FAME - The "Rock Your Socks Off in Space" Edition

Welcome to the first episode of Friday Awesome Music & Entertainment (FAME)!

Or can we really call it an episode since we don’t really have a video to go with this post just yet? Hmmm...we're going to have to work on fixing that. Anyways, this week you’ve voted for BIGBANG’s “Blue”, but Simon and Martina from eatyourkimchi.com already reviewed it. And, I (Vic) must say, they did an awesome job. So awesome in fact that, I can’t really add anything to what they’ve already said. I absolutely love this song, the atmosphere of the MV, and the tone of all the singers. Bravo, BIGBANG!  This song doesn’t really sound like K-pop at all, but it is beautiful nonetheless. Please follow the link for the full review and music video http://www.eatyourkimchi.com/kpop-bigbang-blue/.

Since we couldn’t really come up with anything original for our review of “Blue”, we decided to review the next song on the list. Or should we say the next two songs on the list – they were tied for second place. So, without further ado, this week’s FAME is the “rock your socks off in space” addition with “기분 좋아 (Feel Good) (Feat. 정희주)” by Super Kidd (슈퍼키드) and “Out in Space” by Тимур Родригез (T-moor Rodriguez).

If you haven’t heard/watched “기분 좋아 (Feel Good) (Feat. 정희주)” by Super Kidd (슈퍼키드) yet, then I (Vic – the writer doing most of the critique for this song) recommend you go watch it now – or else the rest of this may not make any sense. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jHc9YHG3Io&feature=BFa&list=PL249BF68C7B44DC9B&lf=results_main

Holy Indie K-Rock Batman, I (Vic) love this song! This song makes me cheer up and “feel good” every time I listen to it – and it was released on my birthday to boot! I had never heard of Super Kidd before, but now I’m hooked. The music video may be a bit difficult to understand from a foreigner’s perspective without knowing anything about Korea. I mean, they filmed part of it in a Jjimjjilbang – which was kinda strange yet funny and symbolic. However, I did love the bright colors of their clothing – it totally matches the “feel  good” vibe of the song.  

I haven’t really shared the songs with any of my friends yet though, so I can’t tell you other people’s reaction to the song. Well, actually I did just share it with Dillon, but I forgot to warn him of how “different” it was … so he didn’t even finish watching it the first time. I asked him to try it 3 more times before he made his absolute decision of if he liked it or not though. The reason I haven’t shared it with any of my other friends is because, well, I’m the only weird one that listens to foreign music. Actually, that’s a lie too. I have two other friends who listen to J-pop and one (who’s actually Vietnamese) that listens to some K-pop; I just forgot to share the song with them ahead of time. I actually just found out about this song a week or so ago, and I’ve been busy. So. Uh. Yeah. … Enough with my excuses!

I’m just now starting to listen to K-indie/rock. Let’s just say that it’s really hard to find out about these groups state side. (*ahem* thank you Simon and Martina for doing a K-indie series and introducing me to this genre of music *hem*) So, I really don’t have anything relative to compare Super Kidd to yet. Judging by this music video however, they seem like a rocking group that just wants to have fun sharing their music with Korea. I would say the world, but, uh, the video was a bit too Korean (with the jjimjjilbang and some other references) for me to say that.

Unfortunately, I can’t find an English subtitled version of the video or even a good set of translated lyrics, so I’m a bit lost in the true meaning of the song. I will, however, attempt to BS my way through the video meaning of this song while pointing out a few other things in the video. The video opens with the lead singer dressed in his bright yellow band outfit holding a red, sound effects mega phone – what a way to open with a bang! The bright colors really pop against the white background making the intro boldly state that this is going to be a fun song. At about the 40 second mark, he’s in a jjimjjilbang. For those of you who don’t know, a jjimjjilbang is a Korean bathhouse. I don’t know a whole lot about these places nor have I ever been to one, but what I do know is that it is a place where friends and families can go to chill, get super squeaky clean, bond, and relax in saunas. I really wish I could understand all of the lyrics so I could explain this better, but I think he could be in the jjimjjilbang to get cleaned up and wash away all the bad things in his life, so he can start clean and fresh – so he can feel good. The rest of the time, it seems like he’s rocking out with his band – which is totally cool. I haven’t really seen a whole lot of Korean music videos where the singers actually interact with the band. This was a nice change. And, though they may not dance like other Korean artists, Super Kidd does have a decent stage presence. Another thing I noted was how great it sounds both in the music video and live/stage recordings. Unlike several other Korean groups I’ve heard, I don’t think they did any lip syncing and they sounded almost exactly the same. Hoo-rah Super Kidd – you don’t need those sorts of things to be awesome in person!

As far as their English pronunciation goes, I’ll give them a 5 out of 5. Though the song doesn’t have much English in it, what was used was totally understandable. I didn’t have to look for a copy of the lyrics to be able to distinguish the Korean from the English. They even nailed their L’s in “feeL good” every time. When I first saw the title of the song, I was rather worried that it might come out sounding like “fear good”, but both the lead singer and Cheong HuiJu kept perfect pronunciation the whole time in both live and MV recordings.

And that’s a wrap up for “기분 좋아 (Feel Good) (Feat. 정희주)” by Super Kidd (슈퍼키드).

If you haven’t heard/watched and “Out in Space” by Тимур Родригез (Timur (T-moor) Rodriguez) yet, then I (Dillon– the writer doing most of the critique for this song) recommend you go watch it now – or else the rest of this may not make any sense. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0L8TXM4F3Y

Hi, this is the new author Dillon!  First, I would like to make an early apology: this is not going to be a very long or detailed post and is likely to contain a few errors.  I have a ton of work to do. Yay for college! - NOT. I digress. 

Timur Rodriguez really outdid himself with this song.  I was hoping it would be in Russian when I first heard it, but man, this is good stuff.  The opening is amazing and really catches one’s attention in both visuals –the dancing- and music.  The costumes are awesome too.  I do not see what it really has to do with space, unless he is speaking metaphorically, though.  I am typing as I watch (insert apology here) and can I just say, “Dang!”  Wherever it is these people are walking in this video, I want to go with them!  The director really had a good sense of style and motion while making this.  Again, outfits: awesome except for one which I will get to in a second.  Sometimes when he is dancing alone it can seem weird, but I like it anyway.  Okay…first dislike in the video: that tank top.  Why, why is it shiny?  The reference to Princess Leia and Jedi was wicked. 

Okay, this dance scene at about 2:10 is amazing.  Way to throw in some real stuff.  I suppose I can see how someone might not like it, but I think it is outstanding.  And hey, anyone who plays a piano on fire has something going for them.  Haha. [Can you say "goodness gracious great balls of fire!"? - anyone get the reference to Jerry Lee Lewis? Anybody? You guys? ... -Vic] 

Seriously, all in all the dancing rocks, the beat is awesome, and the style is really smooth and fits with the actions and scenes.  I love the effect of the dust and water when they dance in said areas.  Thanks for reading this incredibly small and general review.  Sorry to disappoint anyone expecting more and I will try to be better about this in the future.      


And that's all for FAME this week. Please head on over to our facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/groups/thelifeandtimesofan/) and look for the pole to vote for next week's Friday Awesome Music & Entertainment. (Liking the pole does note count as a vote - you must actually click on one of the song/entertainment names to cast your vote.) Thanks!