Earporn: Epik High, Block B and Flumpool

There seems to be an epic void in my blogging life now that I've discontinued Mixtape Mondays where music is concerned so I guess the occasional music post intermittently spaced between points is forgivable right?

Most of you who follow me on twitter sort of know that I've been raving continuously about Epik High's new comeback material after newly being signed under YG Entertainment. I'll be honest - I'm not exactly a hardcore fan of Epik High, and in reality I only ever paid attention to their work after the whole controversy with Tablo and it struck me as stupid, all the accusations some netizens were pitting against him. But I wasn't enough of a fan to actually get involved. Now, I see that even if I had, it wouldn't really have made a difference, but I still feel like a horrible person for not paying attention, because damn, this guy and his group are good. IMO, those netizens just gave themselves and South Korea a bad name and should be responsible for the damage they've cost Tablo. They were dealing with someone's life here, and don't even get me started on the number of artists in S. Korea that commit suicide because of unwarranted netizen backlash. It's like these people get some sick pleasure out of causing such emotional torment.

Thankfully though, Tablo didn't succumb to such a fate, and he came back with a vengeance under YG's wing. And now that Epik High's back with their 7th Album 99 I couldn't be happier for him.

I think the biggest change/revolution for Tablo and Epik High under new management (YG Entertainment) is their change in style and the tone of their music. On this aspect, they're getting mixed reactions from both fans and newly exposed music junkies, but in all honesty, I don't think it's a bad thing. While some argue that you should like everything a group does if you're a "true fan", I don't support blindly liking music just because you like the people that make it (Sorry guys). And thus, those people that aren't exactly happy with the change in Epik High's music as opposed to their earlier hits like Love Love Love are entitled to their opinion. I personally think they're on a phase of self discovery, and a little head pumping music isn't so bad, especially if the music video is equally as fun and laden with deep, meaningful innuendos.

Oh, and murder. Let's not forget murder. Hahaha. Either way, it's hard to be disgusted by a bunch of cutely costumed kids committing bloody acts of bludgeoning (one of them's even dressed like GD! )when Epik High's just having so much fun. After those years under seclusion and not even being able to see the light of day, Tablo sure as heck deserves it.

Haters gonna hate.

I'd like to give another round of applause to Epik High for their other comeback song, UP ft. Park Bom. There's just something to be said about the meaningful, encouraging, head bumping, first pumping song which sends shivers down my spine every time I listen to it.  Honestly, I never even thought skate parks existed in South Korea but the setting looks so wonderfully vibrant that I didn't even give it a second thought haha. And not to mention, the music video is so visually appealing that you can use almost every screencap as an awesome desktop background.

See what I mean?

And I think one of the best changes (for the better) that YG has enabled for the group is their awesome livestages. Just that little bit of YG swag added that extra oomph IMO, and just watching it made me wish I could be on stage with them.

Yehp, definitely EPIK.

Epik High aside, another group I've been thoroughly enjoying is Block B. They came out as rookies just about the same time that B1A4, B.A.P., and Boyfriend did, and somewhere in my mind I'm thinking what the heck was up with letter B boygroups that year? That being said, I hadn't paid Block B much attention either when they debuted because in all honestly, I was distracted by the three aforementioned groups. That being said, I'm still not as much of a fan of them as I am the other three, and I can't even seem to muster up the enthusiasm to find out the other members' names (the only one I'm vaguely familiar with is Zico for obvious reasons) but I'll be damned if I lie and say that I don't enjoy their B-Boy music. Right now, I'm particularly enamored by their song, Nillili Mambo. It's just so damn fierce, and I currently have it on my iTunes on loop. It's sort of like how B.A.P. started with Warrior, Power, and No Mercy before they turned all boyband cute with Crash and Stop It (both of which I still like, just not as much).
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I think Simon and Martina did a pretty good job of enumerating just how silly and amusing this music video was, despite its authentic and wonderful setting in Vietnamn, so I'm not even going to bother. Instead I'm going to spam you with screencaps of particularly appealing scenes in the MV (I actually typed 'appearing' instead of 'appealing' ohnoes. I think my English is turning in to Engrish. x_x)

Yehp, definitely earporn right there.

If hardcore KRap and Hiphop aren't your thing, then maybe you'd do with some soft JRock/Ballad type songs? My latest discovery in the JRock scene comes with an endearing band called Flumpool. A rather unorthodox sounding bandname, yes. But that doesn't take away from how completely and utterly awesome they are.

As I've discuessed before, it isn't actually the easiest of things getting media from Japan what with all their insane copyright laws. Even decent videos on Youtube are hard to come by and they're not as open to the public as South Korea has been with their music industry. But recently, entertainment agencies in Japan have been taking steps to make their music more accessible to their foreign audience. One of their recent pursuits has been throwing concerts for JRock bands (which apparently have a larger audience than mainstream Jpop, save of course bands and groups from Johnny's Entertainment and AKB48) accross Asia. Yay!

I'm really looking forward to the day that Flumpool gets to come here to the Philippines, but I'll be lying if I said I wasn't entirely baited by their cute lead singer, Ryuta Yamamura (山村 隆太).

 

IMO, he looks like a cute Japanese Adrien Brody and he doesn't necessarily have the best voice in JRock, but it has this characteristically soft tone to it that just captures you when you hear it.

So that's it. Sorry for the long post. I was just so music and fangirl-ing-ness deprived so I had to let it out. Hopefully this isn't a regular thing. My blog is mainly an outlet anyway and I'm keeping that way. Even if I have to use it as fangirl catharsis lol.

Any music you'd like to recommend? Foreign, Western or Local? Don't be afraid to drop me a line. I'm always open to new things (obviously).

Ada, signing out.