Midweek Update

This is your midweek update for the third week of September, giving you some of the latest news in one post so I don't have to make a ton of them.

Our first mention is the sweet-amazing G-Dragon. Why is he here, you ask? No, not because of his four consecutive wins on Music Bank for his performances of Heartbreaker, no, not because of the rumored chemistry between him and 2NE1's Dara, but because of four--yes, four--plagiarism accusations from Sony ATV.

Sony ATV holds 10% of the rights to Flo Rida's "Right Round" and 100% of the rights to Oasis's "She's Electric."

But it's not just "Heartbreaker" and "Butterfly" that are under fire, but also Big Bang's "With U" and 2NE1's "I Don't Care." I can't quite remember what "With U" supposedly plagiarized, but "I Don't Care" was claimed to plagiarize "Just Go" by Lionel Ritchie.

Wow. The 2NE1 and Big Bang songs totally threw me for a loop. These plagiarism charges have put a smear on Big Bang and G-Dragon's solo career. But I doubt there will be any negative publicity for 2NE1; too many hardcore 2NE1 fans for that to happen. >.>

Secondly, we've got the issue of 2PM's former leader, Jae-bum.

A recent poll from popular Korean celebrity gossip blog POPSEOUL! has shown that there are quite a few 2PM fans who are no longer going to support the group because of Jae-bum's absence. Out of 2,858 votes (as of 5:50 PM U.S. Central Time), 64% of them said that they're no longer going to support 2PM.

It makes me feel sorry for the other six boys who are working so hard to keep their fans happy. Which leads me to believe--was 2PM really just a Jae-bum show?

Well, this is all I've got for the midweek update. Remember to vote in our Eye Candy Poll! October is a month abounding with dark and playful fun because of the upcoming Halloween holiday. So our poll is of the hottest visual J-Rock stars! You've only got six days left to vote, so vote before your time runs out!

Tae-Goon is one Sexy Beast. :P

Oh yes. Yes he is.

Tae-Goon (also called "The Second RAIN") is releasing his third single titled "Betrayed." The MV dropped on September 16th.

Alright, I'd never heard of Tae-Goon before. Nor did I know that he's already released three mini-albums prior to this. But damn! This guy's got it going on! All of Rain's style in the form of a cuter guy and a more fluid dancer. Not saying that I don't love Rain, but Tae-Goon's starting to put him to shame a little bit.
*stares at Tae-Goon's picture* Actually, to me, he looks like the product of throwing Christofer Drew Ingle (of NeverShoutNever!) in a blender with Rain to make a new person. And boy, the outcome is gorgeous!!!

"Betrayed" is an absolutely amazing song. Check out the MV for it here:

~Anime Candy: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni~

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is a psychological horror dojin game that evolved into a successful TV series and manga series, created by 07th Expansion (who also made the dojin game Umineko no Naku Koro ni)

The story follows a young boy named Keiichi Maebara, who is a new arrival to the rural town of Hinamizawa. There he meets Mion Sonozaki, the resident tombody, Rena Ryugu, the girl who thinks everything is adorable, Rika Furude, the preistess girl, and Satoko Hojo, the local prankster. He becomes fast friends with all four of them, and soon joins their after school game club.
But after hearing about a dismemberment murder that happened four years prior to his arrival, things around Hinamizawa become much more sinsiter, especially after the unveiling of Oyashiro-sama's curse. For the last four years, one person has died and one person has gone missing on the night of the Watanagashi Festival. As Keiichi's suspicions grow, he learns that maybe...he can't even trust his friends...

The Higurashi no Naku Koro ni anime series contain the following arcs: Onikakushi-hen, Watanagashi-hen, Tatarigoroshi-hen, Himatsubushi-hen, Meakashi-hen, and Tsumihorobishi-hen. In each chapter, there's a new set of victims and a new set of bad guys. Meakashi-hen and Tsumihorobish-hen are considred "answer arcs," as they show what happened in Onikakushi-hen and Watanagashi-hen in new light. The "answer acrs" for Tatarigoroshi-hen and Himatsubushi-hen won't be revealed until the second season of the anime, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is a very violent, gory, graphic anime series. If you're squeamish, then you should avoid this series, or at least watch the censored versions. But if you watch uncensored, be prepared to see people stabbed, bashed to death with lead pipes/baseball bats, disemboweled corpses, fingernails getting ripped off, people getting tasered, people getting their heads split open...and I think that's it. So either way, this series is definitely rated R on TV airplay, and if you're watching uncensored, it's probably NC-17 for series of extreme violence.

The opening theme song for this season is "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni" by Eiko Shimamiya.
The closing theme song for this season is "why, or why not" by Katakiri Reika? (I don't know her name, so yeah.)

Series Rating:

4/5

Recommdended Episodes/Arcs:

The entire Meakashi and Tsumihorobishi arcs. They're just pure win.

~Nipaaaaaaaaaaah!

Jae-bum...quits 2PM?!!!!

My heart goes out to him right now.

After some Korea-bashing comments were found on his MySpace page, netizens were sent into an uproar. But the thing about it is--these comments were from three/four years ago. Not only that, but this was when he had just arrived in Korea and was having difficulties adjusting. It's only natural for a person to vent their feelings somewhere, and MySpace is a common outlet! The poor dear!!
Jae-bum made a public apology for his words, but apparently the netizens don't seem to care. They've already blown the entire situation out of proportion, ruined an innocent man's career, and successfully run him out of the country. People have made petitions for him to commit suicide!!! If that's not blowing things out of the water, then I don't know what is.

Jae-bum has left Korea yesterday evening, and arrived here in the States at about midnight this morning. He's going to Seattle to stay with his family while JYP will discuss his future.

As POPSEOUL! said, we need to stand by him! Here's the link to a "SUPPORT LEADER JAY PARK" petition (http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/supportleaderjaypark) that I think we all should sign. Already 5,000 people over the goal in three days.

We need to show Jae-bum that we all love him, and that he shouldn't quit the group (and I'm not even a 2PM fan.)

JAE-BUM FIGHTING!

UPDATE:
Do you want to know what's worse? The fact that the netizens responsible for leaking those archaic MySpace comments...are trying to apologize! It's a little too late for apologies. The damage has been done, not only to his career, but to his self esteem, too. Poor Jae-bum. Poor, poor boy. I'm not even a hue 2PM fan, and this just hurts my heart. If I could, I'd definitely give him a hug and try to comfort him. It's what I'd want someone to do for me.

[thanks to POPSEOUL!]

~September Eye Candy: G-Dragon~

Shabang! :) I've actually gotten Eye Candy up on the first day of the month for the first time, like, ever! :DDDDDD

This month, we've got the leader of Big Bang...G-Dragon! This cutie has been through a lot recently! He released his first solo album, Heartbreaker (click the title to see my review for it.), and got a lot of plagiarism accusations, although only one of them was serious.

Now anyway, enjoy the pictures of the luscious G-Dragon, and don't forget to vote in the poll for October's Eye Candy! October is going to be the month where Japanese visual rock stars abound, as I'm choosing the hottest ones to go in the poll! Vote! :D

(Teehee...he has cute pink boxers. :P)

(He looks so "fabulous" in this one. ;D)

(Because I love you guys and GD, I've added this extra pic.)

Girl Groups Galore!

2NE1 and 4minute have awoken the devil.

Since those two girl groups made their debut in the summer, they've been followed up by a plague--and I mean plague--of other girl groups.
Let's make a list, shall we?
There's Twiny, Flying Girls, Honeysh, f(x), and TEN who have all come out on the Korean pop music scene.



I'm gonna talk about Twiny first. The members of this group are Seo Kyeong and Sung Hee. They're another girl group going for the whole "cute-and-sexy" look. But apparently, cute-and-sexy is in style, so record labels are going to sell it for all its worth. The girls also sing dance music (no surprise there.) I haven't heard their debut song, "Flutter", yet, but I really want to.

Both of these girls have been continually bashed for their skinniness. I think that a person gains weight on their own time, and that people should leave them alone. >.> But then, the girl in the blue's wrists looks awfully bony...






Flying Girls are next on my list. Out of all of the girl groups that I've seen debut so far, these girls have got to be my favorite. They had Brown Eyed Girls rapper Miryo to do the rap part in their debut track, "Girl's Hot."

Their debut is a mini album called "Girl's Hot" and consists of three tracks--"Girl's Hot," "Plus Minus," and "Love." It's set to be released on September 7th. Well, three original tracks at once--that's a lot more than what I've seen these other new girl groups come out with. Hooray for Flying Girls! I have a feeling that they're going to produce some great music--"Girl's Hot" sounds great!








Honeysh is third on my list. They received a lot of controversy over the content of one of their teaser trailers, which invloved a close-up of one of the members' breasts (although, she was wearing a pink checkered bikini top), and showing one of the girls making out with a guy.

Honeysh also works in the dance genre, with fun dance tunes that you want to, well, dance around to. I don't really have much to say about Honeysh, besides the fact that they're also trying to use the "cute-and-sexy" look to their advantage. Although, they might be trying to add more "sexy" than "cute."





f(x) is the newest addition from SM Entertainment. They're...probably going to be a little bit different from the rest. They've got a different look, that's for sure. It's...I don't know how to say it. A little bit darker, I guess?

And then there's Amber, an androgynous tomboy who looks a lot like Mickey from the Mirotic days.
Their song, Lachata, has been leaked, and I just took a listen.
Actually, they're nothing that stands out; pretty mediocre, I'd say.





TEN is the last girl group I'm going to talk about in this post.

They've gotten a lot of buzz for their "homosexual marketing" tactics (via two girls holding hands and two girls in their underwear hugging). Apparently, they're going for the sexy look, too.

They've gotten a lot of comparisons to girl group t.A.T.u., who also used lesbian marketing to their advantage, and were a big hit in their time. Is TEN their Korean successors? Let's hope so! t.A.T.u. produced some great music! (In my eyes, anyway.)


Well, now that I've written up some information about each of them, let's list debut singles/mini-albums/studio albums now!

Twiny - Flutter (Single)

Flying Girls - Girl's Hot (Mini-album)

Honeysh - Shall I Get Married (Mini-album)

f(x) - Lachata (Single)

TEN - Cheer up (Studio album)

~Review Candy: G-Dragon - Heartbreaker~

Okay, well after all of the plagiarism accusations and a personal love for the album, Heartbreaker has topped my list of "things to review." But first, before we go any further, let's list all of the accusations in order from "most serious" to "least serious."

-"Heartbreaker" accused of plagiarizing "Right Round" by Flo-rida
-"Butterfly" accused of plagiarizing "She's Electric" by Oasis
-"Boy" accused of plagiarizing "Not Ur Girl" by Katharine McPhee
-Concept art accused of plagiarizing a Lee Jun-ki photo shoot
-Album art accused of plagiarizing Spiritualized's 2001 album art "Let It Come Down"
-"The Leaders" accused of plagiarizing "Drop It Like It's Hot" by Snoop Dog
-Album title "Heartbreaker" accused of plagiarizing Kanye West's album title "808s & Heartbreak."

That's a pretty bad list of accusations. (The last two accusations I've just heard randomly through forums, and are not widely supported by a large fan and/or anti base.)

But what does Sony ATV music have to say about this? (This company owns 10% of the rights to "Right Round" and 100% of the rights to "She's Electric.")

All 10 composers to "Right Round" have not all expressed their opinion on this issue. We have sent samples of G-Dragon's songs to the parties involved for the two songs "Right Round" and "She's Electric." There are indeed similarities between "Heartbreaker" and "Right Round" and "Butterfly" and "She's Electric," but it's hard to say if it's plagiarism at this stage. We will all go with the final decision of the composers to the songs. (Information from K Bites)

So now, we just need to wait and see what the composers of the songs say before it can be considered plagiarism or not.

Now onto the review!!

Tracklist:
1. A Boy
2. Heartbreaker
3. Breathe
4. Butterfly (feat. Jin Jung)
5. Hello (feat. Dara)
6. Gossip man (feat. Kim GunMo)
7. Korean Dream (feat. Taeyang)
8. The Leaders (feat. Teddy and CL)
9. She's Gone (feat. Kush)
10. One Year Station

The opening track A Boy definitely gets you hooked from first listen. It's one of the "funkier" songs on the album, with an interesting series of electrobeats in the opening. G-Dragon's voice sounds wonderful on this, and the melody of the chorus is addictive.

Heartbreaker is the title track and the second track of the album. It's the focal point of the whole G-Dragon plagiarism deal. But beside this well-known fact, G-Dragon's voice blends beautifully with the electronic sound of the music and sounds wonderful! The bubbly chorus makes you just wanna dance. The MV is absolutely amazing, though! For me, the song isn't complete without its surreal music video partner.

Track three is Breathe. The first few seconds of this song was played on the music video for Heartbreaker. This song is definitely one of my favorites, with its uplifting chorus and catchy verses.

Butterfly is completely different from every other track on the album. It's purely acoustic, minus a few electrobeats at the beginning of the chorus. G-Dragon wrote the song to describe the feelings of first love. It's definitely a pretty good song for that, too. The powerful lyrics combined with the music reminds you of the one you love the most. As GD says, close your eyes and think of them.

Hello is my favorite track on the album. The chorus is definitely the catchiest off the entire album, and you always wanna get up and dance to it. The spoken intro is golden. This song features Dara...and her voice totally steals the spotlight. When you get to her part in the chorus, you just want to keep listening to her for the rest of the song. G-Dragon can't really compare to Dara here.

Gossip man was the first full track from the album that was leaked. It's relatively nondescript, but it can also get stuck in your head from days on end. The beat for this song is like just about every other one on the album--you wanna get up and dance to it.

Korean Dream is a great song, for sure. The first thing you'll notice about it is that it's a collaboration with fellow Big Bang member, Taeyang. The melody is so, so, so great. My favorite part? "One, two, step and turn left, to the right 바로 서!. Ladies and gentlemen." =3 I absolutely love the chorus. =P

The Leaders is track eight on the album, and a collaboration with other popular YG singers Teddy and CL. It seems much shorter than it is, really. I didn't even think that it was nearly four minutes when I first listened to it. The song really wouldn't be anything without CL in it. Once again, the 2NE1 girl steals the show. I love the spoken parts at the end. ^^ This song has such a great beat--perfect for blasting in the car.

She's Gone is one that I never really listen to; it's not much of an attention grabber. It has a nice enough beat with it, but it isn't one that I would have put on the album. ^^;;;

One Year Station is another upbeat dance track. The melody is really cute, but around this point in the album you're getting tired of upbeat dance tracks. ^^;;;; Either way, it's still pretty nice.

Overall Rating:
4/5

Recommended Tracks:
Heartbreaker
Butterfly
Hello
Korean Dream
The Leaders