NOW KPOPPING: 2NE1 feels "Lonely"

I honestly can't wait for the day when I can appropriately tag the four fierce females in 2NE1 without mentioning KPOP (ie. with the impending release of their alleged and mysterious English album here in the 'States -- let's get on a move on there, will.i.am), but for now, I'm more than willing to support their Korean endeavors. South Korea's best girl group (this is not even open for discussion, people) have come back to us in a rather surprising way, and this time, I truly mean it. I may be a big fangirl for SM Entertainment's boy bands, but I have to give it to YG Entertainment. Just when I think I have 2NE1 pegged, they go and flip the script.

2NE1 (in the picture to the left, from left to right, Dara, leader CL, Park Bom and Minji) made their name on their very futuristic, brash, ballsy kind of girl group sound -- they are strong, they are independent, and they don't take ish from no-one. This type of swagger is relatively unmatched in the Korean Girl Group department, where you typically see girls being a little too preoccupied in looking cute and appealing to their oppas rather than embracing more gritty, oh-no-you-didn't type of material. We saw that in "Fire", in "I Don't Care", in "Try to Copy Me" and especially in the anthematic "Can't Nobody" (one of the best KPOP, or rather pop songs period, of 2010). With each progressive video and single campaign, I continue to wonder just how YG expects these girls to outdo the fabulosity they've already done, and yet they always stun and manage to do the impossible.

After a highly successful album release in the form of 21, released last year on the back of a slew of popular singles ("Can't Nobody", "Clap Your Hands", "Go Away"), 2NE1 is finally gearing up to return as a four-piece after some work in Japan and various solo cuts. The first release of their upcoming mini album release, due in June, is called "Lonely", released in South Korea in mid-May.

Scratching your head yet? Gone are the laser-like synthy underdubs. Gone are the Autotuned, robotic vocals. Gone is the thumping bass. Gone are the key elements that made a 2NE1 single a 2NE1 single. Instead, we are left with a surprisingly harmonious, feminine, vulnerable piece of pop art set to delicate acoustic guitar and brimming with four-part harmony. It is no less catchy, no less striking and no less 2NE1 in its own way.

My only complaint remains to me that when I want high energy KPOP, 2NE1's music is a given, and with the summer quickly approaching, I was banking on them to bring the dancefloor stunner. However, it is still very early in the promotion process, and I applaud the girls and YG for bringing us something truly surprising. If anything, this helps solidify the point that 2NE1 are more than flash-in-the-pan teen idols but legitimate artists capabale of being truly cross-genre. It also helps solve the common complaint of throwing too much of the vocally difficult parts to Ms. Park Bom, as all four members demonstrate their vocal talents in "Lonely".

The song has already topped many charts in South Korea. Here's hoping an English version will grace the tracklisting of that (completely, impatiently awaited) English album. So, now that you've proved your vocal competence and wowed Asia by choosing a single without your typical dancefloor tactics, feel completely free to followup with a blazing ace of a toe tapper for Single #2. Kamsamnida.

HEAR THIS: Relax, with Mandy 'It's Just Pop!'

Summertime is always a fun time for pop music. It may not be officially summer yet, but here in New York City, it really, really feels like it. Temperatures are literally through the roof as I sit here coming to you from my sweltering apartment here in the BK. That's why one of the best ways to beat the heat is fighting fire with fire -- firey, dancey, clever pop music. 2011 has been pretty good to us in that department, and already the summer quarter is shaping up to be one for the books. First up is this young lady, one I've had my eye on for several years now.

Mandy Ventrice is a name I've mentioned before on the blog, an artist I've been supporting since her early, early days in a long since forgotten girl group of yore. She's been keeping time since then, steadily writing new, fresh pop for herself and for other artists as well, before returning in late 2009 with Ian Carey and his David Guetta-esque single "Let Loose". But now she's fully equipped to break out on her own in a big way with a literal schmorgasborge of tunage that flows like a feast for the ears (like that one?).

While my interest flag really started to fly thanks to the likes of stellar pop cuts like "Bitten", "Cupcake", "Open Me Up" and especially "Hussy", those songs were a bit more robotic and dancefloor-beatmachine influenced. Mandy has uploaded a few of her newer cuts that focus more on her big voice and less on the production trickery, the majority of which being produced by a former member of the Stereotypes production brigade, on to her SoundCloud account. Some songs are newer than others, but all of them are equally fantastic in a Xenomania, witty kind of cheek way.

While I've found it difficult to choose a favorite ("Die Happy" was an early favorite, but "Personal Hearthrob" seems to be where it's at for me currently), overall, it would have to be "Paradox", a song I first premiered on my own radio show on Resolution Radio (RIP!). The song opens with relatively bare keyboard tinkling, set to a beat machine backdrop and is incredibly 80's poptastic in a very good way.

I can try but you won't believe a word I say

So I'ma tell you lies 'cause the truth gets in the way

I won't break if I don't believe in love

I don't have to give in if I never have to give you up

With your hands around my heart I swear I

Won't fall apart

But everything that we want gets lost

In this paradox

Take a listen below:

  Paradox by MandyVentrice

Mandy has the two critically needed elements of good pop already going for her: catchy material and a serious singing voice. Not totally unlike Mr. Simon Curtis, Mandy is going the indie route, so be sure you support her if you like what you hear. Follow her on Twitter @MandyVentrice and 'Like' her on Facebook. There is no word just yet on when we will be able to purchase her tunage on iTunes or the like, but keep it locked for more information on this already stellar album collection as it develops. 

For more on Mandy, you can also check out my interview with her from over two years ago (if you can believe it!) here.

MIXTAPE: Pasquelina, Aubrey O'Day, NKOTBSB and Mother Monster

I realize I've been slightly dead to the world, but weekends seem to be the easiest time for me reflect via writing. In the vein of my former WGOs, let's take a look at the songs that have seen the most iPod abuse recently. Well, seen the most abuse and aren't in Korean (or more specifically aren't from Super Junior's back catalogue -- I've become a woman possessed).

PASQUELINA - "Tabletops"

I don't know about you but I kinda want it

We got nothing to lose, so let's jump up on it...
Let's bring this to the Tabletops

Let's dance and let's move it on the Tabletops

Let's shake and let's groove it on the Tabletops

As much as I loved "Young & n' Love" (still available for free @ Pasquelina.com), her first real solo release, "Tabletops", released to iTunes last month, has more of a synthy, gritty, club-floor appeal. It's kind of along the lines of if Ke$ha and Dragonette had an adorable, sunny, dancefloor-obsessed flower-child daughter together -- all of the playful sass (with none of the annoying petulance) set to stutter chant and a unrelenting, pulsating back beat. Go ahead, jump up on the tabletops and dance. You know you want to.

Best Bits: "Now where'd I put my party hat?" / "Wearing crazy sun protectors where the sun ain't even shining" / "Hi, My Name is Pasquelina and it is so nice to meet ya; Hi, My Name is Pasquelina and I am no Mysterina"

You can download the song on iTunes now, but to preview it, you can listen to this YouTube cut of the song being premiered at the NYC club Pranna last month.

AUBREY O'DAY - "Automatic"
Back and forward now
Spinning round and round
Wanna tear it down
I can't control it
When the beat goes boom, I hit the room
My body goes on Automatic

Let's be real. I wasn't exactly championing for an Aubrey O'Day solo album. Danity Kane fan, I most certainly was, but Aubrey wasn't exactly the powerhouse vocal of the group and I found much of her antics - shall we say...frustrating? Despite all this, I applaud her for just being herself with no apologies, and coming back strong with a surprisingly thumpy, layered dancefloor single "Automatic" that wouldn't sound too far off on a third DK disc (check out this stellar DJ mashup of "Automatic" and DK's "Damaged"). She's not breaking down any barriers in terms of the lyrics, but it feels so good, it's hard to argue semantics. Like "Tabletops" above, it's a dance song simply for the sake of dancing. Ain't nothing wrong with that. And I would like to state for the record, I can't wait for the full album if this is any indication.

Best Bits: The synthasized "When I'm on the dance floor" bits / "If that's your girlfriend over there, I think she miss you" / "You can see their heartbeat pounding harder than the speaker" / The chorus. Obviously. (Or should I say 'Automatically'.)

NKOTBSB - "Don't Turn Off the Lights"
So don't turn off the lights now, lights now, lights now
'Cuz in a minute we'll be feeling like never before
We'll light up the night now, night now, night now
I'll be everything you need and more

The sheer concept behind the melding of New Kids on the Block (NKOTB) and Backstreet Boys (BSB) literally sounds like something a desperate fangirl (in her late 20's/early 30's) made up. And yet it's real. The joint tour, I get. While a part of me is still a little bitter that it's being dubbed as the ultimate boy band tour (um...no -- rise *NSYNC from the dead, sprinkle in some Boyz II Men, reunite NLT and 5ive, and bring over some KPOP boys -- preferably SHINee, Super Junior, 2AM, perhaps some B2ST and if you aren't too busy, sent JYJ and duo!TVXQ, just don't tell them both the other is coming -- and then we'll talk...in fact, I won't be able to talk, because I'll be too busy Googling front row tickets), it would be a total lie if I said the prospect wasn't intriguing, mostly because I'm in the age bracket they are chiefly championing for. I've got news for LiveNation if they really think this is what's going to "reignite" interest in boy bands in America (it won't -- people who are going to see this probably liked both of them already to begin with). Even still, it's fun in that guilty pleasure, I-can't-believe-these-groups-are-officially-nostalgia-inducing kind of way. Then out jumps this little Claude Kelly-penned summer jam, featuring both groups as a promotional cut for the tour. And it suddenly feels like 2000 (or 1990, depending on which group you favored) all over again. Basically, teen idol enthusiasts of today -- you can have your Justin Biebers. Allow us (old fogeys) this moment of squeeing.

Best Bits: The "N.K.O.T.B.S.B.Baby." intro, the nostalgia factor, and the mere fact that it's two of America's biggest boy bands on one cheesy mid-tempo...and they're doing it because they want to.

LADY GAGA - "Judas" (yeah, you knew this was coming, right?)
I'm just a holy fool
But baby, it's so cruel but
I'm still in love with Judas, baby
Oooooh, I'm in love with Judas, Judas
Oooooh, I'm in love with Judas, Judas
Judas, Juda-ah ah, GA-GA

What exactly can I say? We both know I'm a huge Gaga fan, not necessarily for her increasily out-of-control over-the-top-ness, but for the hooky, unapologetically pop music she seems to spit out. "Born This Way" scared me a little -- not because I didn't like it, but because it felt a little too Gaga-the-created-popstar-image, rather than the Gaga we already know and love. "Judas" brings us back to what she's good at, mostly because it's the third version of the Gaga/RedOne prototype (see "Poker Face" and "Bad Romance"). And yes, the album art for Born This Way is...unique, at best. Yes, the album cut titles are...descriptive. But at the end of the day, it was the music that made me a fan, and so long as the music is good, I could care less about what chart position she is in. I fear she will fall victim to the Girls Aloud curse -- too much focus on her popularity and sellability, and not enough accolaids on the fact that she is making pop that sears, burning into your brain through your ear canal (and callusing the soles of your feet) with a wink and a sneer. She may have turned herself into a caricature, but lest you forget, it was us who championed it. We were the ones who hungered for the next crazy stunt. At the end of the day -- "Judas" scorches because it follows the familiar formula. In Gaga World, it's the equivilant of playing it close to the chest. And it's still kind of bewildering in comparison to all the competitors.

Best Bits: "Judas, Juda-Ah Ah / GA GA!", that back beat, and the spoken, semi-nonsensical bridge.

WATCH THIS: Ellie Goulding on SNL

This is very late notice and I apologize, but I couldn't stop this spazz from bubbling up from my inner self out through my fingers onto the Blog.

I have a Love/Hate relationship with the American comedy institution that is Saturday Night Live. The sketches aren't always funny. The cast can be incredibly grating. The hosts can be completely bewildering. 

Most importantly for this column, the musical guests featured can sometimes take the love I originally had for them as artists and completely skewer it. Why? Because there are few televised live music venues quite like Saturday Night Live. I've been to the studio itself on a few occasions -- it positively buzzes with history. It's one of the livest places you can find on television. If you suck, you really suck. Even if you're mediocre, you will come across like you suck. But -- but -- if you are brilliant, it will really show. It's one of those make-or-break performance halls.

And this week, SNL is featuring not only the incredible Ms. Tina Fey as host, they are proclaiming the formal introduction of Ellie Goulding as their musical guest for their Mother's Day Show.

I really, really hope Ellie does this one...(I would embed, but it's disabled -- side eyes). Best of luck, girl. We're all rooting for you (and your American Invasion). Hopefully they'll give you a little more to do than what you got in the promo so you don't look as bored. ;)

NOW KPOPPING: f(x) is officially OUT of 'Danger'

Now is a limbo kind of time in my KPOP music listening. TVXQ have finished their duo promotions. SHINee is prepping their debut into the Japanese market with a new version of the kind of archaic at this point "Replay (Noona Is So Pretty)". 2NE1 is prepping an upcoming release (and an English album). My latest guilty pleasure-turned-time-consuming-obsession, Super Junior, is prepping their fifth album/touring/MC-ing/creating a Taiwanese drama/prepping a Japanese single, etc. Basically, your favorite KPOP stars never sleep, but they aren't always promoting a hot single (no matter how much I want to claim otherwise).

Then along comes f(x), SM Entertainment's other girl group (hello there, SNSD!), outfitted by five more eclectically dressed femme fatales, that debuted in 2009. A few are American-raised (which apparently in Korea counts toward their street cred), their leader is from China, and one member is the younger sister of an already super popular idol (Jessica, from SM's resident girl group, SNSD). 

For those of you who aren't as familiar with the KPOP hierarchy of artists, f(x) debuted in September of 2009, just a few months after YG's 2NE1, and the similarities are relatively striking, especially as of late. I originally tossed f(x) off as the female counterpart of SHINee (just as I did with SNSD to Super Junior), convinced that if I was meant to pay attention, the right song would come along to make me. Several singles came and went, and my interest was steadfastly held by the much more confident, brash and basically ballsy 2NE1 -- a marked shift in my KPOP tastes, as when it comes to boy bands, SM is like my second home. They did appear more interesting me, at least in theory, than that of SNSD, mostly because they were less popular girl pretty, and more artsy and mysterious in a KPOP market where girls can usually only be super cutesy or super provocative with no in-betweens (while the boys can be both, and they usually are).

2010's "Nu ABO" started to change my mind regarding f(x), mostly because they were finally shrugging off their more cutesy image. Hell, even Simon Curtis is an admitted fan of the song! But it wasn't until their most recent release, "Pinocchio (Danger)", the lead single from their first full album release, that I've officially started to relent my icy feelings toward them.

I'm certainly not here to proclaim my f(x) fanship just yet, and "Danger" certainly isn't the best KPOP single I've ever heard, but like most SM main single releases, it's very, very catchy. It also features a sort of gibberish hook, an earworm tactic that f(x) has employed before ("La Cha Ta", "Nu ABO") and they aren't the only ones (Super Junior's "Sorry Sorry" and "Bonamana"; SHINee's "Lucifer"; SNSD's "Gee", "Oh!", "Hoot"; let's just say SM is quite heavy-handed in this arena). In a translation, it's basically about a girl being played like a doll ("Pinocchio") and wanting to be out of "Danger". That's all you really need to know. Count on mainstream KPOP to be cliche and not very deep (at least not most of the time). The video itself brings the comparisons to 2NE1 up to about a 9.

With that said, the more I spin it, the more it gets stuck in my head. It's also officially one of the girls' biggest hits (if not their biggest), earning them several awards across various South Korean music programs for the first time, and finally giving them the spotlight, instead of that of their more omniscient oppas and unnies (that's older brothers and sisters, people -- stay with me here). One of their members, Luna, has serious vocal chops on her, and I hope future releases continue to rely on her heavily. I also personally think the group is starting to gain more confidence in themselves, and it shows -- in their choreography and in their imaging.

At this point, it's not quite enough for me to proclaim immediate stanning, but to say I'm not looking forward to their future promotions would be a bold-faced lie. Get it? Pinocchio?