2007’s releases
Tuesday, January 1st, 2008I decided that for this entry, I would take a look back over 2007 and talk about my favourite releases of the year. I’ll even be linking to some of 2007’s MVs! And a couple of my friends are into slightly different artists, so I even asked them for some of their own highlights of the year, so that I could bring you guys a bit of a variety.
2007 saw the release of a lot of good stuff. I hate to think how much money I’ve spent this year buying new releases as well as older ones.
We’ll start off with a couple of albums that were the highlights of 2007 for me.
(HipHop) The year started off with a bang, with the release of Epik High’s fourth album, Remapping The Human Soul. It was 2 discs packed full of amazing hiphop, and I really, really consider it the best album of the year. My favourite tracks were Fan, 혼 and 피해망상 pt. 1. Even if hiphop isn’t your thing, you should give Epik High a try. I never liked hiphop either, but Epik High are one of my favourite groups, and I have friends who don’t like hiphop but really enjoy Epik High. So, that kinda says a lot.
(R&B) M (이민우 from 신화) released his third album, Explore. It saw M making the transition from singer to a fully-fledged singer-songwriter. Stomp and The ‘M’ Style were two supercharged tracks from this R&B album, and One Last Cry had a bit of an Usher feel to it, nice and smooth.
(Soundtrack) Tablo (from Epik High) and pe2ny teamed up together to form Eternal Morning, releasing the album Soundtrack to a Lost Film, a collection of (mostly) instrumental, soundtrack pieces. Each song was crafted with a different scene in mind, ranging from romantic comedy, to horror, to animated. It’s an absolutely brilliant piece of work, very creative and very original. White and Fingertips were my personal favourites.
(Pop) F.T. Island were one of 2007’s new groups. I adore this group, I really really do. They’re a band, so they play instruments instead of just dancing around, and they have some really nice songs. Cheerful Sensibility was their debut album. If you’ve heard Buzz, these guys sound a bit like that. I really look forward to seeing how these guys are going to progress over the course of this next year. 집착 and FTIsland were great tracks, and 행복합니다 was lovely.
(Ballad, Soul) 박효신 released his fifth album, The Breeze of Sea: The Ballad. It’s absolutely gorgeous, especially 추억은 사랑을 닮아 and Lost, and if you like slower, ballady songs then you should definitely give 박효신 a go. He has quite a distinctive voice and style.
(Soft-Rock/Ambient) 못 released their second album 이상한 계절, also known as Strange Season. 못 were one of my new discoveries this year, and damn; they are fantastic, so if you want to try something that’s sort of soft-rock, sort of ambient, sort of something else, then definitely give 못 a try. They’re a bit like Nell, for comparison.
Really, this year has been filled with good stuff after good stuff, I could sit here and list even more albums that I thought were great, but I’m trying to just keep it at my top picks XD
My friend who is into punk picked Shorty Cat’s I Ain’t Be Controlled as the best album of the year. I don’t like punk at all, so I’ve got nothing to say about it! But from what I’ve heard, Shorty Cat are worth checking out if you’re into punk.
From another friend, this year’s top albums were 뷰렛’s (also know as Biuret) Be Full of Spirit, Beautiful Violet, which is rock with female vocals, and pretty good from what I’ve heard! The vocalist has a really powerful voice. And 노아’s The Soul Singer. I just listened to his single 나란 사람, and wow. It’s a pretty ballad, and he has awesome vocals.
Wow, this post is getting long. I hope no-one minds!
Now we move onto some of this year’s great Music Videos, and I’ll link to the ones that I can find on YouTube. I thought this was a pretty neat way to introduce people to new things, and YouTube has a lot of great stuff on there. Click on the song name to see the MV!
My top picks would be:
Epik High’s Fan. This has got to be the coolest MV ever. Really. I love the way Epik High do their MVs, and this one is definitely my favourite. A girl kidnapsthe object of her devotion; this is a song about the pointlessness of fanatical love.
Eternal Morning’s White. It’s so abstract and odd, I really, really love it. I don’t understand the concept but it left a huge impression on me.
마골피’s 비행소녀. 마골피 caused such a stir when this came out! Totally new, yet her MV had basically an all-star cast, with Heechul, Kangin and Shindong of Super Junior, Yoochun of TVXQ, Park Joon Hyung of g.o.d, Kim Jang Hoon, and an adorable little child actor whos name I’ve forgotten. And yet we still had no clue what 마골피 looked like, or who on earth she was! It was a great way to catch everyone’s attention, though the hype died down after the release of her digital single.
넬’s It’s Okay, from their re-arranged album Let’s Take A Walk. This is such a lovely MV, I love the colours, the way it’s done, just everything about it. 넬 are such a great band.
Moogadang are such a spastic band, and their OAO MV was … very special. This is like crazy pophiphopdance, I don’t even know what you can call Moogadang other than spastic XD They’re really fun!
JYP’s Kiss. I have to throw this one in here because… it’s just so weird. And different. I don’t even know. JYP is a strange, strange man.
Tony An’s Singing That Melody, featuring SAT. This is such a catchy song, I still get the urge to bounce around to it whenever I hear it.
Drunken Tiger’s 8:45 Heaven. I thought this MV was really, really well done, I love the concept of it. And it’s such a sad song, dedicated to his grandmother who passed away.
성시경’s 한번 더 이별. I love this guy, his voice is absolutely gorgeous and perfect for ballads.
손호영’s 하늘에 내 마음이. This was one of my favourite songs in 2007, I was hooked on it the moment it came out.
And finally Anyband’s Talk, Play, Love. This is actually a commercial, for Samsung’s latest model of their Anycall cellphone. But at 9 minutes long, with 4 songs for the campaign and featuring Tablo (Epik High), Junsu (TVXQ), Jin Bora and BoA, I’ll consider it a single and MV XD. Set in a world where music, play and love is outlawed and everyone is enslaved, the four rebels spread their message of “Talk, Play, Love” to set everyone free.
And a personal favourite MV for purely fangirl reasons is 신화’s The Snowy Night because these guys are my favourite group, and this is their latest MV which just shows them recording and being their usual stupid selves xD
Other singles and MVs recommended by my friends are Super Junior T - 로꾸거, 김지은 - 어제와 다른 오늘, I The Tri Top’s - 청개구리, Younha - Password 486, M to M - Tell Me You Love Me, Chaeyeon - My Love and The Nuts - 잔소리.
Wow. What a post. But 2007 was that kind of year, a complete overload of great music. For me, there was a ton of new discoveries. I’m really looking forward to seeing what 2008 is going to bring!
Posted by Taliana in Korean Music |
January 1st, 2008 at 8:43 pm
I’m with you on Nell and MOT. They are my two favorites. I’m not so into the super-produced pop of the Wondergirlz, or SJ, even though the songs sure can be catchy…
Thanks for sharing some great music with us. There is a wealth of music out there, and finding the good stuff take work!
January 3rd, 2008 at 12:41 am
Wow.
Thank you for sharing the great songs ! 정말 한국 음악에 대해서 모르는 게 없네요! 대단해요!! I will listen to all the songs that you’ve provided with links for, one after another. 
Thanks! and Happy New Year!
January 3rd, 2008 at 12:58 am
오스틴: Nell and MOT are fantastic, aren’t they? I love their sound, it’s really laid back and relaxing, but certainly not boring.
I’m not super into Wondergirls either, and my interest in Super Junior has wanned since their debut album, but you’re right that they have some really catchy songs. Despite not being too into Wondergirls, Tell Me has been stuck in my head since it came out (along with a clip of JYP dancing to it in his studio … that was hypnotising, and a little bit freaky!).
But yeah, finding the good music beyond the catchy pop can be hard especially when you’re not sure where to look or what is even out there.
Hyunwoo: XD You’re welcome! I hope you enjoy some of them as much as I did. I made a playlist of all the songs that I was super hooked on in 2007 - there was about 60 songs! I almost died when I realised just how much wonderful things were released in the past year. I hope that 2008 brings a lot more awesome music, and I hope that I make some more great music discoveries. Finding new artists to listen to is something that I love doing most, I’m always so happy when I find something new to adore.
Happy New Year to you too ^^!
January 6th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Thanks so much, Taliana, for putting that together! I watched all the music videos you posted (not necessarily to the end…), and there was some cool stuff in there!
The Epik High video was cool (very, uh, Saw-lite. While I haven’t seen the last two movies in the Saw franchise, I expect the next sequel to include some misadventure with a washing machine). What helped is there’s actually a version out there with English subtitles. It doesn’t necessarily explain the ending of the video, but it helps a bit.
Kiss is, as you said, a very strange video. I somehow found myself drawn to it, though. Many of the comments on YouTube weren’t exactly kind, though. One said in Korean, “너무 야해요,” which translates to something like “It’s too gawdy/flashy/ostentatious.” That person’s English translation cut more to the point: “It’s too perverted.”
I know that irony isn’t a usual form of Korean expression, but I wonder if (well, hope that, really) that OAO video was supposed to be ironic. Otherwise, man, that was a lot of over-the-top bling and male toplessness!
January 8th, 2008 at 8:18 am
I agree with you on Epik High and Ft Island.
And yeap, JYP is a really weird man ^_^
Epik High’s Remapping the human soul album was one of the best album of 2007.
Their songs ” Fan” and “Love, Love, Love” are great songs and They are awesome!
FT island, these guys are very young but very talented. They have great songs. They are doing great music.
But in my opinion, 2007 belonged to Big Bang. Not only they topped the charts for several months with their huge hit “거짓말” (Lies), but their 2nd single “마지막 인사” (Last greeting) has been tooping the charts as well. Not to mention all the awards they recieved thanks to their song “Lies”.
Those songs are great! Very catchy!
이루 (ERU)’s White Snow (흰눈) is one of my favorite songs and mv and he’s my favorite korean ballad singer ^_^. Even though that song belongs to his album Level II released on Sept. 2006, the song was promoted as a single in 2007. This song was a huge hit in the beggining of 2007. This song followed his first huge hit “까만안경” (Black glasses) wich was release in 2006. He also had another hit in 2007 with his song”둘이라서” (Because it’s the two of us) of his 3rd album Eru returns.
If you guys like ballads, i really really recommend to listen to his albums. ^_^
He’s awesome!
Another great song of 2007 was 희성 (Wheesung)’s “사랑은 맛있어” (Love is delicious).
Also Younha’s Comet was a great 2007 song.
And even though i’m not a fan of Wonder Girls, who can forget their “Tell Me” song. That song topped the charts and The Tell Me dance was everywhere!
January 8th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Forgot to mention another great hit of 2007, Mcmong’s ” So Fresh”. ^____^
January 12th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
I listened to the song “Kiss” by JYP(박진영) for the first time through this post, and I must say… the melody is good but the lyrics are very weird too. Heh.
And I liked 윤하’s song as well!
Thanks again!
January 28th, 2008 at 4:17 am
uhhh where is Wonder Girls?
January 28th, 2008 at 4:22 am
JeffL: I was keeping it to be mostly about what I and a few friends most enjoyed in 2007, and unfortunately the Wonder Girls are not on our lists. Tell Me was a really catchy song, but I feel there’s a lot of unnecessary hype surrounding them. I think they have great promise though, JYP produces some great talent so I’ll be keeping my eye on them. But yes, they were just not one of the highlights of 2007 for me. Sorry!
February 4th, 2008 at 8:14 am
박효신’s latest release was amazing-
I never really listened to his stuff until that album because I wanted to avoid his “too-emotional-sobbing”.
June 3rd, 2008 at 1:54 am
yeah! I’m actually happy you don’t really like Wonder Girls either. I don’t really like any girlbands but I love 윤하 and I really like 마골피 even though i only heard 마골피 ^^
Do you know 파란? They’re pretty good, although they remind me of Backstreet boys and 98 Degrees (not that i listened to those bands!)
I absolutly love 눈의 꽃 by 박효신! Sooo beautiful.
Ft Island is awesome! 홍기 is so expressive when he’s performing >_