO squiggles but w/out the zest we get when we Open The Door). So what's new this time are the trot beats, which with the hamming bring the song to immediate life. The squiggly LMFAO parade-streamer synths are the topper that they couldn't manage to be in the first version.

Watch on YouTube

"Open The Door," by the way, makes this my third straight K-pop post to feature a Shinsadong Tiger track. He seemed to be having an off-year until all of a sudden he's not.

I'm late on it, but I highly recommend GI's "Gi," extending GI's tradition of ridiculous song titles. (Very first single was called "Beatles" despite having neither lyrics nor sound that refer to our lovable moptops (other than, I suppose, by having a beat). Band's name stands for Global Icon, and the Beatles are a global icon, if that's a connection.)

Watch on YouTube

Also noted, Tren-D's "Candy Boy," in an unabashed Italodisco style. I especially like the instrumental B-side:

Watch on YouTube

(I've included the Austral-Romanian tag because, while "Open The Door" isn't quite on the continuum that I've imagined, it's a second-cousin to the style.)

If you were to ask me do I think T-ara are sexy or, instead, do I think they're cute, you've asked me an insane question, since their cuteness makes them sexy and their sexiness makes them cute. Not that there's a complete overlap: cuteness is only a part of their repertoire of sexiness and sexiness is only part of their repertoire of cuteness. And they generally avoid cutesiness, which is a turnoff. But what I'm noticing is that "cute vs. sexy" is something of a meme in K-pop, even though as an actual dichotomy it hardly seems usable. But there is even an officially designated "sexy version" and an officially designated "cute version" of T-ara's "Bo Peep Bo Peep" vid. Recognizing that "cute" and "sexy" are being used as generic, symbolic terms — so not encompassing something like "Minzy has a cute ass," where "cute" means "she's really hot"; but more like how a nightgown symbolizes sexiness while a business suit symbolizes seriousness even though someone can look really sexy in business clothes and look unsexy in a nightgown (not sure what a "cute" costume would be: a bunny suit comes to mind, but that's problematic) — there are nonetheless performers like Sunny (of SNSD) and HyunA who are also adept at interweaving the symbols of sexiness and cuteness (and the word "interweaving" is misleading in that it still implies too much of a difference), not to mention seriousness and the business suit when those performers are so inclined.

( That's how far I've gotten stating the issue )

( Sad but sexy )

One thing I noticed, looking at that and the other GLAM vids, is that view totals are edging up and there are all these recent comments to the effect that "Kim Nana brought me here." So who's Kim Nana? Turns out she's a character in the TV miniseries Monstar, the actress portraying her being GLAM's own Dahee. And talk about SAD AND SEXY! She's absolutely smoldering — despair, anger, and heat all at once. And in the TV show, straight, as far as I can tell. I'll confess I haven't had time to actually watch an episode, and it looks like I'm not going to; frankly, from the clips I've seen it doesn't seem very good ("Monstar depicts the lives of ordinary teens who are injured psychologically and heal themselves through the power of music"). And while the ballads are passable, the bravura pop-rock showpieces are utterly tedious: big blundering TV-contest ideas of what impressive, powerful song presentation is supposed to be. Yet there's Nana as a character, introduced to us first as the dangerous, dark brooding sexy girl from the wrong side of the tracks — don't mess with her — whose heart, we're to learn soon enough, is secretly breaking. That's pretty much all I've gotten from quick-skimming the clips; I can guess how everything plays out but I don't know, or what surprises I missed, or what I got wrong. Nonetheless, there's Kim Nana. I can't tell you, not having watched more than scattered scenes, how good Dahee is as an actress. It may not matter. All she has to do is to look out at us through her long hair and to never smile. If I'm fourteen years old I know who I'm in love with.


( Censors unrepresentative mindset )

As you see, Crayon Pop have my top song. But for the long run I'd lay my bets on ChoColat. Crayon Pop have to rely on being insanely catchy every time out, while ChoColat only need reasonably good tunesmanship and dramatic timing and Melanie's passionate wail — all of which ChoColat can rely on.

[Video no longer available]

1. Crayon Pop "Bar Bar Bar"
2. Gaeko & Choiza & Simon D & Primary "난리good!!! (AIR)"
3. GLAM "I Like That"
4. Baauer "Harlem Shake"
5. MBLAQ "Smoky Girl."



6. will.i.am ft. Britney Spears "Scream & Shout"
7. Evol "Get Up"
8. Cassie ft. Rick Ross "Numb"
9. Tiny-G "Minimanimo"
10. ChoColat "Black Tinkerbell"
( 11 through 50 )

( Continuing the ChoColat/Crayon Pop theme )

( Baauer, Gaeko, GLAM, Lim Kim, T-ara )